Eiji Aonuma, the longtime producer of The Legend of Zelda franchise at Nintendo, is gearing up to release the highly anticipated remake of the 1996 flagship game, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, next week. And after so many years and so many Zelda games, you’d think it was routine for him. But it turns out he’s nervous this time.
“I’m very nervous about releasing the Ocarina remake because I don’t know how it’s going to go, I can’t stop thinking about it,” he told AFP at a press conference in Paris. The stakes are certainly a little different this time around, as Aonuma and his team have taken on the daunting task of remaking what many consider to be one of the greatest games of all time, unlike every other Zelda game they’ve created (well, almost) that is an original work.
As AFP notes, the original Ocarina of Time was the first project Aonuma worked on with legendary Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Now he and his team are remaking it, and after playing it we found it to be a little more different than you might think if you’re a veteran of the original. We also asked someone who had never played the original to try it out if you’re curious about their thoughts. Aonuma also explained that some members of his team had never played the original – and he thinks that’s a good thing.
If IGN’s stats are to be believed, Aonuma-san has no reason to be nervous next week. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is IGN’s second best-performing preview of the year so far (after, you guessed it, our GTA 6 preview). However, on our YouTube channel it is #1 with over 1.8 million views.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake will be released on November 5. Stay tuned for IGN’s review coverage, and in case you need to refresh your memory or are a first-time player, our game help guide has you covered.
Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s senior preview editor and host of IGN’s weekly Xbox show, Unblocked Podcastand co-host of Next generation console watch. He’s a North Jersey guy, so it’s “Taylor’s ham”, not “pork roll”. Debate with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.
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