Legendary Zelda Dev Gives Ocarina Of Time Remake His Seal Of Approval

Majora's Mask Art Director Is "Really Looking Forward" To Ocarina Of Time Remake Published Sep 10, 2026, 7:55 AM EDT James Lucas is an Executive Editor at TheGamer who has worked in professional journalism since 2018. A Newcastle University graduate with a degree in Journalism, Media, and Culture, they have written hundreds of guides, news stories, and original reports, with bylines in IGN, NME, GaymingMag, and VG247, sourcing interviews with studio heads, legendary industry figures, prominent actors, and more. An expert on FPS games, Soulslikes, RPGs, and survival horror, James has intimate knowledge of a wide variety of titles, providing in-depth coverage and exclusive profiles. Some of the games they have extensively covered include: Half-Life 3, Counter-Strike, Elden Ring, and Fallout. They pride themselves on their consistently thorough research, leveraging nearly a decade of industry experience. You can reach them at James.t@thegamer.com Nintendo finally showed us the Ocarina of Time remake earlier this week in its lengthy 30-minute Zelda showcase, and the reveal has been… divisive, to say the least. Like clockwork, it was suddenly decided that the original game had aged like a bottle of Lon Lon milk. Genre-defining masterpiece? No. It’s clunky, awful, and obtuse, in desperate need of an overhaul. Then you have the camp who are vehement that the remake looks like fan-made Unreal Engine tech demos, veering dangerously into Focus M territory. Or there’s that one viral post making the rounds comparing young Link to the Grinch baby. Like I said, divisive. Wade through the unending internet discourse, however, and you’ll find an X post from Zelda and Nintendo legend Takaya Imamura, who had nothing but praise for the upcoming remake. “I haven’t played Ocarina of Time since the 3DS version, so I’m really looking forward to it!!” he posted. “The color palette and lighting are so nice… As expected.” Imamura worked as the art director on Majora’s Mask, graphic designer on the original Star Fox, and object designer on A Link to the Past, before retiring from Nintendo in 2021 after a 32-year career. Speaking specifically about the new Link models, which have drawn flak for being overly designed, too textured, coated in a thick layer of vaseline, and deeply uncanny, Imamura had a more nuanced perspective to offer: “What I felt upon seeing this model is… I feel like Miyamoto-san’s ‘love for puppet theater’ is firmly reflected here too!” Imamura and Miyamoto worked closely together on Star Fox, which was marketed with puppets and even drew inspiration from their designs, so it’s no surprise that Miyamoto’s “love for puppet theater” would bleed into Ocarina of Time, too. And when you put the new character designs side-by-side with Japanese shows like The New Three Musketeers (as seen below), the inspiration becomes abundantly clear. Though, unsurprisingly, this explanation hasn’t dulled the discourse. Should Ocarina Of Time Have Leaned Further Into The Puppet Inspiration? Now, attention has turned to those same puppet comparisons. Some have been convinced by the designs after seeing them side-by-side, as it’s clear Nintendo isn’t just striving for realism. Others, however, point out that the more realistic skin textures make the puppet-like proportions even more unsettling, arguing that the Ocarina of Time remake should have leaned further into the inspiration instead. While something closer to Sackboy or Kirby's Epic Yarn would have been fascinating, with more obviously wooden skin, exaggerated cartoonish features in 3D animation are nothing new. Look no further than Pixar. It may simply be a case of keeping an open mind when looking at the new Ocarina of Time remake, rather than comparing the game to the Ocarina of Time we envisioned in our heads all those years ago in 1998 when we had to fill in the blanks while playing on old, fuzzy hardware. Systems Released November 5, 2026 ESRB Everyone 10+ / Animated Blood, Fantasy Violence Developer(s) Nintendo Publisher(s) Nintendo Franchise The Legend of Zelda Genre(s) RPG, Action, Adventure