Ocarina of Time Remake – Treading the line between Nostalgia, Innovation and Disappointment

After Nintendo’s surprise Direct last night, officially revealing a Remake of Star Fox 64, following weeks of rumours and leaks surrounding the title, let’s take a moment to explore the monumental task Nintendo has to live up to with another rumoured remake, also mentioned in those leaks.

First off, let’s be real here – Nintendo’s confirmation of Star Fox basically all but confirms the existence of an Ocarina of Time Remake. Those recent leaks had more substance than we thought, and clearly rattled Nintendo. Rattled them to the point they shifted their marketing/Direct plans for the near future. I mean, just look at length of that Star Fox reveal; 15 minutes. It’s clear it was part of a grander Direct, but ultimately had that section cut and released sooner rather than later.

So with those Deku Seeds planted, what are the implications of remaking a game as legendary, as Ocarina of Time? One of of the most critically acclaimed, and beloved games, of all time. No pressure right?

Let’s turn back the page to 1998 for a second.

It’s Christmas.

Ocarina of Time was newly released, and nestled snuggly in our N64s. The cart freshly blown after Santa came down our chimneys and left it under the tree. Life was good. Times were simpler. Games were more magical.

Little did I know just how big an impact those first steps into the world of Hyrule, would have on me throughout the next 20-odd years of my life.

From being completely clueless and shit scared of everything, relying on good ol’ mother dearest, to dungeons beat and bosses smite, whilst I incidentally learnt to read and write. To channelling my inner Linkle Thunberg, sailing the high seas, to ogling fiery-haired dusken royalty, and getting more OoT Randomisers under my belt, than notches in it. 

I’ve lived and breathed Zelda for most of my life. So perhaps its safe to say, I’m somewhat familiar with the series over the last near 30 years. Its intricacies and fallacies. Rights and wrongs. Highs and lows.

So with those dark clouds of the remake rumour mill swirling over Hyrule, why am I writing this? 

Well, Ocarina of Time is a game I hold close to my heart. It’s easily my most played game ever, therefore sheathing me into that camp where yes, the infamous “N” word (Nostalgia) plays a huge part in my admiration for the title. Plus, obviously, the main selling point of any remake is nostalgia… And she can be a fickle mistress; either you get it right, or you ruin it. Simple as.

So, as the clickbait mongers on YouTube lap up the latest theory ridden rumour-flavoured lashings of Lon-Lon milk, they’ve had since TotK dropped… I find myself asking, why does the idea of an almost guaranteed remake, leave me feeling intrigued, but not excited?

Now, there’s no blaming people for letting their imaginations get the better of themselves when it comes to this stuff. Nintendo doesn’t let people get excited for things anymore, especially with how rare Directs are these days. I mean, just look at Star Fox. -Miyamoto posted on X they were dropping the Direct, and an hour later, bam, there it was. No hype. No bells or whistles. It was just there suddenly.

And between the discussions sparked by the leaks a couple weeks ago, and the Star Fox reveal, it hasn’t stopped those same imaginations running even more wild – with some wanting a Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom style remake, some wanting increased world and map sizes, some wanting restored content etc.

Let’s be honest here, some of these ideas are just setting people up for disappointment, if, or rather, *when* the OoT Remake is revealed. 

As I said before, nostalgia is a fickle mistress. The case for restored content I can understand, like the fishing hole in MM3D, for example, but most cut content tends to get reused in later Zelda games anyway. So there might not really be anything to “restore”, so to speak. Any adjustments like these, especially to an already intrinsically adored game like OoT, tread a fine line between fan service and dissatisfaction. 

Need I say any BoTW/ToTK tweaks, such as art style or gameplay mechanics, simply don’t belong in that era of Zelda? Ocarina of Time is the pinnacle of the classic “Get Item” era – Find Dungeon, get Item. Beat Boss Era. Plus, I love the N64-style graphics. They have a vibrance to them that, as we saw in the 3DS versions of the games, can hold that charm when updated. So a full-on remake of textures, lighting, and character models whilst an exciting prospect, could also be the undoing of the charm held sacred from the Zelda N64-era.

