Nintendo has explained why the remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time will not include the additional fast-travel points considered during development. In a new episode of the company’s developer interview series, producers Eiji Aonuma and Hidemaro Fujibayashi discussed the design decisions behind the project.
Aonuma initially proposed adding more teleportation points, taking inspiration from Breath of the Wild. The goal was to reduce the need to cross Hyrule repeatedly when moving between locations. The original 1998 game already allowed limited fast travel through six ocarina melodies taught to Link by Sheik, including the Minuet of Forest and Bolero of Fire, but these transported him to only a small number of fixed locations.
The remake team added several extra points and tested the system. According to Aonuma, the developers then noticed that players could miss unexpected discoveries along the way, such as stopping to investigate a distant or unusual object. Although he had suggested the feature, he decided that it should be removed after the tests.
Fujibayashi said that exploration and discovery have been central to The Legend of Zelda since the first game. Players notice something in the distance, approach it to learn more and often find information that helps solve a later puzzle. The developers concluded that additional teleportation points could undermine this structure in Ocarina of Time.
Travel will still be more convenient in the remake. Link can run faster, jump with a single button press and use his horse, Epona. However, without the new teleportation points, most journeys will continue to take place on foot or horseback.
The remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is scheduled to launch exclusively on Switch 2 on November 5.
Sources: Numerama.