• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

How to play MAJORA'S MASK

Yrael

Member
Edit: Since I'm at the top of the page, I'll mention another mask that is highly useful, perhaps the second most useful after the Bunny Hood - the Stone Mask.

How to get it and what it does:
To get this mask, once you have the Lens of Truth try using it in the entrance to Ikana Canyon and see if you can spot anything unusual in the area. It helps to bring along a bottle of red or blue potion with you! The effect of this mask is that while you're wearing it, most enemies will ignore you. It's useful for avoiding unnecessary, time-consuming confrontations.

h1uat.jpg


dingdingding

Get the silver rupee in East Clock Town every time you play the song of time. Then deposit it in the bank. Eventually, you'll have a ton of rupees, which can come in handy later.

I always had a routine -
get the Silver Rupee on the roof in East Clock Town, then go to the path that leads to the Astral Observatory and break open the hidden wall to get the second Silver Rupee. Having the Bomb Mask helps, since you lose all your bombs whenever you warp to the beginning of the first day.
That's an immediate 200 rupees that can be stored in the bank.

And yes, if you want an extra 200 rupees
the big bird that hovers around the entrance to the ranch in Termina Field can be slain for a big reward.
 

CHusson91

Banned
I'm really happy I was able to find all of this stuff out on my own as a kid in 2000 when the game came out. Figuring out how to do the Song of Double Time and such added to the charm of the game in my opinion. There's no right or wrong way to play this.
 
You guys need to spoiler tag the story, goddamnit! Don't re-spoil it please. Most of us have forgotten most of the side stories and ready to experience it refresh again.
 

K' Dash

Member
This thread was a good idea to enforce some basic concepts, bi it has turned into spoiler land.

Strategies, where to get rupees, what to do and in what order, the reverse song of time and song of double time, all this should be experieced unspoiled :/
 
Not sure if the best advice, but for those going for the %100 completion.
For heart piece hunting involving mini games. You have to play the mini games and beat them each day to get them. Also I think the mini games pass time as well, so try to beat them the fastest way you can.
 

bomma_man

Member
Edit: Since I'm at the top of the page, I'll mention another mask that is highly useful, perhaps the second most useful after the Bunny Hood - the Stone Mask.

How to get it and what it does:
To get this mask, once you have the Lens of Truth try using it in the entrance to Ikana Canyon and see if you can spot anything unusual in the area. It helps to bring along a bottle of red or blue potion with you! The effect of this mask is that while you're wearing it, most enemies will ignore you. It's useful for avoiding unnecessary, time-consuming confrontations.

]

and it makes the
pirate's hideout
really fucking easy
 

Nakho

Member
And... I'm leaving this thread. There was no need to turn it into a LTTP spoiler thread, its objective was to give useful tips to newcomers.
 

Box

Member
Now that I think about it, it actually took me a while to understand what happens when you go back in time. I don't think the game is very explicit about this and it's easy to think what's happening is you resetting something. In reality, you're not really resetting anything. You're just traveling back in time, not backwards in the game.

Luckily I had the Nintendo Power magazine which explained the 3 day system in more detail and had a guide on how to beat the first cycle. It was one of my very first video games so I needed a lot of help.

Nowadays we have the internet which I guess is why things like this are important to make clear. It might have helped some people though if the game was a little more explicit about how the system works.

It really is quite a concept though, the ability to move forward and backward through time in a game. I always thought games were great for this because it lets you explore a story or a setting piece by piece with the ability to rewind through multiple subplots and watch them come together. And it lets you observe multiple outcomes without having to start the whole game over. Really this seems like the kind of thing that a WRPG would really benefit from.
 

Toad King

Banned
A neat trick that might be fixed on 3DS: The Blast Mask gives you basically unlimited bombs at the expense of hurting yourself. However, if you shield while using it the shield will block all damage.
 

Muskweeto

Member
Bruh it's not that simple. The goron was nigh uncontrollable on the N64 after your "spikes" came out as I used to say
especially on that last part in moon where you have to navigate a maze like that.
It's been a while, but I believe if you just
let go of the joystick while going straight the Goron automatically bumps off the angled sides and heads in the right direction.
 
Bruh it's not that simple. The goron was nigh uncontrollable on the N64 after your "spikes" came out as I used to say
especially on that last part in moon where you have to navigate a maze like that.

All you do is
let go of the control stick and the chests will redirect you. It's easy.
 
