We should acknowledge that Monolith Soft isn’t just a Xenoblade developer, but also a major supporter of The Legend of Zelda franchise. The studio confirmed on X that it assisted with programming and graphics (per a machine translation) on the Ocarina of Time remake. This marks the fifth time the team has contributed to a mainline Zelda title, starting with 2011’s Skyward Sword.
There were a lot of theories in the past couple of months about what team was behind The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on Switch 2–especially considering the visual overhaul and the Internet’s reaction. Earlier this week, Nintendo revealed that its internal team responsible for Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, Entertainment Planning & Development (EPD) Production Group No. 3, was responsible for the remake. We now know that Monolith Soft also pitched in, as the team did with the two Switch mainline entries, too.
In 2007, Nintendo acquired Monolith Soft from Bandai Namco, with the developer at the time working on Disaster: Day of Crisis for Wii. The studio was probably best known for the Xenosaga series, but it’s doubtful anyone could predict how prolific Monolith Soft would become over the past 19 years.
Just looking at Monolith Soft’s portfolio, the developer has already contributed to three Switch 2 heavy hitters: Ocarina of Time, Splatoon Raiders, and Mario Kart World. This is all in addition to overseeing and creating the Xenoblade franchise, with Xenoblade Genesis planned for release next year. It’s an impressive resume.
Zelda: Ocarina of Time producers Eiji Aonuma and Hidemaro Fujibayashi recently chatted with GameSpot about the game’s development. The Switch 2 exclusive released yesterday, November 5, and is already wearing out the screenshot button for Steve Watts. You can see how gorgeous the remake is compared to the Nintendo 64 original.
