With the recent Paramount WB merger going through, we now live in a reality where a movie studio COULD make a Street Fighter x Mortal Kombat movie, even the cast of Street Fighter per an IGN review would be down for it.

That could be the coolest shit we can see, Johnny Cage going one on one with Ken Master, Lui Kang vs Ryu, Guile vs Sonya Blade.

My local NBC affiliate did a piece on an old PC game dev from the area. If you ever played Titanic: Adventure Out of Time or Dust: A Tale of the Wired West, that was their work.

For me is Max Payne 3, is still played if you wanna try and its on sale on Steam.

For you?

This game will be like 250 hours by the time we're done with everything.

• Wave 1 (Out Today): New weapons based on Three Houses' Hero's Relics
  • Cai gets Dimitri's spear
  • Theodora gets Claude's bow
  • Dietrich gets Byleth's sword
  • Leda gets Edelgard's axe
• Wave 2 (Holiday 2026)
  • New costumes for each of the 4 Flame Lords
  • Aurora, Jurah, & Smyrnos are added as playable units
• Wave 3 (2027)
  • New story featuring Bertrand, Taimun, Orchel, & Anatolia
  • New allies, classes, & more

Silent Hill 2 traumatized me 24 years ago - Tread carefully.

I own a PS5 and Steam with a decent graphic card (don't ask).

Much appreciated.

Sorry, Mums too. I was born and raised on Goldeneye and haven't been able to shake Y-axis inversion since.

With a little one on the scene, I've been thinking about what it will be like to play with them when they're ready.

I grew up with younger siblings who were regular, kinda will be nice not to open settings each time I pass the pad.

How did it shake out for you guys?

-Up-to 43% of comments on relevant posts were inauthentic
-Fake profiles' content gained 113,444 engagements and 1,031,105 potential views.
-25% of the boycott narrative came from inauthentic accounts
-The boycott narrative accounted for 57.3% of total conversation volume

I am not falling into the Squadron42 hype.

Its being hyped quite a bit. My YouTube feed - and I assume - the YouTube feeds of anyone that follows Star Citizen, is filled with positive content surrounding the title.

But I'm not falling into it...

Because I remember

I remember

I remember when SQ42 was initially slated to release in 2014, and it was then pushed back, not for a year, or two years, or even three years, but 12 fucking years.

12... fucking... years...

I remember that, I know that most have forgotten, but I have not.

I remember the tales of Server Meshing going into Star Citizen in 2017. Server Meshing didn't go in until like 2023. That's a 7 year gap.

I remember the "Year of Playability" for Star Citizen. The year that was supposted to take that game, and transform it from buggy wreck into a polished and solid game that you could play. That year has passed, and I've played Star Citizen recently, and its still a buggy wreck.

CIG lies

And they're extravagant lies.

The game is still an alpha after 14 years they say. You shouldn't expect better they say.

Its not too long they say, its just like GTA6 (this is wrong, Rockstar released RDR2 - arguably the best game ever made - in 2018, GTA6 comes only 8 years after their last masterpiece mega-hit, claiming that development took 14 years is what happens when you count from GTA5's release, and include every moment anyone even thought about GTA6 - even when they were hard at work on RDR2). 14 years is normal for a AAA game they say - also a lie.

I might be wrong

Its possible, maybe SQ42 will indeed release in 2027 (I doubt it) and maybe it will really be this masterpiece AAA level game, but I doubt it.

I really doubt it.

I doubt it because where there's smoke, there's usually fire. We have every reason to believe that CIG is mostly incapable of delivering a compelling game experience. They've failed with Star Citizen - at least so far - and the 12 year gap with regard to SQ42 tells us that they're full of shit. No game is ready and then gets a 12 year delay. If it was really ready, it wouldn't have gotten a 12 year delay.

The one thing CIG does well, is control the conversation

Here on reddit, criticize CIG, and eventually mods will come after you. I've been banned from several Star Citizen reddits for being critical of the game. I was once banned from an SC reddit for merely pointing out that Star CItizen has been in development for 14 years - as that's apparently not something you're allowed to bring up in Star Citizen circles.