The game is so much more fun when you feel the tension of racing against the clock and the epiphany of finding the bunny hood or inverted song of time. I don't think newcomers should read these tips unless they're really struggling and feel too pressured by the time lmiit; then by all means.
 

Greenzxy

Junior Member
wtf? the game only gives you 3 hours?????
I thought the gave you much more than that. 3 hours might've felt long when I was a child, but nowadays, man, 1 or 2 hours goes away for me in like a snap.
 

Seda

Member
wtf? the game only gives you 3 hours?????
I thought the gave you much more than that. 3 hours might've felt long when I was a child, but nowadays, man, 1 or 2 hours goes away for me in like a snap.

3 hours for a single cycle, yes. You can get quite a bit done in that amount of time.
 

Lynd7

Member
Edit: Since I'm at the top of the page, I'll mention another mask that is highly useful, perhaps the second most useful after the Bunny Hood - the Stone Mask.

How to get it and what it does:
To get this mask, once you have the Lens of Truth try using it in the entrance to Ikana Canyon and see if you can spot anything unusual in the area. It helps to bring along a bottle of red or blue potion with you! The effect of this mask is that while you're wearing it, most enemies will ignore you. It's useful for avoiding unnecessary, time-consuming confrontations.



I always had a routine -
get the Silver Rupee on the roof in East Clock Town, then go to the path that leads to the Astral Observatory and break open the hidden wall to get the second Silver Rupee. Having the Bomb Mask helps, since you lose all your bombs whenever you warp to the beginning of the first day.
That's an immediate 200 rupees that can be stored in the bank.

And yes, if you want an extra 200 rupees
the big bird that hovers around the entrance to the ranch in Termina Field can be slain for a big reward.

There's also a 200 rupee in the bombers hideout to I think, you need to bomb a wall.
 

Neiteio

Member
wtf? the game only gives you 3 hours?????
I thought the gave you much more than that. 3 hours might've felt long when I was a child, but nowadays, man, 1 or 2 hours goes away for me in like a snap.
The game gives you an infinite amount of time to beat it. The cycles are three real-life hours, but there is an infinite number of cycles. And you'd practically have to -try- to "lose" a cycle, since the game gives you so many warnings to avoid the moon crashing. And even if the moon somehow crashed, the "penalties" are light and nothing to fear.

You're free to screw around enjoying the world as much as you want. Just reset time when you want to accomplish something. And reset time again when you want to screw around.

For example, I might give myself three hours to just play around having fun. Maybe I'll stalk the NPCs, watch a sunset, roll around Termina Field as a Goron, go deep-sea diving as the Zora, skip around in the rain on the second day, find a secret grotto with some treasure, play minigames at the shop in town, take photos with the Picto Box, go fishing at the two new holes, etc...

Then, when I want to make progress, I'll give myself another three hours to reach the next warp point. It only takes like 5-10 minutes to reach and activate each warp point. And once activated, they stay active, even if you reset time, so you can skip straight there and pick up like time never stopped. Likewise, you keep all your key items, masks, songs, etc.

It is so incredibly simple. There is really no pressure at all. The looping time system just allows the game designers to include all kinds of dynamic events in which you can partake.
 

Mzo

Member
the reverse song of time and song of double time, all this should be experieced unspoiled :/

The scarecrow straight up just tells you how to do those two songs. That's hardly a spoiler or some amazing revelation; they're some of the basic tools of the game, which is why they tell you about them really early on.
 

Dryk

Member
The one thing I can never figure out Majora's Mask is whether the
giants being freed
resets along with the rest of the world. So do you have to speedrun all the dungeons in a row on the final cycle?

Also Link's an arsehole for robbing the bank guy, but I guess it's his own fault for setting up such an exploitable system
 
Isn't it better to find out how it works by yourself playing the game? The time mechanic is the true meat of Majora's Mask, I don't see the point in spoiler yourself the beautiful discovery.

It's obvious Nintendo keeps it pretty ambiguous, it makes for a much more dramatic line and doesn't ruin your first playthrough explaining in advance what you're supposed to do in the game.
 

Neiteio

Member
The one thing I can never figure out Majora's Mask is whether the
giants being freed
resets along with the rest of the world. So do you have to speedrun all the dungeons in a row on the final cycle?

Also Link's an arsehole for robbing the bank guy, but I guess it's his own fault for setting up such an exploitable system
Nope. Once they're free, they stay free. You can still replay the dungeons/bosses for fun, though.
 

