Ocarina of Time’s Cut Content Makes the Switch 2 Remake a Perfect Game

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is the most critically acclaimed video game of all time. It holds a near-perfect 99 rating on Metacritic, aggregated from the scores of critics who reviewed the game when it originally came out.

While very few fans truly expect Nintendo’s upcoming Ocarina of Time remake for the Switch 2 to surpass the N64 original, there’s a possibility it actually could, especially when considering that the original wasn’t even the developers’ complete vision of the game.

Whether because of technical hardware limitations or time constraints, there was a ton of content that OOT’s developers had to cut from the game before it was released, which players only rediscovered years later through interviews and datamines. If the upcoming Ocarina of Time Switch 2 remake does include that cut content to represent a fuller version of the Zelda Team’s original vision for the game, those additions could make the difference between a game that’s rated a 99, and one that’s rated a perfect 100.

Link’s Most Iconic OG Sword Technique Was Removed From the Original Ocarina of Time

Nowadays, the one sword skill Link is definitely most known for is the spin attack, but that wasn’t always the case. In the earlier 2D Zelda titles, Link’s most useful ability was definitely his sword beam, which allowed him to fire beams from his sword as long as Link had full health.

It’s known that an early version of OOT allowed Link to use the sword beam, but it was removed before the game came out. The Wild Era games brought this ability back for Link whenever he wielded the Master Sword at full health (players just had to hold the right bumper like they were “throwing” the legendary blade), so it makes sense for that iconic skill to once again make its return in Switch 2’s Ocarina of Time like it was always intended.

Ocarina of Time‘s combat was already revolutionary when it first released, but expanding on Link’s arsenal of attacks and sword techniques even slightly could make it infinitely more fun.

Link’s Ocarina Was Supposed to Be Powered-Up By the Spiritual Stones

In early beta screenshots of Ocarina of Time, Link’s ocarina looked a bit different from the one he uses in the final version of the game. On the side of the ocarina, there were three colored slots which were meant to hold the Spiritual Stones he collects in the early child dungeons.

It seems that the ocarina was powered-up by the three Spiritual Stones, with each stone having a spot to insert into the ocarina to imbue it with additional power.

This might’ve been an interesting approach to giving Link access to the Temple of Time, rather than him just putting the stones into the pedestal there. It seems the original Ocarina of Time given to Link by Princess Zelda would only unleash its full power if it was equipped with the three Spiritual Stones, but it’s unknown why the Zelda Team chose to remove this concept from the game at the last second.

OOT’s Sage Medallions Were Intended to Have More Practical Use

It wasn’t just the Spiritual Stones that played a more active role in the beta of OOT — the Sage Medalions were also supposed to be more central to the gameplay. One of the biggest bombshells discovered in the datamines of OOT was the fact that each of the Sage Medallions were intended to give Link a special ability.

The data leak revealed that each Medallion would give Link a magic spell that corresponds with its element, with some of the spells having ended up in the game anyway by way of the Great Fairy spells like Din’s Fire and Nayru’s Love.

By far, the coolest of all the Sage Medallion spells Link could’ve had was the Spirit Medallion, which enabled Link to transform into Navi and fly through the air.

Introducing these Medallions would completely change the game for the OOT remake, potentially giving the devs a whole host of new puzzle-creation possibilities that coincide with their respective spells.

Players Should Finally Be Able to Take Full Control of Link in First-Person Perspective

While technically more of a last-second design decision than completely cut content, it’s interesting to consider how different Ocarina of Time would be if Shigeru Miyamoto’s original idea of having the game take place entirely in the first-person perspective would’ve made it into the game.

While players can still look through Link’s eyes briefly to look around and use first-person to fire arrows or the slingshot, there’s no way to actually walk around or engage in full-fledged combat while in the first-person perspective in Ocarina of Time.

According to Miyamoto, the idea of keeping the game first-person was abandoned when the concept of Link traveling in time was introduced, because it became necessary for the player to physically see Link in order to get the full effect of him being a child or adult. Perhaps the remake could take a page out of Elder Scrolls’ book in allowing players to swap freely between first and third-person this time, allowing them to further customize their playstyle while also preserving Miyamoto’s original intention.

There Were Two Full Temples Cut From the Original Ocarina of Time

One of the most infamous pieces of omitted content from Ocarina of Time was an entire dungeon that was cut: the Light Temple. The Light Temple is even still mentioned in the game by Rauru, though players never get the chance to actually see it. That makes the Light Temple an iconic OOT mystery among players, but lesser-known is the fact that there was also apparently supposed to be a Wind Temple as well.

In fact, the Wind Temple was especially interesting because it was reportedly also accompanied by a Kokiri Wind Sage who wasn’t Saria.

Having both a Wind and Forest Temple in OOT might seem a bit redundant, but it seems that the Wind Temple was actually supposed to take the place of the Forest Temple, which is why there are wind-based puzzles in the Forest Temple’s section of Ganon’s Castle.

For many fans, though, it’s almost expected as fact that the Light Temple will finally make its way into the remake. It just seems too perfect in the context of the game. The Light Temple would be an amazing final Temple to explore in the Sacred Realm just before facing Ganon’s Castle, and it’s the perfect place for Link to get the Light Arrows instead of being gifted them randomly by Princess Zelda at the end of the game.

Master Quest Gives The Game Even More Replayability

The Switch 2’s Ocarina of Time remake could potentially have all sorts of additional content, but perhaps the most substantial would be its own second quest.

The concept of a “second quest” in Zelda is something that began in the very first game for the NES. After players beat the main game, the second quest gives them a chance to replay the game at a higher difficulty level with new versions of the dungeons. This was a concept that Ocarina of Time was originally meant to have, via an expansion of the game called Ura Zelda that was to be included for the 64DD N64 add-on that was eventually canceled.

However, Ura Zelda would eventually see the light of day through became what is known as Master Quest for the GameCube, released alongside preorders for Wind Waker. It was also included in the 3DS remake, making Master Quest like an essential part of Ocarina of Time‘s identity nowadays.

Link Could Finally Obtain the Full Triforce in the Remake

In an early trailer for Ocarina of Time (when it was still being referred to as “Zelda 64”), Link is shown receiving the full Triforce from a treasure chest within the depths of a dungeon.

That scene never actually made it into the final build of the game, with Link instead obtaining his Triforce of Courage at the end of the game during the final fight with Ganon, and it’s only shown by the Triforce appearing on the back of Link’s hand, instead of in a treasure chest.

In the new teaser for Switch 2’s OOT remake, the Triforce is shown appearing on the back of Link’s hand at the very start of the game, potentially foreshadowing some major storyline changes already taking place.

It’s still unclear what Link having the Triforce on his hand from the start will actually mean for the story, but perhaps it could signify a shift from the Triforce physically exiting in Link to it becoming an external object Link needs to collect like in the original version of the game. Maybe the Triforce on his hand just symbolizes his affinity for courage, and he still has to actually find the Triforce to defeat Ganon.

Not only would adding small pieces of cut content like the Triforce in the game enrich the overall experience with more to discover, but it’d serve as the ultimate fan service for players who have been religiously playing and talking about Ocarina of Time for the past 28 years.

The Switch 2’s upcoming Ocarina of Time remake probably won’t include every single piece of cut content from the original, but even just one or two additions could lead to even bigger changes that might go a long way in perfecting what was already considered the most flawless video game ever made.