The first hands-on previews for the Switch 2’s remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time just dropped alongside a fresh overview trailer. While much of what people have played is a retread of the early sections of the game first revealed during last month’s Nintendo Direct, the hours-long sessions also allowed players to go off the beaten path and dig into some of the nuances of what is changing in this new version of the Nintendo 64 classic. Here are five additional details we just learned about the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake.
Link’s starting wallet can now hold 200 rupees
In the original game, you were limited to holding just 99 rupees at the start. Per IGN, you now start off with a wallet that can hold twice that. This used to be an upgrade players unlocked for turning in 10 Gold Skulltula Tokens to the cursed family in Kakariko Village. It’s unclear what the new prize will be instead.
Dungeons have been extensively tweaked
IGN also notes that the Forest Temple has received a significant overhaul in some areas. This includes everything from changes to how some of the puzzles work to decorative renovations like color-coded motifs for each different section of the dungeon to make it more obvious which section you’re in. One mini-boss fight replaces a bottomless pit with a pool of acid. Nintendo also stuck an elevator shaft in one area to minimize some of the backtracking. I can only guess how extensive the revisions might be to more complicated dungeons like the Water Temple.
There’s now a fifth bottle for Link to find
The N64 game only had four bottles. Getting the final one required Link to hunt down 10 Big Poes across Hyrule Field. A Nintendo rep confirmed to IGN that a fifth space in the inventory screen is indeed for an additional bottle. It remains to be seen if players unlock it over the normal course of the game or there’s now a new puzzle or mini-challenge for them to complete.Â
There’s a new area in the game where you can rematch boss fights
It’s called The Hall of Fallen Foes and it shows Link all of the enemies he’s defeated in the game. As teased in a new overview trailer, it sounds like the big owl Kaepora Gaebora will carry the Hero of Time back and forth from the new location. Players will be able to do rematches against bosses like Dodongo and Shadow Link. It’s unclear if there are any extra prizes to unlock but each fight will have a time trial counter to show you how fast you’ve completed it.
Everyone is way chattier, especially Navi
Ex-Giant Bomb writer Jeff Gerstmann uploaded his B-roll footage from the event which showed, among other things, just how many times Navi will stop Link to tell him about the world or just gab via word bubbles during the normal course of exploration. The first time you run into a Peahat Larva in Hyrule Field, for instance, Navi freezes the game and goes through a mini–lore dump about the monster. Other previewers have confirmed that some NPCs in the game have a bit more flavor to their dialogue and additional lines that provide more world building than in the original game. I’m excited to trick my six-year-old into practicing his reading this way.