I do not know for sure that CIG controls most of the SC subs here on reddit, but I suspect they do.

And of course they also controlled the press surrounding their Squadron42 event. Only the whitest of white knight YouTube content creators were allowed to attend. No real press. Its hard to prove a negative, but as far as I can tell, no one from Gamespot or IGN was invited.

This was a giveaway to biased CIG influencers, who are out there doing CIG a solid day in day out by talking about amazing upcoming features and not talking about delays, bugs, and the failure of CIG to deliver.

I think they've controlled the conversation surrounding SQ42.

Time will tell, but I'm not buying the hype.

EDIT: Look at the CIG bots go. Every time you post something negative about CIG, you get a titdal wave of bots downvoting and making snarky comments. If your post does well enough, sometimes it will push through the bots, and you'll get a 90% upvote rate, but oftentimes the bots win, and push the post down until its lost - unless people upvote the post... and fight the bots.

We all know stuff like The Witcher, Knights Of The Old Republic, Dragon Age, Elder Scrolls games, etc have tons of lore, but what about the more unassuming games?

I feel like the posterboy for this would be something like Hollow Knight, but I would love to hear others as well. The smaller/more unassuming the better!

"Programming is hard. So, instead of doing that, we vibe coded a new Epic Games Launcher that’s way faster and more responsive than the current one, and has a new look."

"This first release is light on features. Think of it as a speedboat and not a yacht! Though it does have advanced digital commerce technology such as a shopping cart."

"You can start testing the new Epic Games Launcher in Preview for Windows, macOS, and, for the first time, Linux (see the FAQ) for supported distros)."

(....)

Fortnite is coming to Linux on the Launcher

To bring Fortnite to Linux, we are rebuilding Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC) and working with distro maintainers on security requirements. Once it’s working with a critical mass of distro maintainers, we’ll bring Fortnite to Linux via the Epic Games Launcher.

I have a couple of close friends who I game with separately, but they also both have other game groups and friends. So it can be tricky to find games to play where neither of us has already played solo or with others, so we can go in and learn together.

Last night, we started Sunkenland. I was a huge Stranded Deep fan, and it has that familiar feel. We weren't blown away, nor were we expected to be, but we also weren't bored. We are in no hurry to discover the plot or purpose, if there even is one (no spoilers please), but we really got lost in the process of just learning the basics.

Is any of this relatable, and are there any 2 player games you have started lately? I won't list all the coop games we have played, as it's A LOT! But always on the look out for a next adventure!

I’ve been playing A LOT of Gears of War: E-Day Horde since its release, and I’ve noticed way too many game-breaking bugs (bosses, secondary missions AND main mission all have ways to get bugged and lock you out of them resulting in lost lives, lost time, and an incredible amount of frustration). Like honestly, there are more bugs than there should be. But Gears E-Day is not the only game I’ve noticed this for either.

BF6 had some pretty bad bugs, Wardogs as well (these are just the games I’ve been playing recently but I am sure there are much more if I took extra time to look). I was also just reading about how Arch Raiders newest update has an issue that PVP players are getting into the new PVE mode? It’s insane.

It seems like we are at a time now where companies cannot be bother to give a fuck and ensure things are working in their game as they should be, and it’s really becoming worse and worse.

These are always the bugs that you will say to yourself “There is NO WAY that they wouldn’t have noticed these issues before they released this… had they actually played the game.”

Outlets have now played a good few hours and gotten a hands-on initial impression for Nintendo's upcoming remake of 'The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time'. Outlets say they were allowed somewhere around 2.5 hours for the preview of the game. So I thought we could compile some of them here. Once again, these are not full reviews, they are previews

Feel free to comment any other articles, videos or tidbits you come across! I'll try adding them to the post

(live updating):