Neiteio

Member
Just remember, the first 72 hours don't allow you to slow time. You have to talk to everyone in town to figure out what to do. But it's all simple enough. :)
 

jaosobno

Member
Quick question guys. I've preordered Majora's Mask. How important is it for me to play OoT beforehand? Will I be able to follow the storyline properly? Sorry for the slight derail.
 

Kinsei

Banned
Quick question guys. I've preordered Majora's Mask. How important is it for me to play OoT beforehand? Will I be able to follow the storyline properly? Sorry for the slight derail.

Here's all you need to know.

At the end of Ocarina of time Zelda sends like back to when he was a child, and then his fairy friend Navi leaves him.
 

jaosobno

Member
Here's all you need to know.

At the end of Ocarina of time Zelda sends like back to when he was a child, and then his fairy friend Navi leaves him.

Thanks dude, but holy shit, have I just witnessed a massive spoiler for OoT, or is this like an alternative ending presented in MM?
 

Neiteio

Member
Quick question guys. I've preordered Majora's Mask. How important is it for me to play OoT beforehand? Will I be able to follow the storyline properly? Sorry for the slight derail.
Purists will tell you otherwise, but I say you're fine starting with MM.

The only advantage of playing OoT first is you have a lot of "gee whiz" moments when you see alternate reality versions of many of the same townspeople. For example, the chicken lady in OoT's Kakariko Village is a lady named Anju who runs the hotel in MM's Clock Town.

But you'll be fine without making those connections. MM is its own self-contained story. All you really need to know is that at the end of OoT, Link traveled back in time to his childhood. His fairy friend Navi then left him. So Link set out on his horse Epona to find Navi. And before he left, the Princess Zelda entrusted him with the Ocarina of Time.

Actually, I think the start of the game even fills you in on that backstory. So yeah, you're completely good to go. Look forward to hearing your impressions in February!

Thanks dude, but holy shit, have I just witnessed a massive spoiler for OoT?
Nothing significant. OoT will still be perfectly awesome when you play it. :)
 

Ahnez

Member
Quick question guys. I've preordered Majora's Mask. How important is it for me to play OoT beforehand? Will I be able to follow the storyline properly? Sorry for the slight derail.

For story reasons, no.

You can play any Zelda game in any order, TBF

But to *fully understand the impact of this game, you should play OoT before this.

* fully means 100%, you only get ~95% of the impact without OoT
 

Neiteio

Member
For story reasons, no.

But to fully understand the impact of this game, you should play OoT before this
I think he'll get the full "impact" playing MM first. Like I said, the only real benefit to playing OoT first is recognizing many of the characters. They're not technically the same characters, though; the people of Termina are alternate reality counterparts to the people in Hyrule.

When he plays OoT, he'll get the same effect of seeing familiar faces in new places. He'll just be doing it in a different order.
 

jaosobno

Member
Purists will tell you otherwise, but I say you're fine starting with MM.

The only advantage of playing OoT first is you have a lot of "gee whiz" moments when you see alternate reality versions of many of the same townspeople. For example, the chicken lady in OoT's Kakariko Village is a lady named Anju who runs the hotel in MM's Clock Town.

But you'll be fine without making those connections. MM is its own self-contained story. All you really need to know is that at the end of OoT, Link traveled back in time to his childhood. His fairy friend Navi then left him. So Link set out on his horse Epona to find Navi. And before he left, the Princess Zelda entrusted him with the Ocarina of Time.

Actually, I think the start of the game even fills you in on that backstory. So yeah, you're completely good to go. Look forward to hearing your impressions in February!


Nothing significant. OoT will still be perfectly awesome when you play it. :)

For story reasons, no.

You can play any Zelda game in any order, TBF

But to *fully understand the impact of this game, you should play OoT before this.

* fully means 100%, you only get ~95% of the impact without OoT

Great, thanks for the answers guys!
 

Atlus

Banned
I'm sure if my dumb six year old self could figure it out back in the day it's probably not as complicated as it seems. The only time I remember feeling confused was trying to figure out what to do on your very first day in Clock Town. Luckily I learned from Earthbound that I should probably talk to every NPC when I'm stuck.

You'll eventually come to realise that OP is totes right about everything on your own if you just stick with it.
 

