Nintendo Confirms Changes to Ocarina of Time’s New Map in the Switch 2 Remake

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time’s full map has officially been released by Nintendo, and there are important differences to the original that suggest exciting new places to explore.

Nintendo has been updating its Japanese website with a whole plethora of new information and gameplay showcases for the upcoming Ocarina of Time remake, and that includes a fully detailed map of the game’s new world. While it’s very faithful to OOT’s original map of Hyrule released for the N64 game, there are notable new details that imply there’s much more added than Nintendo initially showed during the Zelda 40th Anniversary Direct.

Ocarina of Time Remake’s Map Shows New Areas That Weren’t in the Original Game

At first glance, when comparing Ocarina of Time’s new map to that of the original, the overall layout is identical. It’s only when looking closer at the details that some significant changes begin to emerge.

The most immediately obvious addition to the map is around the area of Hyrule Castle, which seems to have been heavily expanded to include multiple houses in the surrounding area of the castle itself. Geographically, it makes sense, as any castle like that of Hyrule’s would undoubtedly be the economic center of the region.

Map of Hyrule Castle in the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Switch 2 remake

Whether Link will actually be able to explore these houses is unclear, but it’d definitely give players a lot more to do. In the original game, this area consisted entirely of an empty field filled with Hylian soldiers who Link would have to sneak around to get into the castle. And Nintendo already revealed that even that stealth section of the game has been overhauled, as new footage shows Young Link sneaking into a new sewer-like area of the Castle, which also wasn’t in the original game.

Perhaps Link’s journey through Hyrule Castle to find Princess Zelda will feel much more like a dungeon than it did in the original game, complete with puzzles he has to complete in the interest of stealthily navigating within the castle’s walls. But that may not even be the only exapanded dungeon area in the OOT remake. When looking at Ocarina of Time‘s new map, it seems Nintendo is placing a greater emphasis on the Ice Cavern than in the OG game.

Map of the Ice Cavern in the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Switch 2 remake

Link learns the Serenade of Water from Sheik in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D.

This isn’t a direct confirmation that the Ice Cavern will be expanded, but the simple fact the cavern has a rather large map marker comparable to pretty much any other dungeon on the map may indicate that this section was given much more attention this time around, which will definitely be embraced by fans of the original.

Map of the Gerudo Desert in the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Switch 2 remake

In terms of new areas of the map, perhaps the part of the new map that has the most unaccounted for new space is the Gerudo Desert. In the original map, it was very apparent that most of the desert could not be explored, as it mostly consisted of a narrow valley. This time, it looks like the entire desert is quite open, perhaps suggesting Link will be able to travel through it more openly.

There is even some giant set of monster bones in the middle of the desert, very reminiscent of the Malduga from Breath of the Wild. It’s not impossible that the game could feature a new mini-boss fight in the heart of the desert in the lead-up to the Spirit Temple.

Nintendo Presented Ocarina of Time as a 1:1 Remake, But It’s Much Bigger Than That

It shouldn’t be surprising that the Zelda Team has added more to Ocarina of Time; they’ve already confirmed as much during Eiji Aonuma’s gameplay presentation. Most notable was Castle Town, which has been expanded in overall size with new places to explore.

But in the new trailer for the game, other differences were subtly teased. For example, it’s clear the layout of Kakariko village has been significantly changed, and even the Water Temple has a new bomb-able room to discover that was never in the original.

Link swims in the Water Temple in the Zelda: Ocarina of Time Switch 2 remake

These small changes just in the amount of curated footage Nintendo has released so far imply there will be many more additions to find throughout Ocarina of Time’s newly improved Hyrule. And if this newly revealed map is any indication, there are a lot of even more major changes that Nintendo has been saving for players to uncover themselves.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time releases exclusively on the Nintendo Switch 2 system on November 5.