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The story
The Nintendo Switch 2 version of “The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time,” released by Nintendo on November 5, 2026, picked up a Metacritic score of 96 the moment its review embargo lifted — the highest rating of 2026 as of this writing. The original launched for the NINTENDO64 back in 1998 and was even hailed at the time as “the greatest game ever made.” On 5ch, posts covered a range of angles: mixed feelings about Nintendo leaning so heavily on remakes, comparisons between Metacritic’s credibility and that of Famitsu’s Cross Review scores, and reactions to the remake landing so close to the new GTA’s release.
Switch 2 version of “The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time” scores 96 on Metacritic! Some call it “a prime example of how brilliantly a timeless classic can be rebuilt.” Provisional Metascore ranks it #1 for 2026
Delivered 11/4 (Wed) 20:47 — Game Spark
Reviews are in for the Nintendo Switch 2 version of “The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time,” releasing November 5, 2026. It has earned a Metascore of 96 on Metacritic, making it the top-rated game of 2026 as of this writing.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Honestly, is it really that good though?
So Torneko doesn't even have a 3rd game yet?
"Torneko's Great Adventure: Mystery Dungeon" came out in 1993, and that was the first time a game ever gave me a genuinely "mysterious" experience.
After I started playing Torneko, I felt tired and turned on the TV, and something seemed off.
When I checked, 30 hours had passed since I started the game. I thought it had only been about 8.
Felt like Urashima Taro (the folktale fisherman who came home after what felt like a short visit, only to find centuries had passed).
Officer! This is the guy! (a meme phrase used to jokingly "report" someone for saying something outrageous)
GTA and this have totally different buyer bases.
Whoever finishes Ocarina of Time and then goes on to enjoy GTA is getting the most out of gaming.
Feels like a nation that's completely fallen from grace.
How long are we gonna keep riding on Zelda?
Same as Marvel and that sort of thing.
It's not just games — movies, anime, music, fashion, all of subculture these days is just reviving stuff from the Heisei era and earlier.
The idea that things have to keep changing and evolving nonstop in short cycles is actually an illusion.
Humans just haven't adapted to that pace of change, so you could say we're trying to casually drift back to the eras that felt good.
Think about it: from the Heian period through the Edo period, people wore kimono, lived in wooden houses, swung swords around, and the only real fun was the same old village festivals — basically the same routine repeated for about 1,000 years. The idea that drastic, rapid change is the "normal" state of things is actually what's unnatural — something that only started in the modern era.
Looks like it's aimed squarely at people who played it back in the day.
There are a lot of Nintendo games up there, so there might be a little bias — but hey, Zelda is genuinely fun, so.
Maybe cut down on your 5ch time.
That FF that botched its direction and regressed to pixel-art graphics? Total trash, lol lol
A remake that's almost exactly the same as the original getting a 96, lol.
The original got a 99, you know? This is actually a drop.
Can't you just use an emulator? Not that I'd know anything about that.
Isn't Breath of the Wild more of a remake of the very first Zelda game than of Ocarina of Time?
But the N64 was such a losing console at launch that hardly any kids got to play it back then — what a waste.
Yeah, it lost the next-gen console war against the PlayStation and the Saturn. Felt like it was just surviving off Pokémon's popularity.
Background and Points of Debate
Metacritic is an index that aggregates review scores from multiple outlets, and the original “Ocarina of Time” — the 1998 NINTENDO64 version — has long been treated as “the highest-scoring game of all time.” In the thread, some pointed out that “the original got a 99, so this one is actually down,” meaning the remake’s 96 was seen by some less as a top rating in its own right and more as a step down from the original. Opinions split mainly over how to judge Nintendo’s remake-heavy strategy: criticism that “they’re coasting on the brand instead of putting out new titles” clashed with the counterargument that “a strong IP is exactly what lets you pull in new fans.” There were also posts touching on the generational gap from the original’s era, when the NINTENDO64 was struggling in the next-generation console war against rivals like the PlayStation. This article has been composed with some posts containing discriminatory or personally abusive language excluded.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[On Sale Today] Switch 2 Version of “The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time” Scores 96 on Metacritic! Some Call It “A Prime Example of How Brilliantly a Timeless Classic Can Be Rebuilt”.”
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