I mean, just look at what Nintendo are doing with the Star Fox Remake. They’re taking the original, and literally just remaking it with 2026 tech. It appears faithful to the original, whilst throwing in some extras for flavour, like the new cutscenes, battle modes etc. Does that not maybe give us a template for what Nintendo could do with an Ocarina Remake?

Star Fox looks more akin to it’s original SNES box art now, so perhaps Ocarina could follow suit and look more similar to Yusuke Nakano’s more stylised artwork for the game? With enemies looking more like how they were originally intended to look? Maybe the Ganon fight will be more “Shadow of the Colossus” like, how they originally envisioned too – gargantuan in size?

But I’m getting ahead of myself here.

Again, it’s hard to blame the fans, myself included, for letting our imaginations run wild when we are so deprived of content or hype.

We’ve all been teased and tantalised by creations the fans dream up – we’ve all seen the Unreal Engine 5 stuff, with the gorgeous lighting, high-resolution environments and detailed character models. It goes to show the passion and power of a fan base – and makes you wonder, if people can achieve that in their own time, just imagine what a fully fledged team at Nintendo could do. I mean, just look at Square Enix’s FF7 Remake, as an example of what the “modern-day big-budget treatment” can do, in terms of remaking an iconic 90s-era game. (Here’s hoping Nintendo wouldn’t split an OoT Remake into 3 parts, though)

Plus we can’t forget of course the Zelda Lego Sets too, featuring both the 2-in-1 Deku Tree and Final Battle from Ocarina, which didn’t exactly help to quench our imaginations or remake rumours either, in recent years.

With that being said though, jumping back to the 2010s, we did of course already have “pseudo-remakes” of the N64 Zeldas, with the 3DS versions of Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask.

Now those games had me jumping aboard the Spirit Tracks-shaped hype train when they were announced. I don’t think I’ve been more excited for a remaster, port, or whatever they were, than I was for Majora’s Mask 3D.

Whilst those games get a lot of things right, my issues with them, and mainly MM3D, stem from the differences between them and their originals. And it’s the decisions made with MM, that leave me feeling sceptical on if they can deliver on an Ocarina Remake in 2026.

Now, Ocarina 3D doesn’t really deviate from the original too much. Grezzo did a great job with the visual upgrades, Quality-of-Life changes, etc., but it’s the changes made to Majora’s Mask 3D that worry me. Changes authored by Nintendo and actioned by Grezzo, that err on the edge of insanity in some cases.

Back in 2013, Series Director Eiji Aonuma was quoted in an interview as saying, “If a remake of Majora’s Mask were to go ahead, then it would need many aspects of the game completely changing.” No doubt, the original game’s development weighed heavily on his mind; it’s no secret it was a rushed affair –  a challenge set by Miyamoto in place of revising OoT. So much so that he originally said no to a remake when MM3D was pitched, because of the original development experience. It wasn’t until he eventually replayed the original that he shifted his stance and wanted to make changes to “improve accessibility.” 

Now that’s all well and good, and kudos to the guy for going back and replaying it, noting what they got wrong the first time round, and wanting to correct it. But I think there’s a line between ironing out the creases and just outright disregarding the original experience. It almost feels like Aonuma, in his replaying of the original, just decided to “streamline” every single element of the game that was a challenge or inconvenience in the original.

One of the best things about Majora’s Mask is the mystery, the uncertainty of “right, the moon falls in 3 days. How do I stop it?” All you know is North, East, South, West. You’re distracted by thoughts of “where is the Postman running off to?”, “Why is this lady crying in the Laundry pool?” Those moments are the great allure of the game – unravelling the routines of the NPCs, figuring out your routes of progression, where the NPCs live, balancing errands and dungeon exploration, all against the 3-day timer. It can be complicated, yes, and stressful too, but so satisfying when everything lines up. Which is why a majority of the changes made to make the game more “accessible” don’t stack up to me. 

The game is full of giant boulder-sized roadblocks, and just like the guy cracking away at it down at Milk Road, you’ll chip away at the game and eventually break through. In 3D, though, it feels like Aonuma just wanted to Powder Keg his way through ASAP, instead of heralding patience and gradually breaking through over time. It’s like in his replaying of the original, he just decided to “streamline” every single element of the game that was a challenge or an inconvenience. Isn’t that the antithesis of Zelda at its core?   