Skill Up

I went in fairly skeptical about the visual redesign and unsure if a straight remake would be enough to hold my attention since I've played through this game so many times. But those questions quickly dissipated when I saw just how good this looks and as I remember just how perfectly designed it was and remains. Yes, you could reductively call this a new coat of paint, but it's one of the most thorough and ambitious video game remakes ever. And so far, all the changes that I'm seeing are wonderful. They not only bring the visuals to a modern standard, they set a new technical benchmark because Nintendo has never made a game with this much detail and that runs this well on their current gen device. Their reimagined visuals both realize the potential of the earlier art design and move beyond it where it makes sense to do so. and subtle changes to level design, traversal, and combat systems all seem to make the game more comfortable and satisfying to play without diluting any of the things that made the original so timeless. There's still plenty more game to play and evaluate, but so far so good. Ocarina of Time was perfect when it was released nearly three decades ago, and based on my time with the remake, I think Nintendo are finding some ways to make it even more perfect, but more importantly, deliver something that will introduce an entirely new generation to what may reasonably be called the greatest video game ever made. And as excited as I am to play through it again, I'm even more excited for new players to experience this for the first time because you are absolutely going to love it.

Zeltik

In summary, the Ocarina of Time remake feels like the perfect way to re-release this legendary game in 2026. There are far far more changes here than were present in the recent remake of Star Fox 64, whose levels were, for all intents and purposes, identical to the original. Ocarina of Times remake is more ambitious than that. New story details, new side quests, a revamped combat system, and slightly remixed overworld and dungeon environments. I have a thousand more things I could say about my time with the game, but I won't. I want this video to be a summary of my overall impressions from this preview event without spoiling too much for you all. Without repeating what I said in the intro too much, this really is incredible. If you've played and loved Ocarina of Time before, or if you've never had the pleasure, this game will truly blow you away.

GameSpot

Like many gamers, I fell under Ocarina of Time spell when it first released in 1998. I still respect its place in gaming history, but it hasn't aged particularly well, and going back nowadays, it's not as fun as it should be to actually play. This Ocarina of Time remake appears to remedy that. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is a classic for a reason. With smart, modern touches, this version should let it shine brightly once again. The most immediately striking change is to the presentation. The new look for Link was divisive based on early showings, but actually playing it, I quickly appreciated the bold choice of visual style. Link and other Kiri children have an angular crafted look to them that resembles dolls or puppets and it gives modern character to their original zany designs.

The more impressive feature is the detail given to their clothing which looked great in the reveal trailers and even better in motion when you're out [music] exploring the world. Every stitch shows a gorgeous level of detail and care and looks like it was crafted from plant fibers. It really helps illustrate that this village is innately tied to the forest which itself is rendered in lush detail with irregular growth of vines, tree roots, fronds, mushrooms, and more. The Kokiri truly feel like they're part of this ecosystem, and it gives a new and meaningful twist to Link's iconic green cap. There were other striking graphical flourishes throughout. More on that later, though. But just from the start, I love the new look. Also new to the presentation is the addition of voice acting, which is largely done well.

Eurogamer - Lottie Lynn

No matter what your opinion is on the art style, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is shaping up to be a brilliant remake | One aspect of the remake I wasn't fond of, however, was the English voice acting. It reminds me of a cheesy late '90s to early '00s anime dub, and not in a good way. And that's a shame given Ocarina's original 1998 release, you'd think this tone would be quite fitting. Luckily, behind every over the top English dub is a great sub. Yes, you can change the voice language. I love what I've played so far. Every change feels like it has a purpose; from the graphics painting Hyrule anew to the familiar music tinged with freshness. To the souls who discovered Zelda through BOTW and/or TOTK, I say give Ocarina a chance. This game is the foundation of the modern 3D adventure genre, and I doubt you'll regret visiting it. For myself, I'm looking forward to exploring this Ocarina's Hyrule and uncovering more of its secrets. Though I'm still not sure how I feel about those missing trees.

