The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for Switch 2 looks to be a faithful remake in a lot of ways, with some light modernization touches here and there. The story as we’ve seen it also looks very faithful, from the Great Deku Tree to the fearsome appearance of Ganondorf. But among the quick flashes of story sequences one character in particular caught my eye, and it made me wonder if this remake will be more overt with one of the series’ most famous twists.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time spoilers follow.
Ocarina of Time has a significant time jump, from child Link to adult Link, which earned this version of Link the nickname The Hero of Time. The child Link last saw Princess Zelda being spirited away from the castle by her bodyguard, Impa, during an apparent power grab by the evil Ganondorf. When Link takes the Master Sword and awakens as an adult, the castle is in disrepair, and the royal family is nowhere to be found. What exactly happened to Zelda is a major driving mystery through this second major act of the game.
As those who have played Ocarina before know, adult Zelda is hiding in plain sight as the mysterious Sheik. Sheik presents themselves as a survivor of the Sheikah people and helps Link along his journey, pointing him in the right direction of the Seven Sages. Eventually Zelda reveals herself.
It’s a plot twist that seems obvious in hindsight. The golden-haired Sheik was always hidden behind scarves and had a vested interest in helping Link, but the character is male-presenting, and this was a game that frequently introduced new bespoke characters. Sheik was just another part of the network of people who helped Link along his journey, no different than his childhood friend Saria or the Zora princess Ruto. Not to mention, we hadn’t seen adult Zelda at all until Sheik’s big reveal, so there was no way to compare them. The dual-identity was, at least to a much younger me, legitimately surprising.
That’s not necessarily the case anymore. Zelda’s dual identity as Sheik has become a major part of the series lore and been immortalized in other games like Super Smash Bros and Hyrule Warriors. It’s hard to imagine many Zelda fans could be playing this game without knowing about that aspect of the character, so Nintendo may not see as much point in hiding it.
Which brings me back to the look of Sheik. Likely in part because the character models are so much more realistically rendered, she looks very identifiable as Zelda in disguise. Even trying to put my knowledge of the character aside, this hi-def Sheik with a long blonde braid seems like she’ll be easily recognized, even by newcomers.
The presentation of Sheik being so easily recognizable as Zelda makes me wonder if Nintendo even really intends it to be a twist this time around. The company may figure that most players already know and those who don’t will probably realize it. For that reason it doesn’t seem to be going to great lengths to hide Sheik’s identity.
Instead, the Ocarina of Time remake could recontextualize this twist. Rather than a big reveal for the audience, Sheik’s identity should remain a big revelation to the characters. Link himself will still be shocked to find out that the childhood friend he’s been aiming to save the entire time has been helping him all along, and has grown into a skillful warrior in her own right. Watching the story proceed with a piece of secret information that we as the audience know, but the characters don’t, is a different kind of satisfaction. And I suspect that is what Nintendo will capitalize on for this remake.
