BooJaka

Is Majora's Mask actually as good as Ocarina?

Recommended Posts

Today I finally completed Ocarina of Time. I used my very last bit of magic to deliver the final blow and then sat there, somewhat satisfied, watching the end credits roll up for about 15 minutes.

The natural progression is, of course, finding and buying Majora's Mask but I've heard some very mixed reviews about it. Some saying it's better which makes me want to go out and get it straight away, and some say it just isn't very good which make me wary. So what should I do? What are your opinions of it?

Also I'm thrown into doubt by the fact that I'm going away in April so I wouldn't be getting it until about May at which point I intend to buy a Wii, but I don't suppose anyone knows if or when it was appear on the VC, right?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I just finished Ocarina of Time for the first time this week too, and a couple days ago I started playing Majora's Mask for the first time. It's brilliant. I'm not very far into it yet, but so far I'm loving it much more than Ocarina. You should most definitely get it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

That's pretty cool. I think overall I enjoyed the game, just my enthusiasm kind of ran out of steam towards the very end

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Majora's Mask is amazing. Unlike most Zeldas though it's pretty intimidating from the start, and the time system requires getting used to. Once you're into though it's awesome.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
That's pretty cool. I think overall I enjoyed the game, just my enthusiasm kind of ran out of steam towards the very end

Yeah, I agree with that. The second half of the game was pretty much just repetitive dungeon hopping. That's why you should play Majora. There is so much more character interaction. You even get a quest log like notebook to keep track of all the things you have to do.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Today I finally completed Ocarina of Time. I used my very last bit of magic to deliver the final blow and then sat there, somewhat satisfied, watching the end credits roll up for about 15 minutes.

The natural progression is, of course, finding and buying Majora's Mask but I've heard some very mixed reviews about it. Some saying it's better which makes me want to go out and get it straight away, and some say it just isn't very good which make me wary. So what should I do? What are your opinions of it?

Also I'm thrown into doubt by the fact that I'm going away in April so I wouldn't be getting it until about May at which point I intend to buy a Wii, but I don't suppose anyone knows if or when it was appear on the VC, right?

Hardcore Zelda fans tend not to like it, because it differs significantly in style and tone from most of the other console Zelda titles. But I, and many others, like it for this very reason. It was the first Zelda directed by Aonuma he's clearly experimenting with the formula. Although it uses essentially the Ocarina engine, it has a completely different feel and art design. In fact, when most people watch or play the first twenty minutes, they go "WTF? Is this Zelda on LSD?"

But, frankly, the game is awesome, and almost assuredly the most creative Zelda game, ever. So I say, go for it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

It was good. Not my favorite, but neither is Ocarina, so make of that what you will. If you enjoyed Ocarina, I'd recommend it, although I found that the four dungeons of MM seemed to drag on more than the nine of OoT. Still, a good game, and as I seem to be in the minority on my "meh-ish" feelings about the game, don't let me stop you from enjoying it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Majora is a strange, wonderful and frustrating experience. From one point, especially in the first few hours when you're just exploring Clockwork town, it is absolutely wonderful. My god, I wish they would have just made a game based around character interaction. But from another point it also feels more disjointed than Ocarina, like it's a remix but like, weird. The atmosphere is absolutely delicious though, with that ominous threat constantly looming over you. At times genuinely scary.

But -I've said it before- it has some punishing moments that I just couldn't get through. Some of the bosses are exceedingly difficult and they destroyed the game for me; I was eventually bested and I never touched it since. That was very painful, as it's an extremely creative, loveable and scary game. If only they could have made it just a smidgeon easier and taken the edge off the frustration. But alas!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Believe it or not, the Englishified version was actually made easier than the Jap one - in the Jap one, you could only save your game by travelling back to the first day.

I really liked this game because it was completely different from the previous Zelda games. Link to the Past, Link's Awakening and Ocarina all have the same style: Collect x special objects to unlock final dungeon x. There will be about eight dungeons to beat.

It was nice to see a Zelda game break from that structure so completely. Sure, it was tough to get the hang of everything at first, but it really was refreshing to see something as different and ominous as Majora. I know that I stood in Clock Town, watching the world end. Because I could. That's a pretty awesome thing to be able to do.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The first impression was awesome, but after playing it for an entire day, trying to reach the first save point again and again and again and again...

