Reviews have finally started to roll in for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, a Nintendo Switch 2 remake of the beloved 1998 N64 original. At the time of writing, the Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake has earned almost universal acclaim, becoming the highest-rated game of the year on several aggregate platforms.
After years of rumors, the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake was finally confirmed during the June 2026 Nintendo Direct, with a full gameplay reveal then occurring in September. Like many rumors claimed, the Nintendo Switch 2 version of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is a full ground-up remake of the 1998 original, featuring all-new graphics, quality-of-life improvements, and new gameplay features that weren’t present in the Nintendo 64 original. The remake is officially set to launch on November 5, 2026, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch 2.
What Reviews Are Saying About The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake
-
Image via Nintendo -
-
Image via Nintendo
- OpenCritic Top Critic Average Score: 96
- Metacritic Score: 96
At the time of writing, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the Nintendo Switch 2 has a Top Critic Average of 96 on OpenCritic, and a recommendation score of 100% based on 30 verified reviews. This incredibly impressive score has made Ocarina of Time the highest-rated game of 2026 on OpenCritic, beating out Mythmatch, Queen’s Domain, Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter, and The Witcher 3 Remastered. It’s a similar story over on Metacritic, with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake earning a score of 96 based on 80 critic reviews. The remake has also become Metacritic’s highest-rated game of the year so far, beating out Sektori, Resident Evil 2: Deluxe Edition, and Witcher 3 Remastered.
What’s That Weapon?
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Currently, the lowest-scored review for Zelda: Ocarina of Time on OpenCritic gives the game an 8/10. Coming from RPG Site, this 8/10 review says that Nintendo delivers “one of the best-looking games on the Switch 2 and a nostalgic trip that will show new generations of players what made this game so special,” but it does find issue with the restriction of having only one active item at a time, the inclusion of only one save slot, and a lack of depth in the new ‘Hall of Fallen Foes’ challenge mode.
Of OpenCritic’s 30 reviews currently available, eight have given Zelda: Ocarina of Time a 9/10. Nintendo Life is one such outlet, with its 9/10 review calling Ocarina of Time “a stellar reimagining of the original, one that completely revamps the experience with stunning visuals, modernised gameplay, and vastly improved audio.” Nintendo Life also criticizes the inclusion of only one save file, along with the game’s lack of difficulty and some shimmering visual issues on distant textures.
Half of the reviews currently listed on OpenCritic give Zelda: Ocarina of Time a 10/10 or 5/5 stars. Eurogamer and VGC both gave Zelda: Ocarina of Time five stars, with the former calling it an “astonishing remake” with “great judgement and clever tweaks,” and the latter calling it a “remarkable restoration of one of gaming’s most beloved adventures,” one where Nintendo has created “the definitive way for a new generation to discover it and returning players to fall in love all over again.”
- Released
-
November 5, 2026
- ESRB
-
Everyone 10+ / Animated Blood, Fantasy Violence
- Developer(s)
-
Nintendo
- Publisher(s)
-
Nintendo
I’m Abhishek Sharma, an author at TigerJek.com. I enjoy exploring games, testing different strategies, and turning what I learn into clear, useful guides. My goal is to help players understand the game better and improve without the usual confusion.
