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How to play MAJORA'S MASK
- Thread starter Neiteio
- Start date
Yeah, that was a terrible port but I played through it anyway.
that was due to the emulated game having to be procedually placed into the gamecube's limited RAM, and the crashes occured from that. Majora's Mask 3D is an enhanced port, not an emulated version so it obviously wont crash like before.
anyhow, I just made these:
feel free to use them in this thread, the MM3D OT, etc.
LegendofLex
Member
The dungeons themselves are, in a way, "outside of" the three-day system in that progress through the dungeons has nothing to do with the schedule. You don't actually need to leave and warp back--you can do them as soon as you arrive at them--but first-timers will probably find themselves needing to reset time frequently during the main quest (bearing in mind that you'll keep major items and can resume from where you left off once you reset time) instead of trying to plow through everything in a single cycle.
I don't think I've ever had to do multiple cycles during any part of the main quest on my replays, so the game's not really forcing you to abruptly drop out, drop back in. It's all down to the pace at which you can tackle the objectives, while balancing them with other timed events should you choose to do so (which is really challenging and fun).
HeisenbergLannister
Member
Probably not the best place for it, but I can't believe a Majora's Mask sequel isn't coming.
They could do an amiibo of Link wearing each mask in the game and have people kill each other over them and profit.
They could do an amiibo of Link wearing each mask in the game and have people kill each other over them and profit.
FUNKNOWN iXi
Member
Thanks for this Neiteio, can't stress enough how helpful this is for me. Changes my perception of the game and now I'm more excited to dive back into it.
I don't see this mentioned anywhere and I'm surprised this hasn't. This is important.
Deposit all of your Rupees at the Banker before making a cycle. No consumables will transfer with you after a complete cycle. You lose all of your bombs/deku nuts/etc. and that includes Rupees. However, if you deposit Rupees at the Banker you will be able to redeem them again upon making the new cycle, and depositing set amounts of Rupees nets you awards, the most early one of which is a bigger wallet.
Deposit all of your Rupees at the Banker before making a cycle. No consumables will transfer with you after a complete cycle. You lose all of your bombs/deku nuts/etc. and that includes Rupees. However, if you deposit Rupees at the Banker you will be able to redeem them again upon making the new cycle, and depositing set amounts of Rupees nets you awards, the most early one of which is a bigger wallet.
TheSlySoul
Member
I never had any issue completing a dungeon. Song of Double Time is x2 and Song of Half Time is x1/2. Use it.
Also deposit your funds before traveling back. The dude is time travel immune.
Also deposit your funds before traveling back. The dude is time travel immune.
JinjoUnchained
Member
OP, don't forget to add that once you beat a boss and get its' mask, that you can replay the boss without playing the dungeon, even after you reset time. Some quests require you to beat a dungeon to change the world, but you don't need to beat the whole dungeon if you beat the boss once. There will be a portal at the dungeon entrance that lets you go straight on to the boss.
How? I thought you needed the
How? I thought you needed the
Powder Keg to unlock Romani Ranch, which means that you need to beat Snowfall Temple at least once.
You can either do that, or
you wait until the third day for the road worker to remove the boulder.
JinjoUnchained
Member
Mind = blown. I never knew that, thanks! Probably because I thought there was no point in going to that area on the third day, if you know what I mean.
now you know
there's always a point to go to every single area at every single point of the cycle. nothing stays the same. if you missed out on that, you likely missed out on plenty more.
Astral/H3X
Member
No, the song of double time just skips forward to the next 12 hour interval.
hmmm. right.
all you need to do is finish snowhead temple, deposit your stray fairies for the reward if you have them, and then restart time.
now you're back at the start of the first day, play the reverse song of time. You now have three hours. Warp to the statue outside of snowhead temple, walk inside. Warp immediately to the boss. beat him, which should take all of ten minutes.
you then still have nearly three hours of real time to finish a silly race and buy a sword. it's not hard. that's the only two things you need the boss beaten to do, along with the frog choir thing for a heart piece that again only takes a couple of minutes.
I've played this game front to back seven times now, so here's some stuff to help.
After you turn back into Link, go get the Stray Fairy in the Laundry Pool and bring it back to the Fairy Fountain in North Clock Town again to get the Great Fairy's Mask
On Night 1 and 2 in the Laundry Pool you can get the Bremen Mask from Guru-Guru. Take this to the Romani Ranch on Day 3, go to the Chicken Pen, and march all the chicks until they grow into Cuccoos. You get the Bunny Hood for this and it's the best mask in the game. It lets you run twice as fast.
