[SteveWinwood]

This needs to come to 3DS. It's such a quick way for Nintendo to turn a profit. So many of the assets have already been updated thanks to OoT 3D, as MM recycled many assets of OoT originally anyway. Just do it, Nintendo. This is your best game. Future-proof it.

Yeah, just like MM was made quickly due to most of the work being done, the same applies here. Most of the shit has already been made to look pretty. Plug in the new models. Draw a new moon. Bam new game. Instant money.

[Shion]

Majora's Mask
- One of the few true masterpieces that video games have ever had to offer.

[CrazyDude]

Yeah, just like MM was made quickly due to most of the work being done, the same applies here. Most of the shit has already been made to look pretty. Plug in the new models. Draw a new moon. Bam new game. Instant money.

I think it will happen, it just won't happen until after the original 3ds zelda comes out.

[WiiredShawn]

As much as I enjoyed Skyward Sword, I am still frustrated that the developers dared to remind me of Majora's Mask (with the hub town, and a few fanservice references) and not even remotely approach the level of character depth. Miyamoto, Takano and Koizumi need to take up writing again for the next Zelda game, and get Fujibayashi as far away from the script as possible.

Regarding that scene posted in the OP, at the ranch, Cremia's acknowledgment of Romani is so heartbreaking, particularly when she says, "I will make a mask for you." It's such a wonderful execution on the idea of persona, with an almost crushing (no pun intended) sense of irony as you realize, from Link's perspective, that putting on the mask is both a literal and figurative way to hide your fears and regrets from the world - but Romani, representing that state of blissful childhood existence that Link has really never known, sees the mask only as a way to be closer to her sister. Painful and beautiful at the same time.

[MoogleWizard]

Best game ever made for me.

So bright and colorful, yet filled with doom, melancholy and tragedy.
I love that there are so many subtle details you won't notice if you don't pay attention, e.g. I'll always remember the moment I realized that the butler's son was murdered because of me.

[Diddy Kong]

Bes. Zelda. Ever.

[Meier]

I've still never played Majora's Mask. I got it via the OOT Collection or whatever that pre-order bonus was all those years ago but admittedly I don't think I could play it with its existing graphics on a big TV. I'm hopeful for a 3DS re-release.

I had moved on to the Dreamcast and didn't want to buy the DD pack when it first came out.

[Lord_Byron28]

Really enjoyed the game. I'd love for there to be a sequel to MM greatly expanding on the concept and offering more and different masks would be awesome.

MM 3DS also seems to be fairly common sense given all of its assets are already made from OoT 3DS. I think MM's 3 Day system also works well for handhelds.

[Shion]

Everyone should read this article:

Immortal Childhood
There is a common theme that runs through Link’s Awakening and Ocarina of Time. It is expressed more fully in Majora’s Mask, and summarized at the end of The Wind Waker. These four stories express what it means to live bound to the flow of time. They are stories about the beauty of mortality, the journey from childhood to adulthood and from life to death. They are about growing up and leaving behind the immortal playground of childhood, letting go of the familiar to venture out into the world that lies beyond.

http://www.zeldauniverse.net/article...tal-childhood/

[Ultimadrago]

Best sidequests in a Zelda game.

Now this, I can agree with.

[CrazyDude]

The only thing I worry about a 3ds release is that the frame rate increase will make time go too fast, just like in OOT.

[Elfish]

Please Nintendo bring this game out on 3DS.
I never finished the N64 version though because I got stuck (where the hell is that LIGHT arrow) and wasn't planning to use a guide for it, I still own it though.

[ffdgh]

that freaking well and that closet still creep me out to no end.
and that one random cow in the well was hilariously random XD

[SteveWinwood]

The only thing I worry about a 3ds release is that the frame rate increase will make time go too fast, just like in OOT.

Surely they would fix that when time is so important to the game.

Time really isn't that important to oot. Just some different stuff happens in towns at night. Oh and poes.

[Dr.Hadji]

http://www.zeldauniverse.net/article...tal-childhood/

This link, it does nothing.

[Crub]

I rarely take time to explore games in-depth (there are simply too many games to play), and don't pay much attention to dialogue. So I feel like even if I play the game, I will miss out on most stuff that make the game so great.

[Anth0ny]

Best game ever made for me. So bright and colorful, yet filled with doom, melancholy and tragedy. I love that there are so many subtle details you won't notice if you don't pay attention, e.g. I'll always remember the moment I realized that the butler's son was murdered because of me.

