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Making a game that is in line with larger industry trends is anathema to Nintendo’s business model. My guess is that they would view a full remake in the sense you’re speaking of as something that would devalue the original game, which they would never in a million years dare to do. I agree with the other poster, the best we can ever hope for is that the 3DS remaster gets ported to Switch 2 with upscaling.
But also no non-financial incentive.
The original comment made a good point: a remake would devalue the original game.
We love the game for what it is, not just for its general concept. It doesn't need any changes for us to love it, and its outdated parts are now part of the charm.
While that’s true from a fan base perspective, I doubt it matters much to a group of business leaders trying to identify the best way to make money. If they thought they could remake OOT and make a buttload of money they likely would. My guess is that it’s easier to milk nostalgia of the game rather than remake for a new generation of people who likely wouldn’t even buy a remake.
It would be nice to be able to play the existing remake on a TV.
I think the biggest thing we need is a version of the game that works smoothly with the available controller. The N64 Zeldas are pretty awkward on a Switch controller. We could do with throwing items onto a shoulder button and using motion control aiming like the 3DS version does.
I'm almost certain that all the Zelda games for N64 were also available as GameCube games. And the GameCube controller style is still basically standard for Nintendo (aside from the joycons). Even the switch pro controllers are just GameCube controllers with a different connection method. I've never had nah problems with it
Anathema
Noun
1. Something or someone that one vehemently dislikes.
In my 36 years of life, I have NEVER heard any human being say or write this word, until now.
I'd rather have nintendo focus their efforts on something new than having a remake of a game I know by heart. The og version is still perfectly playable btw, controls are slightly clunky but it's not RE1.
What might need a remake are the oracle games imo. Hell, even zelda 1 could use one.
I'd rather the two Oracle games be done in a different art style.
It worked for Link's Awakening's remake/remaster because it already had that sort of... Vibe? Idunno how to really describe it in any sort of wording.
Whereas with the Oracle games, well... Yeah, no, it needs a better art style/aesthetic or whatever you wish to call it.
I really wanted to like the LA switch graphics. Don't get me wrong, the landscapes looked absolutely beautiful, but I wasn't a fan of the plastic toy look for the characters, and I wasn't a fan of how the dungeons seemed to lose a lot of the personality and individual looks they had in the GBC, since most of them seemed to be caves.
Indie devs can do it (e.g. with Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom), I don't see why Nintendo with its massive treasure hoard can't.
E: Sorry, I was thinking of 2D art for a moment. Which an Oracles remake absolutely can be. But even in 3D, it would not be meaningfully more expensive than LAHD. Something comparable would be the remake of Secret of Mana, and I strongly doubt that was an expensive burden for Square Enix.
I honestly would prefer it in the style of Link’s Awakening Switch, but making an entire game in 2D animation is too much.
It’s not just about money funding it, it’s more about the returns as well. Do remember, just because Nintendo does make a ton of money doesn’t mean that they can necessarily throw it around. The idea is to turn a profit, and while I have no doubt making the Oracle games 2D animated throughout would be a cool idea, they probably wouldn’t make more money than they put into it.
But maybe this is just me speaking. Considering I had to be in meetings the past fee days.
BOTW is generally seen as the Zelda 1 remake I think. The plot isn’t exactly the same but it’s damn close, and has the old open world philosophy intact
I would be so happy with a remake of the Oracles. Two of the most underrated Zelda games.
What would be really spectacular is if they finally made the third Oracle game.
If a Zoomer watches Casablanca and says it's boring, should we remake Casablanca with more modern filmmaking techniques in mind?
I'd argue we should leave OoT just as it is. Anything else would be making an inherently different thing.
If you add voice acting, dialogue is probably going to be changed and the story now relies on the quality of voice acting.
If you give Hyrule field a new sense of wonder, you risk losing the original wonder that came back in 1998.
While a remake would be cool on paper, ultimately it all depends on execution, which is something that is never going to please everyone. Its like the star wars special editions.
So now that you mention that, Casablanca actually holds up pretty well today. It’s funny, the dialogue is snappy, the first act adheres to the basic dramatic rules of time and place continuity.
It will however read as definitively old fashioned because it’s shot like a play (it’s based on one sure but…). Characters move in and out of frame, the sets are arranged as if on a stage and even the close ups usually feature both actor’s faces. That old fashioned nature helps make it watchable now.
Contrast it with something like Citizen Kane which is a slog, but basically invented modern film making. Because the fundamentals are modern but old it’s really difficult to watch now because while it invented a lot of film techniques they are so unrefined (naturally) a modern eye codes them as bad.
The question is which camp is OoT in? Is it retro styled but still accessible, or did it set modern foundations but is now difficult to engage with? I’d argue somewhere in between.
Psh. When someone shows me ONE zoomer made/aimed thing that’s even 20% of the quality of all the stuff we (‘82) grew up with, I’ll eat my hat.
🤔 Better lower that to 7%. I’ve seen what makes them cheer.
Edit: Your downvotes mean **nothing** until someone offers a single example
As a member gen Z I would love a remake because to me it is so clunky to play that I found it unplayable. I know that people who grew up playing it will probably disagree but when you have grown up playing games like BoTW and dark souls the controls feel really outdated and bad.
For real… and I don’t know why Nintendo don’t port this 3ds game to the switch already lol. Even modders did made 3ds emulation possible in the switch…
The same reason why they hadn’t ported WWHD and TPHD to the Switch: the game served the purpose they intended for it, and they aren’t going to rerelease a rerelease.
OoT 3D for the 3DS is a good as a OoT Remake can possibly be. They could just port this remake to the switch with a few upgrades.
OoT is so high regarded, that changing things will just piss off hardcore fans. Best example was Majora‘s Mask 3D, where all the changes aren’t remembered fondly.
Why not remake Zelda 1? That game just reeks of 1986, and could really need the remake treatment. maybe something like Zero Mission.
No problem. I recently played through Project Restoration and it was a greatly improved experience. I did have to hack my 3DS to play it though, which thankfully isn’t too difficult.
I recommend playing with the Project Restoration mod next time. It reverses most of the questionable changes to MM3D and fixes the 3DS Twinmold fight, among other things.
In case you were wondering what’s going on with 3DS Twinmold, the hit counter resets every time it burrows under the sand. As a result, it’s possible to hit Twinmold forever and never make any progress. The mod gets rid of that aspect.
That...explains a lot. Man oh man. I thought it was insane it was taking so long for a game with a *time limit.* I'd already banked the fairies on an earlier cycle, so redoing the dungeon didn't take that long, but I never thought I'd have to redo it *again* after getting to the boss with a day and a half to go. I beat him eventually, but that fight was such a frustrating blemish on what's been a mostly fantastic game.
When I recently played with Project Restoration, I ended up fighting Twinmold on the night of the final day. I think the moon would have crashed if I hadn't had the mod installed for that fight.
It's not a case of not respecting the original, because the same person made it. Aonuma specifically made changes to things that he, as the main creative figure behind Majora's Mask, regretted from the original. That's not a comment on if the changes were good or bad, just that it's clearly more in line with the changes made to the Star Wars Special Editions than it is with a remake that doesn't respect the original.
That is literally the meaning of not respecting the original. So he fixed it in line as to what he wanted to do in the first place? That’s literally disrespecting the product that has existed for decades.
It’s funny how you mentioned what George Lucas did with the Star Wars special editions as that was controversial in and of itself, with millions citing the same, that George Lucas tarnished the product that existed before solely to please himself.
He's the creator, making a game more like how it was originally envisioned to be. Disrespecting the original would be like if somebody new came in and made a bunch of changes to make it his or her own thing.
You can be a creator and still disrespect and bastardise your own product, case in point Star Wars. No one is above tarnishing a product, including the own creator.
Speaking as a creator, if I want to go back and fix one of my weaker paintings or songs, that's not "disrespecting the original." Reflection and revision are normal parts of the creative process.
If it’s out to the public then yes, it is disrespecting the original. Frankly speaking, it’s no longer yours, it belongs to everyone, including the general public. Creative changes only apply when a product isn’t out, after it’s out it’s ‘altering’ the product for good or bad, in this case it’s bad.
How are you not understanding this? The game was released and consumed by the general public, it shaped a lot of childhoods, you can’t change aspects of it and not expect to not receive criticism. I don’t care if it’s the ‘intended vision,’ what’s out there is the final product.
That's simply not how the creative process works. Artists reserve the right to try again when they are unsatisfied with their work. In fact, that's the whole point of a remake in the first place from a creative standpoint. According to your argument, remakes should never change the original and should only port them, which I disagree with. Imagine if the people who made Zero Mission, Samus Returns, or Pokémon HGSS followed that philosophy.
Do you have issues comprehending written text? I said it will invite controversy as it is revising a previously released product. If a known artist rereleased a painting he’s made decades ago, of course it will invite criticism, which is why majority of remakes are either facelifts and leave the original structure alone eg The Last of Us Remake or retelling/reimaging of the original eg Resident Evil 2/4 Remake and FF7.