Right as soon as you turn into Link, run to East Clock Town to the front of the Sewers and take a right, run up the stairs, and jump from the edge to the top of the Octorok Shooting Gallery. Up here you can find 100 rupees. Buy a Bomb Bag at the Bomb Shop, take it down into the sewers and go left. Blow up the wall here to get another 100 rupees. By depositing 200 rupees you get the Adult Wallet, which holds 200 rupees.
On Night 1 and 2 in the Laundry Pool you can get the Bremen Mask from Guru-Guru. Take this to the Romani Ranch on Day 3, go to the Chicken Pen, and march all the chicks until they grow into Cuccoos. You get the Bunny Hood for this and it's the best mask in the game. It lets you run twice as fast.
Right as soon as you turn into Link, run to East Clock Town to the front of the Sewers and take a right, run up the stairs, and jump from the edge to the top of the Octorok Shooting Gallery. Up here you can find 100 rupees. Buy a Bomb Bag at the Bomb Shop, take it down into the sewers and go left. Blow up the wall here to get another 100 rupees. By depositing 200 rupees you get the Adult Wallet, which holds 200 rupees.
I kept mucking up because i didn't know what to do (and not knowing about extending time).
I've completed most other Zeldas but this one kept putting me off.Hopefully this version might be the one I complete.
Oh man.
I'm not having a go, but I'm absolutely astounded at how so many people played through the game without using the reverse song of time. Like, literally amazed.
I just...I don't get it. THIS is the reason why so many people complain about Majora's Mask's "time limit". It all makes sense now. fuck me.
tiny raptor
Member
What? Seriously? That's...that's brilliant! ^.^
Thanks for the great write up. I was slightly confused about how the game works myself, and though I would've figured it all out naturally just by playing it, I'm now more confident going into the game.
Yeh-it's one of those things I found out later and was like-"goddamit if only i had known."Oh man.
I'm not having a go, but I'm absolutely astounded at how so many people played through the game without using the reverse song of time. Like, literally amazed.
Does the game let you know about it and I missed it or is it something you figure out yourself?
There are two scarecrows that ell you about it. One in the observatory and one in the item shop in West Clock Town.
It's enough to make the time cycle significantly less of an issue for most people, the majority of which likely complained about the game's time system without even realizing there was a way to slow time down.
Why? It's their fault that they didn't learn the song. Not that it matters, I'd say it's likely they won't be missable seeing as they appear on the song screen this time around.
FunkyPajamas
Member
I played the game for the first time when it came as a pre-order bonus for Wind Waker on GameCube (first time I played through Ocarina of Time as well - I didn't own a Nintendo 64, nor had any friends who did). I honestly never played through because I couldn't figure out the side quests; I thought it had to be kind of like Groundhog day in that you needed to get *everything* perfect in a single three-day loop.
I also remember getting lost on my way to the dungeons (which pretty much has never happened to me on a Zelda game) so I figured I was playing it wrong and gave up.
I'm glad to read this now, thanks OP. I think I'll go fire up my GameCube again.
I also remember getting lost on my way to the dungeons (which pretty much has never happened to me on a Zelda game) so I figured I was playing it wrong and gave up.
I'm glad to read this now, thanks OP. I think I'll go fire up my GameCube again.
It was a joke, but the point is the game should make sure the player doesn't miss what is one of the most important mechanics in the game.
K
kittens
Unconfirmed Member
I can't wait to replay this. Having a controllable camera is gonna be a god send. When Zelda games don't have that they feel really claustrophobic to me.
The old woman will forever be sweeping outside her house in link to the past
And by now the witch's arms have probably fallen off after stirring that pot of potions non stop for almost 25 years.
Well put. I was one of them if I'm honest. I enjoyed it, but I wanted to go back to Hyrule immediately.
That's why I'm looking forward to this so much; I get to appreciate it all over again but with a broader palette than 13 year old me had!
TwiztidElf
Member
So it seems the reasons people don't like MM are similar to Dead Rising.
You're not even supposed to finish Dead Rising on your first playthrough. It's about exploration, learning the layout, learning item locations, learning the world and timings. Second or third playthrough are when you're supposed to finish it.
You're not even supposed to finish Dead Rising on your first playthrough. It's about exploration, learning the layout, learning item locations, learning the world and timings. Second or third playthrough are when you're supposed to finish it.
