I haven’t ever thought of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time as a difficult game. Granted, I can’t really remember whether I found it overly difficult when I was a kid, and that was almost 30 years ago now. I do remember struggling on certain parts, but overall, it was apparently easy enough for the 11-year-old me to beat it more times than I can count. And considering I really wasn’t all that great at video games back then, I’d say that means the original Ocarina of Time was simple enough for anyone to master. However, now, the Ocarina of Time remake is adding a new item that I think could hint at it being a tougher game than the original N64 classic. Plus, there are the game’s early previews to consider as well, some of which have outright said that certain encounters in what they played were a bit more challenging than they remember.
The item I’m referring to is the fifth bottle, and if you’ve never played The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time before but have recently become more interested in giving it a try with the Switch 2 remake on the horizon, it’s kind of a big deal. In fact, it’s such a big deal to have more bottles in Ocarina of Time that many players have long taken advantage of glitches in the original game to duplicate the bottles they do have. To be fair, empty bottles are widely considered the most valuable item in the game, primarily due to how they can provide combat buffs and magic replenishment, more rupees than one can count, and even insurance against death. So, essentially owning an infinite number of bottles with the original game’s duplication glitch meant becoming incredibly powerful—even immortal. Now, the Ocarina of Time remake is responding to that with one extra bottle than was previously allowed, but does that also mean the game has gotten a bit harder?
Ocarina of Time’s Fifth Bottle Could Mean a Greater Challenge Is Ahead
To be honest, if the Ocarina of Time remake does end up being a bit more difficult, I’m all for it. I previously wrote a piece on how I hoped the boss fights in the remake would challenge me in some way with new mechanics because, as a veteran who has played the original enough times that fighting the bosses again would be like riding a bike, I wanted its biggest encounters to feel fresh. The redesigned bosses already exceed my expectations visually, but whether they’ll challenge my expectations mechanically is a different story. But back to the topic at hand: the fifth bottle.
Put the consoles in the correct order.
In the original Ocarina of Time, there were only four empty bottles for players to acquire and use—unless, of course, they utilized the duplication glitch mentioned above. I, for one, played games honestly (yeah right, I definitely used Game Shark and any cheat codes I could in games that allowed it), and didn’t take advantage of exploits like that. Nevertheless, empty bottles were something of a luxury in the original Ocarina of Time, and the duplication glitch proves as much, because players could put anything in them from Lon Lon Milk, which would restore health upon drinking it, and creatures like bugs and fish to potions for restoring health and magic and fairies, which could automatically revive Link upon death.
In other words, having a ton of empty bottles to use via the duplication glitch would essentially make someone unstoppable. The thought of doing that today makes my stomach turn because, even though I joked about it before, I really do like playing games honestly these days. I prefer when a game challenges me because it makes overcoming that challenge all the more rewarding in the end. I digress, though, because the main point I’m trying to make in bringing up the fifth bottle is that it could very well exist because Nintendo has made the Ocarina of Time remake more difficult than the original game.
Early Ocarina of Time Remake Previews Are Already Pointing Toward a Tougher Hyrule
As it turns out, some of the remake’s early previews have already given me reason to believe that extra bottle might come in handy. In IGN’s hands-on preview, for example, Logan Plant describes a familiar Stalfos encounter in the Forest Temple that has received a pretty nasty change. The hole in the middle of the arena has been replaced with a pool of acid that hurts Link, but not the Stalfos. More importantly, when the other two Stalfos join the fight, the acid doesn’t disappear like the hole effectively did in the original. Plant calls it a “more challenging miniboss,” and I can see why. Having less room to work with for the entire fight would, in fact, make it a tad tougher.
That’s not the only encounter Nintendo has been tinkering with, either. Luke Henderson at Maxi-Geek points out that Big Skulltulas no longer conveniently spin around and expose their weak spots on their own. Players now have to provoke that movement. He also says the Forest Temple’s Meg encounter is “far more challenging” because her tell isn’t as easy to spot as it used to be.
Owning an infinite number of bottles with the original game’s duplication glitch meant becoming incredibly powerful—even immortal.
The added difficulty may even extend beyond combat. GamesRadar reports a new, harder target-shooting challenge that gives players “much less time to hit the targets.” Obviously, an optional mini-game isn’t proof that the entire adventure has gotten tougher, but it does suggest Nintendo isn’t afraid to make familiar activities more demanding than they were before.
Of course, none of this confirms that Nintendo added the fifth bottle specifically to offset a difficulty increase. Plenty of the remake’s changes make things more convenient, too. Still, I can’t help but connect the dots. If more enemies and bosses are going to make me work harder for every victory, then having room for one extra fairy actually makes a lot more sense. And personally, I’d rather need that extra bottle than finish the remake wishing something had put up a better fight.
- Released
-
November 5, 2026
- ESRB
-
Everyone 10+ / Animated Blood, Fantasy Violence
- Developer(s)
-
Nintendo
- Publisher(s)
-
Nintendo
