The reviews are in, and critics are close to unanimous. Nintendo’s ground-up remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time holds a Metascore of 96 on Metacritic, based on 80 critic reviews counted on Wednesday, November 4. All 80 reviews are positive, none are mixed or negative, and Metacritic labels the game “Universal Acclaim.” The remake launches tomorrow, Thursday, November 5, exclusively for Nintendo Switch 2.
The original game came out on the Nintendo 64 in 1998, so this verdict lands 28 years later. The question for most players is not whether the original is a classic. It is whether this rebuild is the version to buy, and at $59.99 for the digital edition, whether it earns that price on day one. On the evidence of the first wave of reviews, critics say it does.
A rare level of agreement
Perfect scores are common in the first wave. CGMagazine gave the remake 100 and wrote that the 1998 original “was a masterpiece in 1998 and twenty-seven years later, it still is,” calling the remake “easily the best entry point into the long-running series.” Multiplayer.it, which scored the game 95, went further in its verdict excerpt on Metacritic: the game is “quite simply, the definitive version of the greatest video game of all time.”
IGN scored the remake 90 out of 100 and called it “an exceptional remake of an incredible game” and “a rich adventure that stands on its own.” Shacknews closed its review with a flat declaration: “This is the definitive edition.” In Japan, Famitsu’s four reviewers scored the game 9, 9, 9 and 10, which adds up to 37 out of 40.
Where critics push back
The praise is not unqualified. The lowest score counted on Metacritic so far is 80, from RPG Site, which praised the remake as a way for new players to see what made the original special but noted blemishes that keep the reviewer from reaching for it again soon. IGN, even in a strongly positive review, noted that the dungeons have a “somewhat streamlined design” that has “slightly dulled” the feeling of solving them.
NPR’s review, published November 3, carried no score. Its headline called the remake “superb, streamlined and safe.” The review praised the production values, the improved inventory handling and a quick item menu, and it found the well-known Water Temple much more tolerable. But NPR also called the remake conservative. Its reviewer missed some of the original’s carefully framed camera angles and felt the game could not reproduce the shock of discovery the 1998 version delivered.
What is new in the remake
This is a rebuild, not a port. Nintendo says the game was “built from the ground up for the Nintendo Switch 2 system.” Its store page lists “completely overhauled visuals, orchestral music, voice acting, and expanded cutscenes,” along with enhanced controls and modern camera movement. Link can now jump and dash, a change from the original’s fixed movement.
Metacritic’s summary of the remake also points to voiced cutscenes and expanded dialogue. NME’s review notes that the cutscenes are now voice-acted, although Link himself remains silent, and that the quest order has been adjusted slightly with more side missions added. Players can also play the ocarina by humming into the Nintendo Switch 2 microphone, instead of using buttons alone. Nintendo lists an estimated game file size of 27 GB, and the game supports TV, tabletop and handheld play.
Price, editions and the early purchase bonus
Nintendo sells two versions in the United States. The digital edition costs $59.99 on Nintendo’s US store. The physical edition costs $69.99, a $10 difference for the boxed copy. Both release on November 5, and the game runs only on Nintendo Switch 2, not on the original Switch.
Digital buyers get one time-limited extra. Nintendo says anyone who purchases the digital version before November 23, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. PT receives a Legend of Zelda 40th Anniversary digital wallpaper as an early purchase bonus. Nintendo delivers it later, through a My Nintendo link sent to the email address on the buyer’s Nintendo Account after the promotion ends.
Who should buy it
For first-time players, the critics’ message is unusually clear. Multiple reviews describe this as the easiest way into the series, and Nintendo itself calls it “a great entry point into this legendary series.” New players get the full story, modern controls and a camera that behaves the way current games have trained them to expect.
Returning fans get a faithful rebuild rather than a reimagining. Reviews stress that the world, dungeons and structure stay close to the original, with the changes concentrated on presentation, controls and quality-of-life details. Players who wanted a bold reinterpretation may share NPR’s reservation: this remake polishes the original far more than it reinvents it.
One caution applies at any score this high. The Metascore is a snapshot from November 4, and Metacritic can add more reviews after launch, which can move the number. User reviews were not yet available on Metacritic at the time of this check. But as launch day verdicts go, an average of 96 with no negative reviews is about as settled as a critical consensus gets.