Daily Debate: Would Ocarina of Time Translate Well as an Open World Reboot?

Like many Zelda fans, Ocarina of Time remains one of my favorite games in the series. Its impact on gaming is hard to dispute; it’s considered a masterpiece for a reason, afterall. But let’s face it – while being great for its time, it pales in comparison to the scope of modern gaming.

For perspective, 3 years after Ocarina of Time entered the gaming sphere, it was already left in the dust by Grand Theft Auto III, which was likely the introduction to 3D open world games for a lot of millenials. As time went on, games got more ambitious: bigger worlds, immersive narratives, and more sidequests. Suddenly, what was once proclaimed as the greatest game ever made probably wasn’t the greatest game anymore, from an objective standpoint that is.

Perhaps some people really do feel Ocarina of Time is still the greatest videogame ever made, and that one can’t improve something this is already perfect. For full disclosure, I’m in the camp of Ocarina of Time being my favorite video game to this day, but I do think it could be improved as a modern open world reboot.

I feel like the basis of Ocarina of Time is so strong that many of its aspects could be given extra depth, and would be able to translate well into an openworld format. Obviously, the world would have to be vast and populated with more towns and NPCs. This would give more potential for interesting sidequests within that world too, which is something I’ve always dreamed of for the game.

There is also a lot of potential to expand on Ocarina of Time’s narrative. Maybe give us some DLC content letting us control Zelda as she trains with Impa; then as Sheik, we could embark on an adventure out into the world to foil various operations of Ganondorf’s and gather intel about his future plans. Similarly, we could take control of Ganondorf and witness his struggles leading the Gerudo, and get more exposition for his motives behind invading Hyrule. As Link, aside from a lot of extra content, the game would play out relatively the same, though various character interactions could be expanded upon, such as Link and Saria’s relationship. Dungeons could maintain core elements of the original designs, but reworked to have new puzzles and challenges, and maybe be laxed on dungeon order (I feel like what Sages you choose to release first doesn’t matter much for the story since they are all going to be saved and interacted with regardless).

Undoubtedly, doing such a reboot would be risky and there is a lot of potential for backlash if too much is changed. With that in mind, perhaps the game should be left alone, and simply remade with a modern graphics overhaul every few years to avoid cries that the masterpiece was tampered with and ruined somehow. While I’ve always imagined that Ocarina of Time could work as an open world game, many people may not agree with me.

So, where do you all stand? Do you think Ocarina of Time could translate well into an open world reboot? Is it too small and formulaic to be reworked into something even better? Sound off in the comments below!

Charles Xavier

Charles is a Senior Editor at Zelda Dungeon. He is a Visual Development artist focused on enviroments and pitch paintings. Check out his Instagram and Twitter to see his latest artworks, a lot of which is Zelda fan art! His favorite candy is Skittles – he feels the world should know this.