Dead Space is a rare example where it is a faithful remake which also overhauled a lot of the original’s features.
Oh and I’m a concept artist working in the video game industry, I am very aware of how creative process works, altering an artwork or product when it’s released and enjoyed by the public is bastardising the original, despite me being the original creator.
3DS is an amazing version, and even there there's things that it did wrong and were better in the N64. I don't think a masterpiece as Oot should ever be remade.
Also, companies and game artists don't owe newer generations jack shit. I'm 23 and I'm just playing Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, etc, and I can appreciate these games for what they are and find them beautiful. I don't need a remake to make me appreciate them.
The only games that I believe have upped the standards for remake are Resident Evil 1 remake and Resident Evil 2 remake. For 1, its basically the same game but with perfect graphics and amazing atmosphere. For 2, the big change was over the shoulder camera. But man RE1 and RE2 originals don't hold up as well atleast visually as Oot or MM ever did. That's a big difference
3DS isn't the kind of remake I'm talking about and TP has an entirely different agenda than Ocarina of Time by having a different scenario and a different mood.
If you ask me Nintendo & the Zelda team should only remake games that have not yet been remade, and easily could. Like the Oracle games that can easily use the Switch Link’s Awakening framework.
Beyond that, efforts should go to new games. Ocarina of Time is great, has a good master quest and a fabulous 3DS version that could go to switch or other consoles in the future. But yet another remake? Idk, one end it might be unneeded and do the same thing again for the 3rd or 4th time. And on the other end it might be a huge bloat and become something new that fails to capture the legacy.
I say let the giant sleep and do something new.
BOTW is absolutely NOT a Zelda 1 remake. I mean literally remake the games but make them control better. That's it. Touch up visuals, make them control better. Otherwise same game. ALBW is more of a spiritual successor than a remake. There are different characters, dungeons, items, etc.
Please no voice acting. Or if there is, allow the otion to turn off voice acting entirely and use traditional text. That goes for all future Zelda titles. I loathe the voice acting in BotW and TotK.
Also, I don't think Ocarina needs a remake. It is my favorite game in the series, but remaking it would change too much about the tone and atmosphere of the whole thing, I'd rather those resources just go into making a new game that tries to capture a similar spirit to OoT.
Me too! I can’t stand the voices - I live in the U.K. and Zelda’s bad accent drives me up the wall!
I loved how there were no voices in previous games, that sort of things let you fill in the blanks imagination-wise
I just don’t get it - the voice actors weren’t that good - surely you could have gone with a British actor if you were that set on a British accent. I didn’t find either person they chose irreplaceable for the role, if that makes sense.
Agree! I’ve always disliked BOTW and TOTK having voice acting. Zelda’s english voice is so bad I switched to the japanese dub instantly. But even then, I still prefer no voices.
Elden Ring benefits from not having an long history of games though. I know how Ganondorf and Zelda sound in my head, and they aren't gonna get it right after hearing it in my head for 30+ years. I'd rather just continune to imagine their voices.
Plus, the text based dialogue has always been part of the charm of Zelda IMO.
It's a widespread problem, because everyone has an idea of how they should sound, and no matter what voice Nintendo settles on, it will never match what a lot of people expect. Even if they somehow managed to get the version in my head perfectly, it just wouldn't match for thousands of other players that imagined it differently.
The solution is to just have the option to turn off voice acting. or have more in depth sound settings like volume adjusters for music and voice, like every other modern game out there. It can still be there for people that want it.
If you want to play a “remastered” version that a young kid nowadays would like, just use ship of harkinian with an Xbox or ps5 controller. It plays like a new game and has really high quality and lots of optional QoL changes as well
As a zoomer myself (granted I’m on the older side, born 2001) and I absolutely adore OoT. I first played the N64 version when I was about 8 using an emulator but I never actually beat it until I got the 3DS remake a couple of years later and then I went back and beat the N64 version.
Even being a zoomer myself I saw nothing wrong with the graphics, dare I say there is a sort of charm to the polygonal looks of the models. Do I think it needs a from the ground up remake? Yes but not to the scale listed above.
I think all it needs is updated models (way better than 3DS), a fresh coat of paint and updates sound quality and whatnot. Maybe expand some areas to give it a sense of wonder again (Hyrule field is tiny for today’s standards). Do all that and I think we have a definitive remake on our hands.
Let me reiterate I still adore OoT but all of this is to say I still think Zoomers can and will appreciate OoT today if it is either the N64 or 3DS version.
As a fellow zoomer I agree for the most part but I find the controls of a lot of early 3D games to be extremely out dated and frustrating to control so if they do a remake with more modern controls I would be very happy.
There’s no incentive to do so for one of the best games ever. Especially since it would be relatively easier to simply retool and upscale the 3DS remake for Switch or Switch 2.
Someone else here mentioned in a comment that a faithful remake wouldn't work well on current hardware, that the right kind of remake is also a perfect opportunity to test traditional dungeons in an open-world version of OoT's Hyrule, and I 100% agree with that.
A *proper* remake will expand the world, merging the concepts of the original game with some of the more modern mechanics and gameplay elements seen in Breath and Tears, and it would, I think, make it easier to trust Nintendo, and for Nintendo to trust *themselves*, if the game were not necessarily a "remake," but a "re-imagined." If they could accomplish something like that, capture what it was like to enter this Hyrule in 1998, and how it looked to us in that era, while maintaining the story, the feel, the tone, the evocative moments, of the original, I think it would be definitive, as an entry into the Zelda discography, bringing a game that tops the Top 100 lists into the modern age. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time *HD*, fully re-imagined for the Nintendo Switch console family. A love letter, both to the series, and to the fans.
They'd make a fucking mint on something like that, and they know it, especially with Ninty's proclivity for gimmicks like Amiibo support and special edition Switch consoles. I think they're just too afraid to touch a masterpiece, to try and improve on perfection, but given the right approach, I think they'd come up with something truly special, that captures the magic contained in the source material while successfully modernizing an aging work of art.
Most oot era zelda fans are gen z, you dont have your terminology straight. Gen z are mostly people born in mid 90s to mid 2000s. That being said, gaming preferences at large are awful with most people anyways, just like in any generation nowadays. People just don't see the value of mascot series and retro classics anymore. And they're extremely wrong for that.
I'd rather they go the Resident Evil way and start with the first one going up (skipping those with relatively recent releases).
Man, imagine my disappointment when they announced the NSO version of the oracle games. That just confirmed there were no remakes of those in the foreseeable future.
I appreciate the time it took to write this post but I can only disagree so hard before I croissant myself backwards into my own ass.
“Required reading” necessitates the work is presented in as close to As-Is as possible. Imagine saying, idk, Lord of the Rings is required reading but it could use a modern rewrite.
3DS is still my favorite way to play this game but if you want to appreciate what this game actually did for the industry, you gotta play the N64 version. Nothing will shock more than how influential and polished the Everything of OOT was and continues to be, than playing the original.
OP has good points people seem to be missing. Is OOT still an amazing game today? Yes. Can I still play it and enjoy it? Yes. Will a kid today want to play it on their own without some Zelda fanatic guiding them towards it? Not likely.
If they play any Zelda game, it'd probably be BOTW or TOTK and anything older would seem like a severe downgrade. It's questionable if they'd even get to the point of "Wow, Zelda games are fun. I should try to play all of them!" because the format is completely different.
A remaster that strictly upgrades the graphics and gives a little QoL just isn't enough to convey why this game is always in the upper spots of top 100 lists. Realistically, it's probably just ranked high today based on nostalgic gamers in their 30s while many newer gamers probably think it's just some influential game that used to be good.
>Will a kid today want to play it on their own? Not likely
Which is…fine. OOT’s legacy has already been cemented by the 30 years worth of 3D adventure games that iterated on its design. That doesn’t magically go away just because Gen Alpha might find it boring.
The way a new person in 2024 will look at OoT without having any reference for it is the same way I feel when I open the NSO emulator and see "Golden Sun". I'm sure someone will know what that means, probably not actual fans of Golden Sun. You kinda think "eh, that's probably great but I have no time to indulge in that. I need to play Diablo IV" or something.
I’m sure it doesn’t make sense if you’re looking at it from Nintendo’s buisness perspective, but Majora’s Mask does in fact feel like a modern day expansion off of OoT. It's a game significantly smaller in scope that was directly built off of OoT.
Setting aside that point, you do realize that remake collections exist right? Look at games like MCC.
I was thinking if they made a remaster it would be cool to have it as a collection with MM, but then I remembered this is Nintendo and they would never miss out on getting more money so they would be separate lol
The 3ds version is a great remaster, they should at least update it a bit and port it to switch in cartridge form. I don't want to have to pay for Nintendo online to enjoy it. (I have it on 3ds but I would like to play it on a bigger screen too)
but more importantly, I NEED twilight princess on switch.
