The Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake shouldn't change these 5 things

Considering that the first trailer for Nintendo’s upcoming The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake showed next to nothing, it makes sense that fans have a lot to talk about. There’s a Hyrule Field’s worth of open space to debate what the remake should change as it reimagines one of the greatest — if not the greatest — video games of all time. Poke around the internet, and you’ll find plenty of fans wishing for an open-world pivot and dungeon redesigns.

While there’s certainly room to modernize a 1998 Nintendo 64 game into a 2026 Switch 2 exclusive, I’m hoping that Nintendo doesn’t go too overboard with its remake. Many features that feel dated today are partially what made Ocarina of Time so, well, timeless. Rather than dreaming up a list of features I hope Nintendo fixes, I’ve found that I have a longer list of things that I hope don’t get touched at all.

1 Leave Hyrule Field alone

If you didn’t play Ocarina of Time when it first came out, know that it’s impossible to describe how massive Hyrule Field felt at the time. It was an expansive traversal hub that felt as large as Breath of the Wild feels today, even though it was tiny in retrospect. I’ve already seen fans clamoring for the remake to expand that space, perhaps even turning it into a full open-world, but this is one area where I hope Nintendo practices some restraint. Dropping hours of extra exploration onto a game where nothing feels out of place would threaten to turn an immaculately designed adventure into a time sink. Just look at Metroid Prime 4: Beyond’s Hyrule Field-like desert for a worst-case scenario of how it could go.

Rather than going big with a mess of extra content, I hope Nintendo can find a way to hone in on the sensation of seeing Hyrule Field for the first time in other ways. For instance, making the map an interconnected world with no loading screens could go a long way towards making it feel huge without making Hyrule Field gigantic. The art direction will be the real difference-maker here, though; all that really matters is that the moment when you first see the sun shining over the field looks sublime. Nail that and Hyrule Field can remain a gorgeous, empty expanse.

2 Keep those traditional dungeons

While Nintendo’s two recent mainline Zelda games are universally beloved, they did shake up the series’ formula in polarizing ways. The biggest change in both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom was their lack of traditional dungeons. Each game had its own spin on that idea, but they weren’t quite the same as Ocarina of Time’s ironclad puzzle boxes. And I can’t say that either of the recent open-world games features climactic boss fights on par with those guarding Ocarina of Time’s dungeons.

For an Ocarina of Time remake to really get across the feeling of the original game, that old-school dungeon philosophy needs to remain intact. Visual makeovers can certainly help better realize the original dungeons' sense of scale, but the feeling of opening up a huge dungeon room by room with each discovery is inseparable from Ocarina of Time. Even annoying puzzle dungeons are great tests of spatial reasoning that force you to think like an adventurer mastering trap-filled rooms. I’ll accept some quality of life changes to help you remember what rooms you’ve explored already, but I’d hate to see any of the classic temples lose their puzzling essence — and yes, that includes the dreaded Water Temple.

3 Don’t you dare break my weapons

Image: Nintendo

Look, I’m not the kind of person who thinks Breath of the Wild’s breakable weapons are an unforgivable sin. The system makes perfect sense for that game, as it forces you to engage with the open-world by scavenging for better weapons, and making smart choices with your resources. Haters be damned! That said, I will have the world’s biggest headache if the system finds its way in the Ocarina of Time remake somehow.

Link’s weapons are basically secondary characters in Ocarina of Time. The iconic Master Sword and Hylian Shield add to the feeling that you’re playing as a hero wielding equipment that’s custom-forged for you. It’s the stuff of legends, like Excalibur. While breakable weapons opened the door for a great layer of player agency in recent Zelda games,the system doesn’t feel like much of a fit for a more straightforward adventure game that plays like an ancient folktale. The Deku Shield, though? That’s still fair game, as it was in the original. Let that sucker burn if you’re foolish enough to try and block a flaming Keese with it.

4 The wonderfully obtuse Biggoron's Sword quest must stay

Speaking of Link’s weapons, the thing I’m most excited to see in the Ocarina of Time remake is the Biggoron's Sword. I’ve gone on record before as saying that the two-handed weapon is secretly Link’s best weapon, and I’m hoping that the remake does it justice. It’s not just about keeping the sword powerful, but making sure that it’s still an absolute pain to get.

Nabbing the Biggoron's Sword involves going on a convoluted fetch quest line that involves trading a bunch of items around Hyrule to obtain eye drops for a giant Goron. It’s obtuse and easy to miss, but that’s what makes it special. It makes the Biggoron's Sword feel like an honest-to-God secret that’s hard to get, but worth the hassle. I wouldn’t be surprised to see some quality of life tweaks that make it easier to track, but I hope that it’s kept a bit out of sight to preserve the reward of actually hunting it down.

5 Listen, Navi should remain annoying

Image: Nintendo

If I polled 1,000 fans and asked what they would want to see changed most in a remake, I bet the most common answer would be “make Navi less annoying.” Link’s fairy companion is the most infamous part of the original game, interrupting the action over and over with a “Hey, listen!” Navi is a clumsy helper who is overeager to give you tips to defeat enemies or solve puzzles. I imagine that she’ll talk a bit less in the remake, and long-time fans will feel a sense of relief.

I’ll be honest, though: I can’t imagine Ocarina of Time without an annoying sidekick. It’s one of the most memorable parts of the original game, so much that “Hey, listen!” is still a meme today. With remakes, there’s always a tendency to pave over longtime gripes like this in the name of “fixing” a problem. With Ocarina of Time, I hope that Nintendo understands that so many of the original’s eccentricities are part of its identity. There’s plenty of space to tweak, from making small quality of life changes to respectfully reimagining some locations, but Nintendo can’t throw out what makes Ocarina of Time a classic in the process. Navi’s interruptions are part of that, whether you hate her or not.

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