29 New Changes in Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake: Redesigned Puzzles, Updated Miniboss Battles and Deeper Dialogue

I spent over an hour playing The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on the Switch 2, and as someone who has beaten the original several times, I noticed many small changes that shed light on the thinking behind the remake of this adventure. It seems everything was on the table: the altered puzzles better match modern controls, and the redesigned miniboss battles make every encounter more engaging

I played over an hour of the remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on the Switch 2, and as someone who has finished the original multiple times, I noticed a lot of small changes that shed some light on the thought process behind the adventure's remake. Everything seems to have been on the table: reworked puzzles are more in line with modern controls, redesigned mini-boss fights make things more interesting every round, and new context shortcuts and clues make navigation more intuitive. If you want to learn all the details you can about Ocarina of Time before its November 5th release date, I'd like to list some of the notable differences I saw when comparing it to the original N64. Before we start, a few things:

First, this article isn't my official preview - you can check out my more official first impression of Ocarina of Time here , and tune in to this week's Nintendo Voice Chat where I dove into it even more.

Second, this is far from an exhaustive list of differences. I'm leaving out most of the really obvious stuff like controls, art style, and voice acting (you can read about that in the prequel to this piece), and it would take too long to list all the differences. I'll only bring up a change I mentioned earlier if I can officially confirm it through gameplay or if I learn something new that's worth sharing.

Third, we're limited to the number of screenshots we're allowed to publish for this preview period, so for this piece, you'll have to rely solely on the written word. We're going old school!

Finally, and most importantly, there will be spoilers for the original Ocarina of Time as we look at the changes we saw in the Kokiri Forest, inside the Great Deku Tree, Hyrule Square, Castle City, and the Forest Temple. It's hard to discuss changes without explaining the source! If you don't know the original, don't want to be reminded of it, or don't want to see how some things are done differently, this is not for you! Well, that's more than enough introduction - let's get started.

1. Link's wallet can hold 200 rupees right from the start, against the original N64 limit of 99.

2. Jumping off the stone platforms next to the Kokiri Jungle Shop no longer rewards you with a hidden five rupees. Instead, additional blue rupees are scattered throughout the forest.

3. Speaking of the shop, there's a new scarecrow training dummy to the right of the counter. A villager will use it to run you through a quick tutorial on raising your defenses.

4. The challenge to obtain the Kokiri Sword has been revised. The treasure chest used to be collected in the back corner of the room. It is now on a platform in the middle. You have to jump to it instead of practicing reorienting the camera to get to it. In my preview, I go into the philosophy behind this change.

inside the big deco tree (chald link dungeon)

5. In the room where you get the slingshot, the second and smaller treasure chest used to hold the random recovery heart. It was always kind of a disappointing revelation to me. Now, it holds a few Deku Nuts. This is a minor improvement in my opinion!

6. You fight a lot of skulls in the big deco tree and their attack patterns have changed. Instead of choosing to occasionally reveal their weakness to you, hitting them with your sword will cause them to spin around and reveal their soft underbelly. This fits with Ocarina of Time's new focus on logic: the enemy no longer gives you an unearned opportunity -- you have to activate it.

7. On N64, Lon Lon Ranch looked kind of like an impenetrable fortress from the outside, with high walls that you couldn't really see through. Now, it's more naturally woven into the environment and you can spy horses grazing outside.

8. Peahat enemies decorate the corners of Hyrule Field by default, but on my way to Castle Town, I ran into a few that were in the center. A Hyrule square full of more enemies is a good thing in my book.

9. Near the new Peahats, I saw a cracked piece of ground that looked perfect for a bomb. Most of the entrances to the secret rooms in the original version were completely invisible to the naked eye - this is a more obvious hint towards a hidden area. I can't wait to see what those scattered caves look like now.

10. In the last "biggest changes" piece for Ocarina of Time, I noticed a new sign outside the castle town. The gate. I wanted to know if it could provide some new lore about the history of Hyrule, the events of Skyward Sword, or something like that. But, it's just a big sign pointing you in the direction of Hyrule Field's biggest sights. Not really what I was expecting, but a noticeable change nonetheless.

11. The biggest difference in Castle Town is its change of perspective. No longer limited to fixed camera angles. It's in third person with full camera control the entire time. You can even go all the way from the city entrance to the Temple of Time seamlessly without loading screens or breaking the camera.

12. Upon entering Castle Town, I spoke to a new NPC: a blonde woman who warns Link not to spend all his money, even though there are plenty of exciting options on the market. This is his first visit to the city, so I'm hoping he'll have some sort of quest or extra conversation later.

One last spoiler alert here - some of the puzzle changes in the Forest Temple are rather significant!