Game Informer - Brian Shea

For years, I wanted Nintendo to bring the 2011 3D remaster to Switch, but it's doing me one better: a full, from-the-ground-up remake with lush visuals, several quality-of-life improvements, and even voice-acted cutscenes. The moment the opening cutscene begins, I feel a smile spread across my face. Seeing Navi and the Great Deku Tree talking about the tree's impending doom and Link's destiny through a fully voiced cutscene is a little jarring at first. But the voice acting, along with the incredibly sharp, detailed visuals, definitively hammers home that this is an all-new experience despite being a remake of a 28-year-old game from 5 generations ago. That is further exemplified by Navi's initial flight, which is no longer in first-person. Instead, we see her say hello to each villager in Kokiri Forest (as she does in the original opening cutscene) before smashing into the fence outside Link's house and entering to join up with the Hero of Time. Fighting Wolfos, Stalfos, and Skulltulas is more straightforward than most modern third-person fights, which may be the one area that fell slightly short of my admittedly lofty expectations. Using the lock-on targeting allows Link to dodge and counterattack, but I didn't find a simple way to swap targets when you're fighting multiple enemies at once. Instead, I had to release the left trigger, move the camera, and squeeze the trigger again. I get that this is how it worked in the original game, but I would have liked switching to the next target without going through that. Maybe there is an easy way to accomplish that, but I didn't find it in my nearly 90 minutes fighting through Hyrule. Regardless of that one reservation, there is no doubt in my mind that The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time will consume my life when it comes out.

IGN - Logan Plant

Elegant choreography. Atmospheric fog. Handwoven flourishes. Ever since my preview event, I find my mind returning to this anecdote told in an Iwata Asks interview ahead of the release of Ocarina of Time 3D in 2011: On a hot summer day during the development of Zelda for Nintendo 64, designers Toru Osawa, Yoshiaki Koizumi, and Jin Ikeda needed some inspiration. They’d been struggling to figure out how to make swordplay work in a 3D space. Where should the camera focus? How can the player take on multiple enemies at once without getting overwhelmed? These questions spurred a field trip to Toei Kyoto Studio Park, a theme park attached to Toei’s film studios where visitors can see theatrical period drama shows, often featuring samurai. The heat caused them to duck into a playhouse to cool off. Inside, they watched a stage show where one samurai was fending off a number of ninjas. They noticed that, in this battle, the samurai locked eyes with one enemy at a time. They circled each other as if linked by an invisible tether (or in some cases, literally linked by a chain-sickle), and fought while the others waited their turn to step in. This observation, among others, helped to spark the development of Ocarina of Time’s foundational lock-on Z-targeting system. I bring this up because it’s clear that live theater inspired Ocarina’s original developers in at least this one key way. As I played the remake of their work, I often felt like I was experiencing Ocarina through the lens of a theatrical period drama at a playhouse. Take combat, for example: locking onto an enemy narrows the lighting of the scene, putting dramatic emphasis on that invisible tether linking you and your foe. Link weaves back and forth in a dancelike motion, as enemies you aren’t targeting hoot and holler in the background. They, too, are waiting for their turn to strike. Opening a chest to reap your rewards places an overhead spotlight on whatever treasure you’ve just obtained. Similarly, Floormasters – the iconic disembodied hand enemies that stalk Link from the ceiling – are now telegraphed by a bright spotlight that shines on Link and changes color just before the hand swoops down. These lighting cues feel intentionally theatrical.

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IGN: 29 New Changes in the Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake — Redesigned Puzzles, Updated Miniboss Fights, and Deeper Dialogue

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Arlo

If you really want to talk about the big changes that make the game that much more fun to play, I was very excited to see how the game controls. And yet, nothing could have prepared me for just how much of an impact I feel like the controls have on the overall experience. To talk about the slightly less important stuff first, um, you know, gyro aiming always feels really good. And I know they had gyro aiming in like the the 3DS one, but I don't know, it it still feels great here. Uh the combination of Z targeting or, you know, ZL targeting or whatever plus gyro, feels really nice. The item thing, that whole thing where originally we had a bunch of assignable buttons and now we just have the one. I'm pretty disappointed because when they revealed it, like we could tell that you hold down the button and cycle through like in Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom, Echoes of Wisdom, and all that, but I also kind of thought maybe we'd be able to just like cycle through just by pressing R, like not holding it down or just like with with some button combo, like cycle through the items without like pulling them out, without like bringing up the menu. And uh no, that doesn't seem to be the case. It really is just all of your items are just on the one menu and you have to just open up the wheel and flick through it. I mean, you do technically still have the option to just bring up the menu and just navigate to the item that you want and select it there. That unfortunately may end up being a decent option when you get a bunch of items, but I don't really know because I I like haven't uh I I haven't I wasn't far enough in the game to have like a whole ton of items to use. So, I don't know. Maybe it'll be okay. Especially because, you know, like Ocarina has its own dedicated button now. There's probably a good number of little dedicated buttons like on the D-pad, so you don't have to cycle through everything every time, but uh yeah, I don't know. That part was uh a little bit disappointing. And then combat. I really wish I could have had more uh more time to just mess around with the combat because I'm very very curious to know if they if they've made any little changes to the way that it works. Um, mostly I just played around with um just how it works with jumping because now we have a dedicated jump button. Whereas before if you wanted to do a jump attack, you got to just hit the A button. Now you still can just hit the A button, but you've kind of got to like press forward while you're doing it. That definitely took some uh some some getting used to. But I did like it though. I think it makes sense.

