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The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time never gets old

By · Via The Verge · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The remake retains the classic storyline where Link uses a magical ocarina to alter weather, manipulate time, and protect the realm. While preserving traditional structured progression, the Switch 2 release introduces a visual overhaul that combines realistic environmental elements with puppet-styled character models. Key moments like navigating desert sandstorms and entering the Temple of Time gain enhanced emotional resonance through these modern graphics. However, players will find that certain sections across the updated environments can be frustratingly dark.

Key points

  • The remake preserves the traditional storyline of Link using an ocarina to manipulate tim…: The remake preserves the traditional storyline of Link using an ocarina to manipulate time and defeat Ganondorf.
  • Modern hardware upgrades enhance iconic sequences like the illuminated Temple of Time whi…: Modern hardware upgrades enhance iconic sequences like the illuminated Temple of Time while leaving some areas frustratingly dark.
  • The project intentionally separates itself from recent open-world Zelda releases by focus…: The project intentionally separates itself from recent open-world Zelda releases by focusing on classic, structured gameplay mechanics.

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Breath of the Wild changed everything. Two decades after The Legend of Zelda made the transformational shift to 3D, Breath of the Wild reinvigorated the franchise with an open-ended adventure that was built around player freedom and expression. Instead of following a set path, players could go wherever they wanted and tackle challenges in a variety of ways. That philosophy filtered down to subsequent games, letting players author their own creative solutions to puzzles in titles like Tears of the Kingdom and Echoes of Wisdom. As a result, Zelda has never been bigger, and the traditional, more linear Zelda games had become a thing of the past. Or so it seemed.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time never gets old

The franchise has evolved since 1998, but the first 3D Zelda stands up incredibly well in its Switch 2 remake.

For one of the biggest Switch 2 exclusives so far, Nintendo has gone back to Ocarina of Time, which originally launched on the N64 in 1998. It’s one of the most influential and revered games in the long-running franchise,…

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