Ocarina of Time remake: release date, price, what's new

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is coming back, rebuilt from the ground up for Nintendo Switch 2. The remake of Link's 1998 Nintendo 64 adventure launches on Thursday, November 5, 2026, and it will be the first Zelda game that only runs on Switch 2.

Nintendo's latest overview trailer, released on October 14, added a few surprises, including a new museum where you can rematch bosses against the clock. The first hands-on previews landed the same week. Here is everything we know about the release date, price, new features, the matching Zelda Switch 2 console, and what early players think.

Ocarina of Time remake release date

The remake launches on November 5, 2026, exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2. Nintendo first teased it in June and announced the date during its Legend of Zelda 40th anniversary stream on September 8. Pre-orders are open now on the Nintendo Store, the Nintendo eShop and at major retailers.

It lands in a crowded month. As The Verge pointed out, Ocarina of Time is one of only a few big games launching in the same month as Grand Theft Auto VI. Nintendo's store listing estimates the download at about 27GB.

How much does the Ocarina of Time remake cost?

In the US, the digital version costs $59.99 and the physical version costs $69.99. The Nintendo Store listing showed $59.99 for the digital edition when we checked at 21:26 UTC on October 17. In the UK, Nintendo Life's database lists £49.99 on the eShop and £58.99 for the physical copy.

The first print run of the physical version comes in special packaging with textured foil cover art, while supplies last.

What's new in the Ocarina of Time remake?

Nintendo calls this a full remake rather than a remaster, and producer Eiji Aonuma has described it as "a faithful interpretation using modern technologies." The story, dungeons and map follow the original, but almost everything around them has been rebuilt.

The visuals have been completely overhauled down to the texture of each material, load times are faster and the game runs much more smoothly. Characters are fully voiced during expanded cutscenes and have more to say, and the soundtrack is now played by a symphony orchestra. The day and night cycle also keeps running everywhere, even inside towns, which it did not do on the N64.

The controls borrow from Breath of the Wild. Link can now jump with a button press and sprint, and you control the camera freely with the right stick. A new feature called Threads of Time shows your story progress and next objective from the pause menu, with a large tapestry that fills in as you play. Nintendo Life found that it largely takes over the job that Navi, Link's fairy guide, used to do by shouting "Hey, listen!"

The most charming addition uses the Switch 2's built-in microphone. Hum one of the ocarina songs Link has learned, or play it on a real instrument, and Link plays it in the game. Nintendo says the game also responds to two new ocarinas coming this year: a playable one and an electric one made by HORI.

Hall of Fallen Foes: the new boss rematch mode

The October 14 overview trailer revealed a brand-new area called the Hall of Fallen Foes, which sits somewhere in Hyrule. It works like a museum: statues of the enemies Link has defeated appear there, with short descriptions and notes on where to find them.

Boss statues can also start a rematch. According to Nintendo Life and Nintendo Wire, these fights are timed, so you can race your own best time, much like the boss challenge mode in the 2011 Nintendo 3DS version. The trailer briefly shows a rematch with King Dodongo.

Nintendo's Japanese website also says Navi can help Link read fairy thoughts and memories hidden around Hyrule, which contain extra secrets, Nintendo Life reports.

Zelda Notes, amiibo and the HORI electric ocarina

Ocarina of Time supports Zelda Notes, a section of the Nintendo Switch App for phones that already works with Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. For this game it adds a daily record of what you did, a Gossip Quest that asks you to find in-game spots from hint pictures, a virtual ocarina you can play on your phone's touchscreen, and a quiz with more than 2,000 questions.

Tapping any existing Legend of Zelda amiibo figure gives you in-game extras. Two new amiibo, Young Link and Young Zelda, arrive in 2027 and unlock special masks with a retro graphical style.

HORI's Electric Ocarina of Time costs $49.99 in the US and is due on November 5. HORI is clear that it is an electronic toy, not a real ocarina: you press a mouthpiece button and touch the finger buttons instead of blowing. It has a free play mode, an auto-play mode with 12 songs from the game, a volume dial and a headphone jack, and the Switch 2 hears it through the microphone like any other instrument. We could not find official pricing for Nintendo's own playable ocarina yet.

Zelda 40th Anniversary Switch 2: price and release date

If you do not own a Switch 2 yet, Nintendo is releasing a special Nintendo Switch 2 - The Legend of Zelda - 40th Anniversary Edition a week before the game, on October 29. It has a black and gold dock with a golden Triforce, Zelda-inspired patterns on the back of the console and dock, and green and gold Joy-Con 2 controllers.

It costs $519.99 in the US on the Nintendo Store (checked at 21:26 UTC on October 17) and 62,980 yen in Japan. The game is not included, so the console plus a digital copy of Ocarina of Time comes to $579.98. In the UK, TechRadar lists it at £429.99 on Nintendo's own store. A matching Switch 2 Pro Controller with a display stand and a Zelda carrying case launch the same day.

Ocarina of Time remake previews: what critics say

Reviews are not out yet, but several outlets played the game at preview events, and the early impressions are very positive.

The Verge's Cameron Faulkner played for about 90 minutes in New York and called it the best-looking, best-playing version of the game. He praised how Link now swaps items by holding a shoulder button instead of opening the pause menu, and said the Forest Temple's more realistic look finally lets the game's horror themes land.

Nintendo Life's Gavin Lane spent two hours with it and called the visual upgrade immense. He liked small quality-of-life changes such as a new lift in the Forest Temple's block-pushing room, the removal of the time limit on the Poe painting puzzle, and a Business Scrub Seed that lets you call up a shop to restock potions or arrows mid-dungeon. His one complaint was Navi: she speaks less out loud, but new floating text boxes pop up in the middle of the screen with remarks like "So high..." at big moments.

Should you pre-order Ocarina of Time on Switch 2?

If you already own a Switch 2 and have never played Ocarina of Time, this looks like the easiest way in, with modern controls, a quest log and far better visuals. If you played the original or the 3DS version, the previews suggest the new detail, the boss rematches and the voice acting add enough to make a return trip worthwhile, as long as Navi's new pop-ups do not bother you.

Digital pre-orders cost the same as buying on launch day, so there is little downside to waiting for reviews closer to November 5. The foil packaging on the first physical print run is the one thing that may not last. We will update this story when reviews arrive.