This review is not coming from a pure experience of Majora’s Mask. The purest form being the N64 release. The version I played was the 3DS remaster/remake with an HD texture pack and the ‘Restoration Project’ applied. The respiration project does such things as: stopping magic from draining while swimming, adding mask shortcuts to buttons and improving the use of the ocarina to slow time etc. Playing on a modified version of Citra as well meant I could save scum. Without this ability I probably would have binned the game, I’m playing the game, I’m not letting the game play me. The HD texture pack makes the game look incredible and very modern, I love the art style of it. The AI upscaling of the textures though so result in deformed faces in the bomber’s notebook. Due to all of these I will only comment on the parts about the game that are still original after the mods and patches.
Anyway, onto the actual game. Like many other people, this game gave me severe anxiety. The whole time playing this game with the 3-day cycle looming over you, despite being able to slow down time meant I was unable to sit back, drink the world of Hyrule in and enjoy myself. Even when having conversations with NPCs, where the time is paused I still found myself rattling through their text as I was still feeling the pressure of time. The anxiety stretches to how easy it is to miss a precise timing of something, fuck it up and have to start the 3-day cycle all over again. Like with the Final Fantasy series I use a walkthrough for the Zelda games. I just want to enjoy the game, not miss anything and complete it in a timely manner. How anyone can collect all masks and heart pisces in this game without a walkthrough is beyond me. So many sections in this game are designed to punish you.
I like being able to see game completion progression over time, each time you complete a dungeon you heal the surrounding land but you then need to return to day 1 and it undos all the hard work you have done. If you miss something that can only be completed when the land is healed and you went back in time? Tough luck! You need to do it all over again. I tried to get as many of the collectables as I could but there were some tasks like the advanced target practice where I thought “fuck that” and just ignored it. I wasn’t going to give the game any more of my stress than it had got out me already.
Majora’s Mask must have scared so many children, the whole game is nightmare fuel. It probably would have scared me as much as the episode of Pingu when he has the nightmare about the giant walrus coming to attack him in his sleep. Even as an adult the nighttime sound of the howling wolf gives me the absolute fear. It’s such a creepy sound.
The game can feel very frustrating to control, especially the swimming sections I just downright hated every moment of the swimming sections. The item management is very frustrating as well having to swap masks and items multiple times in a single section ruins the flow of action or adventure.
Compared to the other Zelda games I found the bosses generally easy, especially the final boss, Majora’s Mask as I had obtained the Fierce Deity mask which lets you obliterate any opponent.
I was so glad to have finished this game, I deleted the custom Citra folder immediately as I know for damn sure I will not be returning to this game.
Anyway, onto the actual game. Like many other people, this game gave me severe anxiety. The whole time playing this game with the 3-day cycle looming over you, despite being able to slow down time meant I was unable to sit back, drink the world of Hyrule in and enjoy myself. Even when having conversations with NPCs, where the time is paused I still found myself rattling through their text as I was still feeling the pressure of time. The anxiety stretches to how easy it is to miss a precise timing of something, fuck it up and have to start the 3-day cycle all over again. Like with the Final Fantasy series I use a walkthrough for the Zelda games. I just want to enjoy the game, not miss anything and complete it in a timely manner. How anyone can collect all masks and heart pisces in this game without a walkthrough is beyond me. So many sections in this game are designed to punish you.
I like being able to see game completion progression over time, each time you complete a dungeon you heal the surrounding land but you then need to return to day 1 and it undos all the hard work you have done. If you miss something that can only be completed when the land is healed and you went back in time? Tough luck! You need to do it all over again. I tried to get as many of the collectables as I could but there were some tasks like the advanced target practice where I thought “fuck that” and just ignored it. I wasn’t going to give the game any more of my stress than it had got out me already.
Majora’s Mask must have scared so many children, the whole game is nightmare fuel. It probably would have scared me as much as the episode of Pingu when he has the nightmare about the giant walrus coming to attack him in his sleep. Even as an adult the nighttime sound of the howling wolf gives me the absolute fear. It’s such a creepy sound.
The game can feel very frustrating to control, especially the swimming sections I just downright hated every moment of the swimming sections. The item management is very frustrating as well having to swap masks and items multiple times in a single section ruins the flow of action or adventure.
Compared to the other Zelda games I found the bosses generally easy, especially the final boss, Majora’s Mask as I had obtained the Fierce Deity mask which lets you obliterate any opponent.
I was so glad to have finished this game, I deleted the custom Citra folder immediately as I know for damn sure I will not be returning to this game.