Zelda: Ocarina Of Time Remake Officially Replaces An Iconic Character

Published Sep 24, 2026, 2:01 PM EDT Austin King is the Senior Editor of Gaming at ScreenRant and has been with the site since 2020 with a focus on RPGs and tabletop games. He previously managed content for Geek to Geek Media, and has served as a writer for sites like Nintendad, Geek Fitness, and more. In addition to his work at ScreenRant, he also hosts the Dragon Quest FM podcast and is the author of several books, including co-writing Nimbus (a #1 bestseller in 2013). His latest is the nonfiction The Dragon Quest Book, available now. He's written about pop culture, video games, and genre studies over the course of his career. You can find him on BlueSky, X, and at Dragonquestaustin.com Sign in to your ScreenRant account It's no secret that remakes bring about changes, but The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake may be making one of the most controversial changes in recent memory. We know all about the new art direction, the new ocarina mechanic, and even roughly the map size of the new game. All of that seems in-line with what remakes typically do. However, it looks like Ocarina of Time is replacing one key character in this 2026 version. The Legend of Zelda Nintendo Direct in September gave us an extensive look at gameplay. The new graphics received mixed to negative reactions initially, but that discourse seems to have died down. A few fans, however, have noticed that it sounds like one of Ocarina of Time's most iconic characters has been officially replaced. Judging by the sound in the English version of the gameplay, Link's companion Navi sounds noticeably different. Of the confirmed changes in the Ocarina of Time remake, Navi's new voice actor isn't one of them. However, listening to the new Navi versus the original N64 version, the fairy indeed sounds different, most notably during the famous (or infamous) "Hey, listen!" delivery. If this is in fact a new voice for Navi, it may prove to be fairly controversial. For nearly 30 years, fans have been used to Navi sounding a certain way. The fairy has been memed to death at this point, with some finding her incessant calls to Link endearing while others still find her annoying. A few, like myself, seem to just find Navi annoyingly endearing. Regardless, we can all probably hear Navi's traditional voice in our heads right now, so changing that sound would be a pretty big gamble for Nintendo. So far, a cast list for the Ocarina of Time remake hasn't been shared, so fans will need to wait a bit longer to see if Nintendo confirms the change, or if everyone will still be debating the Navi change in years to come. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake will release on November 5, 2026, as a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive. Right now, there's a foil version you can get by preordering, although physical copies of the game have sold out in at least one country already. Once the game is out, we can all see for ourselves how much Navi sounds different — and if she's still as talkative as she was in 1998.​​ Released November 5, 2026 ESRB Everyone 10+ / Animated Blood, Fantasy Violence Developer(s) Nintendo Publisher(s) Nintendo Franchise The Legend of Zelda Number of Players Single-player Nintendo Switch 2 Release Date November 5, 2026