Nintendo celebrated the 40th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda during a special Nintendo Direct today, and there was a lot packed into it. New hardware, amiibo, concerts, collectibles, and more details about the upcoming movie all made an appearance. I liked plenty of what Nintendo showed, but the Ocarina of Time remake was the thing I kept coming back to.
Nintendo is fully remaking The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for Nintendo Switch 2, and it launches November 5, 2026. Nintendo showed roughly three minutes of the remake during the Direct. As someone who still has his original gold Nintendo 64 cartridge sitting proudly in his collection, I was probably always going to be an easy mark.
And without a doubt, this game looks good.
Why the Ocarina of Time Remake Looks Like More Than a Resolution Boost
Nintendo says it completely overhauled the visuals and remodeled locations throughout the game. It also made a host of gameplay changes to modernize the 1998 classic. Link can now freely run and jump. Players can also control the camera using the right analog stick. That might sound small by modern standards, but for a game originally designed around a fixed camera and Z-targeting, it is huge.
I loved the innovative N64 controller and thought it was awesome, but even I have to admit that the limitations of the time created some of its quirks. Nintendo now gives us the freedom to look around Hyrule from angles the original developers never had to account for. Everything surrounding Link suddenly has to stand up to that scrutiny. From what Nintendo showed, it does.
The amount of detail repeatedly caught me off guard. Hyrule looks lush, incredibly sharp, and sometimes surprisingly realistic without abandoning the art direction that makes it Zelda. At different points, I found myself getting hints of Fable and even Hogwarts Legacy. I don’t mean that they suddenly share the same art style. It was more the depth, the greenery, and this almost storybook quality some of the environments have.
The Ocarina of Time Remake’s Visuals Kept Catching Me Off Guard
There is also this glossy, almost glimmering quality to everything. At one point, I joked that Nintendo had coated Link in Vaseline. Obviously, I’m not suggesting that literally happened. But the lighting, surfaces, and sheer clarity kept catching me off guard. It looks like a game built for this generation.
And yes, I spent an embarrassing amount of the trailer trying to figure out the frame rate. Nintendo says the remake runs much smoother, but it has not confirmed a 60 FPS target. There were moments when I could have sworn I was looking at 60 FPS. Other times, I just wasn’t sure. For now, that remains one of my biggest technical questions.
How the Ocarina of Time Remake Modernizes the Classic
The changes go well beyond graphics. Nintendo is adding expanded dialogue and voiced cutscenes, symphonic music, faster loading, and a persistent day-and-night cycle. Threads of Time also helps players keep track of progress and the next objective. I’m comfortable with all of it because if Nintendo were simply increasing the resolution and charging us again, I would have a much harder time getting excited. The Ocarina of Time remake doesn’t feel like that kind of project.
The right-stick camera control is huge to me. Once Nintendo made a change that fundamental, I think that gave the company the license to start opening up other parts of the game, too. You can’t give me the ability to freely look around this world and then have everything designed around what I was allowed to see in 1998. If you’re willing to make that wholesale change, then I think you have room to modernize everything surrounding it.
Could Ocarina of Time actually become a Game of the Year contender?
I struggle with that because I’m generally not in favor of remakes taking spots away from genuinely new games. Resident Evil 4 already made that argument harder for me. The Game Awards nominated its remake for Game of the Year in 2023. So I can’t just say Ocarina of Time shouldn’t be there because the original came out in 1998.
If the Ocarina of Time remake changes enough, adds enough, and actually feels like Nintendo rebuilt the experience instead of just reproducing it, then it probably deserves to be part of that conversation. Based on what Nintendo has shown so far, I think it might.
Nintendo Is Going All-In on Zelda
Of course, Nintendo wasn’t satisfied with attacking my wallet with one game. A special The Legend of Zelda 40th Anniversary Edition Nintendo Switch 2 launches October 29 alongside a matching Pro Controller and carrying case. I already preordered the console and controller. Regretting my purchases? Maybe. But most probably not.
I missed out on the Tears of the Kingdom Switch, and I wasn’t making that mistake again. Nintendo also announced new amiibo, anniversary concerts, LEGO sets, museum events, a Master Sword collectible, and plenty more as part of the year-long celebration. The live-action The Legend of Zelda movie is also scheduled to arrive worldwide on April 30, 2027.
Nintendo is launching Ocarina of Time on November 5. Grand Theft Auto VI currently arrives just two weeks later, on November 19. Normally, you’d think everyone would want to get as far away from GTA as possible. I’m just not sure Nintendo needs to care quite as much as everyone else does.
For a lot of people, the Switch is that adjunct console. You might have a PlayStation, Xbox, or PC as your primary platform, but you also have a Switch sitting there because Nintendo has games you simply aren’t getting anywhere else. So Ocarina of Time and GTA VI don’t necessarily have to be an either-or decision.
There have already been jokes about whether GTA needs to get out of Zelda’s way instead of the other way around. I’m not going that far. Nintendo clearly isn’t scared of November, though. After seeing this trailer, I know exactly which game has me more excited right now. I don’t care about GTA. It’s all about Zelda, baby.
