8th September 2026, 12:41 PM
(This post was last modified: 8th September 2026, 12:43 PM by Dark Jaguar.)
Well, they finally did it, they're going for a REAL remake of Ocarina of Time. If you recall, they've emulated it with enhanced resolution and on the 3DS they ported it with some enhancements to the models and a few gameplay additions. This goes FAR beyond that. And, for some reason, I feel the need to explain that they won't be splitting the game into three parts and selling them separately.
The game's overall design hasn't changed too significantly. Near as I can tell from the preview, there's not a billion new minigames slathered on like too much sauce. What they did do is smooth out the gameplay in some dramatic ways. The frame rate looks fairly solid (though I haven't seen any analysis of it, so it may not quite hit fixed 60, but it looks smooth to my eyes). The character reacts in a timely way too. They replaced Link's autojumping mechanic with manual jumping you can do whenever. I'm not yet sure what I prefer, but we'll see. His swimming certainly looks a lot smoother on top of that. The game still has transition scenes into the different major regions, but within that there's fewer individual transitions. The prerendered sections like Castle Town are now rendered in real time, and look far better on top of that. There's also expanded dialog and facial expressions, and if that's any indication, the cut scenes may be longer too. I'm not sure how to feel about that last part, but the Star Fox 64 remake's longer cut scenes didn't hurt that game so- I suppose it could be fine. Navi seems to remain the same, with her hints being optional. They're "recommended" but can still be ignored. Good! They aren't making the mistake of later Zelda games and just forcing you to listen to her explain the entire puzzle in advance every room you go in... like a certain sword.
There's an additional quest log, which seemed to be modeled after the one in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. There's no harm in a reminder of where you've been and what quest you're on, and it certainly helped in Majora's Mask, so I'd say it's a good addition. It's tied to this tapestry you slowly weave throughout the adventure, so that's a fun visual indicator. If side quests are part of the weave, it'll also help to indicate if you've reached 100% completion. As for the controls, they seem snappier and it's easier to switch items. The ocarina has a new function which I think is a rare good use of a gimmick mechanic. You can hum a few bars, and a speech recognition algorithm (tuned for music) will play the song your humming matches. It's like a modern expansion of an idea first seen in the Famicom Zelda with it's microphone screaming mechanic. Finally, it can dragon dictate a specific melody from your noises. In fact, I might just prefer that for inputting songs if it's as accurate as the video claims. (I've been around the block a few times... There's a very good chance it's not accurate at all, so it remains to be seen.) Considering we're working with a 4 face button layout instead of the N64's 6 button layout, inputting notes for the Ocarina isn't going to feel quite as natural, but "humming a few bars" could be as natural as it gets. Also, they're once again selling an actual ocarina to play and it'll recognize that too. I do hope it works with the little ditty I put together way back in 1998 for the Scarecrow song. I never bothered composing a new one and just reuse that one on every rerelease of this game.
I appreciate the full conducted score this time around as well. It just fits. Along those lines, the visuals? Well, while I think the colors might be a bit TOO muted, I otherwise love the visual design. They say they went for a mix of modern and nostalgic, and I can tell. Link (the Hero of Time version) looks exactly like I'd have expected him to look with modern visuals, as do pretty much all the other characters, and the bosses besides! Princess Ruto has a much needed wardrobe upgrade, in that she HAS one, but otherwise they've just enhanced the details that were already there for character looks. I also noticed a small detail when they demonstrated the first dungeon. In the original, when you solved a puzzle, things just sort of moved into place on their own, like a ladder falling down. This time, there's actual mechanisms moving and shifting so you can actually see how these old devices functioned. That ladder falls because pressing in the eye switch rotates two stone um... "pinball paddles" out of the way. I just adore that additional attention to detail! It really makes the world feel more more alive and immersive.
There's now voice acting. I REALLY hope that's optional. For my taste, I think I prefer playing this game without the voice acting. It gives a different vibe when I can imagine the tone of their voice myself instead of a tone being picked for me. That said, the voice acting doesn't seem bad at least? From what little I've seen, it's a step up from what they did in Breath of the Wild, and more on par with the Star Fox remake's voice acting. (I do have to admit that Star Fox remake's voice acting is... too good. I like the campy delivery of the original just SO much.)
The key segment of this video is about halfway or so. Turn off volume stabilization and the autogenerated subtitles and/or voice acting if THAT accidentally got triggered, and whatever other complete nonsense Youtube is touting as a "feature" these days.
