Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake will fail without this cut content restored

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake launches later this year for the Nintendo Switch 2, and while it’ll undoubtedly be the second-coming of a masterpiece, it’d benefit greatly from this long-lost content.

It’s not difficult to understand why Ocarina of Time is so revered. Many would call it the greatest game ever made and while that’s up for debate, it’s definitely a contender for the title.

That’s probably why there’s so much anxiety around the upcoming remake for the Nintendo Switch 2. Fans are excited to re-explore Hyrule, but the brief glimpse we got during the last Nintendo Direct didn’t blow many people away. It looked eerily similar to the fan-made Unreal Engine 5 remake.

We don’t think there’s anything to worry about though. In fact, we think the biggest drawback the Ocarina of Time remake could have is playing it too safe, so much so that it’s not even worth the supposed $60 price-tag.

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time has a surplus of cut-content Nintendo should restore

With the power of the Nintendo Switch 2, there’s a lot to be excited about for the Ocarina of Time remake.

Hopefully, it’s a faithful remake that boasts the traditional gameplay rather than what we got in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom.

READ NEXT: Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom 8K 'Remaster' Has Us Hyped For Franchise's Future

We know the expanded limitations of the Nintendo Switch 2 will make fully-modelled Hyrule Castle Town possible, and perhaps a denser Hyrule field, but there’s plenty of content that didn’t make it into the Nintendo 64 version that could come back.

For instance, the infamous Unicorn Fountain has been hailed as one of Ocarina of Time’s best secrets. It’s basically just a unique Fairy Fountain but fans have been enamoured by it for years, and have even modded it back into the game.

If it’s being built from the ground-up, Nintendo could easily reintroduce these long-lost areas to the game, giving returning players more to explore.

Link’s playstyle could easily be overhauled as well. Before the game came out, Link would have had a Sword Beam attack like in the original Nintendo Entertainment System game, but for whatever reason, it didn't make it into the full release. Bring it back and make it a power unique to Adult Link when he possesses the Master Sword.

Magic would have also been handled differently. Originally, Link would eventually wield fire, wind, light and darkness magic to name a few, but these were replaced with the elemental arrows we know of now. We’d argue to keep the arrows, but give us more options over what aspects we can charge them with.

One final addition Nintendo could include if it wanted to get really crazy is the Triforce. The Triforce is obviously heavily involved in the main story as Link, Zelda and Ganondorf all possess a third of it by the finale, but we never see it form as a collectible item like in previous games.

It was originally supposed to be a quest that had Link loot pieces of it from hidden chests, and when you look back at early gameplay footage, you can see Link acquiring it.

The chances of that cut quest returning in the remake are slim because it’d require a re-write to the game’s story, but should Nintendo want to take advantage of a larger open-world, littering it with Tri Force pieces to track down and collect would be rather fun in our opinion.

Nintendo has yet to confirm a price for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake, but it’ll likely cost somewhere around the $60/$70 mark if you’re buying it physically.

While we’d love a straight-up remake, Nintendo has the rare opportunity to go back to that early drawing board and see its original vision for the game finally come to light.

One of the greatest games ever made could become even better should Nintendo have the courage to expand it.