Ocarina of Time on Switch 2 adds 150+ tracks and a mic ocarina
Nintendo closed its developer interview series with the music, 5.1 surround sound, fully voiced cutscenes and an ocarina that listens through the console's microphone.
Nintendo published the fourth and final part of its developer interview on The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on Tuesday. The remake is a Switch 2 exclusive and arrives Thursday, Nov. 5. This installment covers music, sound, voice acting and accessibility.
The soundtrack runs past 150 background tracks, some of them composed for new scenes. A few blend a full orchestra with sounds rebuilt from the Nintendo 64 version, which the team used as a reference. Hidemaro Fujibayashi said they wanted something only Nintendo could do, to stir memories of that era. Ambient effects (leaves, water, insects, birds) and 5.1 surround sound through headphones round it out.
The ocarina changes too. The team recorded a real one, and one mode uses the console's microphone to pick up the melody a player hums or plays.
Every cutscene is voiced. Eiji Aonuma said the Japanese voice auditions were blind, with actors' names hidden, and that one of the actors chosen played the same character 28 years ago in the Nintendo 64 game. The interview does not say which other languages will be dubbed.
For players new to the original, controls and items are introduced gradually, with clear feedback. Aonuma, who appears in all four parts, declines to rank the remake against the 1998 game.
One catch: ZELDA NOTES requires a Nintendo account, a constant internet connection and a compatible device, so anyone playing offline will not be able to use it on Thursday.
