The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake is a huge deal for fans of the franchise, both new and old. It marks the return of the nearly 30-year game in a new and improved form. The remake is a faithful recreation of one of the most iconic video games of all time. But it’s also bigger and better than the original, in many ways.
For one thing, the new Ocarina of Time boasts a beautiful new style. It retains the charm of the original while filling the new game with life and personality. One addition to the game is about to turn the entire fandom on its head by revealing that they’ve been making a couple of mistakes for nearly 30 years.
We’ve Been Saying Some Zelda: OoT Names Differently
The remake of Ocarina of Time includes voice acting for all the cutscenes. This has several repercussions on the game as a whole. For one thing, Navi is no longer an annoying sidekick with nothing to say but “hey” and “listen.” She now has an entire voice and carries on full conversations with characters. Her voice acting certainly makes her much more likable, but it also gives her more of a personality, turning her from a glorified cursor to an actual fleshed-out character.
However, the addition of voice acting has had some unintended effects, as well. One of these became clear when I attended a preview event at Nintendo’s Holiday showcase in NYC last month. While discussing Saria, Link’s childhood friend, several fellow press and Nintendo attendees and I realized that we’ve all been saying her name differently. For some, Saria was pronounced “SAH-ree-ah” while others called her “sa-RYE-ah.”
Which is the correct reading? The preview section didn’t reveal the answer. Since she’s named “sa-ri-a” in Japanese, the former might be the correct way. But with the new voice acting in the game, we’re probably going to get a definitive answer as soon as the full game comes out. One thing that was revealed, both through the preview and the latest trailer, is this: We’ve all likely been saying Ocarina wrong this whole time.
Ocarina of Time Reveals The Correct Pronunciation Of “Ocarina”
The ocarina might be a real instrument, but it’s likely that most of us had never come into contact with it until the release of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time in 1998. With no guidance on how to read the name and pronounce the title of the game, most of us probably read it the same way: “OH-cah-ree-nah,” that is, with a long “o” sound in the beginning. This, like Saria’s name, is reinforced by the Japanese writing of the word as “o-ka-ri-na.”
Now that the game is back in the spotlight, the real pronunciation of the game’s title has become clear, and it’s not what everyone thought. The word “Ocarina” is actually said like the proper pronunciation of the instrument: “AW-cah-ree-nah.” You can hear this said by the voice-over in the recent trailer, as well as in the game itself. (At least, in the English version. The Japanese pronunciation remains tied to its spelling, and does begin with a long “o” sound.)
Ocarina of Time Voice Acting May Reveal More Mistakes
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This might seem like a small mistake, but it makes you wonder what else we’ve all been saying differently. I was as sure that Saria was said with a “ree” as my colleagues were that it was said with a “rye.” And everyone at the preview seemed surprised to find out they’d been saying the title of the game wrong all these years.
Without voice acting in the original game, fans were left on their own to determine how to say different names. Most names, like Navi, Deku, and Hyrule had pretty clear-cut names that most players agree on. But what about more uncertain cases, like Mido, or even Link’s iconic horse, Epona?
Thanks to the new addition of voice acting in the remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, we’ll soon find out if we’ve been saying the names of the series’ most beloved characters correctly. There’s not much more time left to wait, as the game releases on the Nintendo Switch 2 on November 5, 2026.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
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