Game Spotlight: The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask

I’m not going to bother trying to hide any spoilers for this Game Spotlight for a couple of reasons… the first is that Majora’s Mask is a pretty old game now and if you haven’t played and loved it by now then you’re probably never going to. The second reason is because I’m going to be gushing about some of the awesome moments of this game. So anyway, here goes… I think this one’s going to be another long entry too…

The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask is one of my most loved games of all time and also one of my absolute favourites. It’s a game that dares to be different, especially when Ocarina of Time was just a reworked version of A Link to the Past. Of course, like many other games, Majora’s Mask has a niche following… a lot of people tend to ignore it for whatever reason… which is a shame.

“I… I shall consume. Consume…Consume everything…”
— The Moon

But don’t worry, I’ll be spilling just about everything in this blog entry, so if you’re awesome enough to read it all, it’s probably going to feel like you’ve played the game yourself… or hopefully makes you want to play it yourself.

For those of you who haven’t really seen Majora’s Mask, I guess the best thing to do would be to show you what kind of feeling this game evokes… and I think I know just how to do that. The title sequence for Majora’s Mask is a very good measure of just what this game is about… and it’ll make those who have played this game go on a nostalgia high…

Even after all these years I still think this game looks and sounds awesome, and think what you like, I’m not being blinded by nostalgia goggles. This is a very well made game and has a certain style to it that appeals to me greatly.

“You’ve met with a terrible fate, haven’t you?”
— Happy Mask Salesman

The story takes place after young Link is restored to his native time period at the end of Ocarina of Time. Princess Zelda and Link say their goodbyes as Link journeys deep into the Lost Woods in search of a dear friend… of course everyone who has played these two games knows exactly who that dear friend is.

During his search, Link encounters a Skull Kid wearing Majora’s Mask who ends up stealing the Ocarina of Time from Link as well as his horse, Epona. Link chases down Skull Kid and unwittingly finds himself being transported to another reality… one where all of the people who Link knew from Hyrule are living very different lives in a world not like the one he came from called Termina. To add to that, Link’s confrontation with the Skull Kid ends up with him being transformed into a Deku Scrub.

Lost in another reality, without the treasured gift that Princess Zelda gave him and without the company of his beloved horse… not to mention the fact that he’s stuck in a strange new body, Link discovers from the mysterious Happy Mask Salesman that the Skull Kid is in possession of a mask of great evil. Oh and just to top things off, the moon is going to crash in 3 days and kill everyone in Termina including Link.

That pretty much sums up what kind of a mess Link has got himself into just by minding his own business… just three short days to get back his Ocarina and his horse and to change back into his normal self and get the hell out of there before the moon destroys everything… of course it’s not as easy as that. Link will find that he’s going to have to get a lot more involved with the people of Termina… and in doing so he’ll end up with the need to save those people from what looks to be an inevitable doom.

“Believe in your strengths, believe.”
— Happy Mask Salesman

Majora’s Mask may use an updated version of the Ocarina of Time engine and also possess practically all of the same character models and textures, but whatever familiar elements it had were included along with a tonne of new gameplay features such as masks, some of which transform link into other forms.

Though… one of the more disturbing things that was first introduced in Majora’s Mask was Tingle… the first time I encountered Tingle my eyes became wide and I just stared at the TV screen thinking “what the hell is he?”… he’s either a fairy like he says… or he’s a very disturbed ugly middle-aged man in green tights… or maybe both.

“Tingle, Tingle! Kooloo-Limpah! …These are the words that Tingle created himself. Don’t steal them!”
— Tingle

With his trusty Ocarina of Time, Link retains the ability to manipulate time, though this time around he does so based on a three day cycle and as you’ve probably noticed by now in some of the screenshots in this entry, there is a dial at the bottom of the screen that measures exactly how much time has passed. With each passing day the moon gets closer and closer until the end of the third day when all life in Termina will be extinguished.

To combat the lack of time, Link just makes his own with the help of his Ocarina… he can slow time down time so the days are twice as long or he can skip forward in 12 hour increments… and at any time during the game he can also reset time and go back to the *DUN, DUN* “Dawn of The First Day -72 Hours Remain-“…

Link’s combat abilities come straight out of Ocarina of Time, however he now has the ability to use various masks that allow him to do different things… some even allow him to transform into other forms which opens up a variety of new gameplay possibilities.

“Hee, hee! Now, that’s a good look for you! You’ll stay here looking that way forever!”
— Skull Kid

Deku Link can skip on water for a limited time, is very light and can float in the wind and also has the ability to fire bubble shots. Goron Link is big, heavy and tough and can punch through large boulders and roll around with great speed, Zora Link knows Kung Fu and he’ll show you…. he’s also excellent to take underwater as he just glides through the sea at great speed and stuns his enemies with an electrical field.

Each version of Link has its strengths and weaknesses and come in handy not just in dungeons, but also around the rest of Termina. There’s a lot of exploring to do in the game and you’re not going to get anywhere unless you master all of Link’s transformations.

Of course, Link can also use another mask to transform into a giant and then there’s the very last mask… the mask you get only if you manage to get all of the other masks in the game. The Fierce Deity Mask transforms Link into a great warrior said to be a god… in this form Link is in an adult form that stands 8 feet tall, but he can only be used in boss battles.