Another interesting thing about the Deku Butler and his son is the fact that you see him grieving over his dead son during the credits.

In case you don't know, the credits of MM change depending on what masks you've collected/what people you've made happy. If you don't collect any masks, the credits will display a mask in place of a cutscene. Once you collect the mask, you see a cutscene of the person you helped being all happy after the world is saved.

However, amongst all this celebration and happiness, the final scene we cut to is the Deku Butler grieving over his dead son. You see this scene even if you collected 0 masks. Even if you 100% the game, you still can't save everyone.

This game is depressing as hell. I think that's why it resonates with so many people. There aren't a lot of games like this.

[Bioloff]

Holy crap!

I never caught that until now! That's amazing.

[Shion]

This link, it does nothing.

Oops, sorry:p

Try this one.
http://www.zeldauniverse.net/article...tal-childhood/

Excellent article.

[Bioloff]

Edit - accident double post

[Cramoss]

I stumbled upon this on /v/.

I was that night on that thread on /v/.. it was brilliant.

[nckillthegrimace]

Link's Awakening does the whole inevitability of death thing better than Majora's Mask. When you beat Majora's Mask, you've fended off death and everything's mostly better. When you beat Link's Awakening, everything's gone, and it's your fault for finishing the game. It cleverly inverts the classic relationship between beating the game and saving the world; Majora's Mask does no such thing. It simply shows people in despair.

[kayos90]

Yeah, just like MM was made quickly due to most of the work being done, the same applies here. Most of the shit has already been made to look pretty. Plug in the new models. Draw a new moon. Bam new game. Instant money.

The best thing is that I can now play my favorite Zelda game anywhere. This game will make me buy a 3DS. Man I'm such a sucker for good games.

[Anth0ny]

Link's Awakening does the whole inevitability of death thing better than Majora's Mask. When you beat Majora's Mask, you've fended off death and everything's mostly better. When you beat Link's Awakening, everything's gone, and it's your fault for finishing the game. It cleverly inverts the classic relationship between beating the game and saving the world; Majora's Mask does no such thing. It simply shows people in despair.

But

It was all a dream

I used to read word up magazine

[burntchomsky]

I'm kind of convinced that a lot of the people that don't like this game due to the "time pressure" didn't know about the time-slow song.

I just played this game for the first time in the fall. I went into it with a positive attitude, but I ended up getting very frustrated by it. The mechanic of having to do things all over again if the third day ended before you finished got very annoying, and I had some really terrible experiences with it. One of these was getting to the final boss of the water temple, and not beating him in time, forcing me to relive the excruciating experience of not only going through the whole temple all over again, but collecting all the darn fairies as well. This was with the time-slow song in effect, by the way.

That one event got me so frustrated that I ended up just racing through the rest of game, out of spite. Anyways, I can see why people think the atmosphere and characters are the best of the series, I just don't buy that the gameplay mechanics are anywhere near that level. I didn't think the dungeons were that well designed, while I loved the 3-day mechanic in theory I didn't think it ended up adding anything to the gameplay, and I thought that the combat was very weak overall.

[Nibel]

Pure perfection - from art design to the music; graphics, story, gameplay. This game is one in a million, there won't be anything like it again (besides the possible 3DS remake which I'm sure is being discussed at Nintendo).

[Jezan]

The "Final Hours" track is one of my favorite pieces of video music of all time. Also, let's not forget the fantastic Haunted Majora's Mask video series, starting with Day Four. The follow-ups are in the related videos tab.

I wanted to replay MM, but now I don't :(
I mean I was starting to read the other Zelda creepypasta, and Firefox crashes...I'm scared :(

But I love MM, I mean Link flips when he jumps!!!!

[NearRivers]

I've tried to play and enjoy Zelda games but I just can't get into them. They seem so boring and trivial. But after reading the OP, and various other insights from Gaf, Majora's Mask sounds brilliant.
For example I don't give a crap about saving some princess I've never met, but hearing that sweet story about the girl getting her sister drunk to save her from the pain of the end is really quite touching and makes me want to see if I can prevent their doom.

[nckillthegrimace]

But It was all a dream I used to read word up magazine

A dream made manifestly real by a super sentient flying whale. And does that really matter? Majora's Mask was in some weird parallel dimension.

What magazine are you talking about anyway?

[divisionbyzorro]

I can't be the only person who does a boss rush on the final leg of the game to make sure that you leave Termina in the best shape possible, right?

