Game Review--The Legend Of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D (3DS)

"The mask that was stolen from me... It is called Majora's Mask.  It is an accursed item from legend that is said to have been used by an ancient tribe in its hexing rituals."
--Mask salesman, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D


Another grand Zelda adventure ported to the 3DS, Majora's Mask 3D injects a higher degree of urgency into the gameplay than any other entry in the series--if you don't use the ocarina of time to go back to the beginning of a three day period before it ends, the moon will literally crash into the game's central hub city.  Majora's Mask is a particularly unique game even among the many great offerings in the franchise, and this portable, graphically-updated version is the optimal way to experience it!

Production Values

The colors are very bold and bright, and, despite some blurry textures, the characters and the world they inhabit are generally beautiful, considering that this is a remastered version of a Nintendo 64 game ported to a handheld!  In fact, the visuals seem to have improved significantly from Ocarina of Time 3D.  The game engine runs smoothly for the most part, as the frame rate only drops in select situations.  Complementing the graphics, the audio is great: sounds are clear and easily heard.


Gameplay

For the first time, the original Majora's Mask introduced a three day time mechanic, and this system is fully retained in Majora's Mask 3D (most of the game revolves around it), with each hour for an in-universe day scaled to a minute in the real world.  You must reset the timeline before the moon falls to the ground, and, though some items--whatever quantity of bombs, rupees, or arrows you have, for instance--will be lost at the beginning of each three day cycle, items like masks, weapons, and pieces of heart are kept.

The things you can do are very diverse: you can enter a horse race, swim, fish, complete fetch quests, defend a farm from an alien invasion, clear out temples, and solve a variety of optional puzzles all throughout the land, to list just some of the activities.  Sometimes you might not even realize the quest you are doing is necessary to beat the game until you receive the reward and learn its function is actually integral to entering a new area.  In the process of completing the main story, Link finds equipment like a mirror shield and ice arrows that help him make more progress.  Using these weapons and devices can be a lot of fun!

Though there are many masks that do not result in such changes, each of the three primary masks you obtain transform Link into a non-human creature: a Deku, a Goron, and a Zora respectively.  Along with the transformations come additional abilities.  Deku Link can run on water for a limited time and blow magic bubbles, Goron Link has great strength and can cross some distances very quickly in a rolling form, and Zora Link can breathe underwater indefinitely and engage in a magic-fueled swimming attack.  All of these abilities are needed to progress to the end of the main story.

Story

Spoilers!

Majora's Mask is a sequel to Ocarina of Time [1].  The same Link, having defeated Ganondorf and liberated Hyrule, searches for a friend, only to be jumped by Skull Kid and his two faries.  Skull Kid takes Epona and the ocarina of time, Link pursuing him only to fall into a cavern, look at his reflection in a pool of water, and discover that he has transformed into a Deku (a wooden being).

Deku Link journeys to Clock Town, a city on the verge of celebrating a carnival--but the moon drops closer and closer to Clock Town as each of three days elapses.  Stealing back the ocarina from Skull Kid on the third and final night before the moon crashes, a memory of Zelda surfaces and he uses the instrument to travel back in time to the beginning of the three days.

Able to transform from a Deku into a human and vice versa, he sets out to free four spirits from corresponding temples, embarking on a mission that requires him to reset the timeline multiple times.  After cleansing all four temples, consequently releasing spirits from the bosses' masks, four giants can be summoned to grab the moon the night of the third day.  Majora's mask reveals itself to be indwelt by a malevolent spirit, and informs Link that it had been possessing Skull Kid before discarding him and detaching from his face.  Link teleports to the moon, where he defeats Majora and saves Termina.


Intellectual Content

Majora's Mask 3D is certainly not a game for the slow of mind!  Players need to not only solve sometimes complex puzzles, but also do so within the limited time remaining before the moon plummets into Termina.  This aspect adds a new layer of challenge to Zelda temples.  As with other Zelda games (and even Nintendo's other IP Metroid), the intellectual nature of the game comes not from dialogue, but from the puzzles and quests one encounters throughout the game, both mandatory and optional.  Some of the quests occur throughout each of the three days, so a good memory--and the Bomber's Notebook--is very helpful.

Conclusion

For those who love Zelda-type gameplay but have never played Majora's Mask, this portable, updated, 3D edition is an excellent option.  It presents a deep world with vibrant characters, plenty of challenges, and its own unique, self-contained approach to Zelda.  But stay aware of that clock!


Content:
1. Violence:  Link uses weapons like arrows and swords to dispatch enemies, but there is no significant violence, only mild kill animations.


[1].  https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2017/07game-review-legend-of-zelda-ocarina-of.html