Zelda Remake Launches Nov 5: No Prior Games Required
Nintendo's Ocarina of Time remake stands alone, though one 2011 title explains the series' deepest lore.
By Fatou Mitchell ·
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake arrives on November 5, 2026, posing a specific question for new fans: do you need to play older entries to understand the plot? The short answer is no. The story is self-contained, and the remake serves as a standalone entry point into the franchise.
Many players first encountered the series through Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom. Those titles feature massive, open-world overhauls of the original formula. The upcoming remake offers a chance to see the classic structure that defined the genre. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest video games ever made, and the new version aims to flesh out details while keeping the core narrative simple.
The confusion often stems from the series' complex timeline. Nintendo maintains an official chronology on its website, showing exactly when each game takes place. Some titles are direct follow-ups, while others are unconnected. For Ocarina of Time, the story has no overt connections to games that precede it in the timeline. You can start the remake on November 5 without prior knowledge of Link, Zelda, or Ganondorf.
If you want to explore the wider lore before the launch, one specific game provides the origin story: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Originally released for the Wii in 2011, it is chronologically the first game in the series. It explains the history of the Master Sword and why the villain Ganondorf keeps returning to threaten Hyrule. The story is available via a 2021 Switch remaster. A 32-page prequel manga included in the Hyrule Historia encyclopaedia also details the goddess Hylia and the eternal reincarnation of Link and Zelda, though it is unclear if Nintendo considers this canon.
Ocarina of Time occupies a unique spot because its ending splits the timeline into three branches. In the game, Link starts as a child but is sent seven years into the future. He defeats Ganondorf, who has conquered Hyrule, and then returns to his original time. This creates two co-existing realities: the Child era and the Adult era. A third branch exists where Link loses and Ganondorf gains ultimate power.
In the Child era, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask takes place shortly after Ocarina of Time. Link is warped to Termina, a parallel world, and faces a new villain. The game reuses assets from Ocarina of Time, so side characters look familiar, but the plot is independent. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess follows Majora's Mask and is more tightly tied to the original story. It is presumed that Link used his knowledge of the future to warn the royal family, leading to Ganondorf's imprisonment. The game features the same Ganondorf from Ocarina of Time, but new incarnations of Link and Zelda.
In the Adult era, the seal on Ganondorf breaks, and the gods flood the world. This is the backdrop for The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. The game features the same Ganondorf who was defeated in Ocarina of Time, but new versions of the hero and princess. The original GameCube version is available through the Switch Online classics catalogue, but only on Switch 2. The Wii U remaster is less accessible.
The third timeline, known as the Hero is Defeated branch, leads into The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. This SNES game features two worlds, one of which is corrupted by Ganon's presence. While supplementary material links this to Ocarina of Time, the game itself contains no direct story ties. The timeline is not a strict requirement for understanding the games. Nintendo itself is not obsessively concerned with it, as evidenced by the development approach for recent titles. Tears of the Kingdom director Hidemaro Fujibayashi has noted that the timeline is not a primary factor in new game development.
The Ocarina of Time remake will launch on November 5. It stands on its own, but the series offers a rich history for those who want to dig deeper. Whether you play the origin story in Skyward Sword or jump straight into the remake, the narrative is clear. The timeline exists, but it does not gatekeep the experience.
