Former Nintendo staff have suggested the company should have changed its plans to unveil its The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake, after a damaging leak left yesterday's brief reveal feeling more like "foregone conclusion."
Rather than a shock or welcome surprise, Nintendo's much-anticipated Ocarina announcement left former staff members Kit Ellis and Krysta Yang feeling "numb," the pair said during their latest podcast episode.
The duo, who previously hosted the company's official Nintendo Minute show, have now reflected on the announcement — and said it was a demonstration of how "stubborn" Nintendo can be when it has plans already set.
"For me personally, I think [the leak] had a huge effect," Ellis said, suggesting that the reveal's impact had been hugely dampened by leaks. "If that was actually a surprise and there was a teaser of an Ocarina of Time remake at the end of a Direct, it would be insanity. But we've known about this since March. We've been talking about this for at least two months. We have gone in circles talking about the myriad of ways they could do this — and we got this little teaser of him sleeping on some dirt."
Much of Nintendo's upcoming release slate was spoiled by prolific leaker NatetheHate back in March, who accurately reported word of the company's upcoming Star Fox remaster, Switch Sports sequel, and more. The leak broke word of Nintendo's plan to remake Ocarina of Time, and even looked ahead to 2027, when it's claimed that Mario Kart World DLC and a brand new Mario 3D platformer will finally arrive.
"[It was] just such a foregone conclusion," Ellis continued. "It's like, yeah, of course we're going to see it. And I think a lot of people expected, at this point, we're going to see more than just this."
The pair was again suggested that Nintendo will now be on the warpath internally, hunting down how its production pipeline leaked.
"But this is where this is where they're stubborn," Ellis added. "They're like, 'This is the plan. We're sticking to the plan.' There's a lot of people saying like, 'Oh my gosh, they're rearranging the plan because they hate leaks.' No, they're not doing that. That's not what they do.
"The original plan of 'we're going to have this little teaser' was probably fine if nobody knows about this, but for two months… to roll out the same teaser? I think they should have rethought some stuff. It just didn't seem like it had much of an impact because it was just such a foregone conclusion."
"For me, it was just such a numb feeling because you knew about everything," Yang agreed. "People were resigned to it."
"This was not the best way to roll out a game following a leak back in March," Ellis concluded.
The pair went on to suggest that Nintendo should have brought forward a more expansive trailer for the game, showing off gameplay or more of its world. Alternatively, Nintendo could have revealed more through an appearance by a high-ranking Zelda staff member such as series producer Eiji Aonuma, who could have provided more detail on the game's scope and any changes.
Regardless of the leaks, Ellis questioned the reveal of Zelda and its positioning as this year's biggest Switch 2 game when the title is yet another remake/port for the console — and the second remastered N64 classic this year following Star Fox.
"For me now the question is, what makes this different than this Star Fox game we're about to get and that I'm about to pay $50 for?" Ellis said. "A remake of a Nintendo 64 game with great graphics, great presentation, all of that, but that's kind of all it is. Is this more than that? And if it is, how?"
Of course, Nintendo has said nothing of the game's size, its features, or how it has been updated from its original form. But without doing so, the reveal has now left those questions at the forefront of fans' minds — especially as the surprise of it existing at all has now well and truly faded.
"I'm going to say that might be a little disappointing," Ellis suggested, if the game did turn out to be a straightforward remake.
The internet has had a range of reactions to Ocarina of Time's announcement, and in particular seen plenty of discussion around the game's visuals. Fans have also questioned who is making the game, and suggested it may be the work of an external studio, while Nintendo's own internal Zelda teams work on an all-new follow-up.
"Who is making this game?" Ellis questioned. "I don't think it is [in-house]. Why are we getting the [main Zelda] team on a down-the-middle Zelda remake?"
"It does have that Unreal Engine look to it," Yang said, echoing something many other fans have said.
"Like those AI videos you see people making, of Ocarina of Time in HD," Ellis suggested.
"I don't know what they're doing," Yang concluded. "No one knows what they're doing because they showed us 10 seconds of a sleeping Link. So, we just need to wait and see."
Be sure to catch up with IGN's roundup of everything announced during today's Nintendo Direct right here.
Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
