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[M3d10n]

I shouldn't be surprised that people actually claim to prefer the crappy N64-branded grey fog from the original. Interesting how some years of rosed tinted glasses turn technical limitations into touches of masterful subtle meaning.

- The fog was gray because the N64 could not do additive blending, so any kind of colored fog would look like a room filled with poison gas. It was either gray or white. The N64 simply could not do fog like in the 3DS version.

- The fog was too strong because it had to hide the cardboard wall of trees in the background and because the N64 couldn't do exponential fog. The fog even makes it hard to see the characters during the cutscene.

- That purple sky looks like sunset/dawn.

 

[Neiteio]

The second day is still overcast and grey. We've seen this in numerous videos.

 

[Solid SOAP]

Don't worry, you are not the only one. N3DS is my first 3DS and I originally planned to order Link Between Worlds with it. GAF hyped MM, so I went with that instead.

I should also mention that I've mostly been PC/Sony console gamer my entire life, and I missed quite a lot of legendary Nintendo games, so I'm very happy with these remasters. I plan to play OoT afterwards, and I'm also hoping for Twilight Princess/Skyward Sword remasters in 2015/2016. (if N3DS can run Wii games, I don't see why it couldn't run GC games).

Damn dude you got a lot to catch up to between remakes and new games alike. OoT, Star Fox 64, ALBW, Smash, Luigi's Mansion 2, Fire Emblem, 3D Land, Xenoblade, etc.

 

[mantidor]

I shouldn't be surprised that people actually claim to prefer the crappy N64-branded grey fog from the original. Interesting how some years of rosed tinted glasses turn technical limitations into touches of masterful subtle meaning.

I called this when the game was announced.

People really have some weird expectations with this game.

 

[ErrorMacro]

Man, they totally ruined the atmosphere here.

Also, the moon's face looks more humorous than sinister/creepy. The whole scene in the new one looks like its from a ghostbusters cartoon episode. Sure, they did a lot of things right with the remake but these things they do wrong are somewhat important in Majora's Mask.

I don't get what you are talking about. The moon seems much more menacing in the 3DS version.

First comparison picture isn't very good, to be honest. In some of the videos, they have parts showing the same night sky and it looked fine, just a more detailed N64 version (with stars and stuff).

The second is weird though. I think they overdone the purple, unless it is the last day. Although there were some instances of rainy weather (In real life) where the sky looked just like that (or some red variant), and it's creepy as hell.

Anyway, this is a case where they can't win unless they go completely the same as the original. If the sky was originally like the 3DS pictures, and they changed it to look like the N64 pics, I bet people would be complaining that "they took the creepiness of atmosphere".

I, for one, welcome those changes. It seems that, at least they putting some effort into making the game different than the original, and I personally think that no changes so far have ruined the special things MM had. I understand people being upset though. MM is a hard game to change without upsetting people.

 

[Kinokou]

Both are examples of foggy weather. The new version is just less foggy and the sky beyond the fog isn't overcast, so the bright blue sky filters through the trees and fog. The new version is more realistic since the old version was making the foreground trees unrealistically brighter. The scene doesn't need as much fog because they completely remodeled the forest and don't need to hide the flat wall of trees in the background.

Well that's one kind of fog I have never experienced. I really does have that epic atmosphere.

I shouldn't be surprised that people actually claim to prefer the crappy N64-branded grey fog from the original. Interesting how some years of rosed tinted glasses turn technical limitations into touches of masterful subtle meaning.

- The fog was gray because the N64 could not do additive blending, so any kind of colored fog would look like a room filled with poison gas. It was either gray or white. The N64 simply could not do fog like in the 3DS version.

- The fog was too strong because it had to hide the cardboard wall of trees in the background and because the N64 couldn't do exponential fog. The fog even makes it hard to see the characters during the cutscene.

- That purple sky looks like sunset/dawn.

Just like real heavy fog.

Anyway, the fog is just preference, what matters is that it looks like the graphic updates here are better than Wind Waker HD.

 

[Nicktendo86]

I shouldn't be surprised that people actually claim to prefer the crappy N64-branded grey fog from the original. Interesting how some years of rosed tinted glasses turn technical limitations into touches of masterful subtle meaning.

- The fog was gray because the N64 could not do additive blending, so any kind of colored fog would look like a room filled with poison gas. It was either gray or white. The N64 simply could not do fog like in the 3DS version.

- The fog was too strong because it had to hide the cardboard wall of trees in the background and because the N64 couldn't do exponential fog. The fog even makes it hard to see the characters during the cutscene.