D
Deleted member 231381
Unconfirmed Member
One thing I'd like to talk about with respect to Majora's Mask is the overworld and dungeon design, how they link, and why Majora's Mask has the best overworld of any 3D Zelda and the highest quality dungeons, even if there are only 4 of them.
In Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess, large parts of dungeons are simply trivial. There's the first part of the dungeon, which introduces you to the central mechanic - the spinning centre of the Lakebed Temple in Twilight Princess, or the dimension-twisting passages the Forest Temple in Ocarina of Time. This central mechanic is introduced at first in a very easy situation, and then it gets steadily more and more complex as you progress. Eventually, you reach the miniboss, and obtain a new item. You are then exposed to challenges which test your ability to use the new item, again starting at very easy and progressing to harder. At the point you fully master them, you get to fight the boss, who normally uses the new item you acquired in some form.
This means dungeons have a weird pacing issue - the bit just before the middle is hard and the bit just before the end is hard, but they always have a lull where the new item is introduced. The second consequence of this is a spill-over consequence: new items are tested to completion within dungeons, so there's not really any point in using them in the overworld once you get out of said dungeon. The amount of times you use Twilight Princess's Spinner, for example, despite it being a really fun and interesting item, is essentially minimal outside of the Arbiter's Grounds, the dungeon it gets introduced in. After all, you know how to use the Spinner now, so introductory puzzles would be almost insulting, and complex puzzles would be wasted when they could have gone in the dungeon that is meant to be the critical test of your skills. Overworlds have a tendency to be dull and empty in both games because it isn't really apparent what they're for: any tests of your ability are reserved for dungeons.
Majora's Mask only has 4 dungeons, but it only has 4 dungeons for a reason: almost all the important items are actually given to you outside dungeons. In fact, if you look at the items given to you in dungeons, you have: the Bow, the Fire Bow, the Ice Bow and the Light Arrow; which are really just extensions of the same basic item. In Majora's Mask, the game presents you with items and transformations (which effectively are items) outside dungeons, actually in the overworld itself. You can turn into a Goron long before you enter Snowhead; you can turn into a Zora long before you enter the Great Bay Temple. More than that, the 'basic tests' of these items are established in the overworld. In order to get to Snowhead, you have to have figured out how to competently use all of the facets of the Goron transformation already. At no point in Snowhead is time wasted on a series of basic tester rooms that get you accustomed; it's simply assumed you know how to do it - and you do, because otherwise you wouldn't be there. It's the same for the other dungeons. You can't get into the Great Bay Temple without being able to use the Zora transformation really well - or you wouldn't have managed to beat the Beaver Brothers. You can't get into Woodfall without being good enough with the Deku Mask to transverse the swamp.
This has two big advantages. The first is that it makes Majora's Mask's overworld really engaging. It probably has the most genuine, non-filler content in the overworld of any Zelda game. Figuring out how to get into Snowhead, managing to navigate through the Deku swamps, figuring out the puzzles of the Ikana canyon: these are really fun and really good ways to get you accustomed to item use without even noticing you are. The real benefit, though, is that it means dungeons are hard. Majora's Mask doesn't pussyfoot around. There are basically no tester-rooms. The puzzles are complex and immediate. Because of this, the dungeons are genuinely engaging and display a level of design that the rest of the series often just dreams of - particularly looking at Wind Waker's rather bland room sequences. Woodfall Temple is probably the most satisfying initial dungeon in any Zelda game, Snowhead has a genuinely incredible interwoven design around the central pillar, the Great Bay Temple is the best water dungeon in Zelda bar none and figuring out the current puzzles is actually quite challenging, and Stone Bay Temple is just the outright best dungeon full stop in Zelda bar none: it is masterfully designed; and really pushes your limits as you try to figure out the multi-dimensionality of the dungeon.
The fact there are only four dungeons is really immaterial: there are four because the overworld is actually taking up the slack in a way it doesn't in other Zelda titles, and as a consequence Majora's Mask can have some of the best dungeons in any Zelda title.
In Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess, large parts of dungeons are simply trivial. There's the first part of the dungeon, which introduces you to the central mechanic - the spinning centre of the Lakebed Temple in Twilight Princess, or the dimension-twisting passages the Forest Temple in Ocarina of Time. This central mechanic is introduced at first in a very easy situation, and then it gets steadily more and more complex as you progress. Eventually, you reach the miniboss, and obtain a new item. You are then exposed to challenges which test your ability to use the new item, again starting at very easy and progressing to harder. At the point you fully master them, you get to fight the boss, who normally uses the new item you acquired in some form.