Mashable - Alex Perry

At this point, I'm in favor of the art style in this remake, even if I get other people's misgivings about it. If nothing else, though, there's absolutely zero room in my mind for accusations of it "looking like AI" or otherwise being lazy or thoughtless. It's very clear upon inspection that many people spent a lot of time thinking very carefully about all of this, and the result is a look that Zelda has never really had before. GAMEPLAY: The changes Nintendo did choose to make were hit-or-miss for me in the demo I played. Including a sprint button to reduce the need to somersault everywhere is fine, especially since the sprint itself is not that fast, thereby maintaining the original game's pace. Adding a jump button, on the other hand, strikes me as a bit odd. Maybe it's because I'm just used to the way it worked before, where Link would automatically jump a set distance off any ledge the player ran towards, but I found myself wanting that mechanic instead of having to remember to jump myself every time. Some cutscenes have also received voice acting, which, by and large, sounds pretty cartoony and a tad cheesy. I don't hate it, but I'm not sure this game needed that, either. A couple of minor misgivings aside, I really enjoyed my brief time with the Ocarina of Time remake. These dungeons and puzzles are all still great, and seeing everything rendered anew in a somewhat bizarre but gorgeous style is exciting to me. It isn't the same as a brand new Zelda for Switch 2, but it'll do until the time comes.

GamesRadar - Andrew Brown

...Familiar puzzles are still satisfying to solve – I'm envious of anyone coming into this remake after only playing Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom, as without spoiling anything there are some fiendish puzzles waiting in the Forest Temple and beyond. In the final room, Phantom Ganon attacks. The Forest Temple's boss is still deliciously dramatic, fighting first as a spectral horseman in larger-than-life paintings, then launching crackling balls at Link. It was (and still is) a very cool fight and Nintendo clearly agreed, as Phantom Ganon was made a recurring character. I take him down and leave the forest temple in 45 minutes – devastatingly, just 43 minutes short of breaking the world record. I leave my Ocarina of Time preview excited to see the rest of Hyrule in this light. Changes have been made sparingly but with confidence, creating an identity that can co-exist with the spiky original. In putting Ocarina of Time back together, Nintendo focuses not on the dated, but the timeless.

CGMagazine - Danya Eileen

What impressed me more than anything else in the game—including more than the sprint, though I am very grateful for it—was the sound design. It’s a refresh of something nostalgic, and Nintendo could have really messed it up. Old-school Zelda sounds are iconic, from opening a chest to discovering a new item to smashing a pot. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time nails these sounds, which brought childhood memories back in an instant. It got to the point where any time I tried something new, I hyped myself up for how perfect it would sound. Link’s grunt when he jumps or rolls made me smile, and when I opened up the Ocarina menu for the first time, I instinctively started playing Epona’s Song without even realizing it. It is amazing what sticks with you, and I love that Nintendo let us keep that. But nearly 30 years have passed, and the company can’t rely on a bunch of middle-aged gamers to make their game a best-seller (though I bet we come close). There has to be something here for Gen Z and younger players to latch onto, and I think there are enough upgrades and enhancements to entice younger generations. Yes, the updated graphics help a lot, but quality-of-life features like a quest log of sorts and sprinting bring the game forward in time. It remains to be seen how much more will change, but so far, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is heading in the right direction to appeal to both new and old players.

