Zelda timeline ahead of Ocarina of Time remake
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The gist
A Hacker News user posted a Zelda timeline site 17 days before Nintendo's Ocarina of Time remake debuts Nov. 5.
The recap maps the series' branching eras for newcomers before the Switch 2 release.
Background
Nintendo is remaking its 1998 classic The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the Nintendo Switch 2, part of the franchise's 40th anniversary in 2026. The Hacker News user jsomau built a timeline site, legendofhyrule.com, to help readers catch up before the launch, leaning on Nintendo's own timeline in Hyrule Historia and its chronicle page. Nintendo's official timeline branches after Ocarina of Time into the child, adult and fallen-hero eras.
How it unfolded
- Jun 2026The Ocarina of Time remake was officially announced.
- Sep 2026The remake's release date was confirmed.
- Oct 14, 2026NPR published a hands-on preview, and IGN listed 29 new changes in the remake.
- Oct 18, 2026A Show HN post titled "The Zelda timeline to catch up before the Ocarina of Time remake" was posted to Hacker News, receiving 14 points.
- Nov 5, 2026The Ocarina of Time remake debuts, two weeks before the arrival of Grand Theft Auto VI.
Who’s saying what
- Poster
- jsomau said Nintendo's own timeline is the authority, that the timeline branches at the end of Ocarina into three eras depending on whether Link wins or loses, and that the threads meet again much later with Breath of the Wild.
- Reviewer
- NPR's James Perkins Mastromarino wrote that the remake keeps the original's cartoony aesthetic but layers it with intricate detail, and that its baroque environments could confuse as well as dazzle.
Still unverified
A social media post states that the remake's release date falls on the exact same day and month when Doc Brown from Back to the Future invented time travel.