Adaptationcarina of Time

Adaptationcarina of Time-Josiah Willoughby

     The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is one of the most famous–and infamous–games Nintendo has ever produced. Originally made for the Nintendo 64, this classic game has the perfect balance of fun gameplay, interesting concepts and janky, old gameplay that was ripe for a remake, and so Nintendo announced it would have one in a Nintendo Direct released on the Legend of Zelda’s 40th anniversary on Sep 8, 2026. This remake has introduced new graphics, buttons and controversies.

     The original Zelda: Ocarina of Time game was released in 1997 for the Nintendo 64 and was the first three dimensional Zelda game. However, Ocarina of Time had several technical limitations associated with its title being the first 3D Zelda game. For example, OoT didn’t have a jump button, instead the player would be required to walk up to ledges and the game would automatically jump. This hardware has been updated in the coming remake, with Eiji Aonume, a Nintendo employee, stating, “Jumping might seem obvious for those of you who have played recent games in the series,” (Eiji Aonume, Nintendo Direct). Another constraint was the lack of a sprint button which, while not such a crime alone, was made unforgivable because Ocarina of Time happened to feature the largest expanse of empty space in gaming history at the time, across which navigating was incredibly annoying. As written by Jeremy-Parish on Polygon–a gaming website–”setting Hyrule Field dead center in the game world, and forcing you to navigate it and its roaming monsters over and over again.” (Zelda: Ocarina of Time’s OoT changed game worlds). 

     By far, however, the catastasis of the game and its best known failing is its infamous water temple, which functions as the sixth dungeon of the game. The mechanics by which the player must beat the level are repetitive and tedious, requiring the player to swap boots several times over if they know what they’re doing, and many times over if not, having a confusing and repetitive layout, and having easy to miss important items. This part of the game has not been shown in its entirety yet, so it’s difficult to judge whether Nintendo will adjust it, but needless to say there’s room for improvement.

     The most obvious update is the increased graphical fidelity of the game, best demonstrated by the main character Link, Young Link in particular. His tunic has individually rendered stitches with embroidery across his collar and braided leather. His hair has each strand as its own thing, and each part of Link has some texture, from the slightly rough tunic to his soft hair and skin to his rough wooden shield. These incredibly minute details are remarkable compared to the game’s contemporary modern titles, but it stands out as especially impressive when looked at next to the original Ocarina of Time Young Link. The original Link had textures placed on it rather than it being rendered, had a paper-thin tunic without any weight, and a general lack of polish–unsurprising given the era it was released.

     Another aspect of the remake is the solutions to some puzzles may have been altered to be easier. In the trailer for the OoT Remake, Link is shown shooting a very conspicuous eye in order for a staircase to drop down. In the original, the player had to shoot a less conspicuous button(?) in order for a staircase to materialize out of thin air. Some people have taken this to mean that the game will hold the player’s hand more and give them more obvious answers. Using Reddit to approximate widespread opinion, one user posts, “They’re a bit more obvious from what I’ve seen, enemies too - like the glowing weakspot behind the skulltula and wolfos,” and yet another states, “Not letting players put two and two together robs them of the sense of accomplishment when they do finally figure the puzzle out.” People are worried the game may be toned down by modern Nintendo because they lack faith in their audience. Another discourse is the way the better graphics are implemented. The style has been called overstimulating with all its additional details and has been made fun of by many people saying, “They hired this man,” in reference to the meme, “Nintendo, hire this man!” based on a style of video wherein a person would remake a level of a video game, but increase the graphics to an excessive amount, making the game look amateurish.

     As described by knowyourmeme.com, “Nintendo, Hire This Man is a sarcastic expression and memetic catchphrase used to mock overly realistic or untooned mods.” The main argument against this point is the art direction. The main point against using these high fidelity graphics is that it lacks artistic intent, but the trailer demonstrates several shots demonstrating the artistry lacking in the projects. The lighting is specifically placed to draw the player’s attention to important areas and the different locations are carefully stylized to keep them feeling like they’re in the Zelda style whilst doing their own things. While the argument towards the excessive detail of the style can be argued, comparing it to simply raising the fidelity is disingenuous. 

     In closing, the new Ocarina of Time remake looks promising. There are much needed improvements to the gameplay and increased graphical fidelity. While there may be reason to worry, and the new style of the game may not be for everyone, overall the game has stylization that sets it apart from contemporary titles and keeps it feeling like Zelda. In the end, there is good reason to look forward to this newest version of this classic installment of the Zelda series.