You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you? Let's Play Majora's Mask!

Speaking of fraud, the bank outright encourages it. This is not the time paradox some people have painted it as; remember, the banker stamps your forehead with his special ink every time you make a deposit, and that ink remains even when you go back in time. This allows you to con the bank into allowing you to withdraw rupees in a completely different time stream in future cycles. This will probably lead to the devastating crash of the bank and a complete destabilization of Clock Town’s economy, but it still beats getting annihilated by a falling Moon. So defraud away, and earn valuable prizes while you’re at it.



At night, Mr. Guru-Guru (the windmill/Song of Storms guy), who in this reality is the Band Leader for the Gorman troupe, can be found practicing near the Laundry Pool on the first and second nights.



All you need to bring Guru-Guru peace is listen to his story, as follows.




Mask count: 04/24

The Bremen Mask has a strong effect on the weak-minded. If you press the B button while wearing it, you can March, and while marching, small animals like dogs (and other things…) will follow you.



Now… back away slowly…



You can test out the Bremen Mask with the dog in South Clock Town, but its real use won’t be available for a ways yet.




The Rosa Sisters, two other members of Gorman’s troupe, can be found practicing new moves in West Clock Town on the first and second nights. They do not take kindly to interruptions. During the day they spend their time in the Stock Pot Inn, pacing back and forth and trying to dream up a really dynamite dance.





Also in West Clock Town is the Postman’s quarters. The Postman is rarely in, as he dutifully delivers mail right up until the end of the world, but you can find him here training at nights. He’s trying to count to ten seconds precisely without looking at a clock, and invites you to participate.



This is absurdly hard. You have to hit A after 10.00 seconds on the dot. A hundredth of a second in either direction counts as a failure. There is a cheating method for this, but it’s not available to us yet.



The Postman is a bit unusual in that his Majora’s Mask depiction is more enduring than his Ocarina one. (See Twilight Princess, where the Postman is a dead ringer for him.) If you look very closely at his hat, though, you can see a tiny bunny drawn on it…

If you follow the Postman around all day, you can actually see him deliver letters to people, and annoy them with his literal-mindedness. Is he being deliberately obfuscating or just stupid? With the Postman, it’s impossible to tell.

Just after midnight on the first day, in North Clock Town, Sakon the Thief will make an attempt at robbing the old woman from the Bomb Shop as she makes a delivery. Deku Blondie can observe the robbery but can do nothing to stop it, but regular Blondie has options. If he gives Sakon a taste of his Kokiri Sword, Sakon will drop the bag and go to ground for the rest of the cycle. If Blondie shoots Sakon with an arrow, though… it fucking kills him. This is the only time in the entire series that Blondie can kill a named, non-boss NPC, and it comes back to haunt him: Not only does killing Sakon prevent you from receiving the rewards for this quest, it locks off a bunch of others until you rewind the cycle and revive him.

Believe it or not, it’s actually required to let Sakon go through with the robbery if you want to take a few other subquests to completion, including Kafei/Anju. And not in the “you’re not psychic, so screw you” video game sense, either — it actually makes sense within the story why Sakon’s failure here would prevent those other subplots from occurring.




Mask count: 05/24

At any rate, the old woman will give us the Blast Mask and her Happy Sticker for saving her. The Blast Mask essentially gives you unlimited bombs; it replaces Blondie’s sword with an “Explode” command. This damages Blondie, but you can prevent the damage (from his face exploding?) by raising your shield.



Like so. As bombs are among the many items that don’t go back in time, the Blast Mask is more useful most of the time. The only thing real bombs have on it is that they can be thrown.



In the Stock Pot Inn, at night, you encounter this… individual. He needs paper. Very badly.




If you oblige him, with any form of Deed or Letter…




Heart Piece count: 05/52

??? will grant you a Heart Piece and notebook approval.

Believe it or not, ??? actually recurs in one of the Oracle games.





Now that we’re all badass and have a sword, the guards don’t have any compunctions about letting us through the gates. (Try waiting until the third day to leave through the gates.)



Compared to Hyrule Field, Termina Field plays small.

