The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask is a frustrating game. As a Zelda fan, I will not shy away from admitting this. In many instances, certain challenges are presented to the player with either little explanation or random difficulty spikes (looking at you, Goht-mask moon kid hide-and-seek challenge). Framerate and general performance can also be lacking at times, bogging the experience down, but I have more sympathy in this regard given the fact that I'm playing on an actual N64. Lastly, aiming with the N64 controller is barely acceptable (although you get used to it after a while), and using the Rumble pack gets extremely uncomfortable after 10 minutes, as even the most minute occurrence sets it off.
However, in spite of these various difficulties, I persisted with the game to near 100% completion, accumulating at least 80 hours worth of gameplay in all. Majora's strengths lie in its concepts and unique features, setting it apart from all other Zelda games, even to this day. Yoshiaki Koizumi's brilliant inclusion of the 3-day time system gives players lots to do in an otherwise limited game. Because of this, the player is given a focus on the various characters and their events, making random NPC's much more memorable. I especially loved Kafei and Anju's wedding mask quest (I mean, who doesn't?), the mailman was pretty funny, and the arguing skeleton soldier guys were also quite hilarious. Seeing these characters cope with the fact that they're all going to die soon also adds to the realism and memorability.
The addition of masks, a seemingly simple but very significant mechanic, also add to the experience. Transformation masks give each region in Termina a distinct feel (different controls and abilities for the player), and I especially looked forward to collecting the other masks whenever I met new characters or completed certain side-quests.
The story is also nothing short of great. Having to save four giants to prevent the moon from falling is pretty creative, and Majora as an evil entity possessing the mask is quite cool (more so when in his 3-phase boss fight).
Dungeon design... is my other great criticism. While I did enjoy most aspects of all of the dungeons (no real issues with boss fights), climbing the inside of the Snowhead Mountain temple and constantly backtracking for fairies in the Ikana Canyon temple could get tiring and annoying. Overall, the dungeons and their given items were good, but the dungeon design could definitely use some improvement.
In the end, I love Majora's Mask, and forgive most of its minor issues in the grand scheme of this game. While Windwaker is probably the better Zelda game, I think I might just like Majora's Mask more.
Thanks for reading all of this. :)
P.S. Collected every heart piece except for three.
Review for the functionally illiterate (a.k.a. one W. Ulz): Good game. Liked it in the end.
However, in spite of these various difficulties, I persisted with the game to near 100% completion, accumulating at least 80 hours worth of gameplay in all. Majora's strengths lie in its concepts and unique features, setting it apart from all other Zelda games, even to this day. Yoshiaki Koizumi's brilliant inclusion of the 3-day time system gives players lots to do in an otherwise limited game. Because of this, the player is given a focus on the various characters and their events, making random NPC's much more memorable. I especially loved Kafei and Anju's wedding mask quest (I mean, who doesn't?), the mailman was pretty funny, and the arguing skeleton soldier guys were also quite hilarious. Seeing these characters cope with the fact that they're all going to die soon also adds to the realism and memorability.
The addition of masks, a seemingly simple but very significant mechanic, also add to the experience. Transformation masks give each region in Termina a distinct feel (different controls and abilities for the player), and I especially looked forward to collecting the other masks whenever I met new characters or completed certain side-quests.
The story is also nothing short of great. Having to save four giants to prevent the moon from falling is pretty creative, and Majora as an evil entity possessing the mask is quite cool (more so when in his 3-phase boss fight).
Dungeon design... is my other great criticism. While I did enjoy most aspects of all of the dungeons (no real issues with boss fights), climbing the inside of the Snowhead Mountain temple and constantly backtracking for fairies in the Ikana Canyon temple could get tiring and annoying. Overall, the dungeons and their given items were good, but the dungeon design could definitely use some improvement.
In the end, I love Majora's Mask, and forgive most of its minor issues in the grand scheme of this game. While Windwaker is probably the better Zelda game, I think I might just like Majora's Mask more.
Thanks for reading all of this. :)
P.S. Collected every heart piece except for three.
Review for the functionally illiterate (a.k.a. one W. Ulz): Good game. Liked it in the end.