Humming into your Switch 2
Nintendo’s Ocarina of Time remake wants you to hum into your Switch 2 and have Link’s ocarina answer back, which is either a lovely idea or the first thing you’ll switch off.
Nintendo laid out the rest of the remake in an overview trailer on October 14, ahead of its November 5 launch. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive, and Nintendo’s store page calls it “a classic tale, built from the ground up for the Nintendo Switch 2 system.”
The changes you’ll see and hear first are the expected ones. Nintendo lists overhauled visuals, fully voiced cutscenes with expanded dialogue and full symphonic orchestral music. Its store page adds enhanced controls, jumping and dashing, and modern camera movements, and pitches the result as “a great entry point into this legendary series.” Ranged weapons such as the Fairy Bow and the Hookshot can be aimed with buttons or motion controls, set in the Options menu.
Humming is optional, and that’s the right call
Nintendo says you can hum a melody Link has learned, or even play one on a real instrument, and the Switch 2 microphone will hear it and make Link’s ocarina respond. The store page makes clear it’s an extra rather than a replacement: you can play Link’s Fairy Ocarina or the Ocarina of Time with traditional button controls, or try humming or playing your own instruments into the microphone. We like that. Nothing Nintendo has published says how forgiving the microphone is, though, so we’d wait for hands-on reports before deciding whether it’s a feature or a party trick.
The Hall of Fallen Foes is the part that could outlast the novelty
Siliconera called the Hall of Fallen Foes the one gameplay element in the trailer that was entirely new to it. Nintendo describes it as a place where statues of defeated monsters reside, where you can learn about them or take them on in a rematch. According to Siliconera, each statue shows a description and where the enemy was found, bosses can be fought again, and a rematch also shows how long it took you to win the second time. King Dodongo was the example in the trailer. We think a trophy room with a clock attached is the smartest addition on the list, because it gives people a reason to go back to bosses they’ve already beaten.
Around the game sits a Nintendo Switch App companion. ZELDA NOTES shows your accomplishments for the day, challenges you to find in-game locations from images, and lets you play an ocarina on your smart device; it needs a Nintendo Account, persistent internet and a compatible smart device. Siliconera’s rundown of the trailer also lists Gossip Quests and the Ocarina of Time Quiz among its screens. Inside the game, Nintendo’s store page says you can track your progress and next objectives with the Threads of Time, which also lets you view a grand tapestry telling the tale of your adventure as you play.
Tapping any existing Legend of Zelda series amiibo gives in-game extras. Two new amiibo, Young Link and Young Zelda, are due in 2027 and unlock in-game masks that evoke a retro graphical style; Nintendo lists them at $24.99 each in the US. The game itself has a regular price of $59.99 in the US, an estimated 27 GB file size, and arrives well ahead of 007 First Light’s Switch 2 date of March 18, 2027. Buy the digital version before November 23, 2026 (11:59 p.m. PT) and Nintendo adds a Legend of Zelda 40th Anniversary digital wallpaper.
Activision’s CMO tossed out a “no offense to Zelda” while naming MW4 and GTA 6 the year’s two biggest games. Nintendo is plainly betting that a 40th-anniversary remake with a boss-rematch hall and a hum-along ocarina gets to answer that on November 5. We’ll know soon whether the microphone is the charm or the gimmick.
