Nintendo reveals who is making the Ocarina of Time remake for Switch 2

Nintendo has finally said who is behind The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on Switch 2, and it's the people you might have guessed. The remake was developed in-house by the team that makes the mainline Zelda games, and the first batch of developer interviews is already filling in details about how it was made.

The usual Zelda team

The reveal comes from a new "Ask the Developer" series from Nintendo. Nintendo Life reports that the first two parts are out and that the remake was developed internally by Nintendo's Entertainment Planning & Development (EPD) Production Group No. 3. The outlet says that team has handled just about every Zelda entry since the early 2000s.

GameSpot notes that fans had speculated about the studio since the remake was first announced. The interviewees include longtime Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma and several members of that same production group. In GameSpot's reading, that means the game wasn't handed to an outside studio such as Monolith Soft or Grezzo. Polygon and IGN also covered the reveal.

Why remake it at all

According to Nintendo Life, Aonuma said part of the reason was to "trigger new insights" from the developers, which could feed into future Zelda games. He pointed out that many of the people working with him today have only experienced making the more recent titles.

Fast travel stayed out

One of the more interesting tidbits comes via Eurogamer. The remake adds a range of modern touches, and Eurogamer says its owl seems to be less chatty. But Nintendo also tried fast travel, a quality-of-life feature borrowed from Breath of the Wild, and removed it. Eurogamer's headline quotes the developers as realising "we were missing out on the moments of discovery."

A puppet-show look

The interviews also cover the visuals. Nintendo Life says Nintendo shared some of the initial design sketches. Art Director Aya Shida described a push and pull between making the game more realistic with the Switch 2's extra power and keeping the spirit of the original, which the outlet describes as a somewhat dark world filled with weird characters. Shida leaned on phrases such as "a puppet-show feel" to guide the look.

Release and a Google surprise

Nintendo Life's November and December release guide puts the game's release on the 5th of November. Physical copies with a textured foil cover have already sold out at Amazon, IGN reports, though it lists other places to find one.

Google has also added a small tribute. Nintendo Life says that if you search "Ocarina of Time", a Master Sword icon appears in the bottom right corner. Clicking it pushes the sword back into its pedestal and sends the search page into the past. IGN says the result looks like the 1998 version of Google, complete with blue links.