The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time may give some brand-new Switch 2 owners a rough first impression, with Austin John Plays reporting a startup bug that can leave the physical game freezing, barely responding to controllers and running at around one frame per second.
The catch is unusually specific. In his post, the Zelda guide creator says it can happen when the console hasn’t played any other game yet, including on a new Zelda-themed Switch 2.
He says the workaround is to leave the game alone until it reaches the title screen, close it, restart the console and launch it again. That process may need repeating two or three times before it runs normally.
“You may have to do this 2-3times. But then the game will run smoothly,” he writes.
He also suggests starting another native Switch 2 game first, such as Mario Kart World or Pokémon Pokopia, because he hasn’t seen the same issue on systems that have already run one. That’s a suggested preventative measure, rather than a confirmed fix from Nintendo.
In a follow-up, Austin John says he only began recording after the initial low-frame-rate title screen and reboot. The clip therefore shows a subsequent slow startup, rather than documenting the entire episode he describes.
The report concerns the physical copy on a previously unused system. It doesn’t establish how widespread the problem is, whether digital copies are affected, or what causes the slowdown.
It’s also separate from the changes Nintendo has made to the adventure itself. The team recently discussed its updated Water Temple in an interview about making the dungeon easier to navigate.
For anyone starting with a new console and a cartridge, Austin John’s advice is to wait for the title screen before trying his close-and-restart sequence.
