After playing The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake, returning to the original left me feeling more hollow than the Great Deku Tree

October 14, 2026 at 01:01 PM

If I could scoop up the feeling of playing any game for the first time and relive it, I’d use my free pass on The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time .

<![CDATA[ <article> If I could scoop up the feeling of playing any game for the first time and relive it, I’d use my free pass on The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Thankfully, after two hours with the game in an early access preview with Nintendo of Europe, I’m fully backing the 40th Anniversary remake for the <a href="https://www.techradar.com/gaming/nintendo/nintendo-switch-2-review">Nintendo Switch 2</a> as the next best thing.I was invited to play through the first 45 minutes in Kokiri Forest, a quick 15-minute jaunt across Hyrule Field and into the Hyrule Castle Town Market, as well as the entirety of Adult Link’s forest temple, and in that time, I was totally won over on this long-awaited remake.From what I’ve seen so far, Ocarina of Time’s 2026 remake is faithful to the original, but additive in all the right ways. Having replayed the same segments in the original through Nintendo Switch Online post-preview, though, these refinements make the two feel worlds apart, and I think the 2026 remake is shaping up to be the definitive way to enjoy the Hero of Time’s epic adventure.<figure role="gallery"><figure><img src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/3FP8vpu5tyNgMMPm54ZaxA-1920-80.png" alt="In-game screenshots from the Ocarina of Time remake" /><figcaption>Nintendo</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/onVENcSJw7SsVbYKE9uAqA-1920-80.png" alt="In-game screenshots from the Ocarina of Time remake" /><figcaption>Nintendo</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Rbrw23D9gwvBsKxjwWFRUA-1920-80.png" alt="In-game screenshots from the Ocarina of Time remake" /><figcaption>Nintendo</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/bbxEaZZzJFbyzZ5j5XW3ea-1920-80.jpg" alt="The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake" /><figcaption>Nintendo</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/SK4TPW98EPU79iytiwh9Q9-1920-80.png" alt="Ocarina of Time preview" /><figcaption>Nintendo</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ziuAHggW2MoNLfQ4FzHD87-1920-80.png" alt="Ocarina of Time preview" /><figcaption>Nintendo</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/jKDjtQrKWAiWsbti8cpYv5-1920-80.png" alt="Ocarina of Time preview" /><figcaption>Nintendo</figcaption></figure></figure><h2 id="something-old-something-new">Something old, something new…</h2>Rendered in vivid greens and cerulean blues, the Nintendo Switch 2-exclusive 40th Anniversary remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is a feast for the senses. The biggest talking point and most drastic change is, of course, the art style.The level of detail could be described as maximalist, from the intricate woven patterns on Link’s iconic green garb to the litany of floaties, sprites, and fairies crowding the airways of Kokiri Forest. However, online discourse suggests it hasn’t been to everyone’s taste — nor was it to mine, at first glance.From playing the game, I’m reassured that the art style makes sense in Ocarina of Time’s Hyrule. Nintendo has a history of shifting artistic gears with each new era, but there’s a sound logic, thematically, behind its arguably garish style. The game has always had plenty of visual cues for the loss of innocence, the death of magic, and the corruption of whimsy; <a href="https://www.techradar.com/gaming/nintendo/my-first-love-the-legend-of-zelda-turns-40-today-heres-why-i-think-the-series-has-survived-and-thrived">I’ve previously compared</a> many of Nintendo’s artistic treatments within Zelda games to mid-century fantasy media like The Lord of the Rings. That contrast is all the more apparent with such a lush backdrop to build upon, and every second I played felt totally immersive visually. Plus, with free camera movement and no fixed perspectives in Hyrule Castle Town Market, you can take in every angle of the world; it’s a facelift I feel the game really deserves.There is a cartoonish quality to the character models, with some online naysayers calling them DLSS or AI slop-coded. While I still have my reservations when it comes to Zelda and Sheik’s models, they do fit well in this more fantasy-inspired Hyrule. Perhaps not to everyone’s taste, no, but welcome to the world of entertainment media where your feelings are not fact. To me, all of the stylistic changes feel true to what the game would have looked like if hardware back in the late 90s was capable of rendering it, but most crucially, the feeling of the original is preserved and, in places, improved. <div class= "tiktok-wrapper" style="min-height: 750px;"><blockquote class="tiktok-embed" cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@techradar/video/7696507658605530390" data-video-id="7696507658605530390" style="max-width: 605px; min-width: 325px;"> <section> <a target="_blank" title="@techradar" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@techradar">@techradar</a> <a target="_blank" title="♬ original sound - TechRadar" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7696507694861798166">♬ original sound - TechRadar</a></section> </blockquote></div> The soundtrack is grand and sweeping, refining an already beautiful soundscape with re-orchestrated themes, refreshed vocal efforts (read: Link’s “hyup” and “hyaah”s), and all-new cutscene voice acting.Given there’s a lot more dialog now, too, nailing the voice acting feels more important than ever; I’m personally not sold on some of the performances, though. The sparse lines I heard from Navi weren’t quite as distinctive (nor annoying) as I was hoping for, and the Greak Deku Tree is less epic Shakespearean, more audiobook reader on 0.75x speed. In fairness, I wasn’t immediately impressed by some of Breath of the Wild’s voice acting, either, but over time these grew on me — perhaps it will be the same here.I noticed in my time with the game a few shifts in the story beats; the Deku Tree gives some more context about spirit stones and the fate of Hyrule in his first meeting with Link, and Malon wasn’t in the Hyrule Castle Town Market by the fountain as she is in the original. Those hoping for a 1:1 repeat of the story might find themselves slightly alarmed when the full game releases, but what I’ve seen so far is minimal at best and serves only to neaten up the narrative and some translations.Fundamentally, though, the core gameplay loop seems to have been preserved, and again, the bulk of what you’re getting with this remake is refinement. Smoother combat and tweaked dungeons and puzzles work around Link’s increased mobility; menus feel more streamlined, and locations for collectibles and items have moved around somewhat. It’s an altogether more cohesive package and offers older fans a chance to rediscover the Hero of Time’s world. Outside of the obvious talking points already covered in Nintendo’s 40th Anniversary Zelda Direct back in September (Threads of Time quest log, better mobility with dashing, jumping, and swimming, fewer loading screens, etc.), the main addition I noticed that’s entirely new to me is Fairy Messages hidden around Hyrule. I only encountered two of these, but they seem to be a hint system for finding secrets and clues for dungeons. These appear to replace (and add to) at least some of Navi’s clues; though I did miss her near-constant yelling. <figure role="gallery"><figure><img src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/sCrzYo33GbAcPNrmbBHbwd-1920-80.png" alt="Locations of Hyrule title cards" /><figcaption>Nintendo</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/pgBFF4Z23z2EC5Ro3UFisd-1920-80.png" alt="Locations of Hyrule title cards" /><figcaption>Nintendo</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/VyCnKdsaqCcdWPjbHfg9sd-1920-80.png" alt="Locations of Hyrule title cards" /><figcaption>Nintendo</figcaption></figure></figure><h2 id="something-borrowed-something-blue">Something borrowed, something blue</h2>I’d wager Nintendo was very intentional in choosing these segments for our demo to keep some of the bigger surprises and adaptations shielded from view before release; and my deepest desires for the remake lurk in these as-yet-unexplored locations. Some are more expected; from extended gameplay footage and these recent demos, we already know the topology of some locations like Kakariko Village has changed, and arguably for the better, with more to see and do.We were under strict instruction not to enter peripheral locations like the Lost Woods, and my hope is that’s because there’s a meaty change here. I loved stumbling through Breath of the Wild’s swirling mists and spindly trees; seeing something similar here rather than a series of logs would be a great reimagining of the location, and I'm all for borrowing from more recent games' success. <div class= "tiktok-wrapper" style="min-height: 750px;"><blockquote class="tiktok-embed" cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@techradar/video/7696518880037965078" data-video-id="7696518880037965078" style="max-width: 605px; min-width: 325px;"> <section> <a target="_blank" title="@techradar" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@techradar">@techradar</a> <a target="_blank" title="♬ original sound - TechRadar" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7696518905984174870">♬ original sound - TechRadar</a></section> </blockquote></div> I’d be willing to bet that changes will be more significant in later adult Link locations I didn’t see in my preview, though. It’ll be interesting to see how Nintendo navigates the gritty, dark themes in the new world of game age ratings and its more squeaky-clean image. Those who skipped the 3DS remaster might be surprised to discover that, in all likelihood, the blood stains in the Bottom of the Well and Shadow Temple dungeons might be heavily sanitized or entirely removed — but I’m really hoping they find a sensible way to keep the sinister atmosphere intact. There’s also an opportunity to tie up some loose ends: namely, Zora’s frozen domain, which, presumably for file size reasons, never unfreezes after Adult Link defeats the Water Temple in the original game. It's one of my favorite locations, and seeing it returned to its vibrant ultramarine hues would make Link's efforts all the more satisfying. These are nice-to-haves, but based on what I’ve played, Nintendo has built a reimagining of greatness from the ground up, and it might even be hard to return to the original without noticing its every flaw or limitation. I certainly struggled post-preview despite racking up more than 20 saves in my lifetime.I’ll certainly be playing the full game when it releases on November 5th, so make sure to check back then for our full review. Provided it doesn’t take me eons to figure out the new Water Temple… again. </article> ]]>

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