Nintendo explains why it made ReDeads less scary while developing the Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake, initially went “a step too far”
Posted on November 12, 2026 by Brian(@NE_Brian)
in News, Switch 2
Nintendo almost made the ReDeads too scary in the Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake, producer Hidemaro Fujibayashi has said.
For its original N64 release, Ocarina of Time had its fair share of creepy aspects. Some enemies, like ReDeads, were particularly unsettling. The N64 could only do so much with its graphics, however, so the fear factor was somewhat kept in check.
Now on Switch 2, Nintendo had more to work with. However, there came a point during development when the team made the ReDeads “very, very scary.” Nintendo eventually realized it went “a step too far” and ultimately decided to “dial it back.” As it is, the enemy is still pretty scary.
“So another thing that I can mention was ReDeads. With this remake, the graphics are a lot improved, and so the ReDead–the sound, the graphics, and the movement–ended up being very, very scary. And the staff wanted to make this in service of making a good gameplay experience. But from our perspective, taking a step back, we felt like, let’s remember the experience that we don’t want to change, and taking that into consideration, maybe we’ve gone a step too far, so let’s dial it back.”
In other news, it was recently revealed that Zelda: Ocarina of Time seems to be getting Master Quest DLC. You can also check out our review of the game.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is now available worldwide.
More: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, top
