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Topic: Why so much hype/praise for Majora's Mask?

Posts 1 to 16 of 16

Wilford111

Before you read this I just want you to know that I don't dislike Majora's Mask. In fact I havn't even played it enough to form a legitimate opinion of it. From what I've seen, it looks like a good game. I also know that this is perhaps a month or two too late, but eh. This just crossed my mind.
Based on what I've experienced, from when the game first came out, the game was received with luke-warm opinions of it at best. People played it, but not very many people could get on board with the 3-day cycle system. It went on to be a different, but not necessarily better, Zelda game in the franchise. Time went on, and it only seems like around the Ocarina of Time 3D release that people started to talk about Majora's Mask in a more positive light than it's seemingly ever had. This perhaps caused the 3D remaster that got released last month, and now the game is being praised for being one of the greatest games in the series.
So my question is, what changed? Was the game simply ahead of its time? Or did the praise for it from the few fans it had spread to other people who eventually started praising it as well? I'd love to know.

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Geonjaha

Eh, still not as bad as Ocarina of Time. I imagine its just because people are excited to play any Zelda game that they haven't tried before, and it was one of the few N64 games that people might actually remember from the system.

Edited on by Geonjaha

Geonjaha

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Eel

Not sure about other people here, but I always loved the game since I played it on my N64.

I guess maybe people are talking about it now because it's new again?

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Dezzy

I think you've pretty much just made up that people didn't used to like it. Which would answer the rest of the question!

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Wilford111

Dezzy wrote:

I think you've pretty much just made up that people didn't used to like it. Which would answer the rest of the question!

Well like I said, this is from personal experience. From what I've gathered there were more people who couldn't get used to the radically different system in MM than those who could, and so had lukewarm opinions of it.

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FX29

I actually hated Majora's Mask when I first played it on the N64, but playing the remake has completely changed my mind. It really is an amazing game.

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Pkmns

It's one of the few games (at the time they were even fewer) that actually delivers a message to the player. It left me thinking about what a character says more than a couple times.

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OorWullie

"when the game first came out, the game was received with luke-warm opinions of it at best"

The game was universally praised across the board at release,it holds a 95 on Metacritic with only Gamespot and another I've never heard of giving it a score below a 9 and the user score is at 9.2 with 168 positive,10 mixed and 10 trollish negatives.It is regarded by many as one of the greatest and riskiest games Nintendo's ever made but also one that millions of Zelda fans never got to play,hence the demand for the remake.Over the years since I've read mostly nothing but praise for it so I'm not sure where you are getting any of your "personal experience" from? There will be a few who genuinely didn't enjoy it as always but I'd imagine they're in the absolute minority.Of all the remakes that get made nowadays there were very few if any more deserving than this masterpiece!

Edited on by OorWullie

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clvr

I don't know how the reception was in 2000 since I was 5 (but that didn't stop me from loving it ), but I wouldn't be surprised if it actually were more acclaimed now than when it was released. The reason is simple: as far as I can recall, Wind Waker was heavily criticized when it first released, but ten (or so) years later its reception changed drastically; the art style received a lot of hate back then, while now it's regarded as fabolous. My thought is that games like MM and WW, games that are the opposite of safe sequels and are brave enough to introduce major changes to a well-known formula or, in a broader sense, brand new ideas never seen before in any other context, tend to be understood and accepted years after its release. Not only because of the dust settling, but also because as time passes people understand what made the game so ahead of its time.

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Kaze_Memaryu

Critically speaking, Majora's Mask was only a few steps behind Ocarina of Time, and is often just as much of a cult classic for a large number of Zelda fans.
As for reception, I don't really know how that went. I hated the game, meaning I didn't pay any attention to how other people saw it, and I didn't know too many people with an N64 to begin with, so whenever I wanted to play a game of that one, I had to go to a store nearby and go for the display unit.
That said, I could imagine the darker and crazier general style being too creepy for some OoT fans, but I wouldn't be surprised if the opposite was the case.

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GrizzlyArctos

I absolutely loved both Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask back when they were released on N64. I was still a kid back then so I enjoyed the games more for the gameplay rather than anything else. One of the reasons that I preferred Majora's Mask back then were some of the features Ocarina of Time didn't have (like replayable bosses and rolling around as a Goron. ESPECIALLY rolling around as a Goron.) The gameplay still holds up well today, with both remakes being among my favourite 3DS games. Though I admit the whole three day system probably doesn't sit well with everyone, I've never found it to be a problem.

The main thing that appeals to me about Majora's Mask now though is the story and the atmosphere of the game. It's really dark, yet at the same time really emotional. The focus on sidequests helps you really get attached to the characters. Enough of the story is left vague to allow interpretation and a lingering sense of doom throughout the whole game really pushes the game on. Seeing how different characters react on the final night before the moon falls really hit me harder than most other things. Definitely my favourite game.

Edited on by GrizzlyArctos

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Wilford111

Seems strange... A lot of people I knew in person didn't seem to like the game, and I guess the fact that it didn't sell very well compared to Ocarina of Time made me think people just didn't like it.

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CM30

The critical reception was just about identical for the Nintendo 64. I remember Nintendo Official Magazine giving it a 96% for example, just one point lower than they did Ocarina of Time.

Sales wise... well, it's always been an odd game. An acquired taste if you will. Whereas Ocarina of Time was always super mainstream and had massive popular appeal, Majora's Mask was more of a cult classic with a dedicated following. That said, it did at least decently well sales wise, so a lot of people probably enjoyed it even back then.

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Dezzy

Wilford111 wrote:

Well like I said, this is from personal experience. From what I've gathered there were more people who couldn't get used to the radically different system in MM than those who could, and so had lukewarm opinions of it.

Metacritic doesn't seem to reflect that. In either the critic or user scores.

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LzWinky

My opinion never changed. I loved the game since I first played it years ago.

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Jordie

Atmosphere and masks. Definitely. There was nothing more enjoyable than rolling around as a Goron or swimming as a Zora back in the day. Some minor improvements over OoT as well, especially that almost every NPC kind of felt more alive what with having to deal with the end of their world and all.

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