Neiteio

Member
Something I love about this game are all the things you can do, and how the three-day cycle allows you to replay them as much as you want, without needing to start a new file. Whenever I play MM "just for fun," I like to race the Deku Butler at the Deku Shrine, the Gorons for gold dust, and the Beaver Bros. at the Waterfall Rapids. Maybe I'll clear out the two Skulltula Houses, storm Ikana Castle, infiltrate the Pirate Fortress or Deku Palace, or put on a concert at the Milk Bar, go stargazing at the Astral Observatory, take a boat tour/photo safari of the Southern Swamp, or bet on doggy races at Romani Ranch. The alien invasion in the OP is always a must-play; same with reuniting Kafei and Anju, or resolving the town hall debate, or stopping the bomb thief, or teaching the sisters how to dance, or parading around with puppies and chicks, or completing the Business Scrub/Land Title Deed trading sequence. So much stuff to do... and now they're adding fishing, at not one but TWO holes. Curious to see the sea monsters you can catch, as hinted at by Aonuma.
 

GraveHorizon

poop meter feature creep
I agree with giving new players general advice on how to play a game as complex as Majora's Mask for the first time, but telling them how to do everything specifically goes against the feel of discovery they get from figuring out certain things on their own. Like the while moon bit; telling people that the moon is going to fall at the end of the 3rd day is basic stuff that everyone should and probably will find out on their own anyway, but saying outright that
it doesn't really matter for the player and there aren't any real consequences for letting it fall
takes away from the impact of the whole scenario. One of the parts that makes MM so great is the characters and their reactions to their tragic situation, and saying something like that might remove a new player from immersion in the world if they see it as just another thing that can happen rather than a big fuc*ing deal. That's just how I feel about it.

I do think it's a 100% terrible idea to force the Song of Inverted Time on players. If you have a problem with agreeing to hear more information from an NPC about an integral gameplay mechanic that may or may not assist you on your adventure
in a role-playing game explicitly about gaining new abilities, maybe you're too stupid to play a Legend of Zelda game. Fuc* hand holding.
 

Yonafunu

Member
This thread was a good idea to enforce some basic concepts, bi it has turned into spoiler land.

Strategies, where to get rupees, what to do and in what order, the reverse song of time and song of double time, all this should be experieced unspoiled :/

I agree. We should just have a Majora's Mask advice thread where people can ask questions is they get stuck or something, but this is too much. There's really no need to tell them everything outright. Not knowing what the hell to do and running around panicking that First Day is such a big part of the experience, it's a real shame to see people spoiling it.

Just saying something like "talk to every NPC always" should be enough to get people to find the Inverted Song of Time themselves.
 

Neiteio

Member
I agree. We should just have a Majora's Mask advice thread where people can ask questions is they get stuck or something, but this is too much. There's really no need to tell them everything outright. Not knowing what the hell to do and running around panicking that First Day is such a big part of the experience, it's a real shame to see people spoiling it.

Just saying something like "talk to every NPC always" should be enough to get people to find the Inverted Song of Time themselves.
That purist approach will just cause history to repeat itself. Going in blind, people may get frustrated and quit early on, swearing off MM as the worst Zelda.

This thread (the OP, at least) provides some core information that an easily flustered player will miss (unless they've made it much more obvious in the 3DS version). I also touch on the Romani Ranch quest, as an example, but it's not like I give explicit details on what needs to be done.

My hope is this thread will equip people with the knowledge necessary to thrive within the three-day cycle and see MM for the amazing game it really is. :)
 

Yonafunu

Member
That purist approach will just cause history to repeat itself. Going in blind, people may get frustrated and quit early on, swearing off MM as the worst Zelda.

This thread (the OP, at least) provides some core information that an easily flustered player will miss (unless they've made it much more obvious in the 3DS version). I also touch on the Romani Ranch quest, as an example, but it's not like I give explicit details on what needs to be done.

My hope is this thread will equip people with the knowledge necessary to thrive within the three-day cycle and see MM for the amazing game it really is. :)

I don't have any problems with the OP, it's great for putting people at ease and having some clarity about the 3-day system. But some of the rest of the posts outright tell you how to get masks and what to do on the first day, while figuring those things out yourself is such a big part of the experience, imo.

I really think that everyone who gets through the first day on their own will be able to get through the rest of the game without any problems, especially with everything you explained in the OP. Some of the other posts just go overboard. I get that we want people to play the game, but there'll be plenty of help in the game itself, I'm sure.
 
Top Bottom