You’ll sometimes hear baseball players say that a particular park “plays small”. Usually you’ll know whether a park is a hitter’s park because of its dimensions; the closer the fences, the easier home runs (and thus scoring) is. Sometimes, though, you’ll have a park that doesn’t seem like it would lend itself well to scoring — its fences aren’t any closer than any other place — but it plays as a hitter’s park just the same. Such parks may not actually be small, but they play small.

Termina Field plays small. I don’t know that it’s actually any smaller than Hyrule Field, and it’s certainly more densely populated — Hyrule Field was basically just a hub, while Termina Field has enemies, hidden caves, and even NPCs. But if you talk to people who played Ocarina when it first came out they’ll talk about how vast and expansive Hyrule Field felt. It was impossible to walk out onto Hyrule Field for the first time and not be awed by its sheer scale. Meanwhile Termina Field feels very closed and claustrophobic.

I think this is very much intentional. Ocarina was trying to create the impression of embarking on a grand, epic quest spanning one end of the world to the other. In your journey to defeat evil, you traveled over mountains, under water, across deserts, and even through time, and that journey was represented by the great distance you traveled.

Majora’s Mask, on the other hand, is trying to create an environment of fear. You cannot escape. No matter how far you run, the game is saying, it won’t be far enough. You can see the Moon from almost anywhere in the world. After Ganondorf takes over Hyrule in Ocarina, the inhabitants of Hyrule Castle Town relocate to Kakariko, which is right next door. This is presented unironically and without comment. When Clock Town’s denizens flee to Romani Ranch to escape the falling moon, which is further in terms of steps, the player is made to understand just how small and hopeless their flight really is. How absurd it is that they thought it would save them. This isn’t going to help them, the game is saying. Only you can do that…



Anyway, terror or no, there are a few things to collect out here. First up is the Peahat Pit, located a bit to the northeast of Romani Ranch’s entrance. It contains the only Peahat in the game. They were all over the place in Ocarina, but there it was always better to flee than fight. No choice here, though. If you get caught in the Peahat’s rotating blades, it’ll shred you before you can blink, so keep moving and try to keep the monster’s weak spot directly in front of you. It’s a tough fight, as it’ll take 10-12 hits from a Kokiri Sword to bring it down, but winning…

Heart Piece count: 06/52

Generates a Heart Piece.



Next up is the Business Scrub we spotted through the telescope earlier. He’s retreated to his hidden storage room, and is willing to bribe you with a Heart Piece to keep it secret.





Heart Piece count: 07/52

He starts out at 150 rupees, but turn him down and he’ll lower it to 100. That’s as low as he’ll go; it’s take it or leave it at that point. Me, I always take it.



If you’ve got any leftover cash after that, you can use it to buy the Bigger Bomb Bag. This isn’t really necessary as long as you’ve got the Blast Mask, but I’ll grab it for completion’s sake. If you don’t save the old lady on the first night, this ends up in the Curiosity Shop (read: pawn shop) instead.



Welp, I’m mostly out of things to do in Clock Town for now. I think I’ll head south to the swamp next time, but I’ll want a fresh cycle when I do so. So with that in mind…



Next time: Actual plot!

This is the exact point where I realized what this game was about, and hence, fell in love with it.

Me and my brother always called Sakon "the Bacon Man" because his name is just as hilarious as his running animation. And we may have thought Kevin Bacon had the coolest last name ever.

You're doing a really good job of painting a picture of Termina's plight and Blondie's as well. I never stopped to consider how fruitless some of his actions were on the small scale as I was always so focused on cramming as much progress into one day as possible. Reading this LP has made me want to fire up the game again and go for a 100% completion just to see all of the NPCs stories again.

At the cost of maintaining the presence of the game's most important mechanic. The dungeons would feel entirely divorced from the rest of the game without the periodic earthquakes and reminders of the encroaching universal peril; as it is, they feel like part of the same consistent world. Which is good.


Like Tanto said, you can still skip like half a dungeon (and sometimes nearly all of it) the second time through if you at least got the item there.


I had no idea this scene existed. I love this game.


