The Ocarina of Time remake came out November 5 on Switch 2 and the reviews are in and they're crazy. 96 on Metacritic, the highest rated game of 2026 so far. And the funniest part is it still didn't beat the original, because the 1998 version sits at a 99, the only game on Metacritic with that score.
That's the most Zelda thing ever. The only thing that could beat Ocarina was Ocarina.
The Ocarina of Time remake review scores
- Metacritic: 96, from 81 critic reviews at last count
- #1 game of 2026 on Metacritic's best games list
- 27th best game of all time on Metacritic, ahead of games like Elden Ring and Skyrim
- Highest rated Switch 2 game, above Tears of the Kingdom Switch 2 Edition (95)
- Early on, every review was positive and 25 outlets gave it a perfect score. GamesRadar gave it 5 out of 5 and called it a remake for the ages.
What changed in the remake
This isn't a remaster. Nintendo rebuilt it.
- Fully voiced cutscenes and a lot more dialogue
- An orchestral soundtrack
- Link has a jump button now, no more auto jumping off ledges
- Hyrule Castle Town is fully explorable instead of that fixed camera
- You can hum into the Switch 2 mic to play songs on the ocarina
- A new "Threads of Time" menu that recaps your journey
What critics didn't love
Even the positive reviews had notes. Nintendo Life's review headline called it stunning but not quite definitive. And people are already pointing out what's missing, like no Master Quest and only one save file. If you played the original a hundred times, some of the dungeon design will feel like 1998 because, well, it is.
My take
For a lot of us this was the first 3D world we ever got lost in, on a CRT TV in somebody's living room. Getting a 96 on a remake of a 26 year old game is wild, but it also tells you the bones were always perfect. Nintendo didn't fix Ocarina, they just finally gave it the voice and the music it always sounded like in our heads.
If GTA 6 isn't your lane this month, this is your November. I've got every November game worth playing here, and if you're handing a Switch 2 to somebody who doesn't really play, Ocarina belongs right next to these first time gamer picks.
Did the remake live up to the one in your memory? Come argue about Water Temple in the CXM Discord.
Your call
Did I get this ranking right?
In this story
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