I mean, it’s not all moon and doom. There were a couple of tweaks that benefited the game, of course.

The slight reworking of the Song of Double Time was more than welcome, now allowing you to skip ahead to a specific hour of the current or next day, instead of dusk or dawn of that day or the next morning.

Visually, just like Ocarina 3D, the whole game has been overhauled – interiors have been fleshed out, with new textures and updated detailing. Take Clock Town for example, new posters are dotted about everywhere, ordinary masks hanging from walls have been refreshed, giving them a new lease of life., Framed pictures hang from walls now too, in Stockpot Inn through to Romani Ranch. These touches are delightful, especially the framed pictures featuring other characters and locations in the game, which really add to the vibrance and atmosphere of this quirky world. The only disappointment here is Link lacking the slightly more mature appearance he had in the original.

Plus, fishing is back! A welcome addition to the land of Termina, returning from OoT, and perhaps most enjoyed in Twilight Princess. Both Woodfall and Great Bay get a whole new fishing hole each, with “Fishing Passes” also being added to the game, as a reward from Clock Town minigames, Keaton or the (Bang) Beaver Bros., allowing free entry to either hole. It had a surprising amount of thought put into it – with a plethora of fish, all inspired by various facets of the game and the masks you collect; some you can only catch wearing certain masks, e.g. Skullfish requires Captain’s Hat, some prefer standard lures, some sinking. It’s neat.  You don’t get any rewards, besides bragging rights, really, but it’s harmless fun to just fish away as the moon plummets towards Terra Termina.

But that’s kind of it for beneficial changes. Some gameplay mechanics have been revamped into entirely worse versions of their former selves, with notable ones including:

• Deku Link
  • Deku Link now bounces at a set speed across water. In the original, you need momentum to bounce from lillipad to lillipad, and spinning as you met the water not only ensured the distance bounced was maximised, but also was incredibly satisfying as a traversal mechanic. In MM3D, this has now been muted. Spinning into water will instantly kill your momentum, and force you to bounce along at the pace the game wants you to. Killing any satisfaction in the mechanic.
• Zora Link
  • Swimming as Zora Link is entirely reworked so that you can only swim at full speed, as the original does by default, if you use magic power. Restricting your base swim speed to a literal crawl. I guess the idea was to give you more control over Link in tighter spaces, like the Pirates’ Fortress Sewers, or a couple of rooms in Great Bay, but why change the entire mechanic for the sake of a couple of rooms in the game? It’s nonsensical to me, and makes swimming equally as unsatisfying as Deku Links’ water spin combo.
• Clock Town
  • Making Clock Town bigger is cool and all, but why? The game didn’t need it. Why shift locations like the Bank from West Clock Town to behind the Clock Tower? It made sense for the Bank Teller to be near the shops in West Clock Town. Not got enough rupees? Fine, just nip out to the Bank and back in. In 3D, you’d need to leave the shop, run up to the loading zone, round to the back of the Clock Tower, then back; it just didn’t need changing. It doesn’t justify Clock Town’s expansion, and makes the town feel more empty than the non-problem they were trying to “fix.”
• Bosses
  • Why does every boss need an eye weak spot now? Why is the Twinmold fight now a wrestling match? Completely redundant changes that do nothing for the player experience beyond a sheer demonstration of dumbification.

That’s just a handful of changes that spring to mind. The list goes on, not mentioning the moving of item locations, like Shiro and the Stone Mask, or Bombers’ Notebook. The abundance of saving statues throughout the game.  Ice Arrows now only freeze “sparkling” patches of water.

So why have I rambled on about Majora’s Mask 3D, what’s my point, you may ask.

Well, it may seem irrelevant me critiquing MM3D, for the purposes of an Ocarina Remake, but it’s the fact that Nintendo not only approved these changes, but recommended a lot of them in the first place too. Does that not make you wonder just what they might change in an OoT Remake?

