The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Feature Scores
Explore all 98 feature scores for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, organized into pros and cons.
Scores by Feature
Summary
98 reviewed features-
Very positive 4.5-5.055 (56%)
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Positive 3.5-4.432 (33%)
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Neutral 2.5-3.47 (7%)
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Negative 1.5-2.44 (4%)
Pros
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New instrumental and orchestral arrangements preserve the memorable melodies while giving key scenes more grandeur. Music is among the most consistently celebrated parts of the remake.
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Rebuilt towns, forests, and temples draw unusually strong visual praise. Occasional softness, shimmer, and distant pop-in keep the presentation from looking equally polished everywhere.
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The prevailing verdict is that this remains an exceptional adventure with a lavish modern presentation. Conservative scope and a handful of usability restrictions account for most reservations.
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Woven clothing, weathered stone, vegetation, and furnished interiors make familiar locations feel newly tangible. Small details frequently reward stopping to look around.
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Modernization generally preserves the original's rhythm, oddness, and emotional identity. The close adherence delights preservation-minded fans, even when it limits reinvention.
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A lavish rebuild brings the familiar adventure into the present through new presentation and more fluid play. Most call it an outstanding return, while some wish it had taken larger creative risks.
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Themed dungeons remain the adventure's central achievement, with rooms that connect into larger puzzle boxes. Small redesigns often remove friction, although some veterans prefer the original layouts' demands.
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New framing and expanded cinematics bring weight and spectacle to familiar turning points. The opening presentation works less well for some, but later scenes are widely admired.
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Manual jumping and a proper dash make simply crossing Hyrule more enjoyable. The extra control often removes awkwardness that once made small tasks feel slow.
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A dense world full of secrets rewards curiosity and returning with new tools. Discoveries often feel worthwhile even when they offer little practical treasure.
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Time travel, childhood memories, and expanded story scenes give the remake unusual emotional force. Familiar music and places often feel newly affecting rather than merely nostalgic.
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Modern inputs make Link feel precise, fast, and immediately familiar to players of recent Zelda games. The handling is a frequent reason to prefer this version.
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Quick selection and boot toggles remove much of the old stop-and-start equipment work. The single active item slot and long horizontal selector still frustrate some players.
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The mix of discovery, puzzles, and playful interactions repeatedly keeps players engaged. Several accounts describe wanting to return as soon as a session ends.
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Third-person aiming and optional gyro input make the bow and slingshot notably easier to use. Even some players who usually disable motion controls enjoy this implementation.
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More active townsfolk, expanded conversations, and convincing architecture give Hyrule a fuller sense of daily life. The world often feels larger and richer without substantially expanding its borders.
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A puppet-like cast and richly textured scenery give Hyrule a distinctive storybook identity. Most warm to the style in motion, though some find faces uncanny or inconsistent with the environments.
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The dungeons still deliver clever spatial reasoning and satisfying moments of realization. Streamlining is welcomed by many, but obvious targets and fewer keys can blunt discovery for experienced players.
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Accounts of completed playthroughs consistently praise smooth 60 fps performance in both docked and handheld play. That fluidity is a major improvement to movement and combat.
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Hyrule's oddball inhabitants remain memorable, and Navi becomes a warmer, more believable companion. Added dialogue and voiced scenes give several familiar faces more personality.
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The classic time-travel tale gains drama and clearer emotional beats through expanded scenes. A predictable plot and a less convincing Sheik revelation remain reservations for some.
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A dedicated jump button gives direct control over ledges and gaps. Traversal feels more reliable and satisfying than waiting for an automatic leap.
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Foggy temples, melancholic story beats, and playful towns give the adventure a broad emotional range. Some miss the original's rougher eeriness even as others find the remake darker.
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Quieter companions and the Threads of Time tapestry reduce interruptions while helping players remember their next goal. More obvious targets and puzzle cues can feel too explicit to veterans.
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Compact, interconnected regions deliver a strong sense of place without a huge travel commitment. Hyrule Field feels purposeful and inviting to some, but small or empty to others.