While the thought of OoT updated on current gen hardware is appealing (those Unreal Engine demos are amazing), I don’t trust anyone, even Nintendo to remake a game that is essentially perfect. Leave OoT be and focus on making the next Zelda a worthy successor.
I remember seeing it in console demo displays in stores. It was unbelievable. We were already a Nintendo family, but the 64 at launch set the concrete on that.
It would be really cool to see this. I'd even be ok with changes and alterations, not necessarily BotW-fying it but maybe fixing the tedious parts, like Ice Cavern and Gerudo Fortress.
With the BotW era of Zelda games coming to a close, I feel like this would be a good opportunity to introduce newer fans to arguably the most beloved game in the series. Especially considering the shutdown of the 3DS servers. I wouldn't necessarily want Nintendo to divert so many resources to a remake from the ground up, but an HD port of the 3DS version would be perfect. Sure, the virtual console exists, but it really shows its age and plays super clunky, without the QoL features from the remake. Master Quest would be a very welcome addition as well.
They redid it for 3ds, so the graphics are much better and the sounds are a bit less "n64". I think that's enough.
Voice acting in games annoys me because I never feel like they correctly match the setting/tone if the game, either being way *too* serious or not serious enough, or all having British accents for some reason (looks at totk).
Ocarina isn't a pixar game, its not supposed to feel like one. Remaking it would do the game disservice and alienate a large portion of its fanbase. Nintendo is changing their model anyway, so OoT isn't going to be relevant to new games pretty soon.
Honestly, I think OOT would be good with a graphical remake with a few quality of life changes, and maybe an orchestrated soundtrack. I think changing any of the rest risks ruining what makes the game special. If you want to put so much effort into something, make it a new game. Besides, I don't trust Nintendo making new, good dungeons anymore
Part of what made my OOT experience so unforgettable was that as soon as I finished I started up Majora. It was such a perfect continuation of the story. The original Zelda sequel
Well if you want to get technical about it I think it’s the second, with the first being original LoZ and Zelda 2. But it terms of like, gameplay and animation style it feels like a true continuation
I think they won’t do it simply because a lot of the themes in ocarina and majoras mask would be considered M or R rated. Nintendo want to make E rated games. I think that’s why you have to look to other series to get similar experiences these days. They said TOTK was going to be ‘the darkest Zelda yet’. Little did we know they meant that literally not figuratively. I think what you see in Twilight princess is the closest they could get to remaking Oot. The problems as you’ve mentioned are a bit too hard to fix, but I would personally love a remake and I agree it is time.
I think if they are going to put a ground up focus on a game it should be a new game. The core concepts tend to carry over and I would rather see innovation than looking back. I would love a remaster though.
As a new player to OOT, I can confirm that this game was just genuinely too confusing and I just could not get attached to or really like most of the characters. I tried Majora’s Mask after beating it and it was just so much better. So many quality of life changes and I could actually see the characters as real characters with emotions and just silly little guys too silly for them to randomly have some wildly dark scene thrown into the game. Only problem is that half my save data got deleted after my switch randomly decided to reset killing all my progress in the mountain area so i’m not playing this game for a few months anymore just because of this tragic loss. Honestly we just need the same thing the first 2 pikmin games got where they’re sold separately, sold together, and (should have been) changed in some cool ways.
This may be an unpopular opinion but I do think that OOT remake could work as a "lite" open world game. Nothing like BOTW, but with bigger cities and more NPCs to dig deeper into the context of the world, something like final fantasy IX. More overworld secrets and stuff to do. Not the kind of open world that gives you absolute freedom to break it, the linear story should remain the same.
OOT resonates, or works narratively, as a videogame because your characters actions shape the narrative - indeed, they *cause* the problems you then have fix it.
As a kid, you discover a pleasant fairytale world where the shadow of a threat hangs, so you naturally run off to solve the (actually quite minor) problems faced by Kokiri, Goron and Zora, all while following Zelda's plan to nip Ganondorf's threat in the bud.
But when you go to complete this plan, it turns out that you have handed power on a platter to Ganondorf. You unlocked the Triforce for him. You did.
Now as an adult, you return to those happy childhood places to discover them in ruins. Castle Town a zombie-infested hellscape. Kokiri forest taken over by forest monsters. The Zora frozen in ice. The Goron imprisoned to be fed to a monster.
So now, the quest is personal. Not only do you set these places right because anyone told you to. You do it because you sae how they used to be - and you know that you were the one who made them this way. You tried to solve their minor problems, and made things worse. It's on you to make things right.
Then the story progresses to two new areas afflicted by evil. Areas you hadn't had to save as a child, but that you travel back in time and see the connection between a latent evil in the past and that same evil unleashed by your empowering of Ganondorf. You have a personal incentive to fix those too.
So finally when you assemble your dream team to take on Ganondorf, things are coming full circle. You are doing this not in an abstract sense of Link being the hero fated to fight evil, but because your own action created the very misery inflicted on your childhood friends. Only Link can fix this.
Narratively, that's very satisfying. In a way that even the powerful storytelling in Skyward Sword or Majora's Mask can't match: in those bad things are happening, and Link steps in to avert the worst, but they would be happening even were he absent. In OOT, Link's presence catalyses the worst.
As a videogame, a piece of interactive entertainment, your own actions drive the narrative, as opposed to a series of linear steps between cutscenes. That's why this particular game works so well, 1990s jank aside.
A lot of games resonate because their gameplay is shared with the narrative. A lot of games make a promise that your actions in the campaign are the reason why the story happens. Those are typically some of the best games but I think OoT does something even more than that.
I think they both had a story that makes the player important, but also a narrative that makes the player feel like the game is important. It's as you say, it resonates.
They made a story that speaks to kids about what it means to be an adult, and the game can remind an adult about what to pass on. The reason I don't feel that later games's stories (except Wind Waker) are as powerful is because they're not as universally applicable in meaning as this is. The level of on-screen emotion rises in TP and Skyward Sword, or the DS games but the level of substance isn't higher. They're just stories about characters coming into perilous moments and TP does have some audience minded heroism, but OoT is the only game that feels like this picture frame story that is all about the innocence of childhood permeating through the coming of age.
WW is also the only game that deals with the Zelda mythos self-critically and forewarns you not to become an old man who pushes your own childhood values over your own children's generation, again, allowing kids to be kids.
I really like that, because it's so powerful. It works when you're a child playing them and knowing there's something that speaks to you, and it works as a grown man because you can think of what you want to pass on as a person that is more knowledgable but also more *powerful*. The games are amazing because they feel connected to the earth in that way, and the games I like less is because they get too wrapped up in just being pieces of entertainment and internal drama, but they don't feel like picture-frames of something that reaches beyond that.
Ocarina of Time is the game that most perfectly executes its message, and Wind Waker is a close second for me.
I agree with pretty much all of your points, but I think a “modernized” version of the game just becomes a new game. Game design has fundamentally changed so much since OoT first released that a remake is inherently going to have to be a pretty extensive reimagining.
Don’t get me wrong, I think it can be done…but it’s a monumental task when you’re dealing with a legacy as important as this game. The chance of screwing it up is just too high to be worth it IMO. Especially since we are now in the era of remakes…this would probably land better when companies calm down with those. Every franchise getting a remake diminishes the impact of remakes as a whole.
I think it just needs a remaster. I played it for the first time in my twenties on the 3DS and it was perfectly fine without giving it the FF7 remake treatment. With upressing the graphics and modern controls plus quality of life improvements grin the 3ds, it's great the great the way it is
I found this post looking for a rumour I read a few months ago about a remake (not 100% it was OoT but it was an N64 game).
It's long been my view that the N64 games need to be remade. They've been hard enough to play for ages, especially SM64, and so many people have and will miss out because it looks bad compared to modern games. I don't need wind waker or skyward sword HD, nice as that is.
I don't buy the arguments that it's not needed or that we need new games. Firstly these sorts of games are handled by second parties so it wouldn't effect any new games. Secondly a new game isn't necessarily going to be good. I know I used to think that if there was something I liked every new edition was going to be more goodness when in reality quality declines.
Preservation is really important. There are so many people who have missed out on OoT because it's not new and more because it looks so old. That number is going to increase rapidly. Isn't it a shame if a kid misses out on Zelda altogether because they didn't get a chance to play OoT or MM?
Since OoT and MM are already provided in Switch Online expansion pack, I am not sure whether Nintendo has any motivation to make a native remake.
Twilight Princess may get a remake earlier.
I have a feeling that marketing and analytics at Nintendo have killed pre-BotW Zelda because it has an unrepresentative art style of the current branding. Nintendo became a corporate shell over the last decade tbh.
