Majora's Mask Majora's Mask: Your First Impression

[NickH8]

As a lot of you know Majora's Mask is the sequel to the beloved N64 game "Ocarina of Time." OoT shocked us with its unique 3D style and amazing gameplay. So the sequel must be 10 times better right? For me it wasn't...at least not at first. Here was my first impression:

So i had just bought the 2 N64 titles from the wii shop channel (I am a recent Zelda fan by the way, but I know almost everything there is to know about the series already ) Deciding t play OoT first, I played through it, nd absolutely LOVED it. So i figured Majora's Mask must be way better.
I then started MM a few days later. I watched the opening and thought it was pretty cool. But then...ZAP! You're turned into a cute little Deku Scrub by the Skull Kid. I thought, "Wow! What a twist! I wonder how the rest of the game will turn out to be!." I later made it to Clock Town. Not used to the new environment and body, and no map by the way. I was hopelessly confused. An eventually thought, "This is absolutely aweful...." So I eventually jumped into the ZDungeon site for some help, and really did get some! I found how to regain my Hylian body, and started progressing in the game, and eventually beat it. But...it didn't feel right, like there was so much more to do. And, well, there was. So I went on Zelda Dungeon once again and started my journey through a 100% complete MM playthrough. Seeing eventually all that the game had to offer that I missed, I came to love the game, and it is now one of my favorite games in the series. But enough about me. What were you guys' first impressions?

 

[Kybyrian]

I actually didn't have amazing first impressions with Majora's Mask... I found most of the game pretty much boring, and it provided me absolutely no compelling force that made me want to play it whatsoever. I think the game was good, but it took me a while to get into it. I didn't like the layout of the overworld at all, which I've said before. It was a horrible idea in my opinion, but there are many others that tend to disagree. The time limit did not leave a good first impression on me. Once you got an idea of what you were actually doing it was okay, but for someone just first picking up the game and having absolutely no idea, it was not a pleasant way to start off.

Majora's Mask did end up getting me more involved later in the game as I figured things out and started rolling through, but it's not an easy game to jump right into and enjoy to the fullest without a guide. They could have done better, but at least the first impressions didn't outline the entire game.

 

[Reaca]

The first time I played Majora's Mask, I didn't really like it. It took me until my 4th try at playing through it to really start to like it. I always wondered what to do after I got into Clock Town. I didn't know that you had to find a stray fairy, or that I had to learn the Bomber code, I didn't even know how to read the first time I tried playing it. Not even my brother, who is 6 years older than me, knew what to do. It wasn't until my 4th try at the game that I understood what to do. Then I really enjoyed the game.

 

[Ronin]

Well, I've said it many times before, but I'll go at it again. Majora's Mask introduced me into the series. I started off just playing around, not really following the story, but the more I went around the more I needed to explore. So I made my own save file and began in the Lost Woods. I was immediately aware of the gloomy atmosphere, how everything blended into a dark story that launched itself really well. I played through the cavern after becoming a Deku, with milder interest, but upon coming to the Clock Tower and meeting the HMS, it had already become an addiction. I got on any time I could, consulted various walkthroughs, and garnered a wealth of information in the objective to complete this game. Utilizing all that, I slew the four Bosses whose masks poisoned the land they dwelled in. I advanced onto Majora and brought its malice down with him, restoring Termina to its former grandeur. And this is when the emptiness set in. I had accomplished my quest, and despite any feeling of success, I decided to start it over.

 

[Seth]

Other then the 3 day cycle which took some getting use to (which I now appreciate and love), I loved it from the start. OoT was always my favorite but I really grew to love the depth of MM and it's characters and world. It is, was and always will be a very special game.

 

[Ganondork]

My first impression was actually very mixed. I began the game like all of them (but to my dismay, I played it before Ocarina of Time) and I watched the opening cutscene. I was very much into everything. I began to see the three-day mechanic, and something horrifying struck me; what if the game is just this 3-day period? I didn't think about traveling back in time, I thought they expected you to beat it in a single three-day span. This enormously discouraged me. So naturally I went through the three days. I did everything I needed to do in that single point as a Deku Scrub. And I got my hands on the Ocarina of Time, and I played the Song of Time. The words "the song echoed but nothing happened..." flashed across my screen. After two minutes of trying, the Moon crashed down on me and I died. I later realized there was no memory card in my Wii (I was using a GameCube Collector's Edition).

After realizing my dumb mistake, I put my GameCube memory card into my Wii and began again. I am still yet to complete the game, but I do really like the game. In many aspects I believe it is actually better than Ocarina of Time, though.

 

[Conor]

my first impression was basically "this game is horrible I hate it oh god what the hell why the moon, I'm turning this off" nowadays I'm marginally more mature, and am getting the hang of the game, though I'm still not very good ):

 

[darunia]

I really was not that impressed with the game at first.
I was not that crazy about the 3 days to win the game.
And the fact there was no Ganon.
But as time went on and i played it more i realised just how good the game was.

Although the game was small compared to OoT it was much harder.
Firstly getting the heart pieces was much tougher and there where far more to collect.
There where 52 pieces in total to collect and a certain piece you can only get when you have a certain amount as a man will not let you get it until you have that amount.

I thought that was a huge plus point having to get so many quarters yourself and not from full heart containers.
The levels where also harder that id seen before and the addition of having to collect fairies 20 of them to get an extra ability i really liked.
And the music to the game really adds a lot to the game.

The music can be quite scary but it should be especially on the last day as the moon will crash into Termina.
Who says music is not important in games its hugely important and can make a poor game into a very good game.
Just imagine MM without music and see if you like it as much.