Oh, and there's a phone app. It does stuff. You can transfer rupees into your game. The rest is app stuff done for the app's sake. Eh. I never touched it for Breath of the Wild, I doubt I'll bother here. There's also a couple amiibos that unlock new masks. Link can wear a Link disguise. That'll fool 'em! They'll think you're Link! Anyway, use your amiibo NFC emulator of choice I suppose.
The game's overall design hasn't changed too significantly. Near as I can tell from the preview, there's not a billion new minigames slathered on like too much sauce. What they did do is smooth out the gameplay in some dramatic ways. The frame rate looks fairly solid (though I haven't seen any analysis of it, so it may not quite hit fixed 60, but it looks smooth to my eyes). The character reacts in a timely way too. They replaced Link's autojumping mechanic with manual jumping you can do whenever. I'm not yet sure what I prefer, but we'll see. His swimming certainly looks a lot smoother on top of that. The game still has transition scenes into the different major regions, but within that there's fewer individual transitions. The prerendered sections like Castle Town are now rendered in real time, and look far better on top of that. There's also expanded dialog and facial expressions, and if that's any indication, the cut scenes may be longer too. I'm not sure how to feel about that last part, but the Star Fox 64 remake's longer cut scenes didn't hurt that game so- I suppose it could be fine. Navi seems to remain the same, with her hints being optional. They're "recommended" but can still be ignored. Good! They aren't making the mistake of later Zelda games and just forcing you to listen to her explain the entire puzzle in advance every room you go in... like a certain sword.
There's an additional quest log, which seemed to be modeled after the one in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. There's no harm in a reminder of where you've been and what quest you're on, and it certainly helped in Majora's Mask, so I'd say it's a good addition. It's tied to this tapestry you slowly weave throughout the adventure, so that's a fun visual indicator. If side quests are part of the weave, it'll also help to indicate if you've reached 100% completion. As for the controls, they seem snappier and it's easier to switch items. The ocarina has a new function which I think is a rare good use of a gimmick mechanic. You can hum a few bars, and a speech recognition algorithm (tuned for music) will play the song your humming matches. It's like a modern expansion of an idea first seen in the Famicom Zelda with it's microphone screaming mechanic. Finally, it can dragon dictate a specific melody from your noises. In fact, I might just prefer that for inputting songs if it's as accurate as the video claims. (I've been around the block a few times... There's a very good chance it's not accurate at all, so it remains to be seen.) Considering we're working with a 4 face button layout instead of the N64's 6 button layout, inputting notes for the Ocarina isn't going to feel quite as natural, but "humming a few bars" could be as natural as it gets. Also, they're once again selling an actual ocarina to play and it'll recognize that too. I do hope it works with the little ditty I put together way back in 1998 for the Scarecrow song. I never bothered composing a new one and just reuse that one on every rerelease of this game.
I appreciate the full conducted score this time around as well. It just fits. Along those lines, the visuals? Well, while I think the colors might be a bit TOO muted, I otherwise love the visual design. They say they went for a mix of modern and nostalgic, and I can tell. Link (the Hero of Time version) looks exactly like I'd have expected him to look with modern visuals, as do pretty much all the other characters, and the bosses besides! Princess Ruto has a much needed wardrobe upgrade, in that she HAS one, but otherwise they've just enhanced the details that were already there for character looks. I also noticed a small detail when they demonstrated the first dungeon. In the original, when you solved a puzzle, things just sort of moved into place on their own, like a ladder falling down. This time, there's actual mechanisms moving and shifting so you can actually see how these old devices functioned. That ladder falls because pressing in the eye switch rotates two stone um... "pinball paddles" out of the way. I just adore that additional attention to detail! It really makes the world feel more more alive and immersive.
There's now voice acting. I REALLY hope that's optional. For my taste, I think I prefer playing this game without the voice acting. It gives a different vibe when I can imagine the tone of their voice myself instead of a tone being picked for me. That said, the voice acting doesn't seem bad at least? From what little I've seen, it's a step up from what they did in Breath of the Wild, and more on par with the Star Fox remake's voice acting. (I do have to admit that Star Fox remake's voice acting is... too good. I like the campy delivery of the original just SO much.)
The key segment of this video is about halfway or so. Turn off volume stabilization and the autogenerated subtitles and/or voice acting if THAT accidentally got triggered, and whatever other complete nonsense Youtube is touting as a "feature" these days.
Oh, and there's a phone app. It does stuff. You can transfer rupees into your game. The rest is app stuff done for the app's sake. Eh. I never touched it for Breath of the Wild, I doubt I'll bother here. There's also a couple amiibos that unlock new masks. Link can wear a Link disguise. That'll fool 'em! They'll think you're Link! Anyway, use your amiibo NFC emulator of choice I suppose.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)