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Swordplay gains satisfying speed and audiovisual impact while retaining simple lock-on fundamentals. Waiting for openings, awkward target changes, and low challenge still bother some players.
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A compact route and faster equipment handling usually keep the adventure moving briskly. Longer early cinematics and switches between voiced and unvoiced scenes occasionally interrupt that rhythm.
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Finger movements, breathing, gestures, and fluid enemy motion add personality to the rebuilt models. These small touches help familiar actions feel more carefully observed.
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Clanging shields and forceful attack sounds give familiar actions greater impact. Spatial cues and smooth musical transitions also help make Hyrule feel more present.
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Lighting, water, fog, destruction, and attack particles make the rebuilt world striking in motion. Combat effects give even simple hits a stronger sense of impact.
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Exploring, finding a dungeon item, solving its challenges, and opening new routes remains deeply satisfying. The remake reinforces how well that traditional structure still works.
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The cast usually adds warmth, personality, and menace to familiar characters. English accents and a few initially jarring voices divide opinion; the Spanish dub also has some uneven performances.
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Distinct dungeons, side quests, minigames, and hidden encounters keep the journey varied. The new museum is a modest extra rather than a major expansion.
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Responsive action, detailed places, and more expressive scenes make Hyrule easier to inhabit. Camera freedom also helps players feel more directly involved.
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Free camera control makes exploration more natural and lets players appreciate rebuilt spaces. It also loses some deliberately composed views, and occasional lock-on conflicts remain.
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Humming, whistling, or playing an instrument to trigger ocarina songs is charming and sometimes useful. Accuracy is generally welcomed, although several players still prefer the buttons.
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Distinctive monsters combine memorable looks with readable attack patterns. Several redesigns make the darker encounters especially striking.
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Regional collectible counts, clear points of interest, and improved sightlines make navigation easier. The detailed minimap can reveal so much that some prefer exploring without it.
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Quick equipment access and more intuitive controls remove repeated interruptions. The remake is much easier to handle without losing the underlying adventure.
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Character-led side quests provide memorable diversions and reasons to revisit Hyrule. The mask chain is especially well liked, while the Biggoron trade sequence can still feel convoluted.
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The growing quest tapestry combines useful progress tracking with an especially attractive presentation. Optional interface reduction also suits players who want a cleaner view of Hyrule.
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Expanded dialogue gives familiar scenes more gravitas and characters more personality. For some players, the strengthened story becomes the remake's greatest attraction.
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Giant, item-driven encounters still deliver spectacle and memorable puzzle solutions. Added moves impress some reviewers, while others find the fights too forgiving or structurally simple.
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Expanded conversations add humor, local gossip, and useful direction. Faster text and a conversation history make it easier to enjoy the extra detail.
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ReDead, Dead Hand, and other unsettling encounters retain or heighten their frightening effect. Jump scares and disturbing monster designs remain a memorable part of the adventure.
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Strange inhabitants, slapstick, and absurd little encounters provide frequent comic relief. The whimsy helps balance the adventure's darker moments.
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New tools and abilities create a clear, satisfying sense of advancement. Their usefulness across later challenges makes progression feel purposeful.
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Link's expressions often communicate affection, hesitation, and surprise without dialogue. A few scenes instead leave him looking unusually still or vacant.
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Collecting statues offers an appealing chance to inspect the redesigned monsters in detail. It is usually treated as a pleasant showcase, with limited depth beyond its associated rematches.
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Many interiors and connected spaces now flow seamlessly. Remaining regional fades fit the theatrical framing for some players, while others wish the whole world were continuous.
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Timed rematches offer an enjoyable reason to practice familiar bosses. Thin rewards and limited modifiers keep the mode from feeling like substantial new content.
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Reactive enemies encourage dodging, countering, and managing more than one threat. More aggressive groups can add welcome tension to otherwise familiar encounters.
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Time travel, musical tools, and item-driven exploration remain an inventive combination. The updates refresh how players interact with those systems without replacing them.
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Reactive details and reported changes to the world after major events make Hyrule feel more responsive. They add texture without replacing the adventure's classic structure.