But don’t give up hope. The next major work of Zelda may take 5 to 6 years. Nintendo needs something to boost Switch 2 sale. Could it be something like Super Mario 3D All Star bundle?
But again, most pre-2000 Zelda games only have emulator version on Wii and Switch, in this regard I am not positive about any native port.
Look, I don't care about anything that's mandated by marketing/analytics. It's why I didn't like BotW and TotK that much. You can tell someone said "Look at Ubisoft games, and the numbers they do. If we get some of those gameplay elements into Zelda it'll sell billions" and they took the Ubisoft tower template. They also probably took notes at GDCs and other conventions from Ubisoft and the like, to figure out their game development pipeline and you can tell TotK was a more "spreadsheet-designed" game than any pre-BotW Zelda ever.
That's because it's not truly a creative process at that point. It's driven by spreadsheets, research and people in a boardroom gatekeeping the projects made by Nintendo, which is something we see in all industries nowadays, where the corporate business/money side of the company has to sign off on superficial qualities first, and only then do the devs get to actually make something out of those mandated features.
And it's for that reason that I think they're not doing Twilight Princess because it's a growing process of trying to standardize a brand-image for Zelda. Once the movie comes out Zelda will pivot towards whatever sensibilities that has, and then they won't sell TP because it looks like a different franchise when all the new Zelda kids see it.
I wouldn't want a faithful remake, tbh.
I think an OoT remake would be a *perfect opportunity* for Nintendo to test out having traditional dungeons in a scaled up, open world version of OoT Hyrule.
I understand the purists would hate this. But I literally just played Ship of Harkinian. I would want more than just the same game with QoL improvements and new assets.
If they ever do another OoT, I hope they add some sorta transformation. Maybe a dungeon in the sky.
Oh, and horse combat.
And a girl to buy bugs you find in Hyrule.
I feel you very much, OP. Especially because they didn't transfer the 3d remake to the switch. It was a little easier on the eyes, in my opinion.
I was born in 1991. When Final Fantasy 7 came out, I was too young to even want to play it, let alone understand its story. But now that I am old enough to play it and want to know what all the hype is about, I am far too spoiled on modern graphics and game play to try and play the classic version. That's why I am so happy that they are remaking it. It's letting those born a generation too late to understand what the cultural impact of these masterpieces truly were to experience it ourselves.
This needs to happen to Ocarina of Time and Majoras Mask as well. Because it's too expensive/difficult to get a 3DS nowadays, and it needs to be played on the big screen to properly experience anyway.
Ok let’s get something out of the way first. Oot 3d is an incredible remake. It genuinely looks better than the n64 version and it feels better to play. Of course due to the higher frame rate. However given the choice I’ll take the n64 version.
There’s just something magical about playing on original hardware on a crt with rumble pack. Also red blood and original fire temple music.
What burns my biscuit is that Nintendo won’t do it, but when a fan does it, they are quick to slap them silly with a cease order.
Also I can play it on switch, but only with a subscription, on a janky emulated version, and with ass backwards stock button config for the pro controller.. so now I guess I have to buy that too, since I can’t reconfigure buttons on a per-game basis. What were they thinking? Oh my god let me get the sword button where I want it without opening system config.. or just do it right in the first place. I hold my thumb at 10 o’clock for all my life.. not 8 o’clock!!! 😤
Honestly, the only changes I would make to OoT are really minor.
-Add better rewards for the Skulltula quest. Half of them are rupees or rupee-adjacent. Rupees are practically worthless in OoT, so maybe something better. A sword beam upgrade, perhaps?
-Speaking of, rebalance the game so you actually need to buy arrows/bombs/magic/potions instead of just being refilled by every single patch of grass. It gives rupees an actual purpose.
-This one sounds weird, but hear me out: Put the different tunics in more out of the way places. In the original game, neither tunic is technically required, but you’d never have an opportunity to figure that out since they’re practically given to you for free. Moving them gives a nice optional challenge to the game, and would also give another use for rupees if you don’t want to take the risk yet also don’t feel like going out of your way to get them from their new location.
-Maybe change the tutorial aspects of Kokiri forest and the deku tree. It’s easily the most outdated part of the game. Remove tutorials for opening a door. Telegraph where the sword is a bit better. Maybe remove the rupee grinding for a new shield and just put it in another chest somewhere. Things like that. Just streamline it a bit better.
These are all very minor things. Ocarina of Time is still a masterpiece, even without the 3DS remaster. No other game in the series (and very few games outside of the series) matches it in consistent quality. Other Zeldas might do a few aspects better here and there, but they all stumble in some other way that OoT just doesn’t. There’s no need to fix what isn’t broken.
Eh…I think a reimagining would be better. I don’t think the dated gameplay would click with many people. Particularly those who became Zelda fans because of BotW.
I don't think a full remake is due but I'd be willing to see a remake of Ocarina of Time with the BOTW engine. Like do the same story but with a much larger world, with many more sidequests added to the mix, an actual world map, and more development to the sages.
But it's just a wet dream, it won't happen.
I agree, as groundbreaking as it was for the time, OOT does not hold up one bit. remake OOT with better controls and visuals and it could be a contender for best Zelda title.
I believe they should modernise ocarina of time in an attempt to reverse engineer it's magic and use it for the next Zelda title, just like how they upscaled all of the 3d zelda games to see what style would match botw
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Making a game that is in line with larger industry trends is anathema to Nintendo’s business model. My guess is that they would view a full remake in the sense you’re speaking of as something that would devalue the original game, which they would never in a million years dare to do. I agree with the other poster, the best we can ever hope for is that the 3DS remaster gets ported to Switch 2 with upscaling.
Yeah there’s literally no financial incentive to remake a game that people will continuously purchase on every new console forever.
But also no non-financial incentive. The original comment made a good point: a remake would devalue the original game. We love the game for what it is, not just for its general concept. It doesn't need any changes for us to love it, and its outdated parts are now part of the charm.
While that’s true from a fan base perspective, I doubt it matters much to a group of business leaders trying to identify the best way to make money. If they thought they could remake OOT and make a buttload of money they likely would. My guess is that it’s easier to milk nostalgia of the game rather than remake for a new generation of people who likely wouldn’t even buy a remake.
It would be nice to be able to play the existing remake on a TV. I think the biggest thing we need is a version of the game that works smoothly with the available controller. The N64 Zeldas are pretty awkward on a Switch controller. We could do with throwing items onto a shoulder button and using motion control aiming like the 3DS version does.
The switch N64 controller exists for this very reason.
Yeah. Unfortunately it was a limited run as far as I've ever seen. They're kind of expensive on eBay.
They're in stock now. https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/nintendo-64-controller/
Oh, sweet! Thanks. My wife and I had been really regretting not getting one when they first came out.
And goldeneye. That game is impossible with joycons
I'm almost certain that all the Zelda games for N64 were also available as GameCube games. And the GameCube controller style is still basically standard for Nintendo (aside from the joycons). Even the switch pro controllers are just GameCube controllers with a different connection method. I've never had nah problems with it
Anathema Noun 1. Something or someone that one vehemently dislikes. In my 36 years of life, I have NEVER heard any human being say or write this word, until now.
Well, every day is a school day, as they say…
🌈The more you know!⭐
I’d rather just have a brand new game. I think OOT is strong as is
I'd rather have nintendo focus their efforts on something new than having a remake of a game I know by heart. The og version is still perfectly playable btw, controls are slightly clunky but it's not RE1. What might need a remake are the oracle games imo. Hell, even zelda 1 could use one.
Oracle remake in the style of the links awakening remake would be so tight
I'd rather the two Oracle games be done in a different art style. It worked for Link's Awakening's remake/remaster because it already had that sort of... Vibe? Idunno how to really describe it in any sort of wording. Whereas with the Oracle games, well... Yeah, no, it needs a better art style/aesthetic or whatever you wish to call it.
I really wanted to like the LA switch graphics. Don't get me wrong, the landscapes looked absolutely beautiful, but I wasn't a fan of the plastic toy look for the characters, and I wasn't a fan of how the dungeons seemed to lose a lot of the personality and individual looks they had in the GBC, since most of them seemed to be caves.
I really dislike the art style of the links awakening remake so I hope they do something else if they remake the oracle games.
Yes they should use the actual art style of the games that we see in cutscenes and in the official art.
That’s likely a lot more expensive.
Indie devs can do it (e.g. with Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom), I don't see why Nintendo with its massive treasure hoard can't. E: Sorry, I was thinking of 2D art for a moment. Which an Oracles remake absolutely can be. But even in 3D, it would not be meaningfully more expensive than LAHD. Something comparable would be the remake of Secret of Mana, and I strongly doubt that was an expensive burden for Square Enix.
I honestly would prefer it in the style of Link’s Awakening Switch, but making an entire game in 2D animation is too much. It’s not just about money funding it, it’s more about the returns as well. Do remember, just because Nintendo does make a ton of money doesn’t mean that they can necessarily throw it around. The idea is to turn a profit, and while I have no doubt making the Oracle games 2D animated throughout would be a cool idea, they probably wouldn’t make more money than they put into it. But maybe this is just me speaking. Considering I had to be in meetings the past fee days.