I threw the controller and gave up. A game should not be this frustrating.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Is that the tiny first quest where you have to do some stuff in Clock Town? That shouldn't be frustrating, indeed! I don't recall having that many problems with it, actually. Which begs the question: what are you doing wrong?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

It's been many years since I attempted it, but if I recall correctly... every time I reached the end of the third day (even with time to spare), I was just sitting there wondering "what now?" until finally the time ran out and I had to start all over again.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Ah, so it was long ago. If I recall, you have to speak to the mask salesman and then find the entrance to the watchtower via a secret route hidden by kids walking around town. The hints given are pretty obvious if you talk to them.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I may have been skipping dialogues because I was running under the time limit. (again, I don't remember) I'm sure I would've picked up on the clues and reach the save point if I was persistent enough, but given that games usually get more difficult as you progress further, I concluded that I may die of stress if I kept on playing.

Seriously, what other game makes you replay like 2 hours if you miss a savepoint? With time limit? maybe I'll give it another chance with an emulator.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The time limit isn't really the problem (you get a song that slows it down to about half, which is all you'll need for the dungeons and whatnot). But the general difficulty is... ;(

It's worth it to replay it and at least get past the first stages to see what the wonderful world has to offer.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

You're all saying about Save Points and I don't really understand. In Ocarina you could save anywhere, couldn't you? Why is that not the case in this one?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

You're on a constant time limit, where the world will be destroyed in three days time. You can save at owl statues, which requires that you quit the game after saving and delete this save when you resume. You can also save permanently by returning to the beginning of the three days, which resets pretty much everything except for your items (although your rupees go to zero, but you can store them for later in an anachronistic bank).

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Because this one has a unique 3-day structure. The game takes place over the same three days, and you save every time you go back in time and start it over by playing the Song of Time. But when you do that you lose all your replenishable items and progress (at least the time-sensitive stuff). There are also owl statues located in important places that allow you to save exactly where you were (for if you have to turn the game off in the middle of a dungeon, for example), but these are temporary saves that disappear once you reload them.

Like I said, the game's pretty daunting and strange at first. I got it when it came out and honestly got nowhere and threw it down almost immediately. But I came back to it several months later and forced myself to play a decent bit of it before giving up again. You do get used to it.

EDIT: Or what Noyb said.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Sounds pretty frustrating but it also sounds like one of those things that sounds worse on paper so it's not discouraging me...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Ok so I finally got the Zelda Collector's Edition for GC to play on my Wii and immediately started on Majora's Mask. Although I'm not really that far into it (I've done the initial stuff in Clocktown and am now trying to figure out what to do in the swamp) I've got to say my first impressions are "meh".

I had to restart it three times just because I wanted to stop playing before I even had the option to save which was frustrating enough. I want to keep battling through it but is there a certain point where the game gets better so I can look forward to it?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Man, the GC version of Majora's Mask pissed me off so much. It would freeze a lot on me, and the way this game works, that's pretty devastating.

Anyway, keep battling through it. The game does get better.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Speaking of Zelda games, today I was at Nintendo HQ testing Freshly Picked: Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland, expecting it to be horrible or mediocre at best. Turns out it was actually pretty good. Probably less good than my feeling is saying due to the low expectations, but still well worth a look.

Despite it being a game about... Tingle.

Kooloo limpa!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Speaking of Zelda games, today I was at Nintendo HQ testing Freshly Picked: Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland, expecting it to be horrible or mediocre at best.

I saw the game earlier today. That has got to be the gayest game name I have ever seen. Not sure if it was the intention too.

Who is this Tingle guy anyway? Besides being a Zelda character, of course.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

For some reason, the title continuously conjures up the image of Tingle's rosy bottom. I am in absolute agreement that it is the foofiest, ambiguously gayest title ever.

I don't know what you mean with Who Tingle Is besides a Zelda character. He... IS a Zelda character. There's nothing about him besides that. This is his first spin-off game. And it's a small miracle there actually IS a game about him in the first place :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now