I think the ihateghirahim (I enjoy reading your posts) post was aimed at me, I did the first MM vote yesturday. I was going to write up a small post afterwards but had to go out.
I understand MM's story and style completely but it doesn't mean I have to like it. I enjoy AoL yet it gets hammered on here, we all have our own preferences.
Spoilers ahead.
I recently tried another playthrough of MM to get into it as it seems to be so popular on here but I can never get into it and enjoy it, I've lost interest in the game again just after learning the song to get into the Great Bay Temple.
As far as playing goes the main problem for me has always been the three day cycle, it makes me rushed so I lose the freedom that I enjoy so much in other Zelda games. When I play Zelda games I like to take my time and roam around freely looking for secrets, with the three day cycle I feel rushed to complete the temples and clear certain areas (eg like collecting eggs in the Pirates Fortress and in the underwater caves at Pinnacle Rock). If these aren't done before three days are finished you have to do the whole thing again, on my first playthrough of MM I had to repeat some sections several times because I didn't know the size and scale of the tasks until I got too far involved. I found this repetition frustrating and tedious.
I lost count on how many cycles I went through to complete the Kafei and Anju sidequest.
I found the three day cycle was like trying to pick a combination lock, you had to talk to people or complete a task at a certains time on a particular day or night. For me this meant endless waiting around in certain areas for someone to come along or for something to happen, I don't know how many hours I spent waiting around or looking in areas only for nothing to happen.
These issues aren't a problem on your second playthrough or if you've decided to use a walkthrough but by then you already know what to expect so there is no surprise or sense of achievement.
Another thing I didn't like with the three day cycle was once you've saved and returned to the first day everything is reset, I felt like I lost a sense of achievement everytime a side quest was reset or if an area was returned to it's previous state (eg Southern Swamp returning to it's poisonous state. Also we lose items like arrows and bombs etc that need to be recollected before we continue on.
Here are some other things that put me off MM:
- The game is too heavily side quest focussed for me, I've always been a fan of a long mainquest with lots of dungeons.
- MM only had four temples with Stone Tower Temple being the only one I enjoyed. I found Woodfall and Snowhead a bit boring and the controls while being a Zora were very fiddly in the Great Bay Temple.
There was also no big finale temple or castle before you got to have a scrap with Majora. Instead you just waited for time to pass by before climbing up clock tower and confronting Majora, that felt anti climatic to me.
- Items collected in the temples. One of the things I love in Zelda is collecting a new item in each dungeon, it's like getting a new toy but in MM they spoiled it by putting the three arrows in the Snowhead/Great Bay and Stone Tower Temples. As soon as I got the fire arrows in Snowhead I knew what to expect in the next temples.
- I loved Epona in Oot but her use in MM was weird. She was part of an emotional opening to MM and was kind of stolen (despite being told in Oot that she won't let anyone near her unless you call her with Eponas song). After you've been turned into a Deku you chase after her which for me set the tone of the game, I was desperate to get her back off the skull kid but in the end she's found locked in stables with a girl who somehow knows her song.......what?? (maybe someone here can clear this up for me.)
Apart from using her to get into Great Bay I didn't really have a proper use for her, we had the Bunny Hood, Warp song and Gorons Mask which were other ways to travel.
- Collecting masks instead of items. I didn't enjoy collecting bulk masks instead of items, they just weren't my thing.
- My favorite all time Zelda item is the mirror shield but the horrible face that was on it in MM ruined it for me.
Those are my thoughts, I have respect for MM and it has a strong following here plus theres Operation Moonfall, it's just not my thing.
I like Darkest Links sig and it sums it up well "Welcome to the internet, where stating your opinion is a declaration of war."