In 1998, Link ran off a ledge and the game decided he should jump. That small bit of hand-holding is a big reason Ocarina of Time felt so smooth on a Nintendo 64, and it's the first thing the Switch 2 remake changes. On Oct. 14 the first hands-on previews went live, and in the remake Link jumps when you press a button.
I haven't played it, and I want to say that up front. Almost nobody outside Nintendo's preview events has. What follows is built from what the people who did play it published today, checked against the announcements as reported by Engadget, Forbes and others. What I can add is the part a news recap can't: a verdict on each change, a plain look at what worries me, and an answer to the question I'd be asking if I were you: do I buy this on day one?
The short version is that I'm more excited than I expected to be. A game this loved is easy to ruin, and from what the previews describe, Nintendo is touching mostly the right things.
Quick Rundown
- The Ocarina of Time remake launches Nov. 5, 2026, only on Nintendo Switch 2. It was announced June 9, and the date came at the Zelda 40th Anniversary Direct on Sept. 8.
- It costs $59.99 digital or $69.99 physical, with a textured foil cover on the first physical print, and it's rated E10+, according to Forbes.
- The first previews, published Oct. 14, describe a dedicated jump button, sprinting, quicker item swaps, a 200-rupee starting wallet per IGN, a fifth bottle slot, Forest Temple revisions, a boss rematch area and a chattier Navi.
- You can play the ocarina songs with buttons or hum them into the Switch 2 microphone, and the remake adds voice acting.
- A Zelda 40th Anniversary Switch 2 and Pro Controller arrive Oct. 29, and the console doesn't include the game.
- My take: the changes are smart, and my one worry is that the new detail is so rich it can get in the way of knowing where to go.
The facts in one place
Before the opinions, here is everything confirmed so far, in one stub. Nintendo has said very little about the remake's length or total changes, so I've left those out rather than guess.
Two bits of context help. The 1998 original arrived in Japan on Nov. 21 and in North America on Nov. 23, so this release lands almost exactly 28 years later. And it's the game's second remake: the first was Ocarina of Time 3D on the Nintendo 3DS in 2011. A second remake in a generation says a lot about how much people still want to come back to this particular Hyrule.
The price also stacks up well. Game Rant points out that it sits $10 below Nintendo's biggest Switch 2 releases, like Mario Kart World and Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave, which list at $79.99 physical.
Five previews, five things that stuck
The Oct. 14 batch is useful because the writers noticed different things. Here's what each one stuck on, in my own words, not theirs.
James Perkins Mastromarino spent about 90 minutes with it, called it the prettiest Zelda he's played, and said he needs more time to know whether the beauty goes deeper than the surface. He also missed a key chest in the Forest Temple, and a Nintendo rep acknowledged that the rich detail can make it hard to know where to go.
Cameron Faulkner liked the quicker item switching and noticed small visual touches, like red stained glass tinting Link as he passes through beams of light. He wrote that the changes made him pause just to look.
Matthew Castle said the controls will feel familiar to modern players but that it's striking to step into old territory with a hero who feels so different under your thumbs.
Chris Scullion, after about two hours, noticed the remake is more generous with rupees than the original and found he could afford the Deku Shield without hunting for extra cash.
IGN's list of new changes is where the 200-rupee wallet, the fifth bottle and the Forest Temple puzzle and decor revisions come from.
My keep-or-change ledger: eight changes, one verdict each
This is my own scoring, not a published rating. For each change I show how the original handled it, what the previews say the remake does, and my call. Everything stacks on a phone, nothing scrolls sideways.
Jumping
Love itLink jumps on his own when he runs off a ledge or gap.
A dedicated jump button. One NPR previewer mistimed a leap because he was used to the automatic one.
My call. This is the change that proves Nintendo isn't just polishing. It hands you control over the spot where the old game took it away, and it's the change veterans will need a minute to adjust to.
Running
Love itNo sprint. Players leaned on the roll to get across Hyrule Field faster.
Link can sprint, according to Kotaku's roundup of the previews.
My call. Anyone who has rolled across a field for nearly 28 years will understand why this feels like a gift.
Swapping items
Love itOpen the pause menu and equip.
Hold a shoulder button to pause the action, then pick with the analog stick, as The Verge describes it.
My call. A pause menu was fine in 1998. Today it just interrupts the adventure, and this fix keeps the pace without changing the puzzles.
Money
Fine, with a questionLink starts with a 99-rupee wallet. The 200-rupee upgrade came from turning in 10 Gold Skulltula Tokens.
Starts with a 200-rupee wallet, per IGN. VGC also found rupees easier to come by, enough to buy the Deku Shield early without hunting for cash.
My call. I like that the early game is less stingy. I want to know what the Gold Skulltula prize turns into, because that reward was a reason to chase the tokens.
Bottles
CuriousFour bottles, and the last one meant finding 10 Big Poes across Hyrule Field.
A fifth bottle slot, which a Nintendo rep confirmed to IGN. How you get it hasn't been explained.
My call. A fifth bottle is a small number with a big question attached. Is it a new quest or just a reward for the old ones?
Dungeons
Watching closelyThe Forest Temple as it was on the Nintendo 64.
IGN describes puzzle changes, color-coded sections, a pool of acid replacing a bottomless pit in one mini-boss fight and an elevator shaft that cuts some backtracking.