- That purple sky looks like sunset/dawn.

Perfect post, thank you.

 

[zeldarocks]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqB1OnRxyXk

First look at Ikana Valley, Deku Palace, Gerudo Fortress, Mountain Village, and Woodfall.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXQri9yPesY

In-depth look at Odolwa, Ghot, Gyorg.

And a (new?) shadow-like miniboss?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWuYY4C5sNE

Look at various masks, Pirate Fortress, Deku Palace, Ikana Graveyard.

 

[Edzi]

And a (new?) shadow-like miniboss?

He's always been there.

 

[zeldarocks]

Btw, on the Japanese site, there's a video illustrating the use of the mirror shield.

I don't remember that particular sequence. It seems as though they may have removed the Well completely...

Link enters the castle through a crack in the wall, strikes a crystal, and shines light onto the sun block.

Was this in the original game?

 

[dampflokfreund]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqB1OnRxyXk

First look at Ikana Valley, Deku Palace, Gerudo Fortress, Mountain Village, and Woodfall.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXQri9yPesY

In-depth look at Odolwa, Ghot, Gyorg.

And a (new?) shadow-like miniboss?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWuYY4C5sNE

Look at various masks, Pirate Fortress, Deku Palace, Ikana Graveyard.

Amazing! Thanks for posting

 

[Revven]

Btw, on the Japanese site, there's a video illustrating the use of the mirror shield.

I don't remember that particular sequence. It seems as though they may have removed the Well completely...

Link enters the castle through a crack in the wall, strikes a crystal, and shines light onto the sun block.

Was this in the original game?

You definitely had to have the Mirror Shield to get into Ikana Castle, or rather, to further progress in Ikana Castle.

 

[zeldarocks]

You definitely had to have the Mirror Shield to get into Ikana Castle, or rather, to further progress in Ikana Castle.

What's weird was that in that particular clip, when Link enters the castle through the crack in the wall, the music doesn't start playing; it's almost as if he hasn't "discovered" the castle of Ikana.

 

[calc84maniac]

Btw, on the Japanese site, there's a video illustrating the use of the mirror shield.

I don't remember that particular sequence. It seems as though they may have removed the Well completely...

Link enters the castle through a crack in the wall, strikes a crystal, and shines light onto the sun block.

Was this in the original game?

That's a shortcut so you don't have to go through the well again once you already have the mirror shield. It was in the original.

 

[zeldarocks]

That's a shortcut so you don't have to go through the well again once you already have the mirror shield. It was in the original.

But don't you get the Mirror Shield right after the Well?

What purpose would a shortcut serve?

 

[Tookay]

God I hope they changed the well a little bit. That's the only part of the game I don't like.

 

[zeldarocks]

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/3ds/ajrj/key/

There's a video of the final hours, with Link playing the Song of Time.

The sky is blood red, and the tower at the center of the square is elaborately decorated.

EDIT: All of the videos originated from the Japanese website. It appears that it is being regularly updated.

 

[jaosobno]

Damn dude you got a lot to catch up to between remakes and new games alike. OoT, Star Fox 64, ALBW, Smash, Luigi's Mansion 2, Fire Emblem, 3D Land, Xenoblade, etc.

Well, considering I sold my PS4 and gaming PC, I can completely focus on 3DS. Nothing on those platforms (PC/PS4) excited me anymore. I thought that I was done with gaming. Then, I found my 7 years old NDS Lite, got myself Dragon Quest 9, played it for 44 hours and had more fun than I had in years.

In the end I realized that I wasn't done with gaming, I just needed to change what I played.

So, you could say that Nintendo saved me from abandoning my beloved hobby, a hobby that I've been engaged in for 24 years.

Sorry for the slight derail.

Anyways, I've decided to play Ocarina first, since MM is a sequel. Definitely plan to buy MM afterwards.

 

[RagnarokX]

Man, most of the game looks much better, but some changes make me a bit sad. The new versions here really seem to be missing the point of the atmosphere:

You know, we have a giant clock in the second set of screenshots telling us they are different times of day, right?

According to the Majora's Mask 64 clock the time is around 6:30AM.
According to the Majora's Mask 3D clock the time is 9:15AM.

We don't know what time of day each shot is in the first set. There are clouds present in the 64 screen but they are faint. There are stars in the 3D screen but most of them are hidden by clouds.

Let's compare exact same times of day:

Dawn of the first day: 6:00AM

 

[Solid SOAP]

Ya'll are trippin. The new visual style looks incredible and truly brings out the game's originally intended art style and even enhances it. Looks awesome.