I also love the addition of masks this was a huge surprise but it turned out to be a masterstroke.
The masks played a huge part in the game they helped you get heart pieces, they helped you get past people and to certain places.

 

[Pen]

I remember when I was very, very young. I used to visit a friend of mine, and we played on her N64, sometimes we played some MM. At that point I didn't know that it was MM, I've come to that conclusion in later days. But I thought it was a fun and remarkable game.

However, when I finally got my own copy of the game and played it "for real" I really didn't like the game at all! I practically hated the game! Really! Anyway, as time passed I decided to give the game yet another chance. This time I came a wee bit further into the game, and I did start to like it just a little more. But I pushed myself through the first half of the game, after that I was completely addicted to it! I had to finnish the game! So from that day onwards, MM has been one of my absolute favorite games of all time.

Even though I've only played through the game once, I did get to know it pretty well (through all the struggling). I'm actually planning on playing the game again soon, and that time I'm gonna enjoy it from the very beginning!

 

[Tony]

My first impression was also very mixed. I watched the opening cut scene and got very excited and when I got turned into Deku Link I freaked out because I just wanted to be normal Link again. Once I got done talking to the Happy Mask Salesman and had to collect the two fairies in Clock Town I got immersed in the game and played for about two hours just wandering around. The time limit was a little frustrating at first but I got used to it quick. I didn't really get obsessed with it until I adventured my way down to north Termina and saw the huge Dodongos roaming the turf. I started fighting then and died time after time. After that I said screw it and went to Woodfall I didn't really like Woodfall and found it boring. That's all I can really recall at the moment but it was quite mixed.

 

[Majora's Cat]

At first glance, I thought the game was mediocre. I actually played Majora’s Mask before Ocarina of Time, and I dived into the game with a certain mindset: Majora’s Mask is just an appetizer and Ocarina of Time is the main course. But after completing the game, I soon began to eat my own words. Ocarina of Time would have to have been one hell of a game to top my experience with Majora’s Mask, but it never quite met my expectations. After all, MM had already set the bar so high for me it was very difficult for me to play through the first three Dungeons of OoT solely because of how slow the pace was at in the first portion of the game.

Getting back on track, the opening of the game wasn’t overwhelmingly impressive. Having not played Ocarina of Time, I felt like I was missing some prior information I could’ve attained from playing through OoT first. Having no knowledge of Majora’s Mask’s predecessor, I was a bit confused during the opening scene when Link is riding Epona and is assaulted by the Skull Kid. But after the mysterious opening to the game had concluded, I found myself circled by a world full of wonder and majesty. Clock Town was pretty awe-inspiring, since I had never seen so much content and activity in a single area of a Zelda game until Clock Town. Still feeling a bit puzzled, I began to play through the beginning of the game with ease, and when I reached the Skull Kid I was a bit flabbergasted. Had I really reached the final boss so quickly? No, there had to be some sort of trick there – and indeed there was.

One can only imagine the grin that crept across my face when the premise of the Three Day mechanic finally fell into place for me. The idea of the Ocarina of Time turning time back to the First Day was absolute genius, and my jaw dropped to the floor as I traveled back in time to the beginning of the First Day. There were (of course) 72 hours until the Moon crashes in Termina and obliterates the land and all its inhabitants. I was now really excited to play through the game, knowing that I had finally gotten into the swing of things and understood how the game worked. My first impression of the game wasn’t so great, and my mindset “OoT is better” did lower my expectations of the game. But I’m really glad I lowered my own expectations because MM really blew me away. (Shown below is what I looked like when I my eyes first graced MM's Clock Town)

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MM was really an experience that I enjoyed more and more as I progressed through the game. Each upgrade, mask or Piece of Heart that I obtained only made the experience more thrilling. Needless to say, I was completely addicted. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask is perhaps one of the greatest paradigms of how and why your first impression of a game means absolutely nothing.

 

[Ventus]

My first impression of MM was extremely negative. I've not much to say as I don't really REMEMBER said first experience, but I do remember that playing as a Deku was terrible. I couldn't get out of that form, and eventually met Final Day. Having ragequit, I never played MM seriously until years later where I got a better grasp of the concepts.

 

[Hylian Knight]

I loved this game.

The time limit is rather annoying but once I realized just play the Song of Time and everything is back to day 1 I got used to the time limit knowing that truly that there is no actual time limit so I got to explore a lot more. While I was disappointed in the fact that there aren't many dungeons the difficulty of them I think makes up for lack of more dungeons. There is alot to explore knowing that just about anything can lead to getting another mask or Heart Container or even talking to someone leading to trying to do that person's Bomber Notebook Entry. I really liked the soundtrack for this game I found it unique compared to other games before and much better than OoT's as I have more MM in my head than OoT BGMs and OoT was my 1st LoZ game. I'm 1 not to typically care about graphics but MM was better than OoT only because of the Expansion Pak.

Other Topics of MM:

1. The Moon what was Nintendo thinking I had nightmares after seeing the Moon. 2. Tingle my first impression was the Nintendo was showing some gay pride(not trying to offend anyone) once I got past that and eventually found out he's a map salesmen I thought he's not so bad as maps of each area are important. Although I still creeped out every time he laughs when you talk to him again after going back to the 1st Day. 3. and the host of other weird characters in MM such as Kamaro and ???(Toilet Guy).

 

[lithanium]

my first impression:

After i went thru the door(before i met happy mask dude), i had no idea wut deku flowers were, so i ragequit..

i tried again, and made it to the first temple. the time limit put sooooo much pressure on me, i ragequit.

then i actually did it and it is still my favorite zelda game of all time