So it’s clear that I am a fan of the Zelda games, since I have had them in my possession ever since I was a young kid. But one that I had not played until much later in life was the classic N64 title that is a sequel to the even more classic Ocarina of Time, and that is known as Majora’s Mask, known by many for being utterly horrifying.
Majora’s Mask, taking place after Ocarina of Time, sees Link in a new land called Termina, where he is searching for the mysterious Skull Kid who is planning to drop the moon onto the town in three days time, giving Link a very limited amount of time to stop him. Just from the title screen alone ,you can feel the dread and more brooding atmosphere of this game. And that atmosphere can be felt all throughout the game. Sure, there’s that classic Zelda charm like the odd characters and whimsical music, but then you are hit with these much darker themes, like people trying to deal with the end of the world, death, and fucking dead kids as far as the internet is considered about this game. Some of the new features of Majora’s Mask is the three day time limit. You have three days to get all the items needed before the moon crashes into the earth, which kind of makes Majora’s Mask a shorter game than Ocarina of Time, what with there only being four dungeons. But the feeling of having to complete them, do the sidequests, and collect all the masks, really makes you feel that moon breathing down your neck. It doesn’t help that the moon is right there, all the time, looking down at you from the sky. And the other feature is the masks, which give you different skills depending on which one you wear. There’s the Bomb Mask, which turns Link into a bomb. The Bunny Hood, which makes Link go real fast. The Stone Mask, which makes Link invisible if he wears it. And my favorite, the Chicken Mask, because he does a stupid little dance. But the other masks you get in the main story, like the Deku Mask, Zora Mask and Goron Mask, turn Link into different characters, each with their own unique abilities. The Deku can hop across water and glide, the Zora can swim and throw projectiles, and the Goron can punch and roll around at fast speeds. And if you do collect all the masks, you’ll be able to get the Fierce Deity Mask, which turns all bosses in this game into complete chumps. And then there’s the villain, Majora, who is genuinely terrifying in this game. I already talked about this dumb mask in detail numerous times before, so I won’t bore you here again. But damn, is this a fucked up villain to have for an E rated game. I love it.
Majora’s Mask, to me, wasn’t all that scary. Disturbing and very melancholy, but never scary. But I can see how someone would get scared of it. But regardless, this was truly an interesting game for me to try out. I loved the sidequests, the new mechanics, and the story, and how it felt so… unlike Ocarina of Time. And it’s that atmosphere and new mechanics that make me like it more than Ocarina of Time. And no, I will not apologize for that blasphemy.