A lot of the other masks are really fun to use. For example, the Postman’s Hat allows you to look into mailboxes, the Gibdo Mask allows you to walk amongst Gibdo’s and Redead without them trying to rape you… but to add to that, it also allows you to communicate with them, oh and my favourite mask, the Bunny Hood allows you to run really fast and jump higher than you would normally.

“Your true face… What kind of…face is it? I wonder… The face under the mask… Is that…your true face?”
— Moon Child

I always have the Bunny Hood equipped when I’m playing as normal Link since it makes it a lot easier to get around (and makes Link look very cute)… though whenever I’m in Termina Field I’ll always put on the Goron Mask because Goron Link’s rolling move is super fast… it kind of spoils the need for Epona once you get that mask though.

I’m still amazed even to this day at how well this game was put together and how much thought went into every action that every character in the game makes and how it’ll effect the timeline. Sure, you travelled through time in Ocarina of Time, but with the three day cycle in Majora’s Mask, they took the whole concept of time travel to another level. The game ran on its own schedule with every character having to be somewhere at a specific time and day. Clocktown and Termina in general felt alive because people actually went about their business instead of just walking around randomly trying to make the illusion that they had some place to be.

There were many times when I would just spend a cycle with one of my favourite characters from the game just hanging out and observing them as they went about their day to day activities. Of course, it’s not like I was watching them do boring things… while the moon was looming overhead, the people of Clocktown had their own, more personal troubles to deal with. Many of the characters even had intertwining stories and events so it was very important to learn as much as you could about every single character in Termina to be able to get all of the items and masks.

Many people expect some kind of epicly grand adventure from Zelda games these days, but Majora’s Mask took things to such a wonderfully personal level. You were encouraged to learn as much as you could about all of the characters in the game and you had the chance to help them all and get involved with their lives in a way that no other game as really done before. It wasn’t just about a cast of featured characters and then the no-name people who don’t really matter. This game spent a lot more time on the background background characters and brought them to the forefront no matter how small their part may have been… it was the first time in a video game where I found myself really caring for a lot of these characters as I helped them with their troubles.

“You feel all warm and fuzzy! inside! Sigh… You could get used to this!”
— Narrator

I remember on my very first run through of the game I decided to hold off on the final battle with Majora’s Mask until after I had collected 100% of the items and explored every part of Termina. On the very last cycle I spent my time hanging out at Romani Ranch… at first I did it just because if you take part in the events around Romani Ranch, on the very last day you’re able to drink some Chateau Romani milk at the Milk Bar so you can get an infinite magic boost (until you reset time again)… and then after helping Cremia defend her milk shipment to Clocktown, she hugged Link as thanks (It’s actually a random occurrence that happens in the game).

I decided to spend some more time at Romani Ranch because of that little moment and witnessed a heartbreaking scene between the two sisters who lived there. It’s the kind of scene I had witnessed on many occasions playing through the game with many other characters. People accepting that they would die and that there was nothing they could do about it… they all spent their final moments differently, some spent time with their loved ones, some cowered in a corner, others simply stared up at the moon as it drew ever closer.

This time it was different… I’d seen enough of people giving up… and I had to do something about it! During the final minutes of the final day, I was pretty much like “MAJORA! I’M COMING FOR YOU!!” and ran to the clock tower to face him once and for all.

When I finally got to the final boss fight, I had earned the Fierce Deity mask which pretty much makes you practically invincible against all of the bosses… but it was still one hell of a satisfying ending for me in any video game I’ve ever played simply because of how much I invested in helping each and every character in the game before finally saving them from their doom. There are more scenes during the credits as well as an epilogue afterward where you’re treated to a new day in Termina… all is well and everyone is alive… mostly. There were some people who Link wasn’t able to save, but he was still able to help them in some way…

I think that’s why a lot of people see this as one of the darkest Zelda games made… not because people actually died, it was because people died with such hopelessness in their hearts… and you bore witness to it all instead of just hearing about it or seeing it from afar. I mean, as far as villains go in Zelda games, Majora’s Mask is definitely my favourite.

Ganondorf is too much of a classic “serve me, your absolute ruler or feel my wrath” kind of lawful evil, while Majora’s Mask was the “I don’t give a fuck I’ll kill whatever the fuck I want and rape whoever I want or kill and then rape whoever I want” kind of chaotic evil. He just did everything for the hell of it and when he got bored he decided to pull the moon down from orbit to kill everyone and everything, including itself.

Aw man, I could talk more and more about Majora’s Mask but I think I’ll end it here for now… I have to go and catch up on a bunch of games I haven’t played yet and really need to finish… However, while writing this I discovered a bunch of posts from the archives of my old forum where I talked about Majora’s Mask in great detail… I’ll post them up if anyone bothers to post in this entry… not really sure how many of you in here are interested in such an old and very overlooked game.

“Whenever there is a meeting, a parting is sure to follow. However, that parting need not last forever… Whether a parting be forever or merely for a short time… That is up to you. With that, please excuse me…”
— Happy Mask Salesman