13. There are many minor changes to the way the Forest Temple looks and functions, starting right at the entrance. Instead of hooking onto a tree branch, Link aims for a more traditional target above the temple's entrance door. With a similar example, where in the Great Deku Tree Link shoots an eyeball target instead of a ladder, the remake seems more intent on teaching us how to use these items on recognizable and intended targets. Players may not think of parts of the world to interact with.

14. After completing a puzzle that involves pushing blocks and climbing ladders to reach the top of the room, you can now activate a brand new elevator that makes it so you don't have to go through the same tunnels and climb the same ladders on repeated visits.

15. Floormasters - the iconic disembodied hand enemies that pull Link from the ceiling - are now telegraphed by a glowing spotlight that shines on Link and changes color just before the hand comes down. It's very cool, and fits the theatrical vibe of this remake that I'm going to cover in my preview.

16. This is also one of my previews: "The arena where Link fights Stalphos used to have a giant hole in the middle. Link had to avoid it or risk falling to the floor below, but Stalphos can defy gravity and float over the gap... Here, that hole has been replaced by a shallow pool of acid. The skeleton misses Link - while killing enemies. If he gets in, that means the fight is played like before: Stalfos has access to the entire room while Link is limited to the edges, but the way it's built makes more sense.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time preview screenshots

17. The rooms and corridors on the side of the mansion with red po have red carpets and stained glass windows, while their counterparts on the side with blue po have carpets and blue windows. This really differentiates the look and feel of similar rooms and makes you less likely to get lost.

18. A torch puzzle that previously included rotating platforms has been rebuilt without the rotating elements.

19. In the room where a giant block hits the floor, guardrails have been added to the ceiling to prevent Link from jumping onto the block before coming back up. You can't jump by pressing a button on the N64! I imagine the developers had to rethink the world geometry now that Link can jump at any time.

20. The final two-poo encounter has been remixed. The sliding block puzzle to reveal the green poo no longer has a time limit, but the extra block meant to fake you out is now a bit more interesting. The moments leading up to the final Poo fight, and the fight itself, are fleshed out. There's an entirely new stage, and each round of combat is unique, rather than repeating the exact same pattern three times.

21. The last room before facing the Forest Temple boss was about rotating the inner wall of a cylinder to access certain rooms in the outer wall. The concept is still intact, but now includes torches.

22. I really noticed the characters' extended dialogue during my preview session. Everyone had more to say: Link's friends seemed to know him a little better, the Kokiri shopkeeper had a beef with Mido, the villagers of Castle Town seemed more enthralled by this mysterious forest boy, and the few cutscenes I saw were voiced. There are also more dialogue options than before, reminiscent of Link's funnier tone in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.

23. All worlds would freeze on N64 when casting Dean's attack spell. Now, the spell is cast in real time, meaning you have to make sure you're not in danger of getting hit before you use it.

24. Like the 3DS Remaster, you can quickly open a songbook while playing Ocarina to remind yourself of the buttons for each specific song, rather than having to go all the way to the pause menu.

25. The original Ocarina had four empty bottles to collect. In the inventory menu of the revamped version, there are clearly five slots for empty bottles. I confirmed this extra slot while playing, which means there is an extra bottle somehow in Link's quest.

26. Speaking of the inventory screen, here's an interesting fact: the upper left quadrant is reserved for items that only Child Link can equip, while the upper right quadrant is for Adult Link gear. The bottom half has items that both can use, and there are dividing lines that clearly separate the three areas.

27. When the hookshot is lined up with an enemy that can hit, the target reticle color will change from blue to red, giving you an easy way to see where your shot is going to land.

28. The quest log gently guides you where to go (if you need it - I didn't have to open it once), and the text adds flavor to the adventure. The quest descriptions are written like old fairy tales - "Once upon a time there was a boy named Link..." - which I think is very appropriate.

29. Finally, I have to give a shout out to the music, which was just fun to listen to during my preview. From the bright Kokiri Forest theme to the adventurous Hyrule Field, it was a joy to hear these classic songs brought to life by real musicians recording them. I can't wait to hear the rest of the soundtrack.

And that's it! If you can believe it, we're just over three weeks away from playing the Ocarina of Time remake for ourselves. Before you go, remember to check out my official official preview and this week's episode of Nintendo Voice Chat. Also, the piece is exactly 1,998 words, which is the year Ocarina of Time was originally released on the Nintendo 64. Here's another fun fact for you!

Logan Plant is IGN's senior editor, playlist and DB, and host of Nintendo Voice Chat. The Legend of Zelda is his favorite video game series of all time, and he's patiently waiting for the day when Nintendo introduces an all-new F-Zero. You can find new NVC episodes on the IGN Games YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.