Well, after weeks of speculation, Nintendo has finally pulled the curtain even further back on the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake for Switch 2, and I couldn’t be happier. I was already content with the fact that it looked to be a 1:1 remake, but now that Ocarina of Time previews have confirmed that there are enough significant changes in the game to make it far more than a 1:1 remake, I’m even more hyped to play it. Don’t get me wrong, by and large, it looks like it will still be the experience that I remember it being when I was a kid, but with parts of its world, its puzzles, and its encounters having been redesigned, it should feel fresh enough to feel brand-new. And with its new Hall of Fallen Foes feature, I’m even more ready to take on its many boss fights and prove that, even after all these years, I’ve still got it.
Ocarina of Time‘s Hall of Fallen Foes is a new feature being added to the remake that allows players to instantly rematch the game’s boss fights and even time themselves for mastery. It’s not the first time Ocarina of Time has had a feature like this, as the Nintendo 3DS version, Ocarina of Time 3D, introduced a Boss Challenge mode in 2011 where players could return to Link’s house and replay previously defeated dungeon bosses, including through a gauntlet-style challenge. In other words, Nintendo has understood for over a decade the value of replayable bosses, which is interesting considering Elden Ring, a game with some of the most celebrated boss fights in gaming, still doesn’t have a dedicated boss-rematch system. And what’s perhaps even more interesting is the fact that FromSoftware already perfected a solution to that frustrating omission, and yet chose to leave Elden Ring without it.
Ocarina of Time’s Hall of Fallen Foes Is Something More RPGs Like Elden Ring Should Have
Now, as far as the Hall of Fallen Foes itself goes, Nintendo has confirmed that it will essentially serve as a gallery of the enemies Link has defeated throughout his adventure. Somewhere in Hyrule, players will be able to visit this hall and see statues of those enemies, along with information about where they can be found and what works best against them in combat. However, the biggest attraction is obviously going to be the boss rematches, which players can initiate by interacting with the corresponding statues. Each rematch also comes with a timer, so players can see how quickly they’re able to defeat a boss they’ve already overcome. Nintendo hasn’t revealed every detail about the feature just yet, but what we’ve seen of it so far is already enough to get me excited.
Put the consoles in the correct order.
I mean, I can already imagine myself going back to fight Phantom Ganon or Volvagia just to see how quickly I can take them down, especially now that the remake is making some pretty significant changes to combat. And while I understand that some players might not care all that much about fighting a boss they’ve already defeated, I personally love the idea of being able to do it without having to play through an entire dungeon again. I also think it’s a feature that makes even more sense in games where boss fights are considerably more difficult, which, of course, brings me back to Elden Ring.
Elden Ring Deserves the Same Treatment FromSoftware Gave Sekiro
What’s interesting about all of this is that FromSoftware actually introduced something very similar in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice back in October 2020. Through a free update, the game received a feature called Reflection of Strength, which allows players to revisit bosses they’ve already defeated by interacting with a Sculptor’s Idol. It also introduced Gauntlet of Strength, which challenges players to defeat multiple bosses in succession without dying. In fact, Reflection of Strength even returns any consumables players use during a rematch, meaning they can practice without having to worry about wasting resources. So, it’s not like FromSoftware hasn’t already figured out how to make something like this work.
Ocarina of Time‘s Hall of Fallen Foes is a new feature being added to the remake that allows players to instantly rematch the game’s boss fights and even time themselves for mastery.
And Sekiro isn’t the only example, either. Dark Souls 2 had Bonfire Ascetics, which could be used to respawn bosses, although doing so would permanently increase the difficulty of the surrounding area. Then there’s Armored Core 6, which allows players to replay completed missions, including those featuring bosses. Even Elden Ring Nightreign gives players opportunities to revisit major encounters through its repeatable expeditions, although that obviously isn’t quite the same thing as selecting a boss and immediately fighting it again. Nevertheless, FromSoftware has clearly been willing to experiment with boss replayability over the years, which makes the absence of a similar feature in the original Elden Ring all the more confusing to me.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not suggesting Elden Ring is somehow worse off because players can’t immediately rematch Malenia or Starscourge Radahn after defeating them. I understand that there’s something special about finally overcoming a boss that has been giving you trouble for hours and knowing that you don’t have to fight it again. But what if you actually want to? What if you want to try a completely different build against that same boss, or maybe you’ve gotten better at the game and simply want to see how much easier the encounter has become? As it stands, players generally have to start another playthrough, get summoned into another player’s world, or turn to unofficial mods to make that happen.
I, for one, would love to see Elden Ring receive something as simple as Sekiro‘s Reflection of Strength, especially considering just how many incredible boss fights FromSoftware packed into the game and its Shadow of the Erdtree expansion. I don’t even think there would need to be any special rewards attached to it, because I imagine plenty of players would be happy just having the option to revisit those encounters whenever they wanted. And now that Ocarina of Time is bringing back boss rematches with its Hall of Fallen Foes, I can’t help but wonder why Elden Ring still doesn’t have something similar. After all, if FromSoftware has already done it before, I really don’t see why one of its most celebrated games should have to go without it.
- Released
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November 5, 2026
- ESRB
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Everyone 10+ / Animated Blood, Fantasy Violence
- Developer(s)
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Nintendo
- Publisher(s)
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Nintendo
