Earlier today, Nintendo updated the official shop page for the The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake on Switch 2. This update added the game’s ESRB rating to the site, and confirmed what sort of tone the title was going for.

So, what is that rating?

Well, it’s an E10+ of course. The typical rating given to each and every Legend of Zelda game outside of Twilight Princess and a few of the Hyrule Warriors games.

And given the descriptors list ‘animated blood’ and ‘fantasy violence’ as being some of the reasons for said rating, it seems like things haven’t changed much in this remake. Indeed, with the 3DS remake having the exact same rating and keeping things like ReDeads and Dead Hand intact, it seems likely the Switch 2 one will probably follow suit. It’ll maybe have a bit less blood in the Bottom of the Well and Shadow Temple dungeons, keep Ganondorf’s own blood green before the final battle, and maybe clean up a few textures here and there, but otherwise feel mostly like what you’d expect from the game.

Plus, it’s not like past Zelda games with that rating have stayed away from horror elements. Both versions of Majora’s Mask have some incredibly screwed up stuff in them, but got the same ratings as Ocarina of Time and its 3DS remake respectively. Skyward Sword had the Silent Realms and Ancient Cistern dungeon, alongside some of the most depraved villains in the series. Add this to the Guardians and Blights in Breath of the Wild, and the Gloom Spawn in Tears of the Kingdom, and it’s clear that creepy character and environmental designs are usually not enough to tip the rating scale.

That said, there is one interesting change here. One little change that could have some interesting implications for the title.

‘Suggestive content’ is not in the list of descriptors, despite being present in the ratings for all other versions of Ocarina of Time.

Which seems to refer to characters like the Great Fairies and Twinrova, at least based on the description on the ESRB website:

As the game progresses, Link encounters a few female characters that are depicted from low camera angles and dressed in outfits that display moderate amounts of cleavage.

So, it’s possible that some of the more skimpily dressed characters in Ocarina of Time could be toned down or censored for this remake. Presumably, that’s something the ratings boards are tougher on nowadays, and something Nintendo seems to want to avoid with their first-party releases.

But it’s certainly not going to go down well with the internet, that’s for sure. We all know how the YouTube and social media world tends to react when games and media are made safer for work, and this is likely going to be no exception. Get ready for a flood of outrage videos when this detail inevitably hits the mainstream. Then likely even more upon release if anything is actually censored.

Still, the Ocarina of Time remake has now been rated E10+, with most of the same descriptors as the N64 and 3DS versions. Fantasy violence and blood are still in, suggestive content is seemingly out, and it’s likely that things like ReDeads and Dead Hand won’t change all that much in this version either.

Source:

The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time for Switch 2 (official store page)