My call. Cutting backtracking is smart. Cutting thinking isn't. The Forest Temple is where this will be judged, and I can only guess how far Nintendo went with something like the Water Temple.
Boss rematches
Love itOnce a boss is down, it stays down.
A new area called the Hall of Fallen Foes, where Kaepora Gaebora carries Link to rematch bosses like Dodongo and Shadow Link, with a time-trial counter on each fight.
My call. Speedrunners and nostalgia-chasers will both live here, and it's an easy way to add replay value without touching the original quest.
Talkiness
Mixed feelingsNavi chimes in, but the world mostly lets you wander.
Navi interrupts more often, including a short monster lore dump the first time you meet a Peahat Larva, and some NPCs get extra lines.
My call. Great for newcomers who never met this world. For veterans it could get noisy, so I'd love an easy way to turn it down.
Count it up and it's four loves, one fine-with-a-question, one curious, one watching closely and one mixed. What I like most is the pattern: nearly every change removes friction around the adventure rather than rewriting the adventure.
The one thing that worries me
The remake keeps the old game's cartoon style and piles intricate detail on top of it. That is gorgeous, and it may also make it harder to see what matters.
Here's why I'm not just being picky. NPR's previewer said it was the prettiest Zelda game he'd played, and then missed a chest holding a key he needed in the Forest Temple. A Nintendo rep told him the rich details could overwhelm the eye and make it hard to know exactly where to go next. Kotaku's roundup says the visuals have the potential to distract even seasoned players, and The Verge's writer said the changes made him stop playing for a second to look.
I don't read that as a flaw yet. It's also a compliment. But a Zelda dungeon works because you can read a room at a glance: this door, that chest, that switch. On the N64, the plain graphics did part of that work for free. I'd want the final game to make sure that a beautiful room is still a readable one. That's my opinion, not a fact about the finished game, and it's the first thing I'd look for in any review.
The ocarina itself: humming, voices and the extras
The headline new feature is the one built around the title. Nintendo says you can play the songs with button controls or hum them into the Switch 2's built-in microphone. I think that's the first Switch 2 microphone idea I've seen that actually belongs in the game it's in, because the entire game is about playing songs.
Other confirmed extras, according to Engadget, TheGamer and Forbes: the remake adds voice acting and orchestral music, there are two amiibo (Link and Zelda) that unlock N64-style heads when tapped, and Nintendo showed off a real-life ocarina. The Zelda 40th Anniversary Switch 2 and matching Pro Controller launch Oct. 29, but the console doesn't come with the game.
Who should buy it on day one
These are my picks, not rules. Prices and plans can change, so check your own store.
Digital is $59.99 and physical is $69.99. If you'll want the foil-cover first print, pre-ordering the physical copy is how you'd get it. If the jump button bothers you in the first ten minutes, give it an hour. The previewer who mistimed his leap was simply used to the old way.
Kotaku reads the previews as Nintendo making room for newcomers, with modern controls and a chatty Navi. Engadget calls it a faithful remake that doesn't mess with the formula of the 1998 game, so my read is to expect a classic, guided structure rather than the open-world freedom of those two games.
The remake is listed as exclusive to Switch 2. There's no word on another platform in anything I found.
Nintendo set Nov. 5 two weeks before GTA 6's Nov. 19 console launch. If you plan to spend that month in Vice City, the remake gets a two-week head start on your time and your budget. That's my read of the calendar, not a prediction about either game.
What nobody knows yet
- What replaces the Gold Skulltula wallet reward now that Link starts with 200 rupees.
- How you earn the fifth bottle, and whether it's tied to a new challenge.
- How far the changes go in bigger dungeons like the Water Temple. The previews I found focus on early sections and the Forest Temple.
- How long the remake takes to finish. I couldn't find a Nintendo number.
- Review scores. They don't exist yet, and previews run on Nintendo's schedule.
Quick answers
When does the Ocarina of Time remake come out?
November 5, 2026, exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2. Nintendo first announced the remake in a June 9 Nintendo Direct and gave the date at the Legend of Zelda 40th Anniversary Direct on September 8.
How much is the Ocarina of Time remake?
$59.99 for the digital version and $69.99 for the physical version on the US Nintendo Store, according to Forbes and TheGamer. The first physical print run has a textured foil cover while supplies last.
Is the Ocarina of Time remake on the original Switch?
No. It is listed as exclusive to Nintendo Switch 2, with no version for the original Switch.
What changes in the Ocarina of Time remake?
Early previews describe a dedicated jump button instead of automatic ledge jumps, sprinting, item swapping from a shoulder button without the pause menu, a starting wallet of 200 rupees per IGN, a fifth bottle slot, tweaks to the Forest Temple, a boss rematch area called the Hall of Fallen Foes, voice acting and a chattier Navi.
Can you play the ocarina songs by humming?
Yes, as an option. Nintendo says you can play the songs with button controls or hum them into the built-in microphone of the Switch 2.
Does the Zelda Switch 2 console come with the game?
No. The Zelda 40th Anniversary Switch 2 console and matching Pro Controller arrive October 29, a week before the game, and the game is sold separately.
What is the Ocarina of Time remake rated?
ESRB E10+, according to Forbes.
Are the previews the full game?
No. They are hands-on sessions that Nintendo arranged, and Kotaku notes that much of what people played covers the early sections already shown in last month's Direct. Full reviews are not out yet.
