Three editors who have already played the Switch 2 remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time have logged their completion times, and the numbers range from about 14 hours to 45. If you want to know how long to block out before the credits roll, the answer depends heavily on whether you want the story or every last Heart Piece.

The fastest run came from a second playthrough. Logan Plant, Senior Editor for Playlist and DB, spent 45 hours with the game across two separate save files. His first file took 21 hours to reach the credits, then nine more hours to hit 100 percent completion, for a total of 30. He started a new game afterward and beat it in roughly 14 hours, mostly by mainlining the story. He had finished the original game just days before, so he knew where he was going.

Plant estimates he spent about five hours just living in the world and absorbing its details. Prior knowledge of the original, he says, made a big difference. You can rip through puzzles, side quests, and boss fights when you already know the solutions.

The save system deserves a warning. Ocarina of Time supports only one save file, despite what the game might lead you to believe. When you start a new game, it only warns that the five autosave points will be overwritten. Manually saving on a new file overwrites your original one. Plant nearly lost his 100 percent file this way.

“I almost lost my 100% file this way, but luckily grabbed it from the cloud save.”

Plant plans to try the three heart challenge next. He has never attempted it before, and he says the lack of a hero mode in Ocarina made him want to set his own challenge.

The completionist numbers cluster around 27 hours. Lottie Lynn, Guides Editor, says she finished the game in about 27 hours once she removed the time she spent hunting for differences from the original and riding Epona across Hyrule Field. That figure covers finishing the story, doing every side quest, and collecting every Heart Piece and Gold Skulltula. She also set aside at least half an hour for the Horseback Archery minigame, which she admits she has always been bad at.

Lynn calls herself a massive Ocarina fan, and that familiarity helped her move quickly. The subtle changes the developers made to the dungeons were one of her favorite parts of the remake, especially in the Water Temple. She plans a second playthrough over Christmas, a tradition for her with Zelda games, and says she will spend far too much time riding Epona around Lake Hylia.

Brendan Graeber, Senior Editor for Guides, landed at around 27 hours as well, when he reached 100 percent completion and beat the game. He tends to take his time in Hyrule, documenting every Piece of Heart, Gold Skulltula, and suspicious-looking rock. Searching every inch of Hyrule Field for new content added to the remake stretched his playtime. He discovered, among other things, that fairies now leave notes.

Graeber has grown up with these games, so he usually knew where to look for secrets. Still, he admits he has not spent as much time as he wants in the Hall of Fallen Foes, and he is looking forward to replaying some of his favorite boss battles.

So how long should you budget? The three accounts give you a practical range. A focused story run with some familiarity can take around 14 hours. A first-time story playthrough with every side quest and collectible sits near 27 hours. Full 100 percent completion for a first-time player, based on Plant’s first file, lands around 30 hours. Plant’s 45 hours covered two complete runs, so it is the outlier, not the baseline.

The editors also point to a simple rule. The game rewards exploration, and the time you spend in Hyrule is mostly a matter of how many side paths you take. Players who want to race to the ending should expect a run in the mid-teens. Players who want every Gold Skulltula and Heart Piece should expect to spend the better part of a month of evenings, or a weekend or two of focused play, to get there.

For anyone wondering whether the remake fits into a busy calendar before the next major release, the editors’ numbers suggest a single completionist run is manageable. A story-only run can fit into a couple of weeks of casual evenings. Just remember to back up your save before starting a new game, or you might end up where Plant almost did.