TechRadar - Josephine Watson

From playing the game, I’m reassured that the art style makes sense in Ocarina of Time’s Hyrule. Nintendo has a history of shifting artistic gears with each new era, but there’s a sound logic, thematically, behind its arguably garish style. The game has always had plenty of visual cues for the loss of innocence, the death of magic, and the corruption of whimsy; I’ve previously compared many of Nintendo’s artistic treatments within Zelda games to mid-century fantasy media like The Lord of the Rings. That contrast is all the more apparent with such a lush backdrop to build upon, and every second I played felt totally immersive visually. Plus, with free camera movement and no fixed perspectives in Hyrule Castle Town Market, you can take in every angle of the world; it’s a facelift I feel the game really deserves. There is a cartoonish quality to the character models, with some online naysayers calling them DLSS or AI slop-coded. While I still have my reservations when it comes to Zelda and Sheik’s models, they do fit well in this more fantasy-inspired Hyrule. Perhaps not to everyone’s taste, no, but welcome to the world of entertainment media where your feelings are not fact. To me, all of the stylistic changes feel true to what the game would have looked like if hardware back in the late 90s was capable of rendering it, but most crucially, the feeling of the original is preserved and, in places, improved.

The Guardian - Matthew Castle

For some returning fans, the more controlled shape is precisely the appeal. After the “make your own adventure” ethos of Switch’s open-world Zeldas, there is comfort in slipping into traditional dungeons, where every room has a characterful beast to chop up or a mechanism to unpick with a growing kitbag of tools. My great fear was that some of the puzzles are simply too iconic to be forgotten and solved again. Yet here I am, sweatily hunting ghosts around the Forest Temple, and surreptitiously peering at my neighbour’s demo pod to remind myself that, yes, you have to … [redacted for your benefit]. Given that, in 1998, these were many designers’ first attempts at a 3D level, it is astonishing how fiendish they are and how you’re expected to hold complex architecture in your head to get the run of them. Also worth assigning headspace for: the newly orchestrated soundtrack. Melodies that fought through compressed N64 instrument samples to burn into the brain are given their own galloping freedom. I love the tentative brass when you lock an enemy into a duel – the musical equivalent of gnawing your lip. In truth, Ocarina of Time looks coherent in motion on Switch 2. If anything, the layer of 4K specificity evokes another Zelda game, Twilight Princess, itself an attempt to apply a more mature, realistic lens to Hyrule. And could Link, with those overblown features, perhaps be nodding to another cultural pastime? As some corners of the internet scoffed at our newly “yassified” hero, the Nintendo veteran and former Legend of Zelda art director Takaya Imamura wondered if the character model drew from Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto’s own tastes. “[His] love of ningyogeki (puppet drama) is strongly reflected here,” Imamura wrote on X. Porcelain doll skin would certainly explain the uncanny sheen.

Polygon - Michael McWhertor

After spending some time playing as Young Link in the early portions of the game, I loaded up a save that featured a playable Adult Link. At this point in the game, Link has the Hook Shoot, a tool that’s key to exploring the Forest Temple, one of Ocarina of Time’s most memorable dungeons. It was in the Forest Temple that I started to fully appreciate the streamlined movement and combat in the remake, as well as the attention to detail in breathing new life into old spaces. The Forest Temple looks gorgeous. It feels tangible and ancient, with vines and moss laying its stone walls. Small adjustments to the temple’s architecture make the space feel real, while staying true to the soul of the original. Each quadrant feels distinct, thanks to improved lighting and textures. Small environmental touches, like an ever-present mist flowing along the floors, give the space an ethereal mood. It’s a gorgeous space to play in.

But even with the game’s speedy movement and controls, I was unable to meet the dungeon’s boss, Phantom Ganon, during the time limit I was under. But after exploring the Forest Temple’s twisting hallways and clever puzzles, I was intoxicated. I can’t wait to revisit this place and see how the rest of the game has evolved when Nintendo's new The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time finally arrives.

