The short version
- Nintendo has published an Ask the Developer interview about the Switch 2 remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which launches on November 5.
- The game was rebuilt from scratch rather than ported. It's led by people from Tears of the Kingdom: director HokWai Ng, with Eiji Aonuma and Hidemaro Fujibayashi as producers.
- Big changes include a jump button, a dash, a reworked Water Temple and a new illustrated story feature called Threads of Time.
- It costs $59.99 digital in the US (about ₹5,700) and needs about 27GB of space. Nintendo has no eShop in India, so there's no official rupee price.
Who made it
Our launch preview covered a retailer leak that pointed at Xenoblade studio Monolith Soft. Nintendo's interview tells a different story about who led it. The six people interviewed are all from Nintendo's own Zelda team:
| Name | Role on the remake | Background |
|---|---|---|
| Eiji Aonuma | Producer | Zelda series producer |
| Hidemaro Fujibayashi | Producer | Directed Skyward Sword, Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom |
| HokWai Ng | Director | Started on Zelda with Tears of the Kingdom |
| Aya Shida | Art director | Character lead on Tears of the Kingdom |
| Hiroki Taguchi | Program director | |
| Masato Ohashi | Sound director | Composed for Tears of the Kingdom and Echoes of Wisdom |
The interview text we read doesn't name a studio. Notebookcheck reports it as Nintendo's in-house EPD Zelda group. Either way, the people running the project are the Tears of the Kingdom team, not an outside studio.
"The visuals may change, but the experience does not"
That line from Ng became the team's rule. Taguchi explains why it had to be a remake: 28 years had passed since the Nintendo 64 original, so instead of porting old code and data, the team recreated everything from scratch.
The world is still split into separate areas, as it was in 1998. Ng says the team chose not to make it one seamless open world, because the original's structure is part of what makes it Ocarina of Time.
The art direction used the keywords "puppet-show feel" and the look of practical-effects films. The team researched Young Link's clothing and experimented with real fabric to get the textures right. Hyrule Field is more detailed than before, and the grass reacts as you move through it.
Image: Nintendo
What plays differently
The controls borrow from recent Zelda games:
- Jumping: the original's automatic jump at ledges is gone. You now jump with a button, anywhere.
- Jump Attack: you can do it the two-step way from Breath of the Wild, or with a single press.
- Dash: holding the roll attack button now makes Link dash. The old trick of rolling over and over still works.
- Water Temple: the most famous frustration in the original has been adjusted. Switching items is easier, and some walls are now lattices so you can see where you're going.
- Gohma: the first dungeon boss now shields its weak point with its arms whenever it can't be hurt, which makes the fight easier to read.
One change didn't make it. The team added warp points during testing, and then Aonuma had them all taken out again. He admits he gave his "fair share of lectures" during development.
Threads of Time
The one brand-new feature is Threads of Time. As you play, you unlock story illustrations and text that join up into a single tapestry telling the game's story. It's a way to look back over the adventure, rather than a new quest.
Image: Nintendo
Price, size and launch
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Release | Thursday, November 5, 2026 |
| Platform | Nintendo Switch 2 only |
| US price (digital) | $59.99 (about ₹5,700) |
| Download size | About 27GB on the US eShop. Nintendo of Japan warned it needs more space than expected |
Nintendo doesn't run an official eShop in India, so Indian players usually buy imported cartridges or use another region's eShop. Imported physical copies usually cost more than the converted price once shipping and duty are added.
The interview doesn't give a resolution or frame rate, so we don't know yet how it runs. Nintendo of Japan suggests deleting unused games or using a microSD Express card if you're short on space, so clear about 27GB before the download starts tomorrow.