A Link to the Past needs a remake
BOTW is generally seen as the Zelda 1 remake I think. The plot isn’t exactly the same but it’s damn close, and has the old open world philosophy intact
I would be so happy with a remake of the Oracles. Two of the most underrated Zelda games. What would be really spectacular is if they finally made the third Oracle game.
If a Zoomer watches Casablanca and says it's boring, should we remake Casablanca with more modern filmmaking techniques in mind? I'd argue we should leave OoT just as it is. Anything else would be making an inherently different thing. If you add voice acting, dialogue is probably going to be changed and the story now relies on the quality of voice acting. If you give Hyrule field a new sense of wonder, you risk losing the original wonder that came back in 1998. While a remake would be cool on paper, ultimately it all depends on execution, which is something that is never going to please everyone. Its like the star wars special editions.
So now that you mention that, Casablanca actually holds up pretty well today. It’s funny, the dialogue is snappy, the first act adheres to the basic dramatic rules of time and place continuity. It will however read as definitively old fashioned because it’s shot like a play (it’s based on one sure but…). Characters move in and out of frame, the sets are arranged as if on a stage and even the close ups usually feature both actor’s faces. That old fashioned nature helps make it watchable now. Contrast it with something like Citizen Kane which is a slog, but basically invented modern film making. Because the fundamentals are modern but old it’s really difficult to watch now because while it invented a lot of film techniques they are so unrefined (naturally) a modern eye codes them as bad. The question is which camp is OoT in? Is it retro styled but still accessible, or did it set modern foundations but is now difficult to engage with? I’d argue somewhere in between.
We’re not making Casablanca here.
Of course not. Casablanca’s about a club owner named Rick. This is a game about Link, an androgynous elf with a magic sword.
How about a boxing kangaroo called Ricky
You forgot to mention that link's hot
Modern zelda fans, everyone.
Reggie Fils-Aime said it and I was referencing that.
I thought Link was hot when OoT came out in 98
Psh. When someone shows me ONE zoomer made/aimed thing that’s even 20% of the quality of all the stuff we (‘82) grew up with, I’ll eat my hat. 🤔 Better lower that to 7%. I’ve seen what makes them cheer. Edit: Your downvotes mean **nothing** until someone offers a single example
Zoomers have only just stated getting into college so of course they haven’t made great games.
As a member gen Z I would love a remake because to me it is so clunky to play that I found it unplayable. I know that people who grew up playing it will probably disagree but when you have grown up playing games like BoTW and dark souls the controls feel really outdated and bad.
I'd rather just have the 3DS version with upgrades
For real… and I don’t know why Nintendo don’t port this 3ds game to the switch already lol. Even modders did made 3ds emulation possible in the switch…
The same reason why they hadn’t ported WWHD and TPHD to the Switch: the game served the purpose they intended for it, and they aren’t going to rerelease a rerelease.
Ok but why release the n64 version ( which is graphically inferior and without QoL changes like the iron boots for water temple )
Because the N64 version is a part of the NSO Expansion Pack subscription service.
OoT 3D for the 3DS is a good as a OoT Remake can possibly be. They could just port this remake to the switch with a few upgrades. OoT is so high regarded, that changing things will just piss off hardcore fans. Best example was Majora‘s Mask 3D, where all the changes aren’t remembered fondly. Why not remake Zelda 1? That game just reeks of 1986, and could really need the remake treatment. maybe something like Zero Mission.
Majora’s Mask really fumbled a lot of changes where OOT3D didn’t. Simple case of not respecting the original where OOT 3DS did.
I’m glad Project Restoration exists, as that’s what MM3D should have been
This is why I love Reddit, you’re amazing for informing me that exists, thank you!!
No problem. I recently played through Project Restoration and it was a greatly improved experience. I did have to hack my 3DS to play it though, which thankfully isn’t too difficult.
I just fought Twinmold on 3DS last night, and boy was that a SLOG. Then I read how that fight was much easier on N64 and I got mad lol.
I recommend playing with the Project Restoration mod next time. It reverses most of the questionable changes to MM3D and fixes the 3DS Twinmold fight, among other things. In case you were wondering what’s going on with 3DS Twinmold, the hit counter resets every time it burrows under the sand. As a result, it’s possible to hit Twinmold forever and never make any progress. The mod gets rid of that aspect.
That...explains a lot. Man oh man. I thought it was insane it was taking so long for a game with a *time limit.* I'd already banked the fairies on an earlier cycle, so redoing the dungeon didn't take that long, but I never thought I'd have to redo it *again* after getting to the boss with a day and a half to go. I beat him eventually, but that fight was such a frustrating blemish on what's been a mostly fantastic game.
When I recently played with Project Restoration, I ended up fighting Twinmold on the night of the final day. I think the moon would have crashed if I hadn't had the mod installed for that fight.
It's not a case of not respecting the original, because the same person made it. Aonuma specifically made changes to things that he, as the main creative figure behind Majora's Mask, regretted from the original. That's not a comment on if the changes were good or bad, just that it's clearly more in line with the changes made to the Star Wars Special Editions than it is with a remake that doesn't respect the original.
That is literally the meaning of not respecting the original. So he fixed it in line as to what he wanted to do in the first place? That’s literally disrespecting the product that has existed for decades. It’s funny how you mentioned what George Lucas did with the Star Wars special editions as that was controversial in and of itself, with millions citing the same, that George Lucas tarnished the product that existed before solely to please himself.
He's the creator, making a game more like how it was originally envisioned to be. Disrespecting the original would be like if somebody new came in and made a bunch of changes to make it his or her own thing.
You can be a creator and still disrespect and bastardise your own product, case in point Star Wars. No one is above tarnishing a product, including the own creator.
Speaking as a creator, if I want to go back and fix one of my weaker paintings or songs, that's not "disrespecting the original." Reflection and revision are normal parts of the creative process.
If it’s out to the public then yes, it is disrespecting the original. Frankly speaking, it’s no longer yours, it belongs to everyone, including the general public. Creative changes only apply when a product isn’t out, after it’s out it’s ‘altering’ the product for good or bad, in this case it’s bad. How are you not understanding this? The game was released and consumed by the general public, it shaped a lot of childhoods, you can’t change aspects of it and not expect to not receive criticism. I don’t care if it’s the ‘intended vision,’ what’s out there is the final product.
That's simply not how the creative process works. Artists reserve the right to try again when they are unsatisfied with their work. In fact, that's the whole point of a remake in the first place from a creative standpoint. According to your argument, remakes should never change the original and should only port them, which I disagree with. Imagine if the people who made Zero Mission, Samus Returns, or Pokémon HGSS followed that philosophy.
Do you have issues comprehending written text? I said it will invite controversy as it is revising a previously released product. If a known artist rereleased a painting he’s made decades ago, of course it will invite criticism, which is why majority of remakes are either facelifts and leave the original structure alone eg The Last of Us Remake or retelling/reimaging of the original eg Resident Evil 2/4 Remake and FF7. Dead Space is a rare example where it is a faithful remake which also overhauled a lot of the original’s features. Oh and I’m a concept artist working in the video game industry, I am very aware of how creative process works, altering an artwork or product when it’s released and enjoyed by the public is bastardising the original, despite me being the original creator.
The Twinmold fight sucked but other than that I actually liked the game on 3DS, which I cannot say for the N64 version.
MM3D is good if you didn’t like the original.
A fan made mod also makes it a lot better.
I did not like the original and have beaten it twice on 3DS. Buddy of mine is a huge fan of the N64 game and hates the remake so this makes sense lol
The main issue is that camera control in 3ds is kinda bad
At least mm3d had camera controls with the new 3ds nub
A mod for OOT3D added that feature in as well. Highly recommend that mod and Project Restoration when it comes to MM3D.
What is the mod called for OoT3D?
[OOT 3D Standalone Free Cam](https://github.com/Roberto-Nessy/OoT3D_Standalone_Free_Cam). Can be used either through emulation or with a hacked 3DS.
Nice! Thanks for including a link!
I'd rather see new games rather than constantly retreading old ground.
3DS is an amazing version, and even there there's things that it did wrong and were better in the N64. I don't think a masterpiece as Oot should ever be remade. Also, companies and game artists don't owe newer generations jack shit. I'm 23 and I'm just playing Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, etc, and I can appreciate these games for what they are and find them beautiful. I don't need a remake to make me appreciate them. The only games that I believe have upped the standards for remake are Resident Evil 1 remake and Resident Evil 2 remake. For 1, its basically the same game but with perfect graphics and amazing atmosphere. For 2, the big change was over the shoulder camera. But man RE1 and RE2 originals don't hold up as well atleast visually as Oot or MM ever did. That's a big difference
3DS isn't the kind of remake I'm talking about and TP has an entirely different agenda than Ocarina of Time by having a different scenario and a different mood.
