The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

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Insanity Prevails' The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask Review

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Insanity Prevails' Review
May 28, 2012

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The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

So you've just created what critics and gamers alike refer to as the best fantasy adventure game of the generation. People are eager to sample more of the boy's adventures and thus seek a sequel. What do you do? If you said "create a game in the exact same style but with a few new enemies and locations" then you just surprised the hell out of Nintendo, who decided to take their sequel down a different path. To be fair, Majora's Mask reuses a lot of systems and resources from Ocarina of Time, but the changes that are made are so significant that they completely change the dynamic of the game.

So let's start with the story, which picks up shortly after the events of Ocarina of Time, back to when Link was a child. Circumstances lead him into the Lost Woods as he searches for his former companion Navi, but along the way a mysterious thief appears who decides it would be fun to steal Link's horse Epona and the ocarina before running away. When Link gives chase he ends up cursed, which is the least of his worries when he finds out the world he's stumbled into is about to get slammed by a very large and very angry moon in 3 days time.

One notable thing about this plot is the significantly darker tone adopted throughout. Ocarina of Time had its dark moments like in the Shadow Temple. Well, Majora's Mask takes the atmosphere of that temple and spreads it out across the whole game. The problems caused by the antagonist are much more visible here as lives are destroyed and the people of the land fight against depression and insanity. It can even get pretty emotional in places and really gets the player involved in wanting to solve the crisis Termina faces.

Graphically the game is reusing a lot of stuff from OOT so a lot of what applies there also works here. On the down side, this means that there is still a little blockiness to the overall appearance. On the other hand, it affords the game some otherwise impressive looking areas. Termina Field is expansive as it stretches off in every direction. Clock Town is a bustling centre of activity during the day, really giving a sense of being the focal point of the kingdom. You also have things like the murky swamp and the snowswept mountain. There's plenty to take in.

Characters likewise showcase some impressive designs that fit well with the kind of magical fantasy setting it takes place in. NPCs who are scattered around the place with new roles but familiar appearances make things look great. The enemy cast is also great, mixing old OOT models with a host of new monster creations like the crazy wizzrobes or the new towering bosses with their own specific themes.

MM does make a few moves to improve on OOT. For one, the game manages to handle a hell of a lot more onscreen. Just wandering through Clock Town can showcase this, with plenty onscreen that you never saw in the previous game. There's a few neat tweaks here and there too, like Link happily somersaulting for some jumps just because he can. Generally it's nothing that would make your jaw drop anymore than it would anyway, but it's nice to see these things too.

The music score is amazing, as one would expect from a Zelda game. If anything, I daresay it improves from before, especially with the introduction of a fresh rendition of the classic Zelda theme that was sadly missing from the Hyrulian adventure. In addition to that are several new ocarina songs, several new background themes and a few clever remixes that all contribute to a soundtrack that makes itself known and compliments the events that are happening. In terms of sound effects everything works fine as usual, as Link yells out as he dashes about and you can things like bomb explosions or the thwip of arrows sailing through the air.

The start of this game takes place in a secluded area of the Lost Woods. It serves as a kind of training area where you can mess around with the basic controls like swinging a sword, raising the shield and getting used again to the way Link automatically leaps across gaps. You'll soon leave this area behind and reach Termina properly, where you'll be spending most of your time. Like Hyrule, this region provides a pretty expansive area to explore. You have a variety of locations to reach and explore and Termina is also teeming with secrets to uncover even moreso than Ocarina of Time. So uncovering underground chambers with explosives or finding a series of chambers hidden out of the way is the kind of thing you can expect the game to reward your curiosity with. Even better, Termina's "overworld hub" - Termina Field - is generally laid out better than Hyrule Field, mainly because it's not quite as large and everything is arranged to make better use of the space. Don't get me wrong, as it still isn't attention grabbing in the same way other places are, but it's a definite improvement.

Time behaves in a slightly different way in Termina and this is where one of the huge changes comes in that alters everything. The game still has a day and night system where time passes and different events occur. However, the system is a lot more intricate than that. Events are now a lot more time sensitive more often, where things happen in time slots rather than just whether its day or night. Further to this, NPCs have more of a schedule each day, lending a better sense of life than before. Events can also be influenced based on what day it is. On the first day the Clock Town is busy with activity, but by evening of the third day many townsfolk have fled.

To be able to accommodate such a complex system the game has a day limit of three days, due to an impending disaster ready to wipe out all life on the fourth day. Since only allowing three game days total would amount to a very short game MM uses a system that lets you reset events back to the first day. Link will retain important items and certain checkpoints will remain open (such as owl statues that act as warp points) but you will lose all consumable items in Link's possession (such as rupees and arrows) and almost all events in the world will be like they were before Link interacted with any of them.