 

[Confounding Factor]

This is why they shouldn't remake games that were already perfect to begin with.

Exactly. I'd rather them take bad video games and make them better. But yeah the sky looks awful in those pictures.

 

[Solid SOAP]

Well, considering I sold my PS4 and gaming PC, I can completely focus on 3DS. Nothing on those platforms (PC/PS4) excited me anymore. I thought that I was done with gaming. Then, I found my 7 years old NDS Lite, got myself Dragon Quest 9, played it for 44 hours and had more fun than I had in years.

In the end I realized that I wasn't done with gaming, I just needed to change what I played.

So, you could say that Nintendo saved me from abandoning my beloved hobby, a hobby that I've been engaged in for 24 years.

Sorry for the slight derail.

Anyways, I've decided to play Ocarina first, since MM is a sequel. Definitely plan to buy MM afterwards.

I felt similarly, honestly. Dark Souls and the 3DS brought back gaming to me as a hobby I put a lot of time into.

 

[Tookay]

The second day is still grey and rainy, guys.

 

[nkarafo]

at least they putting some effort into making the game different than the original

That's a problem though. This isn't meant to be a different game.

And like i said, the new moon just looks way too "cartoony" compared to the original. In a "boogeyman trying to scare little children" kind of way. I can't help it, that's the impression i got from it. To me at least it looks much less sinister than the old one.

 

[jaosobno]

I felt similarly, honestly. Dark Souls and the 3DS brought back gaming to me as a hobby I put a lot of time into.

Glad to see I'm not the only one

 

[JazzmanZ]

This is why they shouldn't remake games that were already perfect to begin with.

oh get off your high horse, fans have been clamoring for a Majoras mask remake since OoT 3D came out.

 

[zeldarocks]

And the Final Hours are still blood red.

 

[Solid SOAP]

Majora's Mask was a vibrant game from the start, with crazy colors to exentuate how weird the world is in comparison to Hyrule. This only greater punctuates that aspect of the world.

 

[nkarafo]

oh get off your high horse, fans have been clamoring for a Majoras mask remake since OoT 3D came out.

Yes but without many artistic changes.

Only higher poly counts and the same textures in higher resolutions.

 

[Tookay]

Speak for yourself. I'm okay with more lighting changes, set dressings, and shaders.

 

[Pop-O-Matic]

oh get off your high horse, fans have been clamoring for a Majoras mask remake since OoT 3D came out.

Fans were also clamoring for OoT Part 2 after Wind Waker and motion control based swordplay after the Wiimote was revealed. The two games that resulted from those desires are two of the worst in the franchise.

 

[JazzmanZ]

Yes but without many artistic changes.

Only higher poly counts and the same textures in higher resolutions.

You're not asking for a remake, you're asking for a remaster

 

[finalflame]

Speak for yourself. I'm okay with more lightning changes, set dressings, and shaders.

Yup, same here. I don't know why anyone would be opposed to these improvements. Rose-tinted glasses are one helluva motherfucker. The remake is looking better in every possible way.

 

[nkarafo]

Speak for yourself. I'm okay with more lightning changes, set dressings, and shaders.

I'm ok with those too really. I just can't deal with how worse some other more important things look, like the moon itself which is a big thing in MM.

Yup, same here. I don't know why anyone would be opposed to these improvements. Rose-tinted glasses are one helluva motherfucker. The remake is looking better in every possible way.

In some ways, but not all.

 

[Tookay]

Fans were also clamoring for OoT Part 2 after Wind Waker and motion control based swordplay after the Wiimote was revealed. The two games that resulted from those desires are two of the worst in the franchise.

That point - which is already debatable - isn't even logical. So because fans are "wrong" twice, they are wrong about everything?

I'm a little tired of certain parts of the Zelda fanbase speaking for everyone as if they have some sort of authority.

 

[finalflame]

In some ways, but not all.

Looks better in every possible way to me. Minor changes do not detract from the game, IMO.

But maybe I'm just not enough of a purist. Different strokes. This will still sell fantastically and I am really pleased they are releasing it.

 

[Kriken]

I'm genuinely curious where I can purchase this rare N64 that made limited ugly draw distance look amazing

 

[Magicpaint]

I shouldn't be surprised that people actually claim to prefer the crappy N64-branded grey fog from the original. Interesting how some years of rosed tinted glasses turn technical limitations into touches of masterful subtle meaning.