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The compact, secret-filled adventure often inspires an immediate second playthrough. One manual save per profile and the missing Master Quest complicate that enthusiasm for some players.
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Performance is generally praised, but image reconstruction has visible costs. Shimmer, soft distant detail, and grass pop-in are the main technical complaints.
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Clearer enemy movements, lighting cues, and threat sounds help communicate what is happening in fights. These changes reduce confusion without changing the basic combat rules.
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Added scenes and rewritten dialogue make characters feel more developed. Familiar relationships benefit from context that was only lightly sketched before.
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Moved heart pieces and Skulltulas make familiar hunts feel fresh. New tracking aids help players locate the remaining discoveries.
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A colorful roster keeps repeated combat patterns from dominating the adventure. Many enemies appear only in a few locations, helping each region feel distinct.
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The main adventure feels digestible rather than endless, while still substantial enough to be satisfying. Optional exploration can extend the commitment considerably.
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Better aiming makes ranged tools feel more viable alongside the sword. The slingshot in particular gets more practical use than before.
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Archery, bowling, and other diversions provide enjoyable changes of pace and useful rewards. Better aiming makes them more accessible, though sometimes too easy to master immediately.
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Retaining a familiar Ganondorf performer is strongly welcomed in the prerelease discussion. Blind auditions focused on voice fit also receive approval.
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Shortcuts and warp songs help keep revisits manageable. Preserving travel rather than adding many extra warp points is also welcomed for protecting incidental discoveries.
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A larger wallet and summonable merchant can reduce inconvenient supply trips. Opinions differ on scarcity: some welcome resource pressure, while others find supplies so abundant that the new seeds feel unnecessary.
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The source that directly assesses glitches reports a clean playthrough. There is no recurring bug complaint in the scored material.
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The completed playthrough that explicitly discusses crashes reports none. Its smooth technical behavior supports the broader impression of polish.
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The many small control and design refinements work together unusually well. The resulting adventure feels carefully finished and easy to stay absorbed in.
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Young Link's bravery is an especially appealing part of the story. His determination is praised as an empowering example of a child taking action.
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Handheld mode retains smooth performance and an attractive overall presentation. Visible shimmer and softer detail are more noticeable in some accounts.
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Well-placed autosaves are a welcome convenience. They reduce the practical friction of resuming the adventure.
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Skipping repeated ocarina song playback is a useful convenience. It keeps familiar musical actions from becoming a repetitive interruption.
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Fishing remains an enjoyable optional diversion. It sits comfortably alongside the other minigames as a change of pace from dungeon exploration.
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The control conventions feel familiar even to someone who missed the original. Experience with later adventure games makes the remake surprisingly easy to settle into.
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The prerelease footage is judged to reveal enough without showing too much. Important late-game discoveries still feel protected.
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Amiibo rewards are welcomed because they provide extras without being essential. The bonuses do not feel necessary to enjoy the adventure.
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Silly interludes provide welcome breathing room within a serious heroic journey. The contrast helps the darker moments land without making the whole adventure oppressive.
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Swimming is described as smoother and more natural than before. The improvement reduces the awkwardness of moving through water.
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A broad assortment of gadgets and weapons gives exploration practical rewards. Newly found tools keep opening useful possibilities elsewhere.
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One reviewer broadly recommends the adventure across ages. Its frightening monsters and darker themes still warrant a separate age decision for younger players.
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One broad recommendation explicitly extends across ages. That enthusiasm does not remove the need to consider frightening monsters and darker story moments for younger children.
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A suggestive, mythic approach leaves room for imagination and theory-building. That restraint is preferred to frequent explanatory lore dumps.
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The estimated download size is considered reasonable in the buying guide. It does not emerge as a recurring drawback.
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Magic upgrades feel worth pursuing even when the Great Fairies charge substantial amounts. Optional activities help fund those improvements.
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Physical detail contributes to the visual spectacle, but consistency is imperfect. One account specifically misses weapons colliding with walls rather than passing through them.
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A redesigned sword challenge teaches the new movement rules effectively. Other players find the repeated opening practice sessions more restrictive than necessary.
