Nintendo pulled back the curtain on the remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time today in a big way making it the primary pillar of the Zelda 40th anniversary showcase. Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma played a lot of the early game and detailed many of its various changes and updates.
First off, we got a good look at young Link with all kinds of additional textures and details on his character model. Following the presentation, an extended trailer for the game also showed adult Link and lots of moments and characters from the game. Some, like myself, might even argue too much. You can check out the trailer above.
Aonuma showed off many areas from the game and highlighted what’s new and what is unchanged. He started in the Kokiri Forest, the opening area, which has a similar layout, but tons more details. Animations, in particular, are really impressive with a good example being the energetic shopkeeper feeling much active and childlike.
Expectedly, you now have full camera control (an update from the original game), and Link can now jump on command. In the original game, Link jumped over gaps automatically. Link can also now swim faster.
Link greeted Saria in the village and she said, “Hi!” but was not voiced. The cutscenes in the game, however, are fully voiced.
Link appears to still have his traditional item-equip screen, but he can also use Breath of the Wild’s item scroll, using the R shoulder button to scroll through items, and the ZR button to use the item. Navi can also react to just about everything in the game offer more details. We saw Link use the slingshot, which can be used with motion controls if you choose.
Next Aonuma showed off Hyrule field, which appears to have a similar layout. Instead of having to roll everywhere, Link can now roll once and start sprinting, an action he can do everywhere.
A new Threads of Fate screen will keep track of what you need to do and keep a record of what you have done. Over the course of the game, it will fill in a large tapestry.
Aonuma entered Hyrule Castle Town after showing off Death Mountain the Kakariko Village windmill in the distance. Apparently, there will still be loading screens between areas to maintain the intention of the original game, which is disappointing, but we’ll need to see how it feels in the actual game. Hyrule Castle Town is no longer an area with a fixed camera and you can you explore it with full camera control. Again, the animations have been heavily overhauled filling the characters with far more life. Time flows normally now throughout the game, which is a change. In the original game, time would completely stop when you were in the various towns.
The ocarina functions essentially the same as it did in the original game, but Nintendo will be releasing a physical, playable ocarina that you can use to play the real songs, which the Switch 2 mic will pick up and activate. You can also hum the music, too. We watched Aonuma playe Epona’s Song to call Epona.
Breath of the Wild and Tears of Kingdom director Hidemaro Fujibayashi also appeared in the stream to detail how the app, Zelda Notes, would connect with the game. In the Nintendo Switch 2 editions of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, Zelda Notes offered added lore bits to the Wild-Era games. In Ocarina of Time, you earn points as you play the game which you can use to unlock songs in the app that you can play in the app, or learn to play on a real ocarina. You can also design your own ocarina songs and share them them via QR codes.
The app will also have a trivia game you can play once daily, or you can use in-game rupees to answer more trivia questions.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake releases November 5, 2026.
