Eiji Aonuma, producer for The Legend of Zelda series, has shared insights into the development philosophy behind remakes, particularly regarding updates to classic titles like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Aonuma explained that he often pushed back against younger developers who cited the original design as justification for not making changes, emphasizing the need to analyze and innovate based on the experience of new players.
During the development of the Ocarina of Time remake for Switch 2, Aonuma and fellow producer Hidemaro Fujibayashi employed 'memory erasure' exercises. This involved senior staff pretending to experience dungeons for the first time to gauge the intuitiveness of the design and encourage fresh perspectives from the development team. Aonuma recounted instances where developers would defend design choices by stating, "But that's how it was in the original." His response, as a developer who worked on the 1998 original, was that this was not a sufficient reason to avoid change.
"They have to go a little bit further and analyze and think about the reasons," Aonuma stated. "And perhaps there is good cause for us to take a different approach here based on what a new player’s experience would be. Just stopping at 'that’s how it was before' is not going to be enough."
This willingness to question and evolve original design choices, even those he was involved with, is a key factor in what makes the remake successful, according to the report. While notable changes such as the addition of a jump button and an equipment bar were implemented, subtler updates, like improved signposting in the Water Temple, also contribute to a refined player experience. The Ocarina of Time remake received a 9/10 in reviews and is noted as the top-rated game of 2026 on Metacritic.