I’ve been holding off on a Switch 2 because my current setup still covers what I play, but Zelda: Ocarina Of Time Remake is the one release that could change that. My current console stays connected to the living-room TV, and most of my gaming is limited to Friday evenings.
What details should I wait for—such as the remake’s scope, performance, or other confirmed Switch 2 games—before deciding whether this one title is enough reason to buy the system?
You don’t need to make this decision before launch. The remake is confirmed for November 5, 2026, with rebuilt visuals, voiced scenes, expanded dialogue, orchestral music, and modernized movement, but Nintendo still hasn’t given the performance details that matter for TV play. Wait for reviews covering frame-rate stability, image quality, loading, and whether the changes improve the original rather than overcomplicate it. With gaming mostly limited to Friday nights, I’d only buy the hardware once you can name at least two other Switch 2 games you genuinely expect to finish.
You do not need a stack of backup games to justify buying new hardware. If Ocarina of Time is a personal favorite and you expect to spend months with the remake, that can be enough. People routinely buy consoles for a single system-seller and find other uses later.
My hesitation would be the living-room setup. Replacing the current console is easy; keeping both connected means another dock, HDMI port, power cable, and controller shuffle. I’d wait until launch week, but only to confirm the remake feels right and your existing library moves over cleanly. If those boxes are checked, this seems like exactly the release you were waiting for.
Don’t turn one game into a full living-room renovation. Leave the current console where it is and treat the Switch 2 as a temporary Zelda machine at first. It can survive without its own permanent dock arrangement.
I don’t agree that you need two or three future games lined up. That usually turns into buying games to justify buying the box. If Ocarina means enough to you, count the whole hardware cost as the price of playing it and ask whether that number still feels acceptable.
There is an exit route people forget. Buy the physical edition if available, keep the packaging, skip the accessory pile, finish the game, then decide whether the Switch 2 has earned a permanent spot. If nothing else appeals, sell it while demand is still healthy. You’ll take a loss, but probably less than you’d spend building a library you never touch.
So yes, it could be enough. Just don’t confuse “system seller” with “system keeper.”
Replay the opening stretch of the original on your current setup before putting money toward new hardware. Give it a couple of your normal Friday-night sessions. That should tell you whether you genuinely want to spend more time in that version of Hyrule, or whether the remake announcement just hit the nostalgia button particularly hard.
I’m a bit more cautious than @digitaldrone about calling any single game enough. It can absolutely be the reason you buy a Switch 2, but the hardware still has to improve how you actually play. If it boots faster, looks noticeably better on the living-room TV, and lets you carry over the games and saves you care about, then Zelda becomes the push that makes a broader upgrade worthwhile. If the rest of the machine adds nothing for you, that is a lot of money riding on whether Nintendo’s changes match your memories.
I wouldn’t plan around selling everything afterward, either. @scriptarchitect8390’s approach works on paper, but transferring accounts, reorganizing the TV setup, keeping packaging around, and then dealing with resale is more bother than I’d want for a game I only touch once a week. I’d rather decide that the Switch 2 is replacing the current console, even if Zelda is the main reason for doing it.
The deciding factor for me would be whether the remake preserves the original’s pacing. New dialogue and presentation sound nice, but Ocarina works because it gets you moving and trusts you to figure things out. If modernized means constant hints, long voiced conversations, or interruptions every few minutes, prettier graphics won’t save it.
So yes, it could be enough to make the purchase, but only after seeing real gameplay from ordinary players. The remake should prove that it still feels like Ocarina rather than merely looking expensive.
Don’t build your decision around reselling the thing later. That resale exit @scriptarchitect8390 floated sounds tidy, but Nintendo hardware demand cools the second the hype game is out, and you’re stuck babysitting a box in its original packaging so you can eventually eat a loss on it. If you’re already thinking about the sell-off before launch, that’s usually a sign you don’t actually want the console.
Here’s what the whole thread keeps circling but not saying outright: the Switch 2 is a handheld. Half the living-room debate about extra docks, HDMI ports, and controller shuffling disappears if you just play it undocked. Ocarina is not a game that demands a 65-inch screen. You could leave your current console exactly where it is, keep the new one on the couch or in your bag, and never touch the TV setup at all. That removes most of what @digitaldrone was worried about.
On the actual ‘is it enough’ question, I’m with @deep_hawk that the remake has to still feel like Ocarina, but I’d add a colder caveat about the launch date. It’s a long way out. Judging a Switch 2 purchase now, more than a year before you can even see real footage, is pointless. Nothing you decide today survives contact with the first proper gameplay showing. Sit on it, watch what they show, and only then figure out if one game plus a portable you’d actually use adds up for you.
Buying a Switch 2 for a game you’ll revisit for years is different from buying it for one nostalgia-heavy playthrough. I’d need to know which case this really is before treating Ocarina as a system seller.
I’m more cautious than @digitaldrone here. Reviews can confirm performance, but they cannot tell you whether the controls and new presentation feel right to you. A borrowed console, rental, or public demo would settle that faster than hours of footage.
If you finish the demo and immediately want the full game at home, that is a convincing reason to buy. If you mostly admire the visuals and feel ready to return to the original, you just saved yourself an expensive impulse purchase.