Topic: Majora's Mask: Never Played. Should I?

I love Zelda. There isn't another franchise that gets me as excited and Zelda U is my most anticipated title. However, we have a long wait in front of us for that and Majora's Mask is the only Zelda game I haven't played (outside of the reviled CDi games).

I've always stayed away because it was such a polarizing game it seemed and I've never been a huge fan of time limits in games in addition to being told it really isn't a Zelda game at all.

With the new remake and having to wait forever for more Zelda should I take the plunge? What is good/bad about the game and regardless will I enjoy it because of love of Zelda? Both opinion would be welcome.

You will enjoy it because of its story, not necessarily because it's Zelda.

And don't let the time limit keep you from this game. Yes, it does add some pressure, but you do have plenty of time.

Whoever told you that it's not really a Zelda game was misleading at best, lying at worst. It does go against conventions, but it still very much looks and plays like a Zelda game.

The biggest thing to be aware of is the time mechanic. Whatever task you undertake, you have 3 days of game time to complete it before you reset the time. You keep your progress on completed quests when you reset.

The game is also mostly sidequests. If you just plow through the main story, it's a very short game, only 4 dungeons. But there's a huge amount of quests that involve learning more about the town and villagers. There's a huge amount of story in the game. It just doesn't force you to play through it.

Maybe?

People getting scared off by a franchise not being held down by its conventions is why developers are so scared to try new things. I didnt like Ocarina of Time, but I'll be getting Majora's Mask to try it out.

By all means, yes. If you're even slightly interested in Zelda games, you should try Majora's Mask, just for the impressively creepy atmosphere. Also, try to avoid any sort of reviews or opinions on the game, they're often misleading - get your own unaltered impressions for best results.

Thanks for the response guys I really appreciate it. I've read about the game a lot, but could someone give me an example of a quest? Like I know about giving some toilet paper to a hand or something of that nature. So say you are part way through that and rewind time you won't have to do it all over?

Also I know people move around a lot is it difficult remembering where to find them or do you have something that keeps track of where people are certain portions of the day if you've already witnessed them or got a quest from them at that time?

Thanks for the answers I appreciate it. I also don't have issues with developers changing things, I love how items were changed in Link Between Worlds, just many things I've read said it changed it so much it simply wasn't Zelda.

While you can repeat any quest as many times as you want, once completed they stay completed in your "quest log". No matter how many times you go back in time.

You get to keep all your masks and weapons too, only consumables get reset to 0.

The bombers notebook is there to remind you when and where will happen the next event in a side quest.

If you are in the middle of a side quest, your progress will reset when you go back. Some people have mutliple side quests, and some side quests affect other side quests in the same time cycle.

Yes, definitely! (I'm not just saying that because it's my favourite game of all time...).

It's definitely a lot different to other Zelda games, but not in a bad way. The side quests can be replayed at any time if you rewind time, but they stay completed in the game. Some sidequests will have different outcomes, so you need to rewind time and do something different in some quests to get everything. As well as this, you get to see the outcomes of different events, so if you don't manage to reunite a couple, their story plays out differently. This can also help to make the story a bit more emotional.

Thanks all, your feedback has been invaluable. Looks like I'll be picking it up on launch. Too bad I missed preordering the special edition because I was at work when it went on sale!

If you love Zelda: totally !

If someone asks me about this game, what I like to say is this: Imagine that movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray mixed in with some good ol' Zelda adventuring and you get Majora's Mask.

Just like Bill Murray gets to relive the same day over and over in that film, Link gets three days to revisit as many times as possible. You can travel back to the first day before time runs out and the moon falls on your head.

Just like Bill Murray got to know everything about the people of Punxtutawney, Pennsylvania, Link gets to know the day-to-day lives of the people in Clock Town. The Bomber's Notebook keeps track of your achievements. You can use this information from the future to your advantage when travelling back in time

Much like Bill Murray did, you can try out different things each time. What person do you help this time? At the expense of whom? Whom do you screw over for the benefit of someone else? It's up to you. You can never truly save everyone, giving you a feeling of dilemma and even guilt.

As for the time limit, you can greatly slow down the passage of time with a special song. You can also go back to the first day anytime you want and save, but you lose your story progress and consumables like arrows, bombs and rupees. You keep any quest items and songs you earned, however. Also, you can usually get an item, shortcut or ocarina song that helps you to avoid having to redo certain parts of the game over and over. You just need to figure out where and how.

It's quirky and not without its frustrating elements, but due to it's intriguing story, character-focused sidequests, time-based gameplay and all-round freaky atmosphere, this game is easily the freshest take on the Zelda formula I have ever seen. While not as universally accessible as Ocarina of Time, it's still one of the very best in the series and highly recommended.

Seriously, though: I still wonder if the creators of this game ever saw that movie.

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: Yes you should.

If you like OOT go for it, Personally the only 3d Zelda I enjoyed was Wind Waker (and its 2 ds spinoffs)

I think calling it polarizing is a bit of an overstatement. It's polarizing within the context of 3D Zelda games. But that context itself already guarantees an absolutely incredible game.
Just get it, it's the most interesting Zelda game, if not necessarily the best.

Even though it is my least favorite Zelda, mainly from the hipsters slurping it, I think you should try it. My issues with it are the dungeons have the weakest designs of the 3D games, the three-day system can be really limiting at times, and the time traveling is probably the least scientific time traveling mechanic in any game ever. Other than those complaints, I find it to be a fine game with the tone and the sidequests being excellent.

For me:

Good

-Great atmosphere
-Good sidequests
-Very original idea (for a Zelda game)
-Transformation masks are really cool (wearing dead faces? CRAZY)

Bad

-Dungeons (some of the worst in the series IMO...hated the Water Temple? You'll LOATHE Great Bay Temple)
-Time mechanic: I usually like time mechanics, but this one felt so tedious. Be prepared to do the same thing, a lot.
-Masks besides the transformation masks they are mostly useless
-Skullkid. I know, people love him. But I felt he was such an unnatural shoe in. Game premise: Link goes on a personal journey to find a friend. Me: Skullkid? You mean that less-than-minor character I got a piece of heart from in OoT....O...K....

Haha, I think we are in agreement. Except I forgot the hipster thing! Definitely a negative! Haha. But I agree, it's worth a try because like any polarizing game, you could be on the postive side TC.

Great Bay Temple is the best dungeon and you know it!

Oh, and to answer the OP:

Tingle says "YES!"