Legend of Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma says he's "all nervous" about how the Ocarina of Time remake will be received, just over a week before the game launches on Nintendo Switch 2. Aonuma made the comments in an interview with Agence France-Presse (AFP), published October 28.
"I'm all nervous about releasing the remake of 'Ocarina' because I don't know how it's going to turn out, I can't stop thinking about it," Aonuma told AFP. The remark stands out because Ocarina of Time, released in 1998, is routinely cited as one of the most influential games ever made, and Nintendo has rebuilt it from the ground up rather than simply remastering it.
Why the Nerves
Aonuma's anxiety centers on the gap between the original's reputation and the risk of altering something many players consider untouchable. The remake overhauls Ocarina of Time's visuals, adds a dedicated jump button and full manual camera control, and includes fully voiced cutscenes for a story that originally had none. Nintendo has not detailed frame rate or resolution targets for the final build.
Aonuma also told AFP that a number of developers on the remake team had never played the original N64 release before joining the project. Rather than treating that as a liability, he framed it as useful: "It's thanks to these young people, by thinking about how to adapt the game in the best possible way, how to make it fun once you have the controls in your hands, that this remake came into being," he said. According to Aonuma, those newer team members pushed for changes based on how the game should feel today, rather than preserving every design choice from 1998 out of habit.
It's a familiar tension for Nintendo, which faced similar scrutiny over its Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door remakes — projects judged partly on fidelity to the original and partly on whether changes justified a new purchase. Aonuma has overseen the Zelda series as producer since Ocarina of Time director Shigeru Miyamoto stepped back from day-to-day direction, giving him a direct stake in how the remake is judged against the game he helped define.
Early previews of the remake, run by outlets with limited hands-on access ahead of launch, have been largely positive, pointing to a gap between Aonuma's stated worry and the reception so far. Nintendo has not released review copies for a full critical verdict as of this writing, and Gamingonix has not reviewed the final build.
Release Details
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake launches exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2 on November 5, 2026, priced at $59.99 digitally and $69.99 physically. It arrives a week after Nintendo's Legend of Zelda 40th Anniversary Edition Switch 2 console, which shipped October 29 at $519.99 with a matching $99.99 Pro Controller; Nintendo has confirmed that bundle does not include a copy of the game.
Nintendo has still not officially named the studio behind the remake, though retailer listings and leaks continue to point to Grezzo, developer of Ocarina of Time 3D and Echoes of Wisdom. That credit remains unconfirmed by Nintendo as of this writing.
Emma covers gaming news and industry announcements for Gamingonix, reporting on releases, reveals and the stories moving fast.