There were only a couple in Ocarina, but every other NPC in this game has some little noise they make when you talk to them. It's subtle, but it really adds some crucial insight into each person's personality and character (as well as their, uh...intentions).


You know, without this kind of perspective, it's easy to forget that Great Fairies are gigantic.


Literary reference get.


Because, as you ascertain later (but I don't think I'm spoiling anything), that's where Sakon sells off his stolen goods. Cause and effect!

Holy shit the Happy Mask Salesman's angry face

Extremely small price to pay considering the alternative is players quitting the game because they weren't able to solve the dungeons inside of the time limit. Generally speaking, I'm in terms of making concessions towards players not quitting out of frustration.

If you can't even get the Fire Arrows within three hours, I just don't know, man.

Yes, your disparagement of people who aren't as good at video games as you are is well documented.

Why do people complain about the Water Temples in these games?

Sheesh. Next you're going to tell me Twilight Princess' 'Water Temple' was the worst thing in the game too.

There's a major difference between "not as good as me" and "cannot perform normal tasks (within three hours)."

God, could you two please just have sex and get it over with? ^_~

That was what, the second or third one in? It wasn't too bad actually, there wasn't too much water level bullshit, but I got unbelievable food poisoning from some food I ate when I was playing it so I'm gonna go ahead and say it sucks on principle.

What makes you think we're not?

I see what you did there

I love the concept of the bomb mask.

"Hmm, I need to break this wall...I know! I'll blow up my face!"

It would be great if anyone reacts to you wearing it, but I don't remember if any do.


Did the mask salesman remember the time loop, or did he just send Blondie to get it only to have him waltz right back in?

It's never established IIRC, so the latter is assumed.

Sweet Jeebus!

I don't think I've ever been more terrified of anything in a Zelda game.

I thought Tanto DId a good job of cutting thosE screens, but that's just me being oDd.

Yes, this is exactly where I wanted this thread to end up when I started it.

Brickroad: I'm all for making games accessible to the widest audience they can manage; more than most people. But at some point you have to draw the line and say "yes, not everyone will like this, but we need to do it this way to make the game we want to make." Yes, "some people" don't like playing under a time limit... but "some people" don't like puzzles. "Some people" don't like combat. "Some people" don't like exploration. "Some people" don't like 3-D games in general. "Some people" turn up their noses at games without multiplayer. You cannot make a game that satisfies all of these "some people".

I'm willing to draw the line at "some people can't solve half a dungeon in three hours", personally.

WHAT

HOW DID I NOT KNOW THAT?!

LET ME JUST SAY ONE THING, AND THEN I'LL SHUT UP, I PROMISE

I don't think the problem is that the dungeons are too hard...far from it, I would be bothered if Zelda dungeons were dumbed down...but the punishment for failing is too great. As personally and admittedly idiotic as I am when I step into a Zelda dungeon, fumbling like a clumsy child in a dark forest, I have still played and beaten every console Zelda since LttP and every handheld one except for the DS ones. Because the games and I have a promise. If I bang my head against a dungeon for long enough, I will beat it. No matter how many laps I run through its floors trying to figure out what the hell I'm supposed to do, the light bulb will eventually come on over my head.

But when there exists a chance that I will run out of time, the whole rhythm of the situation changes. Now, every time I'm stumped, it's not a matter of just having to take my time and explore some more and think things through, it's a matter of falling behind in a race against time. And it's agonizing, as I scramble around, and can tell that I'm making progress, but knowing that because of something that I've since figured out, I've fallen too far behind to really pull through. So, even though I'm at the boss, I realize I just don't quite have enough time to reliably be able to finish things off, so I have to cut my losses and play the damn song to turn back time just so something will be salvaged. This is very demoralizing!

And yeah, you still have the item, but though you might not be able to relate to having so much trouble with a mere Zelda dungeon, still try to understand that having to spend even an hour or so redoing three hours' worth of progress is an absolutely infuriating thing for a game to do (and my initial path through the dungeon was so ass-backwards and spastic, it's not likely I'll breeze through it in a familiar and efficient way on my return). For comparison, Donkey Kong Country Returns killed me constantly, but I still beat the whole game, beat all the secret levels, and beat mirror mode, because...for however many times I died?...I was only ever sent back a minute or two in the level. But a Zelda dungeon...even half a Zelda dungeon...is an unfair amount to send someone back.

