This post is dedicated to Keith, who began this game just before I did, but was condemned by the powers that be to work two straight weeks of fourteen hour days, weekends included. Get well soon, Keith! And then beat Majora's Mask. So anyway, yeah. Let's talk about Majora's Mask. How do you make a fulfilling follow-up to Ocarina of Time, widely considered to be one of the greatest video games of all time? Apparently, you just try to make a darker, more mysterious, and more mature game. Because that's what Majora's Mask is. Both games feature Link trying to save the world, but in the former game it's in an epic and heroic fashion that ends up earning Link the title "Hero of Time." In this game, it's in a much more subtle and relatively anonymous manner. It's easy to see, then why Majora's Mask felt a bit flat on arrival. The bright and clear-cut story from Ocarina are nowhere to be found, replaced instead by an objective to prevent a menacing moon from crashing into the land of Termina below. You've got three days to stop this from happening, aided by an ocarina song that will "reset" the clock and transport you back to the first day. There's an immediate "thanklessness" feeling throughout your journey this time around; while there's a heavy emphasis on helping people in order to obtain new items and such, there's also a built-in "reset" mechanic that "undoes" all of your philanthropy every so often. Even by the end of the game, the various people of Termina are no more familiar with Link than they were at the beginning of the game, giving somewhat of a Groundhog Day vibe that feels the slightest bit frustrating. But enough about the story and time travel gimmick - the question is, of course, whether or not Majora's Mask held up to Ocarina of Time. Gameplay-wise, they're almost exactly the same. Bombs, archery, fairies in bottles, ocarina tunes. You know the drill. But Majora's Mask only contained four temples and fewer weapons and items as well. No slingshot, no boomerang, no tunic upgrades, and no Zelda-given magic spells. What you have instead are masks that transform you into different creatures (a Deku scrub, a Goron, a Zora) with different abilities. It wasn't an unwelcome gimmick, but at the end of the day I still prefer the more traditional approach that gives Link more capabilities himself as opposed to transforming him into other creatures for different combat and exploration purposes. Ultimately I think that Ocarina is and always has been at least a little bit overrated and over-praised. And I think Majora's Mask has certainly been underrated and under-praised. (I mean in general; as with anything else in the age of the Internet, Majora's Mask has indeed attracted a cult following who call it the greatest Zelda game of all.) But I still think Ocarina was a superior game to Majora's Mask in a number of ways. That doesn't mean I disliked Majora's Mask or found it to be tedious and dull. I've actually been curious enough about the vague story and darker tone to read into a number of fan theories, and several have been very interesting. "Link's dead, and his time in Termina helps him accept that." "Termina was always doomed regardless of Link's actions." "It all boils down to friendship." "It was all a dream." Most hold up pretty well under my limited scrutiny, and I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't be interested in hearing more theories on Majora's Mask for years to come. But for now, it's time to move on to the next step in reducing my backlog.
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