Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake Launch Week: Early Copies Surface, No DLSS, and Nintendo Shares Design Sketches

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time launches on Nintendo Switch 2 this Thursday, Nov. 5. With two days to go, there is a lot of news around the remake. Some physical copies are already in buyers’ hands, fans found that the game uses AMD’s FSR 1.0 upscaler instead of Nvidia’s DLSS, and Nintendo released design sketches and developer interviews.

Here’s what changed since the weekend.

Ocarina of Time remake release date and price

The remake is out Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, exclusively on Switch 2. Nintendo Life lists it at $69.99 in the U.S. Pro-Gamer.gg reported a confirmed eShop download size of about 24.54 GB, and preloading is already open for digital buyers.

When do Ocarina of Time reviews come out?

As of early Tuesday, there was still no aggregate review score. Notebookcheck reported that Metacritic told fans to expect reviews “midweek.” That points to Wednesday, Nov. 4, the day before launch, which is when reviews appeared for Tears of the Kingdom, Breath of the Wild and Echoes of Wisdom. Nintendo hasn’t announced the exact embargo time.

The N64 original holds a 99 on Metacritic, the site’s highest-rated game. Notebookcheck noted that Nintendo remakes usually score lower than the originals; the 2011 3DS version of Ocarina got a 94.

Early physical copies and spoiler risk

Notebookcheck reported that some stores had received stock early and at least one buyer had a boxed copy days before the street date. As of Nov. 1, the cartridge was reported to be playable without a patch, and screenshots and videos were spreading online. Notebookcheck also said the cartridge is red, not the gold of the N64 original’s first run.

If you want to avoid spoilers, be careful on social media this week. Notebookcheck cited the Nintendeal account’s view that spoilers may matter less here, because the remake mostly stays faithful to the N64 story while modernizing visuals and controls and adding voice acting.

No DLSS: Ocarina uses AMD FSR 1.0

Players who preloaded the game found that its built-in legal notices list AMD FSR 1.0 and SMAA anti-aliasing, with no mention of Nvidia’s DLSS, Nintendo Life and Pro-Gamer.gg reported. Donkey Kong Bananza used the same approach. Switch 2 runs on custom Nvidia hardware that supports DLSS, so some fans are disappointed.

Nintendo hasn’t explained the choice. Nintendo Life said the lack of DLSS “doesn’t seem to have had all that much negative impact” based on footage so far. Pro-Gamer.gg suggested FSR 1.0 is simpler to add to Nintendo’s in-house engines. That’s analysis, not a Nintendo statement.

Nintendo’s design sketches and developer interviews

In new Ask the Developer interviews, Art Director Aya Shida said the team tried to balance the Switch 2’s extra power against the original’s slightly dark, quirky world. The team used ideas like “a puppet-show feel” and “the analogue feel of practical effects films,” Nintendo Life reported.

Director HokWai Ng said the team didn’t want to change “the feel of each location or the way the locations connected with one another.” Nintendo even asked an artist who illustrated the N64 original to draw a new map for the remake.

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Earlier coverage: Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake Release Date Is Nov. 5 on Switch 2: Reviews, Size and What's New (Nov 2)