This means dungeons have a weird pacing issue - the bit just before the middle is hard and the bit just before the end is hard, but they always have a lull where the new item is introduced. The second consequence of this is a spill-over consequence: new items are tested to completion within dungeons, so there's not really any point in using them in the overworld once you get out of said dungeon. The amount of times you use Twilight Princess's Spinner, for example, despite it being a really fun and interesting item, is essentially minimal outside of the Arbiter's Grounds, the dungeon it gets introduced in. After all, you know how to use the Spinner now, so introductory puzzles would be almost insulting, and complex puzzles would be wasted when they could have gone in the dungeon that is meant to be the critical test of your skills. Overworlds have a tendency to be dull and empty in both games because it isn't really apparent what they're for: any tests of your ability are reserved for dungeons.
Majora's Mask only has 4 dungeons, but it only has 4 dungeons for a reason: almost all the important items are actually given to you outside dungeons. In fact, if you look at the items given to you in dungeons, you have: the Bow, the Fire Bow, the Ice Bow and the Light Arrow; which are really just extensions of the same basic item. In Majora's Mask, the game presents you with items and transformations (which effectively are items) outside dungeons, actually in the overworld itself. You can turn into a Goron long before you enter Snowhead; you can turn into a Zora long before you enter the Great Bay Temple. More than that, the 'basic tests' of these items are established in the overworld. In order to get to Snowhead, you have to have figured out how to competently use all of the facets of the Goron transformation already. At no point in Snowhead is time wasted on a series of basic tester rooms that get you accustomed; it's simply assumed you know how to do it - and you do, because otherwise you wouldn't be there. It's the same for the other dungeons. You can't get into the Great Bay Temple without being able to use the Zora transformation really well - or you wouldn't have managed to beat the Beaver Brothers. You can't get into Woodfall without being good enough with the Deku Mask to transverse the swamp.
This has two big advantages. The first is that it makes Majora's Mask's overworld really engaging. It probably has the most genuine, non-filler content in the overworld of any Zelda game. Figuring out how to get into Snowhead, managing to navigate through the Deku swamps, figuring out the puzzles of the Ikana canyon: these are really fun and really good ways to get you accustomed to item use without even noticing you are. The real benefit, though, is that it means dungeons are hard. Majora's Mask doesn't pussyfoot around. There are basically no tester-rooms. The puzzles are complex and immediate. Because of this, the dungeons are genuinely engaging and display a level of design that the rest of the series often just dreams of - particularly looking at Wind Waker's rather bland room sequences. Woodfall Temple is probably the most satisfying initial dungeon in any Zelda game, Snowhead has a genuinely incredible interwoven design around the central pillar, the Great Bay Temple is the best water dungeon in Zelda bar none and figuring out the current puzzles is actually quite challenging, and Stone Bay Temple is just the outright best dungeon full stop in Zelda bar none: it is masterfully designed; and really pushes your limits as you try to figure out the multi-dimensionality of the dungeon.
The fact there are only four dungeons is really immaterial: there are four because the overworld is actually taking up the slack in a way it doesn't in other Zelda titles, and as a consequence Majora's Mask can have some of the best dungeons in any Zelda title.
The Xtortionist
Member
Step 1: Reach Astral Observatory
Step 2: Listen to the Astral Observatory theme until the world ends
Step 2: Listen to the Astral Observatory theme until the world ends
D
Deleted member 231381
Unconfirmed Member
Yeah, this was a problem. Also, relatedly, the 30 seconds you spend chopping down grass at the start of every day to juice up your Goron Roll.
Horse-riding is the one of those things the Zelda series has never managed to get right yet.
royox
Member
themagicalkitsune
Member
I don't see this mentioned anywhere and I'm surprised this hasn't. This is important.
Deposit all of your Rupees at the Banker before making a cycle. No consumables will transfer with you after a complete cycle. You lose all of your bombs/deku nuts/etc. and that includes Rupees. However, if you deposit Rupees at the Banker you will be able to redeem them again upon making the new cycle, and depositing set amounts of Rupees nets you awards, the most early one of which is a bigger wallet.
IIRC you can kill one of the huge birds near the south swamp entrance in Termina to get 200 rupees so you can stock up fairly easily.
MasterSheen
Member
These posts are actually really helpful, thanks all. I was worried that I'd get confused in my playthrough because of a seemingly complex time control mechanic, glad it seems to be simple
it's going to be awesome when someone new to the game tries this and... he looks at the bird flying away with some of his beloved equipment
I'm not gonna win with whatever title is picked, will I?