Zelda: Ocarina of Time is already running on PC with DLSS 5 and frame generation

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, initially launched on November 5th for the Switch 2, has already been observed running on Windows 11 PCs using Switch 2 emulators such as Lichii, a derivative of Eglantine. Performance enhancements are being achieved through various updates and AI tools. Although the game is somewhat playable on high-end PCs, graphical glitches and other issues persist.

Several Lichii forks have surfaced, each making claims about performance, as numerous emulation projects vie for the title of the first to run the remake of the N64 classic smoothly on PC.

A recent addition to the emulator landscape is Hookshot, a tool that statically recompiles Ocarina of Time's Arm code into a native Windows game. Unlike traditional emulation, Hookshot offers features like 2x, 3x, and 4x frame generation, upscaling, and ultrawide support. Notably, Hookshot runs Zelda: Ocarina of Time more smoothly than any current emulation effort.

With a Ryzen 7600X and a GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 16GB, the game reportedly achieves around 50fps without frame generation. ItsOOGWAY also demonstrated DLSS 5 running directly on a PC to emulate Zelda: Ocarina of Time, using a Fritzi fork of Lichii and a community-developed DLSS 5 manager with Live Flow Multi Frame Generation. The results, while subtle, showcase the extra detail added by DLSS 5.

Several Mac users have successfully played Ocarina of Time at 60fps in the Great Deku Tree using Nxnative. This tool supports multiple Switch 2 games, including an iPhone port of Ocarina of Time shared by @happyjoejiang on Twitter. Nxnative functions similarly to Wine, an open-source compatibility layer, allowing software written for another platform (Nintendo's Switch) to execute on a host operating system with high-level emulation.

Since I haven't personally tested any of these emulators or tools with Ocarina of Time, I can't verify these projects or videos. Nonetheless, they appear legitimate, and multiple users confirm the performance claims. It's crucial to remember that to play Zelda: Ocarina of Time on PC via an emulator, you must legally own the title and extract it from your jailbroken Switch 2 into a compatible file format.