An opinion piece where Andres shares his struggles with remakes, and whether Ocarina of Time will be the one he finally connects with.
Last month I watched the new Carrie show by Mike Flanagan. I was not entirely satisfied with it, as it takes some big swings away from the source material and introduces an ambitious interconnected universe. While Stephen King may be happy with it, I cannot entirely accept it. Sitting with my thoughts, I had to ask myself, why? I usually heavily dislike when people go against a creator’s wishes, but now I was becoming just like them. That’s when it occurred to me. Perhaps because I had watched the deadly 1976 version that traumatized me, I did not want anyone to build upon it. That is precisely how I feel about the Ocarina of Time remake.
Where It All Started
My relationship with remakes and remasters is spotty. For what seemed like an eternity, I yearned for an Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion remaster when it was suddenly shadowdropped after years of rumors. I bought it right then and there; electricity bill be damned. What happened next even surprised me to this day. It’s the fact that sometimes I create these unattainable fantasies in my head of how I doggedly remember some memories that doomed me. The first hour sneaking through the sewers with Uriel Septim (RIP) was a well-known rite of passage, but tears did swell up my eyes when I saw Cyrodill again, now in its high-fidelity glory. And then, nothing.
Playing for a couple of hours, it was clear that this new coat of paint simply masked the ugly game beneath just as I remembered it. Nonexistent combat feedback, extremely faulty NPC behavior, and a myriad of bugs and glitches made me realize it was the same game, warts and all. For a moment it was welcome. It was one of my first full-fledged fantasy games ever, after Ocarina of Time. Sure, in hindsight it is more of a vanilla type of adventure, though I loved it all the same.
The Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild questlines were as unscrupulous as I remember. Meeting Sheogorath for the first time blew my young mind. Undoubtedly, fighting Mehrunes Dagon in all its splendor was awe-inspiring. Still, I could not help but feel like something was wrong. Eventually, rolling credits, it was not only the fact that I work 40 hours a week and have a much busier schedule. It was the fact that I may have outgrown this game, and nostalgia is simply not enough to do the trick anymore.
Childhood Memories
What changed, apart from my entire life? There are few games that I will ever replay (Ocarina of Time being one of them). Despite that, I always keep the door open for remakes of beloved classics as an experiment. As you probably know, I mostly look to new experiences that experiment with ingenious ideas. Namely, indies. So why the interest in rethreading old ideas? Well, mostly if there is anything of the old me in there. I have played video games all my life. The person who played Megaman Battle Network is not there anymore, although he does continue to harbor some fondness for the series and his long-gone Game Boy Advance.
That brings us to the Star Fox remake on Switch 2. Looking at the reveal trailer, it was so exciting to finally see Nintendo go back to a franchise that marked my childhood. Both Star Fox 64 and Star Fox Adventures were some of my favorite games. Not that I was any good at it, but Fox McCloud was my character of choice on Super Smash Bros. Sadly, it happened again. I finished it. I got up and went for a walk. What I had actually saved to have a massive nostalgia hit as a pick-me-up turned out to be a 1-to-1 remake of an on-rails shooter that is just fine.
Ocarina of Time Forever
With all that said, I do believe that my experience with the Ocarina of Time remake will be different. Like the other millions of kids whose brain chemistry was forever altered by Link’s time-jumping adventure, I remember it vividly. The mythical intro as Epona gallops on Hyrule’s fields as night turns to dawn to the sound of the leading ocarina will forever give me goosebumps. My constant posts of “I love it when it rains in games” can be directly traced to the madman who teaches young Link the Song of Storms in Kakariko Village. How was it raining inside the windmill? Who cares!
Of course I will play the Ocarina of Time remake. Hell, I preordered it. Taking a step back, I suppose that fiercely trying to hold on to a bygone era is a sign of hope, or desperation. That introverted kid who has gone through the pain of facing successes and rejections is no more. The world as we see it, full of generative AI slop that did not exist just a couple of years ago, and a pandemic that fundamentally scarred every generation, is simply not the same. So, even then, as society crumbles around us, going back to a lovingly stylized memory from 1998 for a dozen hours seems like a welcome respite. May we embrace it.