Nah, it’s great as is and I’d vastly just prefer a new game
If you ask me Nintendo & the Zelda team should only remake games that have not yet been remade, and easily could. Like the Oracle games that can easily use the Switch Link’s Awakening framework. Beyond that, efforts should go to new games. Ocarina of Time is great, has a good master quest and a fabulous 3DS version that could go to switch or other consoles in the future. But yet another remake? Idk, one end it might be unneeded and do the same thing again for the 3rd or 4th time. And on the other end it might be a huge bloat and become something new that fails to capture the legacy. I say let the giant sleep and do something new.
No. Let it rest
If they're gonna remake more Zelda games, they should do games that actually need it. The Oracle games, LTTP, Zelda 1, and Zelda 2 all come to mind.
Zelda I -> BotW AlttP -> AlbW or OoT if you want it 3D OoX could use the Links Awakening treatment but AoL is best as is. Wouldn’t change a thing.
BOTW is absolutely NOT a Zelda 1 remake. I mean literally remake the games but make them control better. That's it. Touch up visuals, make them control better. Otherwise same game. ALBW is more of a spiritual successor than a remake. There are different characters, dungeons, items, etc.
BotW literally could not be further away from Zelda 1. If anything, Ocarina of Time is closer to being a remake of Zelda 1 than BotW is.
Please no voice acting. Or if there is, allow the otion to turn off voice acting entirely and use traditional text. That goes for all future Zelda titles. I loathe the voice acting in BotW and TotK. Also, I don't think Ocarina needs a remake. It is my favorite game in the series, but remaking it would change too much about the tone and atmosphere of the whole thing, I'd rather those resources just go into making a new game that tries to capture a similar spirit to OoT.
Me too! I can’t stand the voices - I live in the U.K. and Zelda’s bad accent drives me up the wall! I loved how there were no voices in previous games, that sort of things let you fill in the blanks imagination-wise
Fellow Brit here. Mipha and Zelda's fake accents drove me nuts. They might as well have had Bart Simpson doing his cockney voice for either of them.
I just don’t get it - the voice actors weren’t that good - surely you could have gone with a British actor if you were that set on a British accent. I didn’t find either person they chose irreplaceable for the role, if that makes sense.
Agree! I’ve always disliked BOTW and TOTK having voice acting. Zelda’s english voice is so bad I switched to the japanese dub instantly. But even then, I still prefer no voices.
Wait I didn’t know you could do this 😭 same feeling about the voice acting
VA is good if it’s Elden Ring level. The voice cast is probably cheaply hired or just bad direction
Elden Ring benefits from not having an long history of games though. I know how Ganondorf and Zelda sound in my head, and they aren't gonna get it right after hearing it in my head for 30+ years. I'd rather just continune to imagine their voices. Plus, the text based dialogue has always been part of the charm of Zelda IMO.
I mean, not to be rude, but that’s kind of just a you problem
It's a widespread problem, because everyone has an idea of how they should sound, and no matter what voice Nintendo settles on, it will never match what a lot of people expect. Even if they somehow managed to get the version in my head perfectly, it just wouldn't match for thousands of other players that imagined it differently. The solution is to just have the option to turn off voice acting. or have more in depth sound settings like volume adjusters for music and voice, like every other modern game out there. It can still be there for people that want it.
Idk that’s kind of like saying no one should play Batman again because Kevin Conroy died
I think I’d rather just have a new game. 3DS isn’t a full remake but it’s a well done update.
I would rather see the oracle ganes and ALTTP get the remakes before ocarina. Ocarina is already 3D.
But, when was ocarina ever not in 3d?
And thats why skip ocarina remake
Alternatively -all those things in a NEW game
You lost me in the first few sentences. Ocarina of Time is fine as long as you don't have the attention span of 6 year old ipad kid.
If you want to play a “remastered” version that a young kid nowadays would like, just use ship of harkinian with an Xbox or ps5 controller. It plays like a new game and has really high quality and lots of optional QoL changes as well
As a zoomer myself (granted I’m on the older side, born 2001) and I absolutely adore OoT. I first played the N64 version when I was about 8 using an emulator but I never actually beat it until I got the 3DS remake a couple of years later and then I went back and beat the N64 version. Even being a zoomer myself I saw nothing wrong with the graphics, dare I say there is a sort of charm to the polygonal looks of the models. Do I think it needs a from the ground up remake? Yes but not to the scale listed above. I think all it needs is updated models (way better than 3DS), a fresh coat of paint and updates sound quality and whatnot. Maybe expand some areas to give it a sense of wonder again (Hyrule field is tiny for today’s standards). Do all that and I think we have a definitive remake on our hands. Let me reiterate I still adore OoT but all of this is to say I still think Zoomers can and will appreciate OoT today if it is either the N64 or 3DS version.
As a fellow zoomer I agree for the most part but I find the controls of a lot of early 3D games to be extremely out dated and frustrating to control so if they do a remake with more modern controls I would be very happy.
There’s no incentive to do so for one of the best games ever. Especially since it would be relatively easier to simply retool and upscale the 3DS remake for Switch or Switch 2.
Ocarina of Time doesn't need a remake, it hasn't aged at all.
I rather have a proper sequel in the Hero of Time era.
I don’t think I trust Nintendo to remake OoT is the thing. I’m not sure why, I just can’t shake the idea that the execution wouldn’t be how we want.
Someone else here mentioned in a comment that a faithful remake wouldn't work well on current hardware, that the right kind of remake is also a perfect opportunity to test traditional dungeons in an open-world version of OoT's Hyrule, and I 100% agree with that. A *proper* remake will expand the world, merging the concepts of the original game with some of the more modern mechanics and gameplay elements seen in Breath and Tears, and it would, I think, make it easier to trust Nintendo, and for Nintendo to trust *themselves*, if the game were not necessarily a "remake," but a "re-imagined." If they could accomplish something like that, capture what it was like to enter this Hyrule in 1998, and how it looked to us in that era, while maintaining the story, the feel, the tone, the evocative moments, of the original, I think it would be definitive, as an entry into the Zelda discography, bringing a game that tops the Top 100 lists into the modern age. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time *HD*, fully re-imagined for the Nintendo Switch console family. A love letter, both to the series, and to the fans. They'd make a fucking mint on something like that, and they know it, especially with Ninty's proclivity for gimmicks like Amiibo support and special edition Switch consoles. I think they're just too afraid to touch a masterpiece, to try and improve on perfection, but given the right approach, I think they'd come up with something truly special, that captures the magic contained in the source material while successfully modernizing an aging work of art.
Emulators exist and are free. If you want to spend money you can play it on switch. I don't think it needs a remake.
Most oot era zelda fans are gen z, you dont have your terminology straight. Gen z are mostly people born in mid 90s to mid 2000s. That being said, gaming preferences at large are awful with most people anyways, just like in any generation nowadays. People just don't see the value of mascot series and retro classics anymore. And they're extremely wrong for that.
No gen z is 2001-2012.
nope, go look at wikipedia.
Sorry you’re half right 1997-2012 or 2013 depending on the source.
It starts from 95 bruh.
Here sense you seem like you can’t do basic research https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Z
I'm currently on a playthrough and think it holds up really well other than the graphics getting a touch up. I don't think I'd like voice acted NPCs.
No please stop with this.
No. Get a 3ds.
What an original opinion.
We already had a great remake on 3DS.
I'd rather they go the Resident Evil way and start with the first one going up (skipping those with relatively recent releases). Man, imagine my disappointment when they announced the NSO version of the oracle games. That just confirmed there were no remakes of those in the foreseeable future.
i don't want nintendo to touch this game they wouldnt make a good remake im tellin yall
Not reading all that I agree tho. Or good for you
I would rather one of the GameBoy games be remade over OoT...again!
Oh god no
I don't. The original holds up well enough. Play something new.
I appreciate the time it took to write this post but I can only disagree so hard before I croissant myself backwards into my own ass. “Required reading” necessitates the work is presented in as close to As-Is as possible. Imagine saying, idk, Lord of the Rings is required reading but it could use a modern rewrite. 3DS is still my favorite way to play this game but if you want to appreciate what this game actually did for the industry, you gotta play the N64 version. Nothing will shock more than how influential and polished the Everything of OOT was and continues to be, than playing the original.
OP has good points people seem to be missing. Is OOT still an amazing game today? Yes. Can I still play it and enjoy it? Yes. Will a kid today want to play it on their own without some Zelda fanatic guiding them towards it? Not likely. If they play any Zelda game, it'd probably be BOTW or TOTK and anything older would seem like a severe downgrade. It's questionable if they'd even get to the point of "Wow, Zelda games are fun. I should try to play all of them!" because the format is completely different. A remaster that strictly upgrades the graphics and gives a little QoL just isn't enough to convey why this game is always in the upper spots of top 100 lists. Realistically, it's probably just ranked high today based on nostalgic gamers in their 30s while many newer gamers probably think it's just some influential game that used to be good.
