Nintendo of America Vice President of Player & Product Experience Bill Trinen has seen a lot of Zelda games in his nearly 30-year career at the company. He got his start translating bug reports on the original The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the N64 in the ’90s. And with the newly released and critically acclaimed remake, he acknowledged that, internally, there’s always a bit of a different buzz when working on a new Zelda game.
“Zelda games always come kind of with their own unique energy,” he told me at the launch event for the Ocarina of Time Remake at the Nintendo Store in San Francisco. “This moment in particular, I think, is big for all of them [internally], both just because, like, we’ve talked about how much the game meant to a lot of people back then, but also the role that it plays within the overall Zelda 40th anniversary.”
The original Legend of Zelda was released for the NES in 1986. Ocarina of Time, in 1998, was the first 3D Zelda game, something that Trinen said this remake release brings back memories of. “The [1998] game itself was just so foundational for [this] kind of 3D adventure game, as a whole, and it just was this moment in time where it was like, everybody was on this journey together.”
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake Launch Photos
Ocarina of Time has stood the test of time in being regarded as one of the greatest games of all time, but not everyone has played it, whether it was because they didn’t have an N64 back then, or that they weren’t born yet. Trinen has a message for those players: “This is the perfect place for your first Zelda game, because you are gonna learn everything that there is about the world and the characters that will serve sort of as the foundation for all the others, all the games that came after,” he said.
“This game is sort of a really foundational story for the lore of the Legend of Zelda. It really tells the story of Link and his journey becoming a hero. It tells the story of Link and his connection to Zelda and their relationship with Ganondorf. And overall, it communicates kind of what is at the moral core of is all the series, which is the idea that wisdom and courage combined can overcome power.”
Trinen also shared his favorite moment from Ocarina of Time [SPOILER WARNING].
“I have to say my favorite moment in Ocarina is the moment when Link leaves Kokiri Forest for the first time. It’s an emotional moment. You say goodbye to a friend. There’s a tinge of sadness to it, and then the whole world opens up before you, and you just see Hyrule Fields spread out. And all the possibility and exploration and discovery that awaits, you just sort of see across the field in the list, and you start to wonder, ‘Okay, what am I gonna do next?’ So it’s sort of this really magical moment of almost, you know, leaving your childhood for the first time and setting out into the world, that happens early in the game, and it’s a really special part of Link’s overall journey.”
Finally, when I put Trinen on the spot to ask him his favorite Zelda game of all time, he said it’s changed over time and answered with a big smile on his face. “Oh, you know, it changes with time. You know, there were points where it was Majora’s Mask, and points where it was Wind Waker, or Breath of the Wild. I would say, the role that Ocarina of Time played both in terms of the impact on Nintendo, the impact on the games industry, the impact it had for the series overall, that makes it such a core experience that the Nintendo Switch 2 version is my current new favorite.”
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake is out now exclusively on the Nintendo Switch 2. You can read our review of the game here, or check out our look at the Biggest Changes from the original 1998 game. Be sure to check out our expanding Ocarina of Time Remake Walkthrough for comprehensive guides on each main quest area and dungeon, plus where to get Early Heart Pieces,Early Gold Skulltulas, and Early Item Bag Expansions. If you’re looking for more, don’t miss our complete guides to All Pieces of Heart, All Gold Skulltulas, and All Empty Bottles!
Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s executive editor of previews and host of IGN’s weekly Xbox show,Podcast Unlocked, and a co-host ofNext-Gen Console Watch. He’s a North Jersey guy, so it’s “Taylor ham,” not “pork roll.” Debate it with him on Twitter at@DMC_Ryan.
