Ocarina of Time remake adds voice and modern controls — SkimNews

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- Ocarina of Time preserves its 1998 sequence, world and ingenious spatial and logical puzzles, from setting fire to a stick to using a magic lens to locate invisible crypt gaps.
- Ocarina of Time expands text conversations and fully voices pivotal cutscenes in a style the reviewer compares with 2023’s Tears of the Kingdom, while keeping Link silent and bringing out the tale’s latent epic drama.
- Ganondorf becomes “thrillingly evil” in pre-battle face-offs, and an entirely new scene showing young Link pull the Master Sword and freeze for seven years leaves the reviewer awestruck.
- Nintendo renders the remake in a hyperreal, puppet-and-toy style, giving Link detailed stitching and prop-like tools and Hyrule Field and its dungeons a more beautiful appearance; the reviewer disliked Sheik’s reduced androgyny.
- Link can jump anywhere with a button, reaches tools through quick-select controls—including easy iron-boot toggles—and fights faster with more dramatic swordplay.
- Switch 2 captures hummed ocarina melodies through its microphone, while the remake’s score is redone with a full orchestra that the reviewer calls newly powerful and portentous.
- Ocarina of Time launches on 5 November at £59.99, while the original game remains available for purists who prefer the 1998 presentation.
Why it matters: For players, the 5 November release at £59.99 combines the original game’s intact puzzle structure with voiced drama, unrestricted movement and quick-select tools, while the original remains available. Purists face the trade-off: modern polish changes the presentation—including Sheik’s reduced androgyny—even as the remake strengthens the game’s emotional pull.
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