Review: The Legend of Zelda - Majora's Mask
Because Majora's Mask was intended to be a pseudo-expansion to Ocarina of Time, very little changed in the way of gameplay mechanics. I'd love to delve into it the way I did its predecessor, but truth be told there really isn't much left to say. Link occasionally performs a flip when he jumps, the UI looks a bit flashier, and the overall graphics are just a bit improved. This should go without saying, but if the core gameplay was what impeded your enjoyment of Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask isn't going to sway your opinion.
The story is a direct sequel to Ocarina of Time, as was expected of each flagship Zelda title: Zelda had Adventure of Link, A Link to the Past had Link's Awakening, and by now the time had come for Ocarina of Time to get its sequel. Since Link was sent back to his original timeline and successfully stopped Ganondorf's plan, Hyrule was saved from collapse and Link became a lauded hero. With Navi's work finished, she mysteriously vanished without a word to Link, and with the call to adventure still beckoning him to the wild the young hero embarked on a quest to find her. He's not on a journey for long before a masked Skull Kid from the Kokiri Forest steals the Ocarina of Time, hides Link's horse Epona, and transforms Link into a Deku Scrub.
With only a few minutes played as Link, players are forced to enter the game's hub, Clock Town, and play through a small series of events before finally regaining control of Link. Clock Town rests in the direct middle of Termina and is under threat of its moon falling, also caused by the Skull Kid. Despite the fact that the player finishes their goal of restoring Link's body within an hour or so of gameplay, the much larger problem of the falling moon needs to be addressed as it could spell the end of the world.
The brilliant design of the opening sets expectations for the player: small individual stories make up the game's narrative, and each subplot leads back to the Skull Kid in some way or another. By solving each problem individually, the plot eventually wraps around to the Skull Kid and the end goal of the story. The game's main conflict, and the primary gimmick of Majora's Mask, is the restricted time limit. The moon will fall in three days, and there's simply no way to get it done within the time allotted.
The Song of Time returns from Ocarina of Time with a highly expanded use: in order to maneuver around the time limit, players can use the Song of Time to reset the in-game clock back to the first day. In order to take full advantage of this feature, many of the game's side quests occur on a set schedule, so in order to completely finish everything in the game players need to constantly be on the look-out for quest triggers and follow each schedule accordingly. Only a few side quests have narrow timing windows, so it's lenient on that front.
Speaking of side quests, this is easily the most side quest-heavy Zelda in the entire series. The other side of this detail is that it's also one of the shortest if players are only focused on the main story; in an interview, Shigeru Miyamoto revealed he had wanted to try a small and very dense Zelda focused on revisiting areas for hidden detail and finally had the chance to do so with Majora's Mask. You might not be aware of this, but because of this focus on short stories in a detail-rich world Majora's Mask is more of a favorite among a "hardcore crowd" compared to Ocarina of Time.
Since the developers wanted to create an atmospheric title, the atmosphere of Majora's Mask is quite eerie and at times far more disturbing than that of Ocarina of Time. The darker tone this time feels much more intentional, given that some of the creepier moments of the previous game are due in part to its technical limitations. Majora's Mask is a subversion for Ocarina of Time, exemplified by its original title Zelda Gaiden (or Zelda Side-story) and this is most apparent when approaching the game's multitude of characters--most of them are based on existing characters from Ocarina of Time down to their character models. For players who have invested time in the original game, this can create a menacing dissonance. If the team behind Link's Awakening were attempting to create a tone similar to Twin Peaks, then I'd say Majora's Mask gracefully nails the landing--a sentiment also shared by Zelda frontrunner Eiji Aonuma. The fact that Link travels to Termina through an underground passage that literally turns the world upside down should give the player a hint about how strange the journey is about to become.
Despite the small number of dungeons, each one feels unique and they all serve as an important milestone for the story. Because each region of Termina is separated into distinct corners of the map, conquering the dungeon feels like putting each area to rest. The oppressive atmosphere comes into play when it becomes clear players will never be able to clear every dungeon without resetting time, ultimately leading to feelings of hopelessness. Each boss can be fought multiple times so there is a chance for players to save all of Termina, but the game never rewards players for doing this and instead continues its three-day time limit; even in the best of circumstances, Link is trapped in Termina seemingly forever.
