Pumpkin

Majora's Mask

Now don't get me wrong, Square Enix makes some great games. But today I want to focus on one of my all time favorites: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask!


This game came out for the Nintendo 64 system in 2000. It was the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.



Majora's Mask has always stayed with me, ever since I played it back when it came out. I would have been 8 years old. The game clicked with me in a way that none of the other Zelda's did. I felt the characters and the world and the story. If I could only have one N64 game for the rest of my life, this would be it.

The game takes place in Termina, and took the series away from it's land of Hyrule. It is set on a three day cycle. The Skull Kid, possessed by Majora's Mask, is sending the moon crashing into the earth 72 hours from when Link first arrives in the land Termina. You have those 72 (game hours) to complete a variety of challenges and dungeons in order to advance in the game. Time can then be reset to the beginning of those three days using the Song of Time.



A very important aspect of the game is the masks. Link can collect 24 masks, all of which contribute to the game in a different way. He also has 3 transformation masks, allowing him to assume the form of a Deku Scrub, a Zora, and a Goron, all of which have different skills and weaknesses. Another interesting detail is that NPC's will react differently to the different transformations, including a dog in Clock Town.



The game has four dungeons to complete before arriving at the final boss dungeon, making straight through game play shorter than it's predecessor. To make up for this, Majora's Mask has thrown in a good number of optional side quests. In order to help you keep track, you can receive the Bomber's Notebook early on in the game, which helps you keep track of different events for the towns folk during the three day period.



This game received great reviews for its gameplay, story, music, and enjoyability. Game informer called the three-day cycle "one of the most inventive premises in all of gaming," and it is often regarded as the darkest and most original game in the series. The game scored great reviews across the board.



Majora's Mask was enjoyable to me on many levels. I felt connected with the characters as they lived out their three days. They felt alive and I sympathized with them. It had many touching moments, some that even brought me to tears, like the skull kid and the faeries under the log in the rain. I was never short or bored on gameplay. Feel like doing a dungeon? Can do. Want to help townsfolk? No problem. Want to redo a boss fight with my newly acquired equipment? Absolutely. Adventuring? Yes. Want to go around taking pictures? I can even do that. This game was filled with different types of entertainment depending on your mood. I love this game. If you haven't tried it I recommend you go out and do it, right now.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask brought a lot of new to the Zelda series, and I don't think they could have done a better job of it.