- The fog was gray because the N64 could not do additive blending, so any kind of colored fog would look like a room filled with poison gas. It was either gray or white. The N64 simply could not do fog like in the 3DS version.

- The fog was too strong because it had to hide the cardboard wall of trees in the background and because the N64 couldn't do exponential fog. The fog even makes it hard to see the characters during the cutscene.

- That purple sky looks like sunset/dawn.

Perfect post.

Majora's Mask was a vibrant game from the start, with crazy colors to exentuate how weird the world is in comparison to Hyrule. This only greater punctuates that aspect of the world.

Exactly. All of these changes make wonderful sense to me in that it actually enhances features the N64 wasn't properly able to bring to the table technically. I love MM to death but I am very well aware of the limitations it was held down to by the hardware. I could see a case in WW HD how some visual changes could be questionable, but not here really. These are changes that seem obvious to make - to me anyway.

 

[nkarafo]

But maybe I'm just not enough of a purist. Different strokes. This will still sell fantastically and I am really pleased they are releasing it.

I'm pleased too that it exists. At least many new gamers will experience this amazing game, even though its not really the same as far as atmosphere goes, but its something. Not enough for me, but then again i'm very picky with these kind of things.

 

[Extra Sauce]

Looks better overall but I prefer the original grey fog of the forest. It just does not look as ominous now.

 

[nkarafo]

Looks better overall but I preferred the atmosphere of the forest before the palette change. It does not look as ominous now.

I would add that the original looks more depressing:

Looking more depressing and "desolate" in a game like Majora's Mask is actually a good thing.

 

[zeldablue]

Hmmm...

Yeah, I'm probably going to prefer the original for everything. The original sky looks like a more natural, mundane dawn to me.

 

[RagnarokX]

Speak for yourself. I'm okay with more lighting changes, set dressings, and shaders.

No, they clearly ruined the atmosphere. Just look at this comparison of the same area in the original version and the 3DS version:

Where's the snow, Nintendo? They made it a bright cheery grassy mountain!

I would add that the original looks more depressing:



Looking more depressing and "desolate" in a game like Majora's Mask is actually a good thing.

I think it's more that the N64 couldn't effectively produce clouds and gradients for sunrises and sunsets. The sky ends up being this single color all across and they had to used lower saturations so they could make it look cloudy.

Plus, the first day isn't supposed to be depressing.

Oh, hey, look guys. I used a non-shitty non-compressed video and...

stars!

 

[dampflokfreund]

Holy shit, some people. Nintendo could do everything and they still wouldn't be satisfied.

 

[Magicpaint]

Looking more depressing and "desolate" in a game like Majora's Mask is actually a good thing.

That's arguable. I guess it depends on what you prefer but for me I never got the sense that official art, or the game itself was trying to communicate that feeling though? Only until the very final moments does it get there. Clock Town is a location full of energy, personality and colour for much of the time you spend there. It's the way MM contrasts that kind of vibrancy with an ever increasing sense of foreboding that, for me, really creates the tension in the game.

 

[zeldablue]

No, they clearly ruined the atmosphere. Just look at this comparison of the same area in the original version and the 3DS version:

Where's the snow, Nintendo? They made it a bright cheery grassy mountain!

Err..

That's after the Winter ends.

 

[RagnarokX]

Err..

That's after the Winter ends.

You need a new sarcasm meter. I'm making fun of the original comparison comparing 2 different times

 

[dampflokfreund]

Err..

That's after the Winter ends.

That's sarcasm. Thats just as dumb as comparing the last night of MM64 to first day of MM3D.

 

[Greenzxy]

Did they improve the animations in this game a bit? It feels like the characters are more fluid, not because of the 30fps either, it's like they added more overlap animation or something, either that or the N64 animation were way ahead of it's time.

And I'm looking at some old videos of the original Majoras Mask, and I agree the atmosphere is definitely doesn't feel the same as it was before. With Majora's Mask N64 there was this more Grounded, almost realistic look going on, while on the 3DS, while it has more cooler effects, kinda looks more like a fairy-tale world. Just the little details, like the colors, and the more anime looking link.

 

[nkarafo]

That's arguable. I guess it depends on what you prefer but for me I never got the sense that official art, or the game itself was trying to communicate that feeling though?

I don't know... i didn't study the official art outside the game. I didn't buy any artbooks or things like that. I just bought the game itself. So, it gave me a sense of desolation/depression from early on. To me first day was also depressing because the imminent destruction was only a few days away. But there was some kind of a "forced" cheerfulness, as if the town residents were trying hard to be happy despite being doomed.