I fail to see how any of these elevated the game as a remake/remaster should, or made it more “accessible.” I mean, at one point, it was said tweaks were made for those who hadn’t played Ocarina, but that in itself feels like an oxymoron; playing MM without having played Ocarina, is a baffling concept and one I don’t believe is a justifiable answer.

To be honest the only added “accessibility,” in that regard between the two 3DS games, was the addition of the “Sheikah Stone.” A large gossip stone you interact with, giving you hints on where to go, how to beat puzzles, smite bosses, etc., but it does feel like a dumbing down of the game in a way.

Now, 5-year-old me would’ve found Sheikah Stones great – instead of relying on mum to wipe my ass, in more ways than one. But I do object to the idea of handholding in these games. I mean, Zelda games are meant to be challenging – there’s no better feeling in a Zelda game than being stuck on a puzzle, and it just clicking at some point. Rather than giving up at the first hurdle and going to YouTube or Google.

I remember years back, Joe’s lovely wife (@CatsandCrisps), talking on stream about playing OoT3D for the first time, and being stuck with where to go. The game does have the little flashing icons on the world map that hint at where to go, but it does feel like just straight-up adding video hints in a Zelda game, which takes away all faith in the player to use their initiative and figure something out themselves. It’s rated E for Everyone, not R for (Brain) Rot. No offence Viki…

But I guess at the same time, one could argue I had a sheikah stone of my own back in the day. The very same woman who wiped my ass and beat dungeons for me, my mum. So maybe it’s hypocritical for me to critique an optional extra when I lacked the mental fortitude on my first experience of the game.

Majora’s Mask 3D just feels like it delves into a distinctly different direction, in terms of its changes, compared to their approach with Ocarina of Time 3D. Which is what worries me with the idea of an OoT Remake – what unnecessary changes could they make with it, that don’t elevate the original experience and vision?

For fans of the original, 99% of these changes feel alien and unjustified – alterations only made for the sake of changes’ sake, rather than gameplay improvements. Again, the only truly beneficial addition beyond visuals is the slight reworking of the Song of Double Time and Fishing. The rest stand to be subjective, or outright detrimental to the player experience. 

Harking back to the “nostalgia is a fickle mistress” line from earlier, once you mess with core constructs of the game, like these changes do, you tread a fine line between elevating the game, demeaning it, and most crucially, risk ruining the experience for those playing from a fan’s POV – and I was one of those people.

I remember being so excited for MM3D and just being perplexed at the changes they made throughout the game. Which is where my scepticism for an Ocarina of Time Remake creeps in – what if they decide to make similar changes? What if Aonuma replays the original, and decides, “actually, Ganondorf needs a massive eye you need to hit?” The very fabric of Ocarina of Time is biblical in status at this point. Once you meddle in that fabric, as they did with MM3D, it breaks that immersion in the game. Years of familiarity, memories and affection, sacred to the player. You can’t mess with that, especially with a game of this magnitude and reveredness. 

You could say in a way, even the concept of an Ocarina of Time Remake shows how oblivious Nintendo are, when it comes to what fans want to see ported to their Switch systems too. How long have people been calling out for Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD to come to Switch? The 2021 release of Skyward Sword HD stoked these fires further – a game I preordered, opened and never actually played (don’t worry, I’ve played the OG). I honestly haven’t come across anyone within my circles asking for an OoT remake, whereas the call for those ports has always felt more consistent and tangible the last few years.

Perhaps that’s just me, though.

Either way, I definitely didn’t have “we got an OoT Remake before GTA 6” on my bingo card this year.

So that brings us to a couple of important questions – Is an Ocarina of Time Remake needed at all? And if that Remake train has already left the station, do I even want it? 

After all this typing, I must care more than I initially thought. And let’s be honest here too. If it is true and they release it alongside a limited edition OoT Switch 2 console, then yes, I’ll be a shill and get it. I’m part of the problem, I know. Complains, yet gets it anyway…

But, do I want this remake, or think it’s even needed in the first place? Not really.

