Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake Adds Breath of the Wild-Style Aiming

The Ocarina of Time remake for Switch 2 borrows at least one mechanic from Breath of the Wild: weapon-switching and aiming. Here's what we know.

Remember the good old days of Ocarina of Time, where you'd pause the game to switch your Deku Stick for a Fairy Bow? Well, the upcoming Switch 2 remake is speeding things up, and it looks like it's taking a page from the modern Zelda playbook.

During the recent Zelda 40th anniversary Direct, producer Eiji Aonuma showed off the returning Fairy Slingshot, and eagle-eyed fans spotted something familiar: the weapon-switching and aiming mechanics look almost identical to those in Breath of the Wild. In fact, you can now swap your gear using a horizontal menu, just like in BOTW, Tears of the Kingdom, and even Echoes of Wisdom.

Aiming with projectile weapons also gets the BOTW treatment, complete with the same reticle and full motion control support. But here's a twist: in this remake, you can combine Z-targeting with free aim, giving you more control than ever. It's a small but significant quality-of-life upgrade that should make combat feel smoother.

When the remake was first announced, fans were split—would Nintendo stick to the original faithfully, or reimagine it with modern open-world sensibilities? Aonuma made it clear from the start that this is a faithful remake, but these UI tweaks show that some modern conveniences are sneaking in. And that's probably a good thing—after all, who wants to go back to pausing every five seconds?

Another notable change is how time passes. The remake introduces a differently paced day/night cycle compared to the original, which could affect how you approach certain quests. Plus, Link can now manually jump, a welcome change from the auto-jump of the N64 classic.

The remake launches on November 5, which is dangerously close to Grand Theft Auto 6—are you ready to split your time between Hyrule and Vice City? Also announced: the live-action Zelda movie is officially titled "The Legend of Zelda," and a 40th anniversary concert tour is set for 2027.

So, are you excited to revisit Hyrule with these modern touches? Will you be picking up the remake on day one, or are you waiting for the movie? Let us know in the comments!