6 differences between The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time's remake map and the original

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake changes are set to be subtle but ever-present, based on the latest gameplay footage we saw at a recent Zelda Direct.

The gameplay footage of the remake, as well as the map Nintendo revealed last week, show off a bunch of new changes Ocarina of Time will be introducing that will surprise even the most veteran players.

Nearly 30 years of hardware and design innovations have led to Nintendo making some considerable changes here, and while we’re sure it won’t be a completely different experience, there’s enough here that we can point to and discuss the reasons for why they may have been altered.

Here are six changes we and the Zelda community have spotted based on the footage seen so far, as well as the map that Nintendo revealed last week.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake changes

Expanded Ice Cavern

Kicking things off with the most noticeable detail, the ice cavern can be seen at the far east of the map, just past Zora’s Fountain. Despite being a mini-dungeon in the original, its placement on the map implies some more importance, as it takes up the same amount of space as the other temples.

It’s entirely possible that Ice Cavern will be expanded to be its own dungeon. While it may not be on the same level of importance as the other temples, just adding an extra few puzzles and rooms could help to flesh it out as an early game challenge.

Castle Town Real Estate

We’ve already seen what the market portion of Hyrule Castle Town looks like in the remake, with a few additional streets and squares added to make the space feel a little bigger to explore. However, the map and gameplay footage also reveals what seems to be another set of houses surrounding Hyrule Castle itself, presumably inhabited by the servants and guards.

Although you only visit Hyrule Castle once in the story (prior to it becoming Ganon’s Castle), this could imply that the area has been expanded for you to make multiple trips back there with new activities and interactions awaiting you.

Giant Fish In Lake Hylia

At the southwest corner of the map, we can see Lake Hylia. For all its worth, it looks like the lake will be pretty close to how it looked in the original Ocarina of Time. However, you can also see that a giant fish is seen swimming around in the lake.

The fish resembles Lord Jabu-Jabu, the giant whale whose belly you venture into to rescue Princess Ruto. However, this takes place just past Zora’s Domain rather than in Lake Hylia. It also doesn’t seem likely that the Jabu-Jabu section will be moved to the lake either, so this could be a hint that varied sealife will be found in Lake Hylia in the remake.

Activity in Hyrule Field

Speaking of wildlife, the map also reveals several animals residing in Hyrule Field. We spotted a bird and a fox, in particular.

There are also a few travellers seen with horses and carts, which could imply these are travelling merchants or adventurers you’ll find out on the road. Altogether, this should hopefully help Hyrule Field feel more alive outside of the populated areas if there are signs of life in these locations.

Thawed Out Zora’s Domain

This one is more wishful thinking, as there aren’t really any details revealed in the map that imply this, but the fact that Zora’s Domain seems a lot bigger on this map could also mean that we’re going to be spending more time there in the remake.

Particularly, it’d be great to see if the whole place gets thawed out after clearing the Water Temple. In the original, it’s implied that the whole place will unfreeze itself, but we never actually see it happen, so this could be a neat way to have the world react to your progression.

Water Temple Changes

We almost missed this when looking at the trailer again, but as Redditor Fuzzy-Paws pointed out, a change to the Water Temple introduces a wall you can bomb which wasn’t located there before.

It’s been pointed out that some changes are probably necessary due to the fact that players can now jump freely, which will cause some big changes to dungeons and perhaps throw off muscle memory. In addition to the Water Temple, we’re bracing for changes to the other dungeons and several other puzzle areas.