The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake for the Switch 2 has finally been announced, which should be great news, but it propelled a large number of fans to immediately go “wait a minute” on it and reveal a hilarious truth I can no longer unsee.
The announcement trailer begins by showing a neat little tapestry depicting the Great Deku Tree, then a few side drawings of Link. That part was all well and good. The troubles start when the camera leaves the art to show the actual Link model we’ll be playing as.
It’s what you’d expect to see in Unreal Engine fan remakes by one person who’s less into the spirit of the game they’re remaking, and more into all sorts of visual gimmicks that UE entices one with.
2016: Nintendo Hire This Man
— Pinguis (@Pinguis54) June 9, 2026
2026: Nintendo Hired This Man https://t.co/Uf7DyLp4rx pic.twitter.com/hoKNakKMhy
Remakes like these show up on Twitter on a monthly basis, prompting many to reply with something along the lines of “Hire this man”. I sure hope Nintendo hasn’t fallen for it. The appearance of Zelda games, and of Link, specifically, has always been a point of contention among fans, with games such as Wind Waker drawing the ire of many for its cell-shaded style and Toon Link.
That, however, was still Nintendo trying out cool new stuff, and it totally paid off. That game has gone down in history as one of the best in the series, and one whose appearance nobody really complains about anymore.
NINTENDO HIRE THIS MAN pic.twitter.com/0offXSlAOF
— Snugboy (@RealSnugboy) June 9, 2026
This isn’t that. Currently, it seems like Nintendo is trying to appeal to the most common denominator, creating a game that looks like every other game out there, even if those looks absolutely don’t match the game’s intended magical and whimsical atmosphere.
That’s not to say that these solo remakes are easy to pull off, but they should in no way inspire a new take on a beloved title.
What we have right now looks like the Zelda version of what Mario AAA would look like, a brilliant spoof of what most big games look like nowadays.
A lot of people asked for the full AAA Mario video to be dubbed over in the same way, but I wanted to wait for a good idea to come to me. 6 months later, here it is. Focus, M.
— Ryan Stewart (@RyanStewartVO) June 8, 2026
ft. @ArielHck as Peach
w/ @adamasenko as Bowser's Goons
and ??? as Toadsworth
Original video source by… https://t.co/JCFzCEfhID pic.twitter.com/buxprhHAKV
And, like, that’s not even new. People have been preemptively making fun of these long before they were a thing. Why? Maybe because they hoped that by joking about it, they’d somehow prevent the gaming industry’s decline from landing us here.
It didn’t work. Though, in all fairness, all we have so far to go by is the kid Link model, so Nintendo might still have time to avoid disaster with one of the greatest games of all time before it releases in… this very year. Oh boy.
The post Zelda fans are making fun of the Ocarina of Time remake announcement appeared first on Destructoid.