A perk of being one of the most critically acclaimed games of all time means Ocarina is one of the most accessible Zeldas’ going – you’ve got the N64 Switch online, Zelda: Collectors Edition on Gamecube, Wind Waker Collectors Edition bundle, Nintendo 64 original, the Ship of Harkinian PC Port, plus *other* means (iykyk). You don’t need to do much searching before you find a copy. 

If I wake up one day, and Nintendo drop a Final Fantasy 7: Remake level of trailer, then I’ll be happy sure. If they don’t, then I’ll still be just as fine.

But, humour me for a second here, and let our imaginations run wild for a moment. 

What if, instead of an OoT Remake, we got an Ocarina Remake AND Majora’s Remake? Hype across the fandom would be through the roof; Skyloft’s the limit.

Alternatively, what if nothing comes of an Ocarina Remake? What if it was all just gossip, rumours and hearsay? What if, instead of looking to the past, we looked to the fans for inspiration instead, for what should come next for the Zelda series?

It’s no secret (to everyone), Zelda fans are some of the most vivacious on the internet, when it comes to the games, the lore and also, the dreaming up of fanfic adventures, art and cosplay. As I mentioned earlier, we’ve been teased and tantalised by the prospect of seeing iconic Hyrulian locations in Unreal Engine 5, but one intriguing facet, oft overlooked in our fanbase, is the romhacking community for the N64 Zelda games.

Majora’s Mask: Master Quest by DeathBasket remains my favourite way to experience MM, in a “same but different” kind of way. Justifying the moving of item locations, dungeon modifications, and ramped up difficulty, under the “Master Quest” guise – exactly as the official Ocarina Master Quest did, but beyond just dungeon variances. The whole thing is just done in a much better way, so much so that I still hold this stance a decade after first playing it. Garo-Mastah’s Masked Quest is also equally as good, and if not more challenging in places – though more of a speedrun knowledge is maybe needed for this one, with certain tricks and exploits. Both are filled with moments that will absolutely stump the player, in the best of ways, as Zelda games should do.

The romhack scene for Ocarina of Time is no different either; it’s full of imaginative creations, with some that leave you Deku Nutting like there’s no tomorrow.

You’ve got hacks like Dawn and Dusk, taking you to a land, aptly split between the “Dawnside” and “Duskside, with Link being the one to bring justice to the slumbering Twilight Beast of Dusk. Curse of Moonlight, which draws inspiration from Bloodborne and brings a horror-esque souls-like twist to the Zelda formula. Complete with new enemies, locations, music and one hell of a final boss.  Sealed Palace reimagines Hyrule, adds new dungeons and music, and ups the difficulty, feeling almost sequel-like to Ocarina/Majora. These romhacks (and more) are full of brand new adventures, of all qualities and calibres, that add a giant’s wallet amount of content to the scene. 

One of these in particular though, I think, paves the way for where I think Nintendo should head with anything relating to N64 Zelda – The Missing Link. 

Set between Ocarina and Majora’s Mask, this interquel story follows Link as he searches for Navi in the Lost Woods. 

Made by a team featuring Kaze Emanuar, CDI-Fails and Zel, it’s one of the best hacks going in terms of the quality of content and construction. Plus, long-term friend and mod of mine on Twitch, @A6StringThing, composed a track in the game too (Monktown), so maybe I’m biased. But it’s fantastic playing, and essential for those with an interest in that niche. 

The idea of what that team achieved with the setting and gameplay mechanics they introduced is absolutely the direction I think Nintendo should be heading in. Imagine Nintendo giving us a new game, in an updated N64 art style, with the classic “Get Item” formula, similar in concept to Link Between Worlds, reimagining the old and new, and placing it after the events of Majora’s Mask.

Bridge the gap between Majora’s Mask and Twilight Princess. Complete the arc of the Hero of Time – keep it faithful to how the originals played, with no eyeball bosses (ignoring Gohma), actual dungeons with challenging puzzles and KEYS, for the love of the goddesses. Complete with a good linear story, too. 

Plus, please let us toot on the Ocarina of Time once more.

Just imagine the lore implications, the hype for the return of one of the most legendary incarnations of Link, and the fan service a game like that could achieve.

Wouldn’t that be the (Great Fairy’s) tits?