On November 5, one of the greatest video games ever made is returning, and Nintendo has given itself one hell of a challenge by deciding to remake The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the Nintendo Switch 2. We’re talking about a game that originally launched on the Nintendo 64 back in 1998, helped change the way 3D action-adventure games were made, and remains near the top of countless greatest-games-of-all-time lists nearly three decades later. Nintendo isn’t simply polishing up the old graphics and calling it a day, either. This is a full remake with completely rebuilt visuals, orchestral music, voice acting, updated controls, expanded storytelling, and some interesting new features that take advantage of the Switch 2 hardware.
I’ll admit that I’m excited about this one, although there’s also a little apprehension whenever somebody announces they’re remaking a game that people already consider a masterpiece. You can make the graphics prettier, improve the camera, add more dialogue, and throw in every modern convenience imaginable, but none of that guarantees you’re going to end up with a better game. Sometimes developers get so caught up fixing things they consider outdated that they forget those things might have been part of what made the original so enjoyable. Fortunately, Nintendo seems to understand what it’s dealing with here, and the company’s latest Ask the Developer interviews offer some encouraging insight into how the remake came together.
Returning to Hyrule After Nearly Thirty Years
It’s worth remembering just how big a deal Ocarina of Time was when it arrived in November 1998. Zelda had already established itself as one of Nintendo’s premier franchises through the original NES game, The Adventure of Link, and A Link to the Past on the Super Nintendo, but moving the series into a fully three-dimensional world was an enormous undertaking. Nintendo had to figure out how exploration, combat, puzzle-solving, and dungeon navigation would work in an environment that was completely different from the overhead adventures players had grown accustomed to. The result was a game that helped establish conventions developers would be borrowing from for years, including the famous Z-targeting system that made fighting enemies in a 3D environment much easier to manage.
The technical achievements were impressive, but what I remember most about Ocarina of Time is how good it felt to explore Hyrule. You begin as a young boy living among the Kokiri, wandering around a peaceful little forest village, talking to the locals, and eventually making your way inside the Great Deku Tree. Before long you’re leaving the forest behind, stepping onto Hyrule Field, and discovering just how much bigger the world is than that little village where everything started. From there you’re sneaking around Hyrule Castle, meeting Princess Zelda, visiting Death Mountain and Zora’s Domain, and gradually becoming involved in something much bigger than Link could have imagined when Navi first showed up to wake him.
And who could forget the first time they pulled the Master Sword from its pedestal? That was one of those moments where you realized Nintendo had something pretty special going on, and I don’t think it would have worked nearly as well without the hours of exploration and adventure that came before it. The game took its time introducing you to Hyrule, its inhabitants, and the dangers lurking around the kingdom, which made everything that happened later feel more meaningful.
The music deserves plenty of credit, too. Koji Kondo’s soundtrack is loaded with memorable melodies, from the familiar sounds of Kokiri Forest to the music accompanying your travels across Hyrule Field. The ocarina itself was a wonderful addition because it gave music an actual role in the adventure instead of leaving it as something playing in the background. Learning a new melody meant discovering another way to interact with the world, and I’m willing to bet there are plenty of people who haven’t touched the game in twenty years but could still recognize Zelda’s Lullaby or the Song of Time within a few notes.
Now, I’m not going to pretend the original was flawless. The camera could be a pain, some of the controls haven’t aged particularly well, and the Water Temple has probably inspired more colorful language than Nintendo ever intended. Navi could also get on your nerves with her constant reminders, although I suppose having a fairy repeatedly shouting “Hey! Listen!” is preferable to wandering around Hyrule without a clue what you’re supposed to be doing. Most of the time, anyway. Those little annoyances never stopped Ocarina of Time from being a tremendous adventure, and that’s why so many people are looking forward to seeing what Nintendo has done with it.
A Full Remake With Plenty of Changes
Nintendo has rebuilt Ocarina of Time for the Switch 2 rather than simply giving the Nintendo 64 version a higher resolution and a fresh coat of paint. The characters, environments, and cinematic sequences have been overhauled, the soundtrack has been given an orchestral treatment, and the game now features voiced cutscenes and expanded dialogue. That’s a pretty substantial collection of changes for an adventure that originally relied on text conversations, sound effects, and the player’s imagination to bring its characters to life.