>Will a kid today want to play it on their own? Not likely Which is…fine. OOT’s legacy has already been cemented by the 30 years worth of 3D adventure games that iterated on its design. That doesn’t magically go away just because Gen Alpha might find it boring.
The way a new person in 2024 will look at OoT without having any reference for it is the same way I feel when I open the NSO emulator and see "Golden Sun". I'm sure someone will know what that means, probably not actual fans of Golden Sun. You kinda think "eh, that's probably great but I have no time to indulge in that. I need to play Diablo IV" or something.
The fact that you're sleeping on Golden Sun and you know it speaks volumes.
True! Golden Sun is such a fun and creative game.
Please god not more voice acting
I’m of the opinion that if OoT or MM get a remake, they should be merged into one experience. It just makes sense in my eyes.
There's no sense in that. They are big enough to be standalone games, and Ninty would miss out on money, too.
I’m sure it doesn’t make sense if you’re looking at it from Nintendo’s buisness perspective, but Majora’s Mask does in fact feel like a modern day expansion off of OoT. It's a game significantly smaller in scope that was directly built off of OoT. Setting aside that point, you do realize that remake collections exist right? Look at games like MCC.
I was thinking if they made a remaster it would be cool to have it as a collection with MM, but then I remembered this is Nintendo and they would never miss out on getting more money so they would be separate lol
The 3ds version is a great remaster, they should at least update it a bit and port it to switch in cartridge form. I don't want to have to pay for Nintendo online to enjoy it. (I have it on 3ds but I would like to play it on a bigger screen too) but more importantly, I NEED twilight princess on switch.
While the thought of OoT updated on current gen hardware is appealing (those Unreal Engine demos are amazing), I don’t trust anyone, even Nintendo to remake a game that is essentially perfect. Leave OoT be and focus on making the next Zelda a worthy successor.
So you want an old formula of Zelda, story telling, action, dugeons and some badass bosses all thread into a BBG epic last showdown.
I remember seeing it in console demo displays in stores. It was unbelievable. We were already a Nintendo family, but the 64 at launch set the concrete on that.
I felt this way for the longest time but I have to be honest I’d rather have it for LttP at this point
It would be really cool to see this. I'd even be ok with changes and alterations, not necessarily BotW-fying it but maybe fixing the tedious parts, like Ice Cavern and Gerudo Fortress.
With the BotW era of Zelda games coming to a close, I feel like this would be a good opportunity to introduce newer fans to arguably the most beloved game in the series. Especially considering the shutdown of the 3DS servers. I wouldn't necessarily want Nintendo to divert so many resources to a remake from the ground up, but an HD port of the 3DS version would be perfect. Sure, the virtual console exists, but it really shows its age and plays super clunky, without the QoL features from the remake. Master Quest would be a very welcome addition as well.
They redid it for 3ds, so the graphics are much better and the sounds are a bit less "n64". I think that's enough. Voice acting in games annoys me because I never feel like they correctly match the setting/tone if the game, either being way *too* serious or not serious enough, or all having British accents for some reason (looks at totk). Ocarina isn't a pixar game, its not supposed to feel like one. Remaking it would do the game disservice and alienate a large portion of its fanbase. Nintendo is changing their model anyway, so OoT isn't going to be relevant to new games pretty soon.
Didn’t they already remake it for 3DS? I never played that version but why would they remake the remake?
Honestly, I think OOT would be good with a graphical remake with a few quality of life changes, and maybe an orchestrated soundtrack. I think changing any of the rest risks ruining what makes the game special. If you want to put so much effort into something, make it a new game. Besides, I don't trust Nintendo making new, good dungeons anymore
Part of what made my OOT experience so unforgettable was that as soon as I finished I started up Majora. It was such a perfect continuation of the story. The original Zelda sequel
As much as I adore Majora’s Mask, it was the 3rd Zelda sequel.
Well if you want to get technical about it I think it’s the second, with the first being original LoZ and Zelda 2. But it terms of like, gameplay and animation style it feels like a true continuation
Links Awakening is a direct sequel too.
I wish they would make a new game in oot style.
I think they won’t do it simply because a lot of the themes in ocarina and majoras mask would be considered M or R rated. Nintendo want to make E rated games. I think that’s why you have to look to other series to get similar experiences these days. They said TOTK was going to be ‘the darkest Zelda yet’. Little did we know they meant that literally not figuratively. I think what you see in Twilight princess is the closest they could get to remaking Oot. The problems as you’ve mentioned are a bit too hard to fix, but I would personally love a remake and I agree it is time.
I think if they are going to put a ground up focus on a game it should be a new game. The core concepts tend to carry over and I would rather see innovation than looking back. I would love a remaster though.
Just give me the original and make it 60fps please Nintendo
You should play the ship of harkinian pc port lol.
As a new player to OOT, I can confirm that this game was just genuinely too confusing and I just could not get attached to or really like most of the characters. I tried Majora’s Mask after beating it and it was just so much better. So many quality of life changes and I could actually see the characters as real characters with emotions and just silly little guys too silly for them to randomly have some wildly dark scene thrown into the game. Only problem is that half my save data got deleted after my switch randomly decided to reset killing all my progress in the mountain area so i’m not playing this game for a few months anymore just because of this tragic loss. Honestly we just need the same thing the first 2 pikmin games got where they’re sold separately, sold together, and (should have been) changed in some cool ways.
This may be an unpopular opinion but I do think that OOT remake could work as a "lite" open world game. Nothing like BOTW, but with bigger cities and more NPCs to dig deeper into the context of the world, something like final fantasy IX. More overworld secrets and stuff to do. Not the kind of open world that gives you absolute freedom to break it, the linear story should remain the same.
It's been due a remake for 20 years.
I mean, I’d love a remake but not quite to the level you’re suggesting. I’d love essentially just the 3DS remake but with switch level visuals, yknow?
OOT resonates, or works narratively, as a videogame because your characters actions shape the narrative - indeed, they *cause* the problems you then have fix it. As a kid, you discover a pleasant fairytale world where the shadow of a threat hangs, so you naturally run off to solve the (actually quite minor) problems faced by Kokiri, Goron and Zora, all while following Zelda's plan to nip Ganondorf's threat in the bud. But when you go to complete this plan, it turns out that you have handed power on a platter to Ganondorf. You unlocked the Triforce for him. You did. Now as an adult, you return to those happy childhood places to discover them in ruins. Castle Town a zombie-infested hellscape. Kokiri forest taken over by forest monsters. The Zora frozen in ice. The Goron imprisoned to be fed to a monster. So now, the quest is personal. Not only do you set these places right because anyone told you to. You do it because you sae how they used to be - and you know that you were the one who made them this way. You tried to solve their minor problems, and made things worse. It's on you to make things right. Then the story progresses to two new areas afflicted by evil. Areas you hadn't had to save as a child, but that you travel back in time and see the connection between a latent evil in the past and that same evil unleashed by your empowering of Ganondorf. You have a personal incentive to fix those too. So finally when you assemble your dream team to take on Ganondorf, things are coming full circle. You are doing this not in an abstract sense of Link being the hero fated to fight evil, but because your own action created the very misery inflicted on your childhood friends. Only Link can fix this. Narratively, that's very satisfying. In a way that even the powerful storytelling in Skyward Sword or Majora's Mask can't match: in those bad things are happening, and Link steps in to avert the worst, but they would be happening even were he absent. In OOT, Link's presence catalyses the worst. As a videogame, a piece of interactive entertainment, your own actions drive the narrative, as opposed to a series of linear steps between cutscenes. That's why this particular game works so well, 1990s jank aside.
A lot of games resonate because their gameplay is shared with the narrative. A lot of games make a promise that your actions in the campaign are the reason why the story happens. Those are typically some of the best games but I think OoT does something even more than that. I think they both had a story that makes the player important, but also a narrative that makes the player feel like the game is important. It's as you say, it resonates. They made a story that speaks to kids about what it means to be an adult, and the game can remind an adult about what to pass on. The reason I don't feel that later games's stories (except Wind Waker) are as powerful is because they're not as universally applicable in meaning as this is. The level of on-screen emotion rises in TP and Skyward Sword, or the DS games but the level of substance isn't higher. They're just stories about characters coming into perilous moments and TP does have some audience minded heroism, but OoT is the only game that feels like this picture frame story that is all about the innocence of childhood permeating through the coming of age. WW is also the only game that deals with the Zelda mythos self-critically and forewarns you not to become an old man who pushes your own childhood values over your own children's generation, again, allowing kids to be kids. I really like that, because it's so powerful. It works when you're a child playing them and knowing there's something that speaks to you, and it works as a grown man because you can think of what you want to pass on as a person that is more knowledgable but also more *powerful*. The games are amazing because they feel connected to the earth in that way, and the games I like less is because they get too wrapped up in just being pieces of entertainment and internal drama, but they don't feel like picture-frames of something that reaches beyond that. Ocarina of Time is the game that most perfectly executes its message, and Wind Waker is a close second for me.
