4/5 ★ – Tomcar's review of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D.

I didn’t appreciate this game much when I was younger. The time limit was daunting to me, the focus on side quests and characters made it seem like a smaller scale adventure than the Zelda games I was used to at the time, those being Ocarina of Time, the Wind Waker, and Twilight Princess. Coming back to this game as a 30 year old with more patience, and an appreciation for smaller scale character focused stories rather than sweeping epics gave me an appreciation for this game that I lacked before. Theres not much I can say about this game that hasn’t already been said in the 24 years since this game came out. It was initially viewed as a black sheep in the series, despite excellent reviews. Over time it developed a cult following which grew into a larger fan base. Now it’s widely considered one of the greatest Zelda games of all time, and I finally understand why. The plot involves a somber, introspective link, riding with his head down through a dark forest, navigating the traumatic events of Ocarina of Time, and trying to find his dear companion, Navi. Along the way he is ambushed by the Skull Kid, now wearing the titular Majoras Mask. This Mask turned skull kid from the mischievous imp we met in ocarina of time, to something far more wicked. These events lead link down a literal rabbit hole into the alternate dimension of Termina. Here he teams up with another fairy, and sets on his way to get back to hyrule, and rescue termina from imminent doom via Moon Crash. The best part of Majoras Mask is the world of Termina itself, and its inhabitants. Where Hyrule in Ocarina of Time reveled in its traditional fantasy aesthetic, Termina is goes for something much more visually interesting. The color pallet is darker than that of Hyrule, and the town is filled with strange structures. Termina field is considerably smaller than Hyrule field, which makes getting to its 4 connecting regions a breeze. Each region houses a dungeon, and while there are only 4 of them, there are usually a few steps you need to take before you can access them, including some mini dungeons. Honestly I wasn’t a huge fan of the dungeons here. Wood-fall Temple and the Stone Tower are good, and Stone tower involves a fun mechanic where link can invert the dungeon. Unfortunately the great bay temple and snow head temple are tedious romps that involve a lot of back tracking. The mini dungeons also vary wildly in quality. The core boss fights were all solid, and make efficient use of links four transformations. Thats typical Zelda fair of course, but what isn’t is Majoras Mask’s focus on its side quests and characters. Most of Terminas inhabitants need assistance with one thing or another, and helping them gives you some of the best writing and character moments seen yet in the Zelda series. They range from reuniting lost lovers, to curing a father of a curse so he can hug is child again, to finding a woman’s lost son, or saving a families Ranch and cattle from aliens. Many of these quests are interconnected, and require you to complete specific actions at specific times of day. While this was overwhelming for me as a kid, the 3ds version, which is the version I played, greatly enhances the functionality of the bombers note book. It makes it easier than ever to keep track of where you are in a quest, and what steps you still need to take. Simplifying this further are variations of the song of time, the song itself is required to return to the start of the first day before the moon falls, but these variations allow you to fast forward to specific times of the 3 day cycle, and slow down time. The soundtrack matches the same pleasant with uneasy undertones aesthetic that the visuals achieve. The them to clock town changes over the 3 day cycle, signifying the urgency of the situation, and your dwindling time. This is a brief overview and there are many additional things I liked about the game that I glossed over here. Suffice it to say, I really appreciate this game now, and I hope we get another similarly weird and character focused Zelda title some time soon.