I’m especially curious about the voice acting. Zelda games have gradually become more comfortable with voiced characters over the years, but the original Ocarina of Time had a personality that worked beautifully without anybody delivering lengthy spoken performances. I’m not against the addition, and hearing familiar characters speak could be wonderful if Nintendo has chosen the right voices and handled the dialogue properly. I just hope they haven’t decided that every quiet moment needs somebody talking over it. Sometimes I’d rather explore a dungeon, listen to the music, and enjoy figuring things out without being reminded every thirty seconds that I’m supposed to be saving the kingdom.
The updated movement and camera controls should be welcome improvements, especially for newcomers who didn’t grow up fighting with Nintendo 64 controllers. Nintendo has also added modern aiming options, including motion controls for weapons such as the Fairy Bow and Hookshot. I know some people enjoy motion aiming, and it’s nice to have the option, although I’m perfectly happy using traditional controls myself. Give me a comfortable controller, a decent camera, and a Hookshot that goes where I’m aiming, and I’ll be satisfied.
Another addition involves expanded information about Hyrule’s inhabitants, enemies, and history. Nintendo is giving players more opportunities to learn about the world as they explore it, which could be a lot of fun for those of us who enjoy poking around every corner of a fantasy setting. I’ve always liked games that reward curiosity, and Ocarina of Time was full of places that encouraged you to wander off and see what you could find. Additional lore could make those familiar locations worth investigating again, provided it doesn’t interfere with the pacing of the original adventure.
What I don’t want is for Nintendo to turn Ocarina of Time into another Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom. I love the freedom those games offer, but Ocarina of Time was built around a more structured adventure, with carefully designed dungeons, a story that unfolded at a deliberate pace, and new abilities that gradually opened additional parts of the world. Both approaches have their strengths, and there’s no reason every Zelda game needs to follow the same formula.
Nintendo Knows What It’s Dealing With
Nintendo’s latest Ask the Developer interviews are worth reading if you’re interested in how this remake came together. Director HokWai Ng, who previously worked on Tears of the Kingdom, discussed the development team’s approach to rebuilding a game that already means so much to players. Program director Hiroki Taguchi also spoke about the challenges involved in changing something as carefully constructed as the original adventure, where even a seemingly minor adjustment could have unexpected consequences elsewhere.
I found that encouraging because it suggests Nintendo didn’t simply hand the original game to a development team and tell them to make everything bigger, prettier, and more modern. The developers have clearly spent time considering why the original worked, what needed improving, and which elements were better left alone. That’s the sort of thinking I want to hear from people responsible for remaking a classic, especially one with the reputation of Ocarina of Time.
Of course, we’ll have to wait until people actually play the finished game before knowing how successful those decisions have been. Developers can have all the right intentions and still end up making changes that don’t quite work in practice. But I like hearing that the team understands the importance of preserving the original’s structure rather than treating it as something that needs to be completely redesigned for modern audiences.
You Can Actually Play the Ocarina
One of the more entertaining additions to the remake involves the instrument that gives the game its name. Nintendo has added microphone support that allows players to hum the familiar melodies or perform them using a real musical instrument, with the Switch 2 recognizing the notes and activating the appropriate action in the game. Traditional button controls are still available, thankfully, but I have to admit that the idea of playing the Song of Time on an actual instrument and watching Link respond sounds pretty damn cool.
Nintendo has even created a dedicated electronic Ocarina of Time accessory for players who want to take things a little further. It’s an electronic toy rather than a traditional wind instrument, with buttons for playing notes and an automatic mode for familiar songs, but it works with the game’s sound recognition system. I can already imagine somebody setting one of these things on a shelf alongside their Zelda collectibles, assuming they don’t spend the next six months driving everybody in the house crazy by playing the same three melodies over and over.
As for me, I might try humming a few songs just to see how well the feature works, although I suspect Hyrule has suffered enough under Ganondorf without being subjected to my singing. Fortunately, Nintendo had the good sense to leave the regular controls intact, so nobody has to demonstrate their musical talent, or lack thereof, just to open a door or change the time of day.