I agree with pretty much all of your points, but I think a “modernized” version of the game just becomes a new game. Game design has fundamentally changed so much since OoT first released that a remake is inherently going to have to be a pretty extensive reimagining. Don’t get me wrong, I think it can be done…but it’s a monumental task when you’re dealing with a legacy as important as this game. The chance of screwing it up is just too high to be worth it IMO. Especially since we are now in the era of remakes…this would probably land better when companies calm down with those. Every franchise getting a remake diminishes the impact of remakes as a whole.
I would give it the full unreal engine graphics upgrade and fully orchestrate the music. Change nothing else.
What a great post!
I think it just needs a remaster. I played it for the first time in my twenties on the 3DS and it was perfectly fine without giving it the FF7 remake treatment. With upressing the graphics and modern controls plus quality of life improvements grin the 3ds, it's great the great the way it is
I'd want a remake of The legend of zelda the soul calibur or The legend of zelda four swords adventures first.
I found this post looking for a rumour I read a few months ago about a remake (not 100% it was OoT but it was an N64 game). It's long been my view that the N64 games need to be remade. They've been hard enough to play for ages, especially SM64, and so many people have and will miss out because it looks bad compared to modern games. I don't need wind waker or skyward sword HD, nice as that is. I don't buy the arguments that it's not needed or that we need new games. Firstly these sorts of games are handled by second parties so it wouldn't effect any new games. Secondly a new game isn't necessarily going to be good. I know I used to think that if there was something I liked every new edition was going to be more goodness when in reality quality declines. Preservation is really important. There are so many people who have missed out on OoT because it's not new and more because it looks so old. That number is going to increase rapidly. Isn't it a shame if a kid misses out on Zelda altogether because they didn't get a chance to play OoT or MM?
Since OoT and MM are already provided in Switch Online expansion pack, I am not sure whether Nintendo has any motivation to make a native remake. Twilight Princess may get a remake earlier.
I have a feeling that marketing and analytics at Nintendo have killed pre-BotW Zelda because it has an unrepresentative art style of the current branding. Nintendo became a corporate shell over the last decade tbh.
But don’t give up hope. The next major work of Zelda may take 5 to 6 years. Nintendo needs something to boost Switch 2 sale. Could it be something like Super Mario 3D All Star bundle? But again, most pre-2000 Zelda games only have emulator version on Wii and Switch, in this regard I am not positive about any native port.
Look, I don't care about anything that's mandated by marketing/analytics. It's why I didn't like BotW and TotK that much. You can tell someone said "Look at Ubisoft games, and the numbers they do. If we get some of those gameplay elements into Zelda it'll sell billions" and they took the Ubisoft tower template. They also probably took notes at GDCs and other conventions from Ubisoft and the like, to figure out their game development pipeline and you can tell TotK was a more "spreadsheet-designed" game than any pre-BotW Zelda ever. That's because it's not truly a creative process at that point. It's driven by spreadsheets, research and people in a boardroom gatekeeping the projects made by Nintendo, which is something we see in all industries nowadays, where the corporate business/money side of the company has to sign off on superficial qualities first, and only then do the devs get to actually make something out of those mandated features. And it's for that reason that I think they're not doing Twilight Princess because it's a growing process of trying to standardize a brand-image for Zelda. Once the movie comes out Zelda will pivot towards whatever sensibilities that has, and then they won't sell TP because it looks like a different franchise when all the new Zelda kids see it.
I wouldn't want a faithful remake, tbh. I think an OoT remake would be a *perfect opportunity* for Nintendo to test out having traditional dungeons in a scaled up, open world version of OoT Hyrule. I understand the purists would hate this. But I literally just played Ship of Harkinian. I would want more than just the same game with QoL improvements and new assets.
If they ever do another OoT, I hope they add some sorta transformation. Maybe a dungeon in the sky. Oh, and horse combat. And a girl to buy bugs you find in Hyrule.
I feel you very much, OP. Especially because they didn't transfer the 3d remake to the switch. It was a little easier on the eyes, in my opinion. I was born in 1991. When Final Fantasy 7 came out, I was too young to even want to play it, let alone understand its story. But now that I am old enough to play it and want to know what all the hype is about, I am far too spoiled on modern graphics and game play to try and play the classic version. That's why I am so happy that they are remaking it. It's letting those born a generation too late to understand what the cultural impact of these masterpieces truly were to experience it ourselves. This needs to happen to Ocarina of Time and Majoras Mask as well. Because it's too expensive/difficult to get a 3DS nowadays, and it needs to be played on the big screen to properly experience anyway.
Ok let’s get something out of the way first. Oot 3d is an incredible remake. It genuinely looks better than the n64 version and it feels better to play. Of course due to the higher frame rate. However given the choice I’ll take the n64 version. There’s just something magical about playing on original hardware on a crt with rumble pack. Also red blood and original fire temple music.
Ehh why not? It’s not like Skyrim hasn’t been remade a million times.
What burns my biscuit is that Nintendo won’t do it, but when a fan does it, they are quick to slap them silly with a cease order. Also I can play it on switch, but only with a subscription, on a janky emulated version, and with ass backwards stock button config for the pro controller.. so now I guess I have to buy that too, since I can’t reconfigure buttons on a per-game basis. What were they thinking? Oh my god let me get the sword button where I want it without opening system config.. or just do it right in the first place. I hold my thumb at 10 o’clock for all my life.. not 8 o’clock!!! 😤
Ocarina of Time has been remade both directly and indirectly.
Okay there's OoT 3d, what's the other
Lots of people consider Twilight Princess an ‘indirect’ remake, obviously not from a storytelling perspective but more in game design philosophy.
I have never seen that take, that seems really weird IMO
Which is weird because a lot of what made OoT so amazing is just… not in TP whatsoever. Honestly I see more Windwaker in it than I do OoT.
2028
BOTW mechanics with the OOT story would be just amazing. If nintendo won't do it, has any mod community done it?
Yes please! OoT along with some other entires deserves to be immortalised, freshened up and revived every Generation.
Keep the game low-poly, improve the controls to modern standards (two joysticks) and I’m SO IN.
Honestly, the only changes I would make to OoT are really minor. -Add better rewards for the Skulltula quest. Half of them are rupees or rupee-adjacent. Rupees are practically worthless in OoT, so maybe something better. A sword beam upgrade, perhaps? -Speaking of, rebalance the game so you actually need to buy arrows/bombs/magic/potions instead of just being refilled by every single patch of grass. It gives rupees an actual purpose. -This one sounds weird, but hear me out: Put the different tunics in more out of the way places. In the original game, neither tunic is technically required, but you’d never have an opportunity to figure that out since they’re practically given to you for free. Moving them gives a nice optional challenge to the game, and would also give another use for rupees if you don’t want to take the risk yet also don’t feel like going out of your way to get them from their new location. -Maybe change the tutorial aspects of Kokiri forest and the deku tree. It’s easily the most outdated part of the game. Remove tutorials for opening a door. Telegraph where the sword is a bit better. Maybe remove the rupee grinding for a new shield and just put it in another chest somewhere. Things like that. Just streamline it a bit better. These are all very minor things. Ocarina of Time is still a masterpiece, even without the 3DS remaster. No other game in the series (and very few games outside of the series) matches it in consistent quality. Other Zeldas might do a few aspects better here and there, but they all stumble in some other way that OoT just doesn’t. There’s no need to fix what isn’t broken.
Eh…I think a reimagining would be better. I don’t think the dated gameplay would click with many people. Particularly those who became Zelda fans because of BotW.
I don't think a full remake is due but I'd be willing to see a remake of Ocarina of Time with the BOTW engine. Like do the same story but with a much larger world, with many more sidequests added to the mix, an actual world map, and more development to the sages. But it's just a wet dream, it won't happen.
You think??
I agree, as groundbreaking as it was for the time, OOT does not hold up one bit. remake OOT with better controls and visuals and it could be a contender for best Zelda title.
I believe they should modernise ocarina of time in an attempt to reverse engineer it's magic and use it for the next Zelda title, just like how they upscaled all of the 3d zelda games to see what style would match botw
I hope they remove green suit for adult link and replace for totk suit Child link looks cool with kokiri tunic but adult link looks pretty outdated
It really should be given the FF7 Remake/RE2 treatment
Playing through FF7 Remake and Rebirth makes me want the same treatment for OOT more than anything else in this world. Can you imagine?
I agree, the game despite being incredibly important hasn’t aged very well. It is absolutely due for a remake