Reviews are in for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake, and they're pretty good so far. On GameSpot's sister site Metacritic, Ocarina of Time has a review aggregate score of 96 from 81 reviews, making it the highest-reviewed game of the year so far--and with only a few months to go, it might stay in the top spot.
A few more reviews will likely filter in over the next few days from other sites Metacritic tracks, but don't expect the needle to shift much in either direction, or at all. According to Metacritic, twin-stick shooter Sektori is second for best-reviewed game of the year (93 based on 10 reviews), followed by the Switch 2 Deluxe Edition of the Resident Evil 2 remake (also 93, based on 16 reviews).
But could Grand Theft Auto 6 dethrone Link from the number one spot? Historically, mainline entries of GTA games have reviewed very well, and looking back at previous entries, they've all earned review aggregate scores that are often on par or even higher than Legend of Zelda games. Here's a quick breakdown of how GTA has done over the years:
- Grand Theft Auto -- No metascore
- Grand Theft Auto 2 -- 70
- Grand Theft Auto 3 -- 97
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas -- 95
- Grand Theft Auto 4 -- 98
- Grand Theft Auto 5 -- 97
The pattern here is that the games developed from GTA 3 onwards earned the highest metascores, and if the tradition holds, then GTA 6 should also be in the 90s when reviews land and the scores are tallied up. That's depending on if the game is actually good, but considering Rockstar's track record, GTA 6 should be a polished experience, even if the new immersive gameplay mechanics create some sense of friction for players who are used to going on crime sprees in GTA games while not worrying too much about the consequences of their in-game actions.
For now, the Ocarina of Time remake will likely remain the best-reviewed game of 2026, a feat that Nintendo and Rockstar have achieved multiple times. The Switch 2 edition of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was the best-reviewed game of 2025, and 2017's Breath of the Wild also took the top spot. Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption 2 was 2018's best-reviewed game, as was GTA 4 in 2008 and GTA 5 in 2013. Who will emerge victorious this year? You'll have to wait until November 19 to find out when GTA 6 launches.
