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brightknightie) wrote2026-06-10 08:27 am
brightknightie) wrote2026-06-10 08:27 am
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Nintendo confirmed: Ocarina of Time remake coming this year
To no one's surprise, yesterday's Nintendo Direct ended with an official announcement of the long-rumored (and leaked) The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake. Watch the official Nintendo trailer (1:37). To some surprise, we learned that it will come out later this year, presumably in time for the winter-holidays gifting season, not only in time for the run-up to the live-action movie next year.
The official tagline is that this is OoT "reborn" (not remade, rebooted, reimagined). OoT is one of the most beloved, influential, and respected video games of all time (#1 on Metacritic). Original in 1998, it got an extremely faithful remake (tech glow-up?) in 2011, and is available for play today via Nintendo's subscription service. Some folks long for Nintendo to add to the story and world; others dread any alteration.
From the very little we saw in yesterday's announcement, the art style seems reminiscent of years of Unreal Engine fanworks. I imagine that the Nintendo business mucky-mucks directed that the Switch 2 must be put through its visual paces, probably gesturing at the competition, and this is how the team responded. Some fans are thrilled with the realism; some would have strongly preferred a new stylization. (I think pretty much everyone knew that the Wilds era art style had had its day: 2 epic main series games, 2 side games.) I'll wait for a real trailer, but in defense of the realism choice: (1) the original OoT was lauded for its realism in its day, and (2) the live-action movie audience may find realistic art an easier entry point than stylization. Nintendo won't want to repeat Wind Waker's [undeservedly!] poor reception in the US.
(Some details from the preview: I spotted Link's cap on his bedpost. I imagine the blue leathery armor over Link's classic green tunic is meant to evoke the blue Champion's tunic for all the Wilds-era fans (and given that Skyward Sword Link flopped down in chainmail and boots, we should all accept that Link can sleep in anything). I think that![[youtube.com profile]](https://youtube.com/favicon.ico)
KokiriTheory is right about the tapestry being a narrow top-to-bottom sequential telling of the whole story; kudos to her. And of course Zeltik is right to call out that the opening narration is emphatically in the past tense ("Long ago, there was..."), which is key to those of us who have fun with timeline lore.)
The official tagline is that this is OoT "reborn" (not remade, rebooted, reimagined). OoT is one of the most beloved, influential, and respected video games of all time (#1 on Metacritic). Original in 1998, it got an extremely faithful remake (tech glow-up?) in 2011, and is available for play today via Nintendo's subscription service. Some folks long for Nintendo to add to the story and world; others dread any alteration.
From the very little we saw in yesterday's announcement, the art style seems reminiscent of years of Unreal Engine fanworks. I imagine that the Nintendo business mucky-mucks directed that the Switch 2 must be put through its visual paces, probably gesturing at the competition, and this is how the team responded. Some fans are thrilled with the realism; some would have strongly preferred a new stylization. (I think pretty much everyone knew that the Wilds era art style had had its day: 2 epic main series games, 2 side games.) I'll wait for a real trailer, but in defense of the realism choice: (1) the original OoT was lauded for its realism in its day, and (2) the live-action movie audience may find realistic art an easier entry point than stylization. Nintendo won't want to repeat Wind Waker's [undeservedly!] poor reception in the US.
(Some details from the preview: I spotted Link's cap on his bedpost. I imagine the blue leathery armor over Link's classic green tunic is meant to evoke the blue Champion's tunic for all the Wilds-era fans (and given that Skyward Sword Link flopped down in chainmail and boots, we should all accept that Link can sleep in anything). I think that