I mean, come on; more than one person in this thread alone gave up on the game because of this, while still having mostly fond memories of it and freely admitting the game's many virtues. So, again, while you may not understand how people could have this problem, they did, I did, and I don't think anyone would have felt the game dumbed down or diminished if the makers had just let dungeon progress stay as it was when you reset time. Dungeons are so partitioned off from the living, breathing world of Termina that I don't think it would hurt the illusion of time passing outside, and they already kinda mess with it by leaving boss shortcuts after you beat 'em anyway.

Anyway, again, sorry, this is your LP, I just wanted to give my perspective. I have no more defense for my woeful Zelda failings aside from what I just said, so should anyone retort my argument, I freely surrender in advance so as to avoid any more distracting arguments.

I'd say Majora's Mask wasn't made to be like the traditional Zelda game. It can't appeal to everyone, you know. The bad thing is that a lot of the people it doesn't appeal to are the traditional Zelda fanbase, which is why it's so contreversial.

The dungeons in MM definitely could have been handled better. Picking up the item is a decent mid-point but you lose one key thing if you do warp back, faeries. God I hate those things so much. I'd be perfectly okay with drawing the line at 3 hours to get the item if you didn't lose faeries when you warped back. Having to almost redo the entire dungeon is a hassle and really kills the momentum. You don't need all of the rewards but it's Majora's Mask, you could just play through to the end in about 6 hours anyway. Plus many of the rewards are really, really helpful (well except for the sword).

Hindsight being what it is I can propose 2 solutions compromises for the sake of people in tight spots.
1. Time stops in dungeons, but skips when you leave them. You have infinite time to mess around inside the dungeon, but whether you spend an hour or a second inside, you lose a fixed amount of time when you leave. This also presents a way to skip forward in time (by entering and exiting repeatedly).

2. Time travel mercy. If you are down to the wire and are forced to reset while in a dungeon, that specific dungeon remains as it was until you play the song of time again. It's pretty simple and doesn't damage the sense of inevitable doom nearly as badly as #1.

Okay guys, there's having a time limit, and then there's having a limit set way beyond what it takes to solve it. Even if you fail on your first try you can still reset time and start again, as many times as you need. Three hours to get halfway through a dungeon shouldn't be too lofty a goal to reach.

You know what, if you gave Majora's Mask an honest try and just didn't like it, that's cool. I've probably ragequit some game you love, so we're even.

What irked me was just how many people refused to even try this game, once they heard about the time limit.

Also, great LP so far! I really like how you are taking the time to point out how densely inter-connected the characters and events in Termina are.

I love love LOVE this game, and you are reminding me why.

Hey, Majora's Mask! My first Zelda!

Yeah, I was warped. But hey, it's a great game with a good focus on the horror that I didn't notice the first time I played it. Jeeze...

Also, it's nice to keep track of games again. I don't have the time to go through all of these let's plays anymore, but it's great to catch up on Majora. I still remember the FE7 Let's Play quite well.

Well, not quite- having to go through 3 hours and have only half of it- the one with the dungeon item- matter is a little jarring. It's kind of like grinding a pokemon for 1.5 hours and then losing all your progress. Or playing any roguelike ever and not being accustomed to the Lose Everything dynamic.

Why not just play the Song of Time upon getting the item, and have a whole three hours for the other half?

This was my approach to the game. As soon as I realized these little "midpoints" existed, I always reset time after I reached one, and for two reasons.

One, I wanted to have as much time as possible to explore if needs be.

Two, I hated the temp save mechanic. This was a sticking point with me because I was young and was at the whim of my parents how long I was allowed to play a game. So if I ever used a temp save, reloaded, and then had one parent decide I couldn't finish, I lost everything from that try and the previous one. The only thing more frustrating than losing progress is losing progress after you thought you had saved it.

Other than my first failing with a temp save, and one more time in the later dungeon, I never really had trouble with the three hour limit. I normally got to the next midpoint before the night of the second day and saved just to be safe.