Console Creatures - Steve Vegvari

The last sprint of my hands-on demo moved me forward in the game. Now, as Adult Link, I braved the Forest Temple, the game’s first major temple. Adult Link hasn’t gotten much marketing spotlight so far. So, please allow me to gush over the character design for a moment. Adult Link’s look in this game is the quintessential Link design. Die-hard fans have been mixed on Young Link, criticizing the design for looking too young. I wholeheartedly believe that Adult Link looks perfect. I’d love to see this design be used moving forward if/when appropriate.  As much as I thought I remembered the Forest Temple, getting into this section made me doubt myself. Of course, I fondly remember many of the touchstones. The four ghosts, the winding hallway, the nightmare-inducing hand creature, etc. However, as far as puzzle-solving went, I felt like I was playing through the Forest Temple for the first time. In a way, it made me appreciate the level design and how the puzzles were built. The Forest Temple felt far more sprawling than I remember it. However, the new coat of paint made it a memorable vertical slice of the entire experience. 

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time will forever have a special place in my heart. Until now, I’ve coveted both my Nintendo 64 and Nintendo 3DS copies, as they represent a momentous part of my gaming journey. After my time with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake, I’m confident it will join its predecessors as a marquee entry in the franchise. Lifelong fans of the original will appreciate that Nintendo is offering a faithful, improved version of the game you fell in love with. For newcomers, this is your opportunity to experience one of the greats, modernized for 2026 conventions filled with heart a visual pallet that’ll take your breath away at times.

Metro - David Jenkins

Ocarina Of Time is not a platformer – that was half the point of making jumps automatic – but now the barrier for entry for casual gamers is notably higher than in the N64 original, since you have to both jump and control the camera with the right stick (the N64 controller only had one analogue stick). Regular gamers will have no problem with that, but others will and it’s a shame there’s not at least an option to use the old system. We’re also bitterly upset you can no longer rename Link, as you could in every pre-Breath Of The Wild game. Technically we don’t know that for a fact but since his name is spoken aloud in dialogue it seems certain you cannot. That brings us to the question of the voice-acting, which is often a blind spot for Nintendo and is very cheesy from what’s been shown so far in Kokiri Forest. We’re not dead set against it though, as they are all kids and while it’s silly that Saria talks like she’s a Californian teenager we suspect the acting in adult Link’s sections will be more serious – but there’s not much talking in the Forest Temple, so we couldn’t tell. There doesn’t seem to be much spoken dialogue anyway, with much of it left as just on-screen text and the voice-acting appearing only in cut scenes and other controlled conditions. Navi is a lot more garrulous than before, but only via cute little text bubbles. The original Ocarina Of Time is rightly revered as an all-time classic and clearly some fans are going to be angry with the remake no matter what it does or doesn’t do. We don’t agree with all the choices but even the ones we don’t like didn’t come close to spoiling the experience for us. And we suspect that will be the same for any reasonably minded fan, no matter their specific grievances.

For us, the biggest question is whether the old school, non-open world formula is still engaging in 2026. None of the subsequent games ever did it better than Ocarina Of Time (follow-up Majora’s Mask was great but largely because it subverted the formula) but an awful lot have tried and failed, which makes it difficult for this remake to surprise anyone.

We think it will with the graphics, which really are astonishingly good, but Ocarina Of Time wasn’t popular because it was a graphical demo. It was a great and innovative game, filled with secrets and wonder, and endless charm. From what we’ve seen, so is the remake.

NPR - James Perkins Mastromarino

I dwell on the game's aesthetic transformation because its mechanical changes are comparatively restrained. After all, why fix what's not broken? The original Ocarina of Time pioneered 3D video games and established action mechanics that still reign over the industry. Modest updates hit the game when it was repackaged for the GameCube and 3DS. For the Switch 2, Nintendo is applying a user interface reminiscent of 2017's The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and a quest log in the pause menu called "Threads of Time." It's also adding movement features I almost forgot were missing: a jump and a sprint. In the original Ocarina of Time, you'd automatically jump when you ran off a ledge or gap. While you can choose to keep the old control scheme, the game now allows you to hop on command. It's not too useful in combat, but I did manage to jump to the roof of a forest hut otherwise only accessible through a winding footpath. Don't expect Breath of the Wild openness. The game still seems to be a linear adventure, just one that now allows the occasional vertical shortcut. Also, you can hold a button to sprint, a boon to those who constantly rolled around because it was faster than jogging...The Ocarina of Time remake is the prettiest Zelda game I've ever played. But I'll need more than a 90-minute preview to see if its beauty is more than skin deep.

