Eighty-one critics, zero mixed reviews, and a 96 on both aggregators. Hyrule still holds.
Ocarina of Time Switch 2 reviews went live this morning, and Nintendo’s remake sits at 96 on Metacritic from 81 critics, every one of them positive. OpenCritic matches it with a 96 Top Critic Average, and 100% of the 34 critics it counts recommend it. That makes it the highest-rated Switch 2 game on OpenCritic, a point above Tears of the Kingdom, and the best-reviewed game of 2026 so far. The eShop version unlocks at 9 p.m. PT tonight for $59.99, with the $69.99 physical copy on shelves November 5.
The consensus is easy to say out loud. Critics think Nintendo rebuilt the 1998 classic with new visuals, controls, and music, kept the dungeons and structure almost untouched, and landed the best way to play it. The one recurring knock is that it plays things very safe. If you read our previews roundup last month, the reviews mostly confirm what the hands-on crowd saw, and now they’ve seen the whole game.
Half the Field Gave It Full Marks
Eurogamer gave it 5 out of 5, calling it an “astonishing remake” built on “great judgement and clever tweaks.” VGC and GamesRadar+ also went 5 out of 5, and Destructoid went 10 out of 10. VGC called it “the definitive way to discover, or rediscover, a masterpiece.”
The 9s are just as warm. IGN‘s Logan Plant scored it 9 out of 10 and wrote that “the dense, intimate world of Hyrule is stuffed with charming characters and fascinating secrets.” GameSpot also gave it a 9, saying the remake “smooths over some rough edges, leaves others intact, and lets what was so special about the original shine through.” Game Informer landed at 9.25, and reviewer Kyle Hilliard said its final hour made him cry.
The controls get almost as much love as the art. The Verge singled out the Water Temple, the dungeon people have complained about for 28 years. With quick boot swaps and a free camera, its reviewer “didn’t find it difficult at all” and could finally see what the designers were going for. Nintendo Life said every sword hit now lands “with such ferocity” that it makes Tears of the Kingdom’s fights feel tame.
Redeads Got Scarier
Our previews flagged a moodier Forest Temple, and the full reviews say the dread carries through the rest of the game. Polygon, which didn’t score it, wrote that Redeads and Like Likes show up in “horrifying new forms” that emphasize the game’s “roots as a true horror game.” The Verge said the desert crossing takes on “a new sense of tension and terror” as sand whips across the screen, and that one foggy fight later on got its heart racing.
It’s still rated E10+, but younger players who flinched at the N64 Redeads will flinch harder here. The Verge also warns that some areas are “frustratingly dark,” which is worth knowing if you play in handheld mode on a bright bus.
60fps Holds in Handheld, Resolution Drops
Every preview was played docked, so handheld was the big open question. Nintendo Life played undocked and says the 60fps target holds, but resolution “takes a notable hit” to the point where Link can look a little fuzzy, with smoothed-out mountains and some shimmer when you pan the camera. Digital Foundry’s tech review, as summarized by Nintendo Life, puts docked resolution between 1080p and 1440p and handheld between 720p and 1080p. It uses FSR upscaling rather than DLSS, and the 60fps stays consistent apart from “very tiny loading hiccups.” None of the reviews we read measured battery life.
No Master Quest, One Save Slot
The lowest score on OpenCritic is RPG Site‘s 8 out of 10. It praised the looks but dinged the remake for letting you hold only one active item at a time, for a single save slot, and for a thin Hall of Fallen Foes challenge mode. Nintendo Life raised the save-slot issue too, along with the distant shimmer.
The bigger complaint is challenge. Nintendo Life called it “a very safe remake” and said veterans of the N64 or 3DS versions will find little resistance. It called the missing Master Quest, or “any kind of hard mode,” a sore point. Destructoid also expects that “many will probably feel like Nintendo played it a bit too safe.”
A $59.99 Rebuy for N64 Veterans
If you’ve never finished Ocarina of Time, the reviews make this an easy call. If you have, you’re paying for a full audiovisual rebuild, voiced cutscenes, a real jump button, and the Hall of Fallen Foes, not new dungeons. The eShop copy at $59.99 is the cheaper way in, and our digital vs physical breakdown covers the $69.99 cart. The full list of changes is in our new features rundown.
| Outlet | Score |
|---|---|
| Destructoid | 10/10 |
| Eurogamer | 5/5 |
| VGC | 5/5 |
| GamesRadar+ | 5/5 |
| Game Informer | 9.25/10 |
| IGN | 9/10 |
| GameSpot | 9/10 |
| Nintendo Life | 9/10 |
| Famitsu | 37/40 |
| RPG Site | 8/10 |
Famitsu gave the N64 original a perfect 40 back in 1998 and this one a 37, the same score the 3DS version got. The original still holds a 99 on Metacritic, and a 96 with zero mixed reviews is about as close as a 28-year-old game can get to doing it twice.