It’s been a long time coming. Sure, Majora’s Mask 3D was only officially announced last November, but ever since Ocarina of Time 3D was released many have clamored for this game to be given the same treatment as well.
Majora’s Mask has long stood in the shadow of Ocarina of Time, and on paper you can see why. The game reuses all of the original games’ assets, characters, sounds and was developed in under a year. These days, that’s a recipe for disaster, but in the year 2000 they did things a little bit differently. You see, despite everything that’s the same in Majora’s Mask next to Ocarina of Time, there’s a lot that’s different.
Majora’s Mask throws out the most of the typical Zelda formula, taking the emphasis away from the dungeons and items and putting it instead on the world, the people in it and how Link’s presence affects them all. The game features the same Link from Ocarina of Time and takes place directly after it. On a journey, Link encounters a forest creature, the Skull Kid, who has been possessed by the evil spirit of the titular Majora’s Mask. Skull Kid isn’t the same since we saw him in Ocarina of Time, evidently, and takes off with Epona, and in the struggle to get her back, Link finds himself trapped in a parallel world.
This world has met itself a terrible fate. The moon is falling and Link’s arrived with three days until it crashes into the surface and brings upon the and of the world. Now now, don’t panic, you don’t have just one shot at this – Link has the Ocarina of Time and can loop through the same three days over and over until he gets it right. Some items and effects persist through the travelling of time but, for the most part, if you run out of time, you’ll be doing it all over again. Feel free to explore the game, but just remember that you’ve got that clock ticking when you’re on the job.
With three days remaining, each of the days brings with it several challenges and differences. Some quests and missions are only available on certain days as the denizens of Termina all have their own special way of dealing with the ominous moon that’s (literally) hanging over their heads. Some believe the moon will be stopped and continue on their merry way, but by the third day they’re all gone, devoid of hope. Events like the Carnival of Time in Clock Town are left to play out with no one in attendance. This makes the game feel alive, a lot more alive than many RPG games and even more alive than some modern games today.
The Ocarina doesn’t just let Link jump back in time either. You can move in limited ways across the space time continuum by slowing down time to give you further minutes to complete tasks or even jump forward to specific times. In the Nintendo 64 version of the game you could only jump 6 hours in front, but now you can pick a specific time (by the hour) to jump forward to. Many will argue this breaks the challenge in the game, but we’re playing the game on a handheld now – portable play requires the timeline to be bent a little more easier so we can understand the change.
All of this may sound a little depressing, but it works perfectly. Death or the fear of death is a powerful emotion and seeing people go through the thoughts and feelings of this isn’t taken lightly. The weird and wonderful world of Termina is a twisted place – the sombre rain on the second day, the foreboding music and the shake of the world as the moon slowly gets closer gets the heart rate going, especially if you’re closing in on the middle of a quest or temple. I finished the second template with only 13 seconds remaining, and it was tense.
This is something we don’t see much from Nintendo. When their titles do feature a story, it’s usually just a mechanism to propel gameplay, nothing more. Majora’s Mask is different and the gameplay is just there – the story and the world are the most important things. The story is not only told by Termina’s inhabitants, but through the masks in the game. There are four masks that transform Link into other forms each with their own pros and cons. The Deku mask is the one you’ll start the game in and can’t remove until a certain point in the game, the Goron mask and the Zora masks both contain the spirits of members of the respective races and with them you can keep their spirits continuing. The fourth mask is something you should discover on your own.
As mentioned previously each of the masks has different abilities and will be needed in their respective dungeons. These masks can be used outside of these dungeons too and sometimes you’ll need to switch between two or three masks in order to overcome puzzles and enemies. The Deku Mask lets Link shoot bubbles, spin around and jump and glide from designated spots throughout all of Termina. The Goron Mask makes Link slow and lumbering, but allows him to roll around at high speeds. He also has a new cool punch combo in this version. The Zora Mask allows Link to move effortlessly through the water to jump and dive like a dolphin. Unfortunately they’ve changed the Zora Mask slightly so to use the speedier swimming mode you’ll have to use up magic, it’s slightly less fun but allows for tighter control within the Great Bay Temple.
There are four ‘main’ dungeons in Majora’s Mask, and they’re a lot shorter than you’d expect from typical Zelda game. This isn’t a terrible thing because you’ll probably find at least one time you’ll need to go through a dungeon again, either because you run out of time during the three day cycle or perhaps you’re going back to collect all of the fairies (and if you do have to redo a dungeon you only need to defeat the boss again). These smaller dungeons also mean puzzles are tightly designed, but in no way simpler. If you blow through the dungeons you can finish the game within a few cycles and call it a day, but the real fun comes from the side quests and exploring every last nook and cranny of Termina.
To aid you in these side quests is a new and improved Bombers’ Notebook. The notebook was present in the N64 version of the game, but it was a little more vague than it is now. The new and improved version keeps track of everyone’s schedules during the three days and updates you on tasks you need to do. However, the new notebook isn’t a walkthrough-style guide, so don’t worry about the game becoming too easy. It’s more akin to a vague quest log from a modern RPG now rather than what it was before.
Difficulty was one concern many had when they announced a remake and, aside from absolutely nerfing the first boss in the game, the challenge the game provides is still profound. There are changes and tweaks to make things easier, but they’re optional. Majora’s Mask was never meant to be like Dark Souls.
Like Ocarina of Time 3D, Majora’s Mask has been given a new lick of paint visually speaking, and had it’s controls polished. The locations around Termina have been beautifully updated with new textures that add more detail. Freshly-designed lighting still manages to provide that sense of doom and gloom, but there’s also beauty in the game if you know where to look. The soundtrack remains as ethereal as ever, but you do lose some of the impact that having the game on a big booming TV sound system would bring, especially as the third day draws to a close. But plug in some headphones and you’re immersed right back into the world.
Controls have changed too, and for the better. The use of the gyroscope for aiming, which has you moving the console around to fire arrows and look around, is a welcome addition just as it was in Ocarina of Time 3D. When pairing these improvements with a New 3DS consoe, it’s even better, as using the gyro controls would break the 3D effect whereas this happens less now with the new hardware. The touch screen once again provides you with a live inventory, map and actions. You’ll probably pause the game more often than Ocarina of Time 3D, though, as the masks will need to be switched in and out at times.
If you’re playing on a New Nintendo 3DS , then you can use the C-Stick to control the camera manually (or a Circle Pad Pro, for the one of you who bought one). While everyone was able to manage without this feature in Ocarina of Time 3D or the original Majora’s Mask, it’s amazing how much of a subtle and beneficial change it’s brought to the game. Whether it’s because we’re more used to it today is hard to say, but it’s definitely a welcome addition (but by no means a deal breaker for older models).