The density of the game world further emphasizes the role of side quests: if the player merely continues through the game to make a beeline for the ending, then by the final boss they'll only have up to seven Heart Containers as opposed to eleven hearts in Ocarina of Time and fourteen in A Link to the Past. Side quests offer Pieces of Heart and other helpful items like bottles, and returning after its absence from Ocarina of Time players can once again permanently upgrade their sword. Although I stand by my stance that it wasn't necessarily worth the trouble in Ocarina of Time, the sword upgrade is almost necessary given the small size and weak power of Link's beginning sword. It's not a very difficult side quest either, but it does take the player's allotted three days to complete. If the player wishes to find a substitute for the Biggoron Sword, there's a side quest for a similar weapon as well.
The typical reward for major side quests are the main focal point of the game: mask collecting. Much like Ocarina of Time placed such a high value on music, Majora's Mask focuses almost entirely on collecting masks--all of which serve some purpose either in the story or in the completion of some of the longer side quests. Furthermore, three of the four major areas each have their own mask allowing Link to transform into a member of the fantasy races established in Ocarina of Time: a mask for the Deku Scrubs, one for the Gorons, and one for the Zora. Each mask is utilized over the course of the game and, much to the game's credit, there's never an instance where Majora's Mask seemingly forgets the original items exist--unlike Ocarina of Time, where nearly half of Link's arsenal is completely unusable depending on the timeline. The fantasy races will also react to Link differently depending on which mask he's wearing and even which race he appears to be, a small detail which helps make the world feel that much more established.
Masks inundate the world of Termina, so when the player is given one as a reward it comes off as being a precious memento or keepsake by the character giving them away to the player. It's a unique way of world-building that I think a few players might miss out on if they don't give a few side quests their due time. Furthermore, aside from the races and a number of returning character models, there's almost no link to Hyrule in the entirety of Majora's Mask. The Triforce is never mentioned and both Hyrule and Zelda are only seen briefly; I'd have personally preferred to see Link-centric sequels and spinoffs be emblazoned with the title The Adventure of Link (so far example, The Adventure of Link: Majora's Mask) as a callback to the first sequel in the series, but Nintendo is short on rugged, handsome critical-minded people like myself, so The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask is apparently okay for a game that features the titular character for no more than about two minutes.
Like Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask is not without its share of flaws. Unlike the prior game, these flaws come more from the actual design of the game rather than the growing pains of the medium. The only way to permanently save is to reset time; if players want to save while exploring a dungeon, they need to leave and quick-save at an Owl Statue which then kicks them out of the game. Further aggravating this problem is that these quick-saves also delete themselves after the player gets into their game. It serves its point that resetting time is an option players should consider wisely, but given that this resets bombs and arrows it can get annoying to start a game again and be forced to farm for these items.
Keeping track of side quests can be a hassle as well. Players can pick up a notebook which tracks the schedule and completion of the important characters, but learning their schedule and planning ahead can be a bit annoying. Having a woman tell you to meet her in her hotel at a certain time only to discover that hotel closes hours before that is one such example, and it persists through multiple side quests. I don't want to have to reset the clock every time I screw up a quest, but because it feels intentional I guess this complaint can be chalked up as subjective. Anji might just be a forgetful idiot, and if that's the intention I guess I just overlooked it.
The 3DS version mitigates both of these problems by allowing players to warp to specific hours and there's also a new item to keep track of many of the game's side quests, but as I pointed out in my mini-review, this version comes with its own set of issues. The hit to atmosphere is retained from Ocarina of Time 3D, and many of the bosses have somewhat different patterns for no discernible reason. Like Ocarina of Time 3D, players need to seriously consider if the game's tradeoffs are worth it. Considering how heavily the game's atmosphere adds to the overall feeling of Termina, it's a much more difficult consideration than Ocarina of Time 3D.
Verdict
While not as influential as Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask is a worthy sequel and flips many of the series conventions on their heads. This is the point in time when Zelda had fully come into its own as a series and experimentation was beginning to creep into all of Nintendo's titles. Thanks to the perfection of the formula in Ocarina of Time the developers managed to create a unique title which stands apart from its predecessor. I would recommend players tackle Ocarina of Time first to truly appreciate Majora's Mask, but the vibrant, detailed world and charming characters make this a great addition to the series. Just please avoid the Gamecube Collector's Edition of Majora's Mask. Nobody deserves that headache.
Zelda 3D remaster mini-reviews:
http://subjective-objective.blogspot.com/2016/03/mini-review-zelda-remasters.html
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