[Holy Order Sol]

That creepypasta is a must read, I was lttp on that one and wish I could have read it at the time.

Link's Awakening does the whole inevitability of death thing better than Majora's Mask. When you beat Majora's Mask, you've fended off death and everything's mostly better. When you beat Link's Awakening, everything's gone, and it's your fault for finishing the game. It cleverly inverts the classic relationship between beating the game and saving the world; Majora's Mask does no such thing. It simply shows people in despair.

Even if we're talking about symbolism, equating "dreams must come to an end" to "death is inevitable" just for the sake of comparison is a stretch.

[ChuyMasta]

Another interesting thing about the Deku Butler and his son is the fact that you see him grieving over his dead son during the credits. In case you don't know, the credits of MM change depending on what masks you've collected/what people you've made happy. If you don't collect any masks, the credits will display a mask in place of a cutscene. Once you collect the mask, you see a cutscene of the person you helped being all happy after the world is saved. However, amongst all this celebration and happiness, the final scene we cut to is the Deku Butler grieving over his dead son. You see this scene even if you collected 0 masks. Even if you 100% the game, you still can't save everyone. This game is depressing as hell. I think that's why it resonates with so many people. There aren't a lot of games like this.

I know the game doesn't show how you the Deku Scrub dies. What is the popular belief on this manner?

Did the skull kid take the scrub's soul for the fun of it? And then transferred it to Link through the power of Majora? What was the scrub doing in that part of Termina? The tunnel underneath the clock tower is pointing south... (is it?) Which makes sense if you think about the swamp/forest environment Link starts at.

I'd love to hear more theories on this.

[Meccanical]

A dream made manifestly real by a super sentient flying whale. And does that really matter? Majora's Mask was in some weird parallel dimension. What magazine are you talking about anyway?

He was referencing a song by Biggie Smalls.

[Mumei]

I just played this game for the first time in the fall. I went into it with a positive attitude, but I ended up getting very frustrated by it. The mechanic of having to do things all over again if the third day ended before you finished got very annoying, and I had some really terrible experiences with it. One of these was getting to the final boss of the water temple, and not beating him in time, forcing me to relive the excruciating experience of not only going through the whole temple all over again, but collecting all the darn fairies as well. This was with the time-slow song in effect, by the way. That one event got me so frustrated that I ended up just racing through the rest of game, out of spite. Anyways, I can see why people think the atmosphere and characters are the best of the series, I just don't buy that the gameplay mechanics are anywhere near that level. I didn't think the dungeons were that well designed, while I loved the 3-day mechanic in theory I didn't think it ended up adding anything to the gameplay, and I thought that the combat was very weak overall.

... I don't want to sound rude, but how were you unable to beat that dungeon with that much time (assuming you started on Day 1, anyway)?

[Holy Order Sol]

I know the game doesn't show how you the Deku Scrub dies. What is the popular belief on this manner? Did the skull kid take the scrub's soul for the fun of it? And then transferred it to Link through the power of Majora? What was the scrub doing in that part of Termina? The tunnel underneath the clock tower is pointing south... (is it?) Which makes sense if you think about the swamp/forest environment Link starts at. I'd love to hear more theories on this.

Majora's Mask is basically OG Trollface with powers so yeah, it's not like Skull Kid had any reason for doing anything other than just screw people over. The butler talks about how he and his son used to race. Either his son ragequit and wandered there as a result, or worst case scenario he was outrun by his dad so bad he was left in the middle of nowhere. XD

[LeadenStride]

Happy to see that Majoras Mask gets so much appreciation in here. I've always thought that it's the most overlooked and underrated Zelda ever. While I'm not sure if it's the best it definitely belongs into my top 3. It has the best side quest system and a much deeper and more evolving story. The atmosphere is the most serious of all Zelda games, especially the Ikana Canyon which I absolutely adore. The music really gets under the skin.

[Seik]

coincidence?

This thread delivers!

Mind blown many times scrolling through those pages. :D

[MidnightCowboy]

Basically the best Zelda ever would be Majora's Mask mixed with Skyward Sword.

[divisionbyzorro]

Basically the best Zelda ever would be Majora's Mask.

Fixed that!

I actually don't want them to do another Majora's Mask-like game. It's perfect the way it is now.

