Nintendo, if nothing else, is occasionally known to surprise, and that’s what’s happened today during its new Direct presentation. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is getting a remake on Nintendo Switch 2.
It’s not some far-flung project, rather it’s going to happen by the end of 2026, the announcement claims. Nintendo has been doing this lately with projects being revealed very close to release, as it did with the most recent Star Fox game, announced on May 6 and releasing not even two months later on June 25. There’s no release date for the Ocarina of Time remake yet, but we’re probably talking October, at the latest, given everyone’s desire to flee from Grand Theft Auto 6. Though if anyone can stand up to Rockstar, it could be Nintendo.
The bad news, however, is that this new trailer does not come with any significant footage of the new remake, rather a retelling of the story using a tapestry. There are a couple seconds of Young Link sleeping, which appears to be actual gameplay. Well, if you can call it gameplay. We see him grunting and the triforce appearing on his hand.
Ocarina of Time is certainly not the first Zelda game to be remade by Nintendo, but it might be the most high-profile. The original game was released almost 30 years ago in 1998. It was put on GameCube with hoisted over N64 code. Ocarina of Time 3D was released on the 3DS in 2011, then it made its way to Wii Virtual Console and Nintendo Switch Online. But clearly this is the most significant evolution of the game since release.
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Fans are excited about its existence, but not as enthused about the lack of a release date, preorders or any amount of significant gameplay footage. It stands to reason that Nintendo may do a dedicated Direct ahead of the game’s fall release, but this did come off like a teaser for something very far away. That may lead to questions about if it will hit its window, but it’s likely too close for them to miscalculate that.
For many, however, this remains not enough. Nintendo has been accused of shelving some of its biggest names, and while the Switch 2 has broken more than a few hardware sales records, a frequent accusation is a lack of “must-have” games. Fans now believe they’ve been waiting way too long for something significant, and a remake of a decades-old game, however good it may be, isn’t good enough. Hopefully we’ll see more information soon.
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