Ocarina of Time remake previews describe new controls and a November Switch 2 release

Nintendo’s remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is scheduled for release on Switch 2 on November 5, 2026. Hands-on previews published October 14 by The Verge and Engadget describe revised controls and tools for finding the way through the 1998 adventure, changes that could make its older design easier to navigate.

The Verge’s Cameron Faulkner says he played about 90 minutes at a preview event in New York, trying sections as both Child Link and Adult Link. The sections he saw were truncated, so his account describes a limited preview rather than a complete playthrough. Engadget’s Sam Rutherford separately reported his impressions of the remake.

How the remake changes movement and camera control

Faulkner reports a dedicated jump button, camera control with the right stick and faster selection of items and weapons. In his account, changing equipment no longer requires repeated trips through the original game’s pause menu. These are practical changes to actions a player performs throughout the adventure, rather than additions confined to a particular scene.

Rutherford describes a sprint button, smoother movement, revised swimming and inventory, and full control over camera positioning. His account adds detail to the picture of how the remake plays, although it is also based on preview access. Together, the reports suggest that Nintendo has revised both movement through the game world and the controls used to inspect it.

Threads of Time and other ways to find your place

Faulkner also reports Zelda Notes integration in the Nintendo Switch app, with maps and other game information. Rutherford describes map and landscape tweaks within the remake itself, along with full day-and-night cycles. The previews do not establish how extensive those changes are across the whole game; the reporters identify them among the features they observed or were shown.

What the previews say about the Forest Temple

The Forest Temple stood out in both reports. Faulkner particularly praised its red stained-glass lighting and frightening atmosphere. Rutherford noted updated fog and sword effects there. Those are the reporters’ impressions of the presentation, not a measure of how every part of the finished remake will look or feel.

Rutherford did have a visual reservation: he thought the water effects looked unnatural. He also reports that cutscenes have full voice acting while conversations with lower-level non-player characters remain mostly text-based. Another option he describes lets players hum or sing into the Switch 2 to play ocarina notes.

The original Ocarina of Time was released in 1998. Engadget places it in the series’ shift from 2D to 3D after A Link to the Past. Faulkner characterizes the remake as a smaller-scale adventure than more recent Zelda games, an observation that helps frame his preview without claiming the new version follows the structure of those later releases.

Engadget reports that the remake is available to preorder for $60. Both outlets give November 5 as its scheduled release date. Those are the concrete next steps reported in the previews; their hands-on accounts give players a view of selected sections ahead of that date.