Maitreyi Ramakrishnan is in her element.
As we get ready for our interview, the Canadian actress marvels at Nintendo’s new store-within-a-store at Toronto’s flagship EB Games on Yonge St. “That’s a big Mimikyu!” the Never Have I Ever star says excitedly, referring to a plushie of the ragdoll Pokémon that resembles Pikachu. “I fear I need that. There’s a lot right now!”
It’s her first time seeing the store following a press tour for Best of the Best, her new Netflix comedy about collegiate Bollywood dance. With that having wrapped, the Mississauga native’s focus is now all on Nintendo — or, more specifically, the company’s highly-anticipated Nintendo Switch 2 remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. It launched Thursday, the morning of our chat, and she’s clearly riding the high.
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“I’m blessed. I get to be Nintendo’s favourite child,” she says. Indeed, her love of Nintendo has been well-documented over the years, from repeated posts about visiting New York’s Nintendo Store to appearing in numerous Nintendo ads with her family.
And when we last spoke with Ramakrishnan at the 2023 midnight launch for Tears of the Kingdom, she mentioned that she has a fondness for Ocarina of Time, specifically, because she relates her “annoying younger sibling” relationship with her brother to the dynamic between Link and Navi. (She’s since even gotten a tattoo of the fairy.)
“With my brother, just getting to watch him play the game again and let him have fun is just great. I think for me personally, I am really excited to just hear the soundtrack again because I think some of the best Legend of Zelda songs in the whole franchise come from this game. I mean, ‘Song of Storms‘ is one of my favourite like Nintendo pieces of music, so getting to hear that again is really cool,” she says.
“Because my brother and I both like music, the feature where you can play an instrument and let your Switch hear the song — I’m excited to try that out with my brother because he plays guitar, I play piano. So I think that’ll be really cool.”
As we chat, she picks up a Pro Controller to play through the opening of the game in Kokiri Forest on a big demo station. While Nintendo let her try out the game earlier this year, she’s still in awe at the experience.
“Objectively, this is gorgeous, and as a cosplayer, the ideas are flowing in my head. They really did an insane job when it comes to the graphics and the visual effects. One of my favourite details is actually the water — every body of water being a distinct shade of green-slash-blue, depending on where you are,” she says. “And the fact that his tunic is so detailed, and you can see it get wet after. Those details matter to me — little things that make a big difference.”
Notably, all of this comes during Nintendo’s Zelda 40th anniversary celebrations. For Ramakrishnan, that longevity comes down to the series’ timeless storytelling.
“I just think it’s really cool that certain franchises like The Legend of Zelda have existed for so long and have been such a core staple of like pop-culture, especially in the video game world. It’s really cool to me that lines like ‘it’s dangerous to go alone!’ still remain so iconic today to young kiddos that can’t fathom the concept of 40 years yet, but they will in time. It’s truly a testament to good storytelling,” she says.
“And with all the Legend of Zelda games, there’s such an immersive world for people to dive into, and that’s what makes me excited about this remake. This remake helps push, for another however many years, the love for The Legend of Zelda franchise, for Nintendo as a whole, for the gamers that really want a good hero’s journey. When I tell people what this game is about, it’s a typical hero’s journey. ‘Young boy wants to leave his town to go fight the big bad, save everyone, save this princess, and also figure out why he’s different than everybody else in his little town.’ Hero’s journey! Who doesn’t love that?”
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All of this talk reminds me of a Pokémon 30th anniversary video that Ramakrishnan took part in earlier this year alongside the likes of Lady Gaga, Jisoo and Trevor Noah. In it, the celebrities named their favourite Pokémon, with Ramakrishnan shouting out the Gen IV Electric Type Luxray.
Since we’re now celebrating a different Nintendo anniversary, I had to ask: who is Ramakrishnan’s favourite Zelda character?
“No one’s asked me this yet!” she admits. “I feel like I’m supposed to say Navi because of my tattoo. So Navi, yes, but also, of course, my baddie Midna [from Twilight Princess]. Midna, the GOAT. So I have to give it to her, too. And Lady Riju, but specifically Tears of the Kingdom Lady Riju.”
Given Nintendo’s push into film adaptations with the likes of Illumination’s Mario series and next year’s live-action Zelda, as well Ramakrishnan’s role in next month’s The Angry Birds Movie 3, the actress even throws her hat into playing Riju. “I do think I’d be a really cool Lady Riju. I think I’d be really, really sick,” she says. “That’s honestly just one of my dream cosplays. So, hey, one day we’ll see it on my Instagram!”
But she admits that she’d be happy for Nintendo to put her into anything. “I just said earlier today that I will be a Goomba that gets stomped on, and if that’s my credit, I’m okay with that. I will take the crumbs that they give me, and I’m okay with that. I’m happy to be a part of any video game adaptation that honestly respects the IP and understands the fanbase.”
Clearly, she’s good at manifesting things. In a recent interview with Polygon, she joked that Nintendo remastered Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, one of her favourite games, just for her. Since we’re here talking about this brand-new version of Ocarina of Time and Nintendo has teased that more remakes are on the way, I ask what other classic games Ramakrishnan would next like to see.
“Give me some Nintendogs. Nintendogs, bring it back! Or Cooking Mama, because I can’t cook. But in Cooking Mama, call me Gordon Ramsay, I’m up there!” she says. “Tell me that wouldn’t be awesome! I want that comfort whimsy right now. I think that would be really great.”
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake is now available exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2.
Best of the Best is now streaming on Netflix. The Angry Birds Movie 3 flies into theatres on Dec. 23.
Image credit: Nintendo
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