Yes, I am aware the game is getting a remake.  That is what the video is about.  This is a video about how Ocarina of Time is a unique moment in gaming history/culture that's impact can't easily be replicated because it was the first of its kind.  The video talks about how later 3D Zeldas were arguably better than Ocarina despite never getting the same level of critical acclaim.  The ending point is that I hope the remake is a good game and I am happy to see a new take on it.

I think there's more to OoT than what people gives credit to. I first played the game around 2010, already pretty familiar with 3D action games, and even then I was surprised by the world, dungeons and puzzles I faced. I got stuck multiple times not knowing what to do. And I found solutions that doesn't match how other's solved the puzzles when they played. One that comes to mind from the top of my head is not figuring out on my own I could light up an arrow on fire by shooting it trough a torch, so when I saw the frozen target that didn't trigger by regular arrows, I used Dyn's fire instead... and it just worked. People were mind blown when I told them that.

OoT doesn't need to be entirely open world like BotW. But moments like this show that there is space for player expression and creativity even in a linear game. So if there are 2 things I want to see from the remake are more opportunities to use your tools to solve puzzles like this (without messing with the progression too much), and see the world expanded overall. They could add more maps, optional dungeons, and finally implement the Light Temple and the sacred realm into the game. If they go the BotW route, or if they don't add anything new, I'll disappointed.

If they wanted to make a remake that leaned into the BotW style, Wind Waker is right there. That one is perfect to be rebuild and restructured to be more open without hurting the foundation or story of the game at all, with tons of opportunities to expand it and make it into a massive game, specially if they decide to implement the sunken kingdom a a second open world map. And as long as they don't shy away from gatekeeping some tools away from the players before they explore the dungeons, those don't even need to change either. I don't think they'll ever want to do that, but it would be awesome if they did.

J’s finally talks Zelda. Here we go!!!!!

I recently beat this game for the first time last year. I appreciate your words on the melancholic and unsettling nature of the game, as I felt it heavily too.

Overall, I preferred the linear and focused progression of the early Zeldas over the open-world ones. For one, the open-world Zeldas don't have enough variety to warrant their giant sizes. Meanwhile, the early Zeldas are constantly delivering new enemies and areas, making you wonder what items you'll get or what gimmicks you'll face, whereas everything in the open-world games gets mostly the same. Mario was better suited for the "free-flowing" gameplay style, but I don't want Zelda being that way.

22:42 Bro, I STILL get major goosebumps from this whole Ganon scene. It CANNOT be replaced. The lighting, the thunder, the camera angles and music all make for an epic scene.

Recently 100% the game on PC and it's like being a kid again. While kinda concerned, I'm still curious on what they'll do for the remake

If I want them to change anything in the remake, it's to be more creative with the progression. What do I mean by this? Well when you leave the kokiri forest for the first time it seems like you won't come back for a very long time. After you meet Zelda and impa, it seems that you need to go to death mountain, but Navis nudging you like "what would saria say about it?" and we wouldn't know unless navi told us

So many people missed the point of the video. Brains rotted.

I think they've changed their mind about open world Zelda being the only way forward, and that these recent remakes aren't really for me but to gauge next gen interest to see if a 'return to basics' is feasible. Anecdotal but, from friends who LOVED the switch era Zelda, I heard a lot of "I've had my fill, I'm done now" after TotK.

Even getting my ipad nephews to try BotW - disinterested. They love open world crafting games but this was 'boring and empty' to them. They tried OoT and loved it. I like the Metroid Prime and Starfox remasters, and if this one also does nothing special but executes the original story and fundamentals well while expanding just a little and opening a path forward, that would be ideal.

My first Zelda was Breath of the Wild and that was an amazing experience in of itself but OoT and MM left an unremovable mark on me, those games were unlike anything else I've ever had the pleasure to play. Even if the OoT remake isn't up to snuff, we at least have the fan-made PC ports

17:08 While I agree that BoTW is mechanically superior to ToTK, I feel like the dungeons specifically in that game were more varied, with my favorite being the wind temple and its boss is one of my favorite in the series. Also please finish SS when you get a chance it also has one of the creepier dungeons with the Ancient Cistern and it’s amazing boss.

Aonuma is like a horse with blinders on. I don't think he's some incredible genius, but wants to keep moving forward. The problem is he can't look back even slightly and appreciate what already exists. He should not be allowed to touch a game or make a direct sequel to it after he's done. He's shown he doesn't do well with it.

I'm all for him continuing to try and create new experiences though

I had an N64 in the late 1990’s. I still remember when “Ocarina of Time” came out! That music and sense of wonder! Just a magical game.

7:12 Holy shit! Same! I pre-ordered ToTK, but I just played it and beat it yesterday! I played it day one, but the opening tutorial was so confusing and not fun that I dropped the game for three years. I also wasn’t interested in the crafting mechanic so I wasn’t really that interested in the game. I finally sat down and played it and didn’t enjoy it as much Breath of the Wild.

Yeah this game is absolute Cinema. They ever adapt it into a animated movie or a mini series , I hope they do it well

well for me it's not nostalgia to want the puzzles to be more intentional and limiting.  i just think games with puzzles that have specific solutions built into them are more fun.  puzzles with 20 ways around them just no longer interest me, i want to get that sense of solving the problem i was presented.  now, it just feels like anything can be done by abusing the same handful of tricks.  the 'older' kind of game still exists outside of zelda, so yeah i don't see it as nostalgia.  it's a preference for a certain kind of puzzle solving.  lock and key games are to me, the most fun

I think you're went too easy on that Aonuma statement, considering the changes they made to MM3D because they saw it as a flawed game that needed to be "fixed" I actually believe he means exactly what he said, he sees OoT as outdated and can't understand why anyone would want to revisit that formula when we have something "better" now

I played Ocarina of Time for the first time as a grown adult in 2023. Emulated with Dolphin.
It was magical, everything about the game felt like it tied into the themes of lost childhood, and it made me feel like a kid again. It’s a deliberate melding of mechanics, limitations, and game design choices that make Ocarina of Time such a, ironically, timeless game.

Its less a story of coming of age and more about loss, loss of loved ones, loss of safety and loss of your childhood.