6 things we want to see from a Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake

In a recent podcast, NateTheHate revealed that he thinks a remake of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is coming to Switch 2 this holiday season. And though we do have to report on that as a news site, that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily going to come to fruition – that being said, speculation doesn’t hurt anyone!

Previously, Ocarina of Time received a Nintendo 3DS version that added new features. In addition to updated graphics, this remaster also added extra item slots, gyro aiming for the slingshot and bow, a boss gauntlet, and tutorials. Of course, we’d like to see all of those features retained in a hypothetical Nintendo Switch 2 Ocarina of Time remake, but why stop there? Here are several more additions and changes we’d love to see. We’re going to be mentioning some story spoilers here and there, so keep that in mind before you continue.

Changes to the combat system

For its time, Ocarina of Time had a good combat system. Z-Targeting helped ensure you were attacking the right enemy, and you could rather easily swap between them to fend off hordes of opponents all at once. That said, Link’s moves are quite basic in this game – maybe we could add some flashier sword combos like the kinds you see in The Wind Waker. One thing they definitely should not do is somehow bring back weapon durability outside of the Deku Stick. That’s definitely one thing Ocarina of Time did better than Breath of the Wild, in our opinion!

Voice acting

We’re not sure to what extent Nintendo would give an Ocarina of Time remake voice acting. Surely not for every single piece of dialogue in the game, right? If the budget is high enough, maybe! More likely, though, is that we’ll see voice acting only present for major cutscenes. Ones like Darunia listening to Saria’s Song, Zelda throwing Link the Ocarina of Time, that sort of thing. It’d be interesting to see, because these versions of Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf are separate from the ones seen in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. I feel like they probably wouldn’t have the exact same voices as their open-world counterparts, and I’d be curious to see how Nintendo interprets their character in the modern day. Whichever way they decide to implement it, voice acting seems like a necessity here.

A short post-game epilogue or story

If you’ve played Xenoblade Chronicles, then you know all the numbered games have their own epilogues that are separate from the main game but add substantial story content and new playable characters. While we definitely don’t need a new playable character, it’d be interesting to see an epilogue to Ocarina of Time where Link searches for his lost companion Navi. This would bridge the gap to Majora’s Mask as well, which starts with Link wandering the Lost Woods looking for Navi in the first place. This is a more niche option, but we could also see an epilogue that instead follows the downfall timeline where Link is defeated and A Link to the Past’s events eventually occur. Nintendo doesn’t really like including such overt references to different timelines in Zelda games, though, so this idea is a very doubtful one. Still, some kind of post-game epilogue could help justify the eventual price tag. If the remake winds up real, that is.

A non-Breath of the Wild engine

If this Ocarina of Time remake even exists, there’s a non-zero chance that it uses Breath of the Wild’s engine and mechanics. Not confirmed at all, of course, but I think a Breath of the Wild-style game with Ocarina of Time’s premise isn’t the greatest idea for a remake. Ocarina of Time is really its own thing, and dropping its story into a more non-linear open world would cheapen the experience a bit. We know that Zelda doesn’t have to be open world to be good – it can be good even if it stays relatively linear – so many of us would prefer if an Ocarina of Time remake stays true to its original gameplay and just refreshes it with modern graphics and technology.

A built-in randomizer

To be clear, this is extremely unlikely, as Nintendo typically doesn’t do very much with randomizing or features that resemble it. But many of their modern games, like Donkey Kong Bananza and Splatoon 3, have DLC that focuses primarily on replayability. Zelda doesn’t have a ton of replayability outside of simply starting a new story mode run, and a randomizer that shuffles the location of items would be a neat way to keep people playing the game. Of course, even if a feature like this somehow did make it into this hypothetical remake, we wouldn’t expect that it would be super in-depth. Still, some kind of post-game content would be nice – especially if the game would be $70 or even $80 – so if we can’t get a postgame or epilogue, this would substitute nicely, no matter how unlikely it may be.

A cool special edition

This feels unlikely – physical video games aren’t exactly in a great place right now, and the rising cost of memory thanks to artificial intelligence is only making the issue worse. So a theoretical special edition or collector’s edition, if one happens, could come out after the actual game releases. That said, Link’s Awakening receiving a pretty neat limited edition, so there’s certainly some potential here. Some kind of Ocarina of Time Link statue would do nicely, or maybe they’ll release large-sized Ocarina of Time amiibo kind of like the Kirby Air Riders and Super Mario Bros. Wonder ones we’ve been seeing lately with larger bases. Either way, a collector’s edition would help the remake feel more like a celebration of The Legend of Zelda’s anniversary.

Other stuff

Let’s rapid-fire a couple of smaller features that didn’t get their own sections: first up, the remake should definitely run at 60 frames per second. Even on Nintendo 3DS, Ocarina of Time was 30 FPS, which means there has never been an official way to play the game at 60. New, remastered music would be nice as well, especially if there were an option to switch back to the original tracks kind of like how Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition did it. We’d also like to see additional characterization for Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf, plus for more secondary characters like Malon, Impa, Saria, and the other sages. Maybe some new side quests where you help them defeat an enemy or something simple – anything that would give them some more screen time, since in the base game most of the sages disappear for good until the ending once you’ve cleared their corresponding dungeon.

What would you like to see from a hypothetical Ocarina of Time remake? Let us know in the comments down below. Just to reiterate, this game hasn’t officially been confirmed by Nintendo – we’re just speculating at what a hypothetical remaster / remake could add to the experience.