Ocarina of Time is reborn on Switch 2: our favorite Zelda returns, but Nintendo shows nothing

Some announcements are not analyzed, they are felt in the gut. When Nintendo slipped The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake into its Direct, we were twelve years old again, N64 controller in hand, lost in the corridors of the Water Temple. It is our favorite Zelda, for many of us the first great adventure game of our lives, the one we long wrongly called our first RPG. And it is coming back on Switch 2. The trouble is, Nintendo sold us the emotion without showing us the game.

The context

The remake was made official at a Nintendo Direct, for a Switch 2 release planned in 2026, and not 2027: Nintendo confirmed the game would indeed arrive this year. No specific date, not even a launch window, just that promise of an imminent return. The announcement also confirms last March's leaks, which already pointed to an Ocarina of Time for late this year.

A small clarification for the purists, because we like being honest: Ocarina of Time is not really an RPG. It is an action-adventure game, with no experience points or classic leveling. But for an entire generation, it was the gateway to the big adventure game, that moment when we understood a virtual world could be vast, mysterious and overwhelming. So RPG or not, its status as a milestone is beyond dispute.

What we know

And here is the catch: we know almost nothing. The Direct settled for a short teaser, a few seconds of prologue cinematic, without a single image of gameplay. What we saw is gorgeous, the light catching Link's hair obviously has nothing to do with the 1998 N64, but we are talking about a handful of shots, not a demonstration. Nintendo promised to say more over the course of the year, and the whole community smells the same plan: a Nintendo Direct fully dedicated to Zelda, where the gameplay and a first real trailer would finally be revealed.

The timing, for its part, is no accident. The Zelda saga is turning 40, a movie is expected for 2027, and what better way to sell Switch 2 systems and cinema tickets than to bring back the franchise's most iconic entry ? A tasty detail for veterans: in 1996, Ocarina of Time and Star Fox were in development at the same time. In 2026, Ocarina of Time and a new Star Fox are in development at the same time. The time loop is dizzying.

For the record, the game has already lived several lives: the N64 original in 1998, a GameCube reissue, then a 3D remaster on 3DS in 2011. That last one brought real comfort tweaks, notably on the infamous Water Temple, with simplified boot swapping and a color code so you no longer got lost. The question is what this Switch 2 version adds on top of all that.

What worries us

Our first worry is also the simplest: how do you announce a game for six months from now without showing a single second of gameplay ? Either Nintendo is deliberately holding its cards for a dedicated Direct, which is likely, or the project is less advanced than it seems. Either way, judging a remake on a few seconds of cinematic is a coin flip.

The real underlying question is the very nature of this remake. Will we be facing a simple coat of paint, an Ocarina identical down to the pixel but in 4K, or a true reimagining à la Final Fantasy VII, with new content, reworked dungeons, a Hyrule finally populated by more than thirty inhabitants ? The two camps are already clashing, between those who want nothing touched and those who dream of new puzzles. Nintendo is walking a tightrope: too much faithfulness and it is a paid museum, too much freedom and it ruffles the purists.

Last point of caution, the art direction. The little we glimpsed gives a slightly smooth Link, almost unsettling to some, far from the bold visual signatures of Wind Waker or Breath of the Wild. A realistic Ocarina remake can be sublime, but it can also fall into that soulless in-between that nobody asked for.

Are we waiting for it ?

We are, of course, with all our childhood heart. Ocarina of Time remains for us the emotional peak of the saga, the game that defined what an adventure could be. Seeing it run on modern hardware, with real technical ambition, is a dream we no longer dared voice. Nostalgia, here, is not a dirty word, it is a legitimate engine.

But we will not buy an emotion on trust. Until Nintendo has shown gameplay, explained its vision and clarified what it adds, we keep a cool head. This remake could become the finest tribute in gaming history, or a luxury rehash surfing on 40 years of memories. The next Direct will decide. Until then, we dust off the cartridge and we wait. To be continued.