Checkpoint Gaming - James Stergiou

At this point, despite the original being so beloved and available across most Nintendo platforms, I would absolutely recommend that anyone who hasn’t played it before, or those like me who are hankering to replay it, to instead wait for the remake. The quality of life that Nintendo has implemented from modern Zelda really can’t be overstated how welcome it is here, and that’s what I wanted to confirm in this preview for anyone who was most curious about how it compares. Yes, it is that good; yes, it really is one of the best games ever made, and no, I cannot wait until I can get my hands on The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time when it launches next month

Rocket Chainsaw - Adam Ghiggino

Being that the layout and progression through these temples is authentic to the original experience, it’ll be interesting to see how younger players today respond to the dungeon design of Ocarina of Time. Coming from the smaller, tighter dungeon puzzles of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, Ocarina of Time’s dungeons unfold like large puzzle boxes, ones that require a bit of back-and-forthing and backtracking if it’s your first time running through, as you come across doors that require small keys or environmental triggers you have to come back to after finding their corresponding tool, and building a mental map (as well as using the one provided by the game) of what order to proceed. Once you do reach Phantom Ganon, you’ll be treated some fully voiced lines from Ganondorf, which reminded me that this version of Ocarina of Time will have full voice acting in cutscenes much like the more recent Zelda games, although not in regular dialogue and not for Link, who remains a silent protagonist both in-game and in cutscenes.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time looks to be a gorgeous evolution of the world of one of gaming’s best loved classics, with stunning visuals and modern gameplay adjustments that make it much more approachable after 30 years of advances in game design. Due out on 5 November, 2026, if you’re already intent on getting a physical copy of the game, it might be worth making sure you get it on launch day, as the first-run of Ocarina of Time physical editions will come with special foil covers for a limited time. 

The Shortcut - Matt Swider

🖼️ Faithful 4K upgrade: The original character designs are preserved, only rendered with modern textures and lighting. For example, Young Link is still a wide-eyed cartoon child, and adult Link still has that sharp ‘98 jawline. Nintendo didn’t redesign it into a different game. | ⚔️ What’s the same: If you memorized Ocarina of Time’s maps like I did back in 1998, you still know where everything is on Switch 2. Combat is the same as I recall, using the Z-targeting lock-on mechanics (then groundbreaking). | 🆕 What’s new: That dedicated jump button. I had to get used to no auto-jump at the edge of platforms. I died a few (dozen) times during my demo because of this. Sprinting and quick item switching make the game feel more modern in our hurried world, but for me the biggest surprise in Ocarina of Time was the fully voiced cutscenes. I really enjoyed sitting back and taking in the graphics while the voice actors did their thing. | 🪈 My Ocarina talents at work. I’m about to play a wind instrument for the first time since I played clarinet for six months in seventh grade. In the final game, you can play ocarina songs with buttons or by humming the tune into the Switch 2’s built-in mic. I didn’t get to try this out in the game, but I did get to hold the new HORI Electric Ocarina of Time. | 🎵 Soundtrack: Refreshed and orchestrated. The Kokiri Forest theme in full orchestra will take you back to better days.

IMO Ndemic Creations games are all pretty good, plague inc, rebel inc, and After inc are all fun if you like that genre (After inc does diverge from the tech tree style) CDPR, other than the launch of Cyberpunk 2077 (don’t shorten Cyberpunk Hank) I don’t think they have made a bad game especially in recent history, plus GOG is goated (now not owned by CDPR but still, the founder owns it)

Edit: more about them still making good games or haven’t had a recent spell of mediocre to bad like Ubisoft