Cons
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The main complaint is the single manual save slot per profile, rather than lost or corrupted saves. Keeping a completed file while starting again requires an inconvenient workaround.
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Some hidden rewards feel underwhelming, especially single rupees or supplies that are already plentiful. Boss-rush prizes also attract criticism for limited usefulness.
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The remake spends most of its ambition on presentation and comfort. Players hoping for a radical reinterpretation or major new discoveries may find that approach too cautious.
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The missing Master Quest is a recurring disappointment after the main adventure. Boss rematches provide a distraction, but many want a richer or harder second campaign.
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Losing the option to choose Link's name is a small disappointment for some returning fans. The hero has a fixed identity in this presentation.
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Extra exposition and repeated exercises can make the opening feel overly managed. Those small interruptions add up before the adventure fully opens.
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This is a more contained adventure with fewer tools and less freedom than the recent open-world games. Players who want unrestricted experimentation may feel constrained.
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The base adventure is dense and satisfying, but the extra package is less comprehensive than some hoped. Missing Master Quest and few substantial new areas are the recurring caveats.
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The castle infiltration benefits from a redesigned approach and modern controls. Other stealth sections can still feel simplistic or tedious, though they occupy little of the adventure.
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The smoother controls generally make the adventure easier, but reactions differ sharply. Some welcome the reduced friction, while others think enemies and puzzles no longer keep pace with Link.
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The item bar is fast and manageable for many players, especially compared with repeated pause-menu visits. Others want more assignable slots, better bottle grouping, or a customizable wheel.
Use Cases
Best for
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Modern controls, a self-contained story, and richly presented dungeons make this an inviting introduction. Players raised on the newer open worlds may need to adjust to its more prescribed route.
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Familiar places and story moments feel fresh enough to rekindle old affection. Veterans who want substantial new areas, tougher modes, or unrestricted save files have more reason to hesitate.
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Themes of time, home, childhood, and change give the story lasting resonance. Revisiting it as an adult can open a different perspective on familiar scenes.
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Compact regions hold enough secrets to reward thorough investigation. Exploring for its own sake remains satisfying rather than merely a route to the next objective.
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Boss rematches reward refining tactics and beating personal times. The act of improving a run is more appealing than the prizes for doing so.
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Clues and restrained guidance let players work out their own next step. The best moments reward observation and reasoning rather than following explicit instructions.
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Expanded scenes and stronger dramatic presentation make the central tale especially rewarding. Players drawn to character moments and emotional stakes have a strong reason to continue.
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The refreshed presentation makes sharing the adventure with a younger generation appealing. Its clear heroic story gives parents a natural way to introduce a game they remember fondly.
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Quest tracking helps returning players who no longer remember every step. Experts who want more independent discovery may prefer disabling the detailed minimap.
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The gyro aiming surprises players who normally turn motion controls off. Its intuitive precision makes trying the optional input worthwhile.
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The modern control layout works especially well with the Pro Controller. It resolves much of the awkwardness remembered from the original controller setup.
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Regional counts and postgame map help make finding remaining collectibles satisfying. Save and end-of-game restrictions still prompt caution about preserving progress.
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Portable play is a credible way to enjoy the remake's smooth adventure. The main compromise is image clarity rather than responsiveness.
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More visible item targets and clearer solutions make formerly obscure rooms easier to read. Players who prefer firm clues should find these changes helpful.
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The world encourages hunting down weapons, heart pieces, and Skulltulas beyond the main story. Its density and tracking aids make thorough collection appealing.
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Revisiting a meaningful childhood world can provide a small measure of comfort during grief. Its music and themes of time and loss also bring painful memories close to the surface.
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The straightforward loop offers a surprisingly relaxing way to explore and solve puzzles. Its sense of discovery remains engaging without demanding a sprawling open-world commitment.
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Faster item access removes small interruptions that accumulate during a session. That efficiency makes the familiar adventure easier to fit into limited playing time.
Conditional or not ideal for
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Challenge seekersExperienced players may breeze through much of the adventure. The absence of Hero Mode or Master Quest leaves few ways to restore a substantial challenge.