This system means there is more pressure on the player as time ticks by, hoping to complete their current tasks before having to jump back in time. Due to this, it can feel a bit harder to wander off and explore the far reaches of the land as you always have to be mindful of that timer. On the other hand, it adds an element of challenge as you work to find a way to avert the incoming disaster and allows for NPC activities to be far more indepth. In any case, it's something that takes a lot of getting used to and those more familiar with Link's other outings may be thrown off by the style initially. Stick with it though and you discover a world much more alive than any Link has been in before.

So our child hero Link has some familiar abilities available to him. The classic sword and shield make a return and will likely form the core of your combat options. Different combinations of the B button combined with the analogue stick will produce different strikes that amount to a decent and simple combo system. The lock-on system is as useful as ever, allowing you to keep a selected enemy in your sights and easily switch between targets. As well as your sword you have access to a wealth of items that can be assigned to the C buttons for ease of use. Here you'll get access to the likes of the bow, bombs and hookshot that can find their uses in fighting off enemies as well, giving Link quite a choice in terms of close and long range fighting.

There are a lot of generic mooks to fight, both in terms of returning enemies and new monsters. Some of them bring in some very interesting tricks like the wizzrobe creating illusionary copies of itself when it attacks. Bosses also continue the trend of interesting challenges, such as the first boss being in the form of a giant tribal warrior complete with its own sword and shield. Needless to say, the game delivers well on its action front.

Puzzles and exploration fill the other side of the coin. This game takes the idea of overcoming overworld challenges to reach the dungeons and runs with it, often putting large obstacles in the way and requiring some really clever gameplay to progress. Even in dungeons this element keeps up well, tasking you with working out how to open doors and make treasure chests appear. These kinds of things can involve lighting torches, creating platforms or lowering a column to alter access to different rooms. Generally the setup and layout is done extremely well. Mixing in the use of various C button items helps tremendously.

Another massive change that ties into that comes in the form of masks, and three of those inparticular. At the beginning of the game, Link is cursed and turned into a Deku Scrub, which completely changes the play style. After lifting the curse, you get a mask that lets you change back into that scrub. As you progress, you obtain goron and zora masks that let you transform into members of those races as well. It's a perfect progression from the child/adult Link system from before, where Link will gain access to a total of four forms in this game. Each form has different abilities, like human Link has his sword and can use most items while Zora Link can swim swiftly through water and activate a magic shield. Switching forms is as simple as pressing a C button the mask is assigned to. Of course, the reason this system works so well is how the game is cleverly built around it. You'll often come across challenges that call upon the specific abilities of one of your forms. Some will take a bit of thinking to figure out but never to the point of frustration and you'll love working them out.

In addition to these three main transformation masks there are a variety of other masks that all have their own special traits, such as the Bunny Hood boosting your movement speed or the Kafai mask used to learn information about said person. A lot fo these are highly situational and only have any real effect in a select few scenarios but some are more expansive in their use and offer an extended facet to the usual item selection in the series.

In terms of difficulty Majora's Mask fares a lot better than in Link's first 3D outing. There are times where you genuinely feel like you're in danger of dying and some of the challenges posed to you can be tricky to overcome. The time system helps in part with this as you're constantly racing against the clock as you hope to open up a checkpoint before having to reset time. That said, this game is even more generous with its rupees since you can bank them before jumping back in time, which makes purchasing anything a trivial matter.

Sidequest content feels a lot higher this time around. The Bomber's Notebook relates heavily to this, as when you receive it the notebook tracks a number of the more important sidequests you can take on, showing that events will happen at certain timeslots and making it fun to go through them. These aren't the only ones by any means though, as many other sidequests and minigames are scattered around Termina. You can undertake a race challenge as part of a quest to upgrade your sword or opt for a game of lobbing bombs into baskets. Termina itself is also filled with secrets, like caves hidden below ground hiding pieces of heart or other such delights. Chances are you'll spend some 3 day cycles just wandering around Termina finding out what you can discover and it is quite a rewarding feeling when something turns up.

That said, while the game certainly isn't lacking in optional material to invest time in, the main storyline content does feel a lot shorter than it should be. Four main "dungeons" and a final dungeon area (most of which is optional in itself) isn't really a whole lot so you may find the final boss battle happening a lot sooner than expected.

However, that's really my only major complaint. Majora's Mask feels like the perfect followup to Ocarina of Time. It retains various things that made the game work, but uses enough new content to make it feel like an entirely fresh experience. The time system may be tricky for some at first, but stick with it and you'll find an adventure well worth your time in here.

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