In case you haven't been following along for some reason, The Legend of Zelda is going through a very exciting time as a franchise right now. It's celebrating 40 years since its initial release, and that really is a milestone that very few can claim to have reached, if any at all in the world of video games.
As part of that, fans were expecting some pretty major announcement to mark the occasion, and to be fair to Nintendo, they didn't disappoint. The big news was confirmation of an Ocarina of Time remake releasing later this year, though we still don't really know quite how drastic the developer has been in their approach.
Now, there's another Ocarina release on the way, and while it isn't quite as cool as the game itself, it could be the perfect accompaniment.
As first reported by Zelda Universe, ZREO: Second Quest, the successor project to Zelda Reorchestrated, have announced that they are working on a new album insipired by Ocarina, titled Quartet of Time. Essentially, it's a complete album of the music from the game, arranged for string quartet and performed by ATLYS.
There's no doubt that there has certainly been an increased appetite for classical versions of iconic soundtracks in recent years, and this latest effort could be one of the best of the bunch.
Ari Fisher, ZREO: Second Quest’s arranger and composer, explained that the project has been in the works for some time, saying, "Ocarina of Time is the reason I became a musician. Not one influence among many – the reason. When the remake was announced, the only thing that changed for us was that we stopped keeping the album a secret. We’d been making it all along."
It's nice to know that those in charge of the project are such huge fans of the game, and the project's announcement actually comes when it's already quite far along. According to a press release from the companies in charge, several of the arrangements have already been completed and recording is underway for those.
In even cooler news, you won't have to wait too long to hear at least some of what Quartet of Time offers, with those in charge electing to release individual tracks on streaming services as they are completed, with the full album to follow at a later date. That should mean you'll have some songs to put on in the background once Ocarina of Time drops later this year.
