Nintendo's Ocarina of Time Remake Draws Praise in Switch 2 Previews

The original The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time arrived on Nintendo 64 in 1998. It brought the series into 3D for the first time, adapting its exploration, puzzles and combat, according to Screen Rant.

Nintendo is now making a full remake for Switch 2. Mashable reports that the game will close out Nintendo's 2026 first-party release calendar for the console. The previews frame it as both a technical update and a return to a game reviewers remember intensely.

The supplied previews were all published on October 14, 2026. They offer different views of the same upcoming release, rather than a sequence of announcements.

The visual treatment is a central talking point. NPR describes the remake as the most ornate Zelda game yet, highlighting its elaborate new style. Eurogamer argues that it is shaping up to be a brilliant remake regardless of readers' opinions about that style.

The praise extends beyond appearances. Engadget says the remake plays even better than it looks and that Link is getting more than a visual upgrade. The Verge describes it as remarkably modern and surprisingly terrifying, suggesting Nintendo has preserved the original's timeless quality.

Other previews focus on the gap between memory and actually playing. After an hour, CNET says its reviewer thinks they prefer the remake to the original. TechRadar, drawing on a two-hour early-access session, describes returning to the original as a less satisfying experience.

Sound also gets attention. Mashable identifies the way the remake sounds, rather than playing it, as its most exciting aspect. The supplied excerpt does not explain the specific audio changes.

Ocarina of Time remains an upcoming Switch 2 release in this coverage. The available reactions are hands-on previews, including the one-hour session described by CNET and the two-hour session described by TechRadar, not reviews of the complete game.

The early response is positive, particularly about how the remake plays. Its art direction is a separate point of discussion: Eurogamer explicitly distinguishes opinions about the look from its assessment of the remake's quality. The supplied coverage does not give an exact release date or detail the new gameplay features.

The next test is whether those strong early impressions hold across the full game. The short sessions described by CNET and TechRadar cannot establish that yet. More detailed coverage could also clarify the gameplay changes flagged by Engadget and the sound treatment highlighted by Mashable.