As someone who made a Zelda fan-animation series, which you can still watch on my channel & who has grown up with The Legend of Zelda my entire life. I was absolutely floored with the reveal of the Ocarina of Time remake so I wanted to make a list of my favorite things!

First on my list were the enemy designs. Through the entire trailer & gameplay reveal, the designs looked better than the originals. Every enemy had additional flourishes & detail that turned them into terrifying looking monsters. These Deku Babas have a more unhinged look, with their spilt tongues hanging out & their leaves behind them looking dry & poisonous. The Skulltula truly looking like a spider crawled into a monster skull. Even the bosses, had a much more terrifying look to them, Gohma having fungus sprouts growing underneath their shell. It almost looks like their legs were made from giant Deku Babas. You can even see the veins in its eyes. I desperately hope Nintendo has considered making Majora’s Mask with this new art style as it truly fits the horror aesthetic.

Second on my list are the characters designs. Characters maintain their cartoonish proportions, facial features, and bright colors while improve the texture & animations on their clothing & hair! Initially, I was put off by young Link’s porcelain doll look, but as I saw him exploring more environments. I found it very charming. And seeing all the NPCs hanging around Hyrule Castle Town really sold me on the game’s art style. There was also a really cool interaction where an NPC bumps into someone in the town. It was a level of detail, I just didn’t expect to find in this remake. Even the non-human NPCs like Gorons & Zoras looked great!

Third are the environments! This remake has done such an incredible job at giving depth to many of the open environments! Although, the maps are very small in comparison to modern games. They look far larger by implementing this really cool layering of the background environments. This isn’t unique to Zelda, but the implementation greatly reminds me of Breath of the Wild & Tears of the Kingdom. You can see in this Lake Hylia example, the way these non-accessible environments are divided by fog, detail, & color. These were the layers I was able to see in just this environment alone. I appreciated the level of care of expanding these areas without truly altering their original layout.

You can see this same exact technique done in Hyrule Field; however, it is done even better as you can even see the path you will eventually have to climb to get to Hyrule Castle! What I wanted to point out aside from the tiny peahats, which is most certainly a recession indicator is Lon Lon Ranch. Many of us probably noticed, this it is neither on a hill or has walls, but I think that’s brilliant! It does closer resemble the Lon Lon Ranch from Breath of the Wild, but also the no fences represent the peace in Hyrule and I imagine that once we play as adult Link. Lon Lon Ranch might look closer to what we were expecting. Even Kakariko Village has been altered a bit as well & it also makes me wonder what else have they changed too.

Fourth is the music! The music is what brought me to tears watching this trailer. Hearing tracks I’ve probably heard for a hundred hours sound even better moved me. Nintendo released the remake’s Title Theme on Nintendo Music & I cannot get through 20 seconds without tearing up. The music is really that important to me & hearing the bits we did in the trailer is perfect! I also love how you can hum or play a real instrument to play songs in the game. It is such a fun way to incorporate what many people like myself have already been doing for years.

I can continue adding to this list, but I honestly, don’t want to spend too much time trying to analyzing each frame because I wouldn’t want to spoil the enjoyment during my time playing the game, but I hope you all enjoy the Ocarina of Time remake trailer as much as I enjoyed it!