Moon Studios co-founder Thomas Mahler has criticised Nintendo’s Ocarina of Time remake, arguing that the game’s design no longer warrants the perfect scores it receives.
The Ori developer described Ocarina of Time as a “solid 7.5–8/10 game” by modern standards, saying the remake misses an opportunity to address weaknesses carried over from the Nintendo 64 original.
In a lengthy post on X, Mahler explained that he had been playing the remake with his son. While his son was captivated by the visuals, Mahler remained disappointed with the underlying experience.
Ori and the Blind Forest director Thomas Mahler has harshly criticised Nintendo's new Ocarina of Time remake, arguing that it feels "emptier and more confused" compared to other Zelda titles, like A Link to the Past.
Mahler notes that he was never a big fan of Ocarina of Time to… pic.twitter.com/fPsvpso9uR
— Power Up Gaming (@PowerUpGamingUK) November 7, 2026
His biggest complaint concerned Hyrule Field, which he argued provides too little to do between its major destinations. He contrasted that with the original The Legend of Zelda and A Link to the Past, where individual screens regularly offered enemies, secrets and opportunities to interact with the environment.
For Mahler, the problem is how much time players spend travelling without encountering anything interesting. He singled out the early journey from Kokiri Forest towards Hyrule Castle as an example of an area that should have been reconsidered for the remake.
A prettier Hyrule, but a missed opportunity?
Mahler proposed a more interactive overworld, with discoveries that give players reasons to return after completing each dungeon.
His examples included NPCs hidden beneath bridges, routes opened with Bombs, Hookshot interactions and caves leading into a larger underground network. New equipment, he argued, should make players eager to revisit familiar locations and uncover something new.
He rejected preserving the original design as sufficient justification for leaving those opportunities unexplored. Although he praised the remake’s graphics, he questioned the value of another visual overhaul following Ocarina of Time 3D.
His argument was that a remake should also reconsider whether the experience remains engaging from moment to moment, especially where technical constraints influenced the original design.
Mahler questions the praise from reviewers
Mahler also took aim at the gaming press, arguing that perfect scores reflect insufficient scrutiny of Ocarina of Time’s design.
He acknowledged the original’s impact in 1998, highlighting innovations such as Z-targeting and comparing its influence with Super Mario 64. However, he argued that those advances have since become standard features, leaving the level design and relationship between the overworld and dungeons as more relevant measures today.
In his assessment, Ocarina of Time does not consistently match its predecessors in those areas, and the remake should have done more to close that gap.
Mahler’s comments are a challenge to the idea that the game’s reputation should carry forward unchanged – particularly when a remake gives Nintendo the opportunity to revisit the parts he believes have aged least gracefully.