[ChuyMasta]

Majora's Mask is basically OG Trollface with powers so yeah, it's not like Skull Kid had any reason for doing anything other than just screw people over. The butler talks about how he and his son used to race. Either his son ragequit and wandered there as a result, or worst case scenario he was outrun by his dad so bad he was left in the middle of nowhere. XD

True. It does feel odd how the Scrub doesn't have sort of a major story arc to it compared to the other two. The Zora is part of a band that was invited to play at the festival, but couldn't due to the lost eggs, salty/warm water. Mikau seems to be in a relationship with the lead singer. He tries to be the hero, but "failed". Mikau was not able to fulfill his task.

Same with the Goron. Leader of a tribe, goes into the snow tower to investigate about the sudden cold in the mountains. Leaves a son behind. As a hero, he "failed." The Goron could not fulfill his task.

Commonalities:
Environmental hazard caused by the Imp threatens the tribe. Strong character of said tribe tries to fix it. Could not complete the task.


Given those two scenarios, I was expecting the deku scrub to have a similar back story. However evidence point towards the opposite. The scrub was the son of the butler, and that's all we really know. Perhaps there's more to him yet the game is not being explicit about it.

[Seda]

I just played this game for the first time in the fall. I went into it with a positive attitude, but I ended up getting very frustrated by it. The mechanic of having to do things all over again if the third day ended before you finished got very annoying, and I had some really terrible experiences with it. One of these was getting to the final boss of the water temple, and not beating him in time, forcing me to relive the excruciating experience of not only going through the whole temple all over again, but collecting all the darn fairies as well. This was with the time-slow song in effect, by the way. That one event got me so frustrated that I ended up just racing through the rest of game, out of spite. Anyways, I can see why people think the atmosphere and characters are the best of the series, I just don't buy that the gameplay mechanics are anywhere near that level. I didn't think the dungeons were that well designed, while I loved the 3-day mechanic in theory I didn't think it ended up adding anything to the gameplay, and I thought that the combat was very weak overall.

You couldn't beat Great Bay temple in 2 and a half hours?

[Holy Order Sol]

Fixed that! I actually don't want them to do another Majora's Mask-like game. It's perfect the way it is now.

I want more of what I like, and failure to make another game that's just as good wouldn't detract from the original game anyway. I'll never understand that kind of reasoning.

[burntchomsky]

... I don't want to sound rude, but how were you unable to beat that dungeon with that much time (assuming you started on Day 1, anyway)?

You couldn't beat Great Bay temple in 2 and a half hours?

I was playing without a guide and I had it in my head that if I didn't immediately beat everything from when you first arrive at the beach, through the temple in the three days, I'd have to redo it all. So I probably started the temple around Day 3. Obviously I found out that was wrong after resetting the day and being able to immediately play the song for the Zora girl. That was just generally a problem for me with the game...I was never sure what sequence of events was connected, and which could be triggered by a song, mask, etc after the 3 day reset, so I kept erring on the side of caution.

[mdtauk]

two things. this and this

This ^

[divisionbyzorro]

I want more of what I like, and failure to make another game that's just as good wouldn't detract from the original game anyway. I'll never understand that kind of reasoning.

Let me be more clear then. I don't want them to try to make another game that apes Majora's Mask in the same way that every Zelda game post-Link to the Past has aped that game. Majora's Mask is excellent because it breaks from the formula and has original inspiration while still following some of the main tropes that make it a "Zelda game." I'd love to see them try to turn the formula on its head again, but I have zero desire to see another looping-time Zelda game, or constant impending doom Zelda game, etc.

[the madman]

You seriously just figured out that the milk is actually alcohol? That always seemed obvious to me.

[Baraka in the White House]

I never finished Majora's Mask. I, too, was frustrated by the three-day mechanic. The world was every bit as big and bizarre and interesting - if not more so - than OOT and I hated feeling rushed by that damn clock.

[Bulzeeb]

I never finished Majora's Mask. I, too, was frustrated by the three-day mechanic. The world was every bit as big and bizarre and interesting - if not more so - than OOT and I hated feeling rushed by that damn clock.

I never had any trouble with that in fact i always though there where plenty of time to explore, and the clock actually made me care for each step I took like well today I am off to the beach and tomorrow to the mountains and etc

[Cramoss]

You seriously just figured out that the milk is actually alcohol? That always seemed obvious to me.

That wasn't his point, it was why Creamia would let Romania drink alcohol that night.

[CrazyDude]

I never finished Majora's Mask. I, too, was frustrated by the three-day mechanic. The world was every bit as big and bizarre and interesting - if not more so - than OOT and I hated feeling rushed by that damn clock.

Even when slowing down time?