The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time — The Wonder is Back

We had an early hands-on with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for Nintendo Switch 2. Two hours of gameplay that confirmed the magic and wonder of the original game are still fully there. 

Thanks to Nintendo, we were invited to their European headquarters in Frankfurt, where we had the opportunity to try out a very early preview of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the new reimagining of the legendary chapter originally released in 1998 and rebuilt for Nintendo Switch 2.

An experience of about two hours that allowed us to get our hands on several sections of the adventure, starting from the beginning of young Link's journey up to the Forest Temple, as our adult hero.

And we can already say that what we saw promises to be one of the most interesting games of 2026. 

Nintendo Switch 2 Zelda Edition: the console that will make fans cry 

Even before we started playing, Nintendo gave us the chance to take a close look at everything that will accompany the game's launch. We had the opportunity to see and touch the new The Legend of Zelda-themed Nintendo Switch 2, an edition that literally captivated us.

It's a beautiful console, but above all, it's incredibly rich in detail. Every particular has been crafted with almost maniacal precision, and there are elements that, especially for fans of the series, will surely bring a tear to their eye. It's precisely the kind of object that speaks directly to those who have lived and loved Zelda for years.

We also got to see both the new Zelda-themed Pro Controller, which is also truly spectacular, and the new case dedicated to the title. And Nintendo also showed us the special limited edition case for the game, for the lucky few who manage to get their hands on it.

In short, even before getting our hands on the game, we were already completely immersed in the universe of Hyrule. 

Hands-on in three phases: from Kokiri Forest to the Forest Temple

The trial began in a location set up just like Kokiri Forest: trees, candles, soft lighting, and an extremely evocative atmosphere.

We were greeted by an extremely friendly, helpful, and warm Nintendo team, who gave us a truly special welcome and made us feel immediately in the right place.

And then it was time to play: our trial was divided into three phases, each designed to show us a different aspect of the new experience.

We started at the beginning of the adventure, with young Link in Kokiri Forest, and the first thing we could appreciate was naturally the new graphics. The improvement is enormous.

It's not just about increasing resolution or making models more defined: everything has been rebuilt with a completely different level of detail, with richer environments, more refined lighting, more elaborate materials, and significantly superior visual depth. The first phase also functions as a large tutorial.

We began to familiarize ourselves with the combat system, with the sword, shield, parry, and some of the support items we can find or buy within the village. The gameplay has been improved without being completely revolutionized. And that's an important difference.

Nintendo seems to have wanted to keep the identity of the original intact, intervening mainly where necessary to make the experience more modern.

Camera management has also been updated, allowing for much greater freedom of movement, making it much more natural to look around and move within environments. But our exploration didn't stop at Kokiri Forest.

We also had the opportunity to enter the Great Deku Tree and explore its first part, beginning to confront the structure that, even in the early stages, allowed us to understand how Nintendo reinterpreted the original environments.

We tackled the first elements of exploration and some puzzles, further familiarizing ourselves with the dynamics that characterize the typical dungeons of The Legend Of Zelda series.

We continued up to a certain point in the Deku Tree, when the Nintendo team kindly stopped us, explaining that we couldn't proceed further from there.

The decision was clearly linked to the desire not to show us too much of the story and adventure, leaving some of the surprises intact that we will only discover by playing the full title.

And it was at that point that our first phase concluded. A phase lasting about 45 minutes, which allowed us to regain familiarity with Link, his combat system, and the game world. 

Then we moved directly to the second part of the trial.

We left Kokiri Forest, exited the Great Deku Tree, and finally found ourselves in Hyrule Field.

And it was at that moment that we, metaphorically speaking, dropped our jaws, because that's when we understood how enormous the work done by Nintendo was.

Hyrule Field is simply spectacular. The depth of field allows you to see very distant elements, while every corner seems to have been enriched with an impressive amount of detail. The water of the streams, the vegetation, the volcano on our right that continues to spew smoke, the wind moving elements of the environment. Everything seems to react. Everything seems to have its own physics.

Nintendo has therefore worked not only on the quality of the images but on the world's ability to convey a sense of greater depth and vitality.

Obviously, we immediately tried to explore, because, let's face it, what else would a player do in front of the new Hyrule? Go everywhere, look at everything, search for anything. But Nintendo immediately stopped us.

"Stop, stop, stop. You need to go that way."

And so no great free exploration, at least this time.

We then arrived at Hyrule Castle Town, where we could see how much this area had also been transformed.

Hyrule Castle Town was one of the most interesting surprises of our trial. It's alive, truly alive. There are shops, people, activities, emporiums, and many elements to interact with. But above all, there's an attention to detail that left us impressed. Every house has its own characterization. Every environment has its own identity, and even the characters don't seem to be simply copies used to fill the scenery.

Each has its own appearance and characterization. Of course, many situations are necessarily scripted, but the result is still a city that seems to live independently of our presence. Entering houses, looking at the interiors, observing the colors and details almost becomes an activity in itself. It's that classic town where, paradoxically, you almost want to live. This part lasted about 15 minutes, but it was enough to show us how profound Nintendo's work on rebuilding the game world has been. 

Adult Link and the Forest Temple: the dungeon that convinced us

After a break, the most important part of our trial began: adult Link. The moment when the game starts to get decidedly more serious. Here we had about an hour to tackle the Forest Temple, and it was exactly what we expected from a The Legend Of Zelda dungeon.

Puzzles, locked doors, keys to find, hidden chests, weapons and items to retrieve, enemies, mini-bosses, and we had the opportunity to use our Ocarina, and  that continuous feeling of having to figure out what to do before being able to move forward.

It took us practically an hour to get through the dungeon, tackling its different sections and trying to figure out how to best use everything we had available. After about an hour, we reached the boss of the Forest Temple, Phantom Ganon.

We won't tell you in detail how the fight unfolds, but we can tell you that it was one of the most fun and satisfying moments of our trial. 

At the end of the trial, we realized one thing: two hours are really too short. Especially when you have a completely renewed version of one of the most important video games in history in front of you.

We started with young Link, explored Kokiri Forest, entered the Great Deku Tree, emerged into Hyrule Field, visited Hyrule Castle Town, and finally became adults, tackling the Forest Temple and its boss.

And all this without practically ever feeling the time pass.