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The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Nintendo 3DS
Welcome to the Masquerade
4.5/5 stars
As a child, I never had the chance to play majoras mask. Heck I didn’t even beat Ocarina of Time until 2010. But it’s always been a game I’ve heard plenty of good things from. So I purchased the game for the N64, and played through half of it, only to drop it after the half way point and sell it along with the rest of my N64 stuff. However after beating Ocarina of Time 3D in 2012, I had the feeling that it would only be a matter of time until a remake would surface. Especially after Majora’s mask’s cult following, including the BEN Drowned creepypasta.
So after almost 15 years, does Majora’s Mask still stand tall? Does it fill the shoes left by Ocarina of Time? And did Nintendo do the game justice in a 3ds remake. To put it short: Yes. Yes. And Yes.
As a sequel to Ocarina of time, the game’s story directly follows the ending of Ocarina where Link saved hyrule from ganondorf, and was sent back to his childhood by Zelda as a means of thanks, only to have Navi ditch him shortly after. Through some text, it’s inferred that Link is on a quest to find Navi, but it’s never really addressed and honestly is put waaaaay on the back burner until the ending.
While in his travels, Link finds himself in the middle of a mysterious forest, where he is then knocked out by two fairies by the names of Tattel and Tale. Accompanying them is a masked imp by the name of Skull Kid, whom mugs the unconscious Link, and steals his ocarina, only to have Link come to shortly after. After getting away with Epona, link hurry’s after them and winds up falling out of Hyrule, and into the land of Termina.
After taunting our hero, Skull Kid transforms our hero into a deku scrub and leaves, only to have Tattel fall behind, whom asks Link to help her get back to Skull Kid. Once you make your way to the exit of a clock tower, it turns out that you weren’t the only person Skull Kid stole from. As a man referred to as “The Happy Mask Salesman”, sees that you have been put into a predicament, being turned into a deku scrub and all, and offers to help in exchange that you get back your ocarina and the item Skull Kid stole from him, but this has to be done within 3 days, as he plans to leave Clock Town after that.
When it comes to mechanics, time is the name, and time is the game with majora’s mask. Everything is on the clock. Everyone is on a schedule, and even certain events will happen at certain times at certain places. Once Day in Majora’s Mask, is roughly about 18 minutes, meaning you have around 72 minutes to get things done in the 3 day cycle. Once you first enter clock town, there isn’t much to do, as you can’t leave town, since the guards mistake you as an ill equipped child, and as a deku scrub, you’re really limited to what you can do. After you finally encounter the Skull Kid, Tael informs you that you need to summon 4 beings who rest in the Swamp, the Mountains, the Sea, and the Valley, right as Skull Kid attempts to hurdle the Moon into Termina. After recovering your ocarina by means of hocking a loogy, Link gets a flash back of Zelda teaching him the song of time, which when played, restarts the 3 day cycle.
With cycle starting anew, Mr. Smiles teaches us the song of healing, promptly returning our hero to his former glory… And then goes ape on you for not getting the mask Skull Kid stole from him. This mask, called Majora’s Mask, turns out to be a powerful mask that was used for ancient hexing rituals, and grants whomever wears it evil powers. Which I think is reason enough to be concerned now that it’s in the hands of what equates to a child on a sugar rush.
Even then, the moon might be the least of your worries as you’ll discover that Termina is not exactly the happiest place on earth. Because of the moon, clock town is in a mess from people who are heading for the hills for safety, while others are stubborn thinking that it’s no big deal. But once you look outside of Clock Town, you see more Termina’s issues. The swamp is suffering from poisoned water, the gorons in the mountain are on the verge of freezing to death, the waters of the sea are becoming more and dangerous, and the spirits of the valley are becoming restless, therefore harming the living.
Now that may sound like a lot to do in three days, but again, you have the means to manipulate time, thanks to the ocarina. Plus, once you defeat a boss in the temple, you earn the plot important mask that stays with you, even after rewinding the clock. The only things you lose after restarting the cycle are perishables (i.e. Deku Nuts, Rupees, Bombs), while your equipment and masks stay with you. You can even play a song to slow down time, giving you nearly three times as much time, and a song that can fast forward time.
In terms of control, Link is basically the same as he was back in Ocarina of Time, however with the power of the Deku mask, and later down the line the Goron mask and Zora mask, you granted to ability to transform into the respective creatures, making this incarnation of Link, pretty darn versatile. So with these in hand, along with the equipment you earn along the way, you must overcome the four temples in each respective part of Termina. Yes, I said FOUR temples. Because of that, Majora’s Mask can be a short game if you just shoot for the 4 temples, but then you’d be missing out on the bulk of the game: the side quests.
Because of the 4 temples, the only way to extend your heart past 4 additional heart containers is by collecting heart pieces, which majora’s mask holds 52 heart pieces. Which you earn by completing side quests. As I said earlier, certain events will only occur at certain times, on certain days, which thankfully, the game does help you with the bombers notebook, which helps you keep track of all side quests, and when events will occur. In the 3ds version of the game you can even set alarms to remind you of when certain events happen. And honestly, you’ll want to complete these quests as they help make Termina feel so lively.
While a lot of assets were reused from Ocarina of Time, I honestly can’t remember too many of the characters that weren’t part of the main quest. I certainly I remember Malon and Ruto at least, but I remember Romani, Cremia, and Lulu (their Majora’s Mask equivalents) more. Unlike Hyrule in Ocarina, you really get to know the inhabitants of Termina, and it just gives a rewarding feeling when you help them out. Though I must admit that some of these quests can be annoying to first time players, as some of them can’t be completed until later in the game, such as Anju and Kafei’s side quest, which you can’t really complete until you get the hook shot from the pirates fortress, and even then this quest takes a full cycle to complete. But it’s the pay-off of seeing Anju and Kafei reunited that makes the whole thing worth it to me.
And while some side quests may be annoying, the Great Bay Temple can be a tad repetitive. Having to constantly flip switches to change the flow of water, and having to freeze and thaw water does get old. And Stone Tower while stone tower did feel like a good final dungeon, having to flip the tower over multiple times to get all the stray fairies did feel like a chore. But frankly, those are my only complaints with Majora’s Mask, and even then those will probably go away with replays of the game.
As this is a remake I thought I should also mention a few of the changes to the game. The Temple bosses have been given new strategies, which I think are actually are better than their original battles. Some minor things have been changed, like the bank being moved to the center of clock town, and the locations of some of the bomber kids. You can now also save at any point with the owl statues, without having to quit the game. The electric barrier the Zora for can use is also now tied to your swimming, so you don’t get as much enjoyment out of the Zora form this time around, unless you get infinite magic with the chateu romani. Also the ice arrows are now situational, only able to be used in very certain locations. Two fishing holes were also added, but you don’t really get anything significant from them. And the Gorman Brothers were also given a new side quest, which honestly helps make them a bit more likeable.
While it may not be a 1:1 remake of the game like Ocarina of Time 3D. I think that Majora’s Mask 3D is a fantastic remake of a truly unique game. While I may not enjoy all the changes (namely the change to the Zora form), but everything else helps improve the experience, and makes it a better fit as a hand held game, something I think ocarina 3D missed. While it was a good remake of the game, I think that it didn't work as well as a handheld title.
I can now say that Majora’s Mask is one of my favorite 3D Zelda titles. And I don’t think I can recommend it enough.
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