![\"Link](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Link-jumps.jpg\")
\u00a9 Nintendo Jump Button <\/p>\nIs it November yet? I am currently overloaded with games to play, but I also really just want to play the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake. It\u2019s hitting Nintendo Switch 2 on November 5, 2026, which is just over a month away, and that is just simply not soon enough for me. I keep thinking about it!<\/p>\n
Ocarina of Time is still fresh in my brain. I actually played it for the very, very first time just this past January, and apart from how clunky and old it felt to control, I really enjoyed it! So I\u2019m rather excited to give it a second shot but with nice, smooth, and shiny modern controls and some of the new updates being introduced with this remake.<\/p>\n
Because there\u00a0are changes, beyond just the visuals. And I\u2019ve watched the trailers a lot and puzzled over them with friends, and I think I\u2019ve managed to identify what I consider to be the 15 biggest ones. Some of them were pointed out directly by Eiji Aonuma in the gameplay presentation, but others are significantly more subtle. Let\u2019s consider, shall we?<\/p>\n
Voice Acting <\/p>\n
While the original Ocarina of Time had some grunts and yells and other little vocal cues that played when characters spoke, the remake has fully voice-acted cutscenes.<\/p>\n
\u00a9 Nintendo Jump Button <\/p>\n
Link can jump now, on cue! No more having to line up sprinting at a cliff\u2019s edge for his auto-jump to work correctly; you can just control it now, and even jump in all sorts of other places, too.<\/p>\n
Swimming <\/p>\n
Link can also swim now, properly this time, with a little speed boost on a button press, and underwater too! He has a short stamina bar that depletes while he\u2019s underwater, so he can\u2019t go under indefinitely, but you no longer have to do weird maneuvers with the iron boots to hang out underwater.<\/p>\n
Free camera <\/p>\n
You can rotate the camera around freely now rather than having to rely on a mixture of a clonky targeting system and snapping the camera back behind Link to see what\u2019s going on. This is also the case in areas that used to have a fixed camera, like Castle Town, so you can see a lot more of these areas, including spots that were never visible before.<\/p>\n
Sprinting <\/p>\n
As before, Link can do a little roll, but if you hold down the A button when you roll he\u2019ll start sprinting out of it and move even faster than before.<\/p>\n
![\"Link](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Link-mechanism.jpg\")
\u00a9 Nintendo Mechanisms <\/p>\n
A lot of very smart people have pointed out that Ocarina of Time seems to have tweaked some of the mechanisms in dungeons so that while they are still the same for the purposes of gameplay, the manner in which they function is a bit more in keeping with a world in which actions have a proper cause and effect. The most commonly cited example is in this room, where instead of a floating platform, there\u2019s a log bridge that crumbles under Link. Then, once he has the slingshot, he shoots a switch that causes two stone panels to move and release a ladder. Before, Link just shot some webs and the ladder seemed to mysteriously drop from them as a result. This is a bit more believable!<\/p>\n
![\"Hyrule](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Hyrule-field.jpg\")
\u00a9 Nintendo Hyrule Field <\/p>\n
Hyrule Field\u2019s topography is different from what it used to be. Link walking out onto this vista view of the field isn\u2019t a thing in the original just because of the way the elevations work. Lon Lon Ranch appears to no longer be up on a plateau. There\u2019s also an interesting little marshland area in one corner of the map that was mostly just empty land before. These are all pretty subtle changes, but I think most of the ones I\u2019ve seen help make Hyrule Field feel vast and make good use of improved draw distance,\u00a0 acknowledging the fact that players now expect more than just big blank swaths of green terrain.<\/p>\n
![\"Castle](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Castle-Town.jpg\")
\u00a9 Nintendo Bustling Castle Town <\/p>\n
This is\u00a0way more people than were originally in Ocarina\u2019s Castle Town. Neat!<\/p>\n
Time Keeps Going <\/p>\n
Not just in the field, as before, but time will proceed while in towns like Castle Town, too. This means we\u2019ll be able to see the city transition from night into day, and vice versa!<\/p>\n
![\"Ocarina](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ocarina-cucoo-new-1.jpg\")
\u00a9 Nintendo Town Layouts <\/p>\n
In general, some of the town layouts appear to be switched up, or to have more detail added. The most obvious example of this is the location of the construction work in Kakariko Village; it\u2019s not in the same place as it was in the original. There\u2019s also a new area in Hyrule Castle, accessible when Link crawls through the tunnel to the courtyard: he ends up in some sort of sewer. It\u2019s unclear why this was done, but it may make finding what you\u2019re looking for a bit more challenging if you\u2019re relying too much on memories.<\/p>\n
Iron Boots <\/p>\n
You can just map them to a button now. This was present in the 3DS version of Ocarina, too, but it\u2019s just so nice to see it return.<\/p>\n
Lens of Truth <\/p>\n
This is a pair of goggles now? I guess that makes sense. Before, using the Lens just put a little view on the camera for the player to see through, and did not actually show Link using the magnifying glass. Now, Link will just put the goggles on, which feels a bit more realistic.<\/p>\n
![\"Link](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Link-swims.jpg\")
\u00a9 Nintendo Bigger Wallet? <\/p>\n