The ‘Ocarina of Time’ remake is the perfect excuse to buy a Nintendo Switch 2

November is fast approaching, and with it comes what could be two of the biggest video game releases of the year: Grand Theft Auto VI and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake.

My personal feelings about Grand Theft Auto VI aside — I have absolutely no intention of buying it — there's little doubt that Rockstar's long-awaited blockbuster will make billions of dollars and dominate the gaming conversation for months.

Unfortunately, it also threatens to deliver another blow to the ongoing war between physical and digital media, with reports suggesting the game could arrive digitally or, rather bafflingly, in a physical box containing little more than a download code.

For those of us who still believe that purchasing a video game should mean actually owning something, that's a particularly depressing development.

But Grand Theft Auto isn't the game I'm interested in.

That distinction belongs to Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake, which, despite being a remake of a nearly 30-year-old game, might be the most compelling reason yet to purchase a Nintendo Switch 2.

Yes, I recognize the irony of praising a remake while simultaneously criticizing Nintendo's increasingly uninspired output over the past several years. But we're talking about Ocarina of Time here.

For those of us who grew up in the late 1990s — the elderly, decrepit souls now wandering through our 30s — Ocarina of Time isn't simply another video game.

It's practically sacred.

Originally released for the Nintendo 64 in 1998, Ocarina of Time helped redefine what video games could accomplish. Alongside titles like Super Mario 64, it demonstrated that Nintendo could remain a formidable competitor against Sony's PlayStation, even as the Nintendo 64 struggled with technological limitations and the industry's increasing embrace of disc-based gaming.

It was an adventure unlike almost anything that had come before it: a sprawling fantasy world filled with memorable characters, elaborate dungeons, unforgettable music and a story that managed to feel both intimate and genuinely epic.

Nearly three decades later, its influence remains enormous.

And now, Nintendo has the opportunity to introduce that experience to an entirely new generation.

Frankly, that introduction couldn't come soon enough.

I realize this is something of an unpopular opinion, but I have never particularly cared for the direction Nintendo took The Legend of Zelda with Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.

Both games received extraordinary critical acclaim, sold millions of copies and introduced countless new players to the franchise. I'm not disputing their success.

I am, however, disputing the notion that they represent everything Zelda should aspire to be.

To me, the series was never about wandering aimlessly through an enormous open world, collecting hundreds of miscellaneous objects, breaking weapons every few minutes and occasionally remembering that there's supposed to be a story somewhere beneath all that busywork.

It was about discovery with purpose. Carefully constructed dungeons. Memorable musical themes. Characters whose stories mattered. The satisfaction of obtaining a new item and realizing that an entirely different part of the world had suddenly opened up.

There was a rhythm to those older games, a deliberate sense of progression that made every new location, every boss encounter and every revelation feel meaningful.

Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom may have revolutionized the formula, but in doing so, I believe they sacrificed much of what made the franchise special in the first place.

That's why Ocarina of Time Remake is such an exciting prospect.

Rather than simply polishing the original game's textures and calling it a day, Nintendo appears to be approaching this as a complete reimagining of the 1998 classic.

The visuals have been dramatically overhauled, the gameplay modernized, and features such as voice acting and expanded movement — Link can jump now! — promise to make the adventure feel fresh without necessarily abandoning its identity.

For longtime fans, that's an enticing proposition. For newcomers, it could be the definitive introduction to one of gaming's most celebrated adventures.

And with The Legend of Zelda celebrating its 40th anniversary, the timing couldn't be more appropriate.

Would I have preferred Nintendo finally release Twilight Princess on the Switch 2?

Absolutely.

Am I still going to complain about that glaring omission every opportunity I get?

Also absolutely.

But I digress.

The remake also arrives at an interesting moment for Nintendo's newest console.

The Switch 2 is, essentially, everything the original Nintendo Switch wanted to be: bigger, faster, prettier and considerably more capable. It takes the enormously successful hybrid-console concept Nintendo introduced in 2017 and refines it into a much more impressive piece of hardware.

For anyone who missed out on the original Switch, it's an easy recommendation.

For those of us who already owned one, however, the argument has been a little more complicated.

I purchased my Switch 2 on something of a whim last summer, and while I've been impressed with the hardware, I can't pretend Nintendo's software lineup has consistently justified the investment.

Its first-party offerings have been middling, and the third-party selection has done little to convince me to abandon my Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5 Pro.

After all, if I want to play a major multiplatform release, why wouldn't I play it on the considerably more powerful hardware already sitting beneath my television?

Where the Switch 2 has truly excelled, at least for me, is in revisiting the past.

Nintendo's increasingly robust library of classic games has transformed the console into something of a portable museum of gaming history. Between its collections of NES, Super Nintendo, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo 64 and select GameCube titles, there's an extraordinary amount of history available at the press of a button.

And unlike so many modern games, these older titles generally don't demand dozens of hours of tutorials, endless crafting systems or a second job's worth of commitment before they become enjoyable.

Sometimes, I just want to play a video game.

Imagine that.

But more than anything else, my loyalty to Nintendo has always come down to one franchise.

The Legend of Zelda.

I don't merely love Zelda. I worship at its altar.

These games have been part of my life for as long as I can remember. Their music, characters, stories and worlds occupy a particular corner of my imagination that very few other franchises have ever managed to reach.

For that reason alone, owning Nintendo's latest hardware has always felt less like a question of if and more like a question of when.

Even when the company frustrates me. Even when its business decisions seem incomprehensible. Even when it continues to pretend Twilight Princess doesn't exist.

And that brings me back to Ocarina of Time.

The remake looks like the missing piece that could finally make my Switch 2 purchase feel entirely worthwhile.

It's the kind of release that reminds me why I fell in love with video games in the first place, back when an adventure didn't need an endless checklist of activities to feel enormous, and when saving the world could begin with a boy in a green tunic wandering into a forest.

For anyone still sitting on the fence about purchasing a Switch 2, I think this is the moment to seriously consider taking the plunge.

Not because Nintendo has suddenly become a perfect company, or because its latest console has somehow rendered the competition obsolete.

But because some games are worth buying a console for.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was one of those games in 1998.

Nearly 30 years later, I have a feeling it might be one again.