Forty Years of The Legend of Zelda
The remake is arriving during a pretty important year for Nintendo’s long-running franchise. The Legend of Zelda celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2026, and Nintendo has been marking the occasion with new hardware, accessories, and other projects. A special Zelda-themed Nintendo Switch 2 launched on October 29, complete with Triforce-inspired designs, while new amiibo figures featuring Young Link and Young Zelda are scheduled for 2027. Those figures will also unlock special rewards in the remake, giving collectors another excuse to make room on shelves that are probably already overflowing.
Nintendo has also announced orchestral concerts as part of the anniversary celebrations, and there’s the upcoming live-action Legend of Zelda movie scheduled for April 30, 2027. It’s a busy time to be a Zelda fan, and I imagine Nintendo is hoping the remake will introduce plenty of new players to one of the franchise’s most important adventures before the movie arrives.
Forty years is a long time for any video game series to remain relevant, especially one that has changed as much as Zelda. We’ve gone from the original NES adventure to massive open-world games with enormous landscapes and physics systems that let players build contraptions the developers probably never imagined. Through all those changes, the series has managed to keep people interested in returning to Hyrule, and revisiting Ocarina of Time seems like a fitting way to celebrate that history.
Can Nintendo Improve on the Original?
This is the question I keep coming back to whenever I think about the remake. Nintendo has to satisfy longtime players who remember the original fondly while also making the game enjoyable for people whose first Zelda adventure might have been Breath of the Wild. That’s not necessarily an easy balance to strike. Some of the original’s mechanics could use improvement, but I don’t want every little inconvenience removed simply because somebody thinks modern players don’t have the patience to deal with it.
Take the dungeons, for example. I hope Nintendo has resisted the temptation to make every puzzle easier or add obvious hints whenever somebody spends more than a few minutes trying to figure something out. Part of the fun of the original was wandering around a dungeon, occasionally getting lost, trying different things, and eventually discovering what you’d been overlooking the entire time. It could be frustrating, sure, but figuring out the solution yourself was also immensely satisfying.
And yes, that includes the Water Temple. I’m not opposed to improving the controls or making certain mechanics less cumbersome, but I don’t want Nintendo turning one of gaming’s most infamous dungeons into a leisurely afternoon stroll. The place has a reputation to maintain, after all, and I think a few generations of frustrated Zelda players would be disappointed if newcomers didn’t get at least a small taste of what we endured back in 1998.
I also hope the developers have been careful with the pacing. Ocarina of Time did a wonderful job of gradually introducing new places, characters, equipment, and challenges, allowing players to become familiar with Hyrule before expanding the adventure. Modern games sometimes feel compelled to introduce everything as quickly as possible, but I don’t think this is a game that would benefit from rushing players along. Let people enjoy Kokiri Forest, take their time exploring Hyrule Field, and discover the kingdom at their own pace.
The Hero of Time Returns November 5
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time launches exclusively for Nintendo Switch 2 on Thursday, November 5, 2026, and I’m looking forward to seeing how Nintendo’s changes hold up once players get their hands on it. The rebuilt visuals look promising, the orchestral soundtrack should be a treat, and the improved controls could make this the version newcomers will want to play. Whether it actually manages to surpass the Nintendo 64 original is another matter, and I wouldn’t be comfortable making that declaration until I’ve spent some proper time with the game.
What I’m hoping for is a version of Ocarina of Time that brings back everything I enjoyed about the original while making a few sensible improvements along the way. I’d love to wander through Kokiri Forest again, step onto Hyrule Field, hear those familiar melodies, and eventually make my way through the temples without spending half the adventure fighting the camera. If Nintendo has managed to capture that experience while making Hyrule look and sound better than ever, I suspect we’ll have something worth celebrating.
And if Navi starts shouting “Hey! Listen!” every five minutes, well, I suppose some things never change.
— Titan
Sources: Nintendo’s official Ocarina of Time game page; Ask the Developer, Parts 1 and 2; Nintendo’s 40th anniversary announcements.
