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Retrospective: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
How do you follow up the game of the century? Ocarina of Time was a critical and commercial success, but it also made the rest of the N64's unreleased lineup look far less exciting. Nintendo had spent most of its in-house resources on one single game, which meant starting from scratch on any other major game developments. Though a Mario follow-up starring both Mario brothers was in the planning stages, Nintendo ultimately decided to table the game and instead focus squarely on a second Zelda game for N64.
In an interview with a Japanese magazine just before the release of Ocarina of Time, Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto commented that Nintendo was planning to shift gears and cut down on development time with future titles. Ocarina of Time had proven more difficult to develop than expected and drained much of NCL's development resources -- for the Zelda sequel, Miyamoto relinquished the reigns of his much-beloved series and handed the title over to two trusted disciples: Eiji Aonuma and Yoshiaki Koizumi. The idea was simple: make a new Zelda game in much the way that companies like Core or Naughty Dog could crank out multiple Tomb Raider or Crash Bandicoot games for the same console. By recycling the same game engine, camera and gameplay system, creating a new Zelda title should only take about a year, right?
Chalk it up to Nintendo's relentless desire to innovate and create new gameplay experiences, but the game originally known as Legend of Zelda: Gaiden (Sidestory) did not get released a year after Ocarina of Time. And though it looked a lot like its predecessor and used the same camera system, it played very differently as well. When it released in October 2000, Mujura no Kamen (Majora's Mask) would turn out to be the biggest departure from the Zelda series since the sidescrolling RPG gameplay of Zelda II: Link's Adventure.
The story of Majora's Mask is truly a side story, much like Link's Awakening. For starters, Zelda never "really" appears in the game and the Triforce is conspicuously absent once again. But unlike the Game Boy adventure, Majora's Mask got a firm place in the overall Zelda timeline. The game picks up right where Ocarina of Time left off:
In the land of Hyrule, there echoes a legend. A legend held dearly by the Royal Family that tells of a boy… A boy who, after battling evil and saving Hyrule, crept away from that land that had made him a legend. Done with the battles he once waged across time, he embarked on a journey. A secret and personally journey. A journey in search of a beloved and invaluable friend. A friend with whom he parted ways when he finally fulfilled his heroic destiny and took his place among legends.
The beginning of the adventure sees a young (but fairy-less) Link riding on Epona (he presumably managed to convince the good folks at Lon Lon Ranch to part with the young horse) when a strange creature accompanied by two fairies attacks him. The mask-wearing imp steals Link's coveted Ocarina and flees on Epona, dragging our hero along deep into the forest. Inspired by classic stories like Through the Looking Glass/Alice in Wonderland or The Wizard of Oz, Majora's Mask soon sends our hero into a parallel world populated by familiar and strange faces alike. Known as Termina, Majora's Mask's world is reminiscent of Hyrule in many ways, but the light world/dark world setup introduced by A Link to the Past is replaced with a much more threatening premise: the world ends after just three days. This wouldn't be so bad if Link was his own self, but his new adversary managed to turn him into a wimpy Deku child. Without his sword and shield, and only helped by his new-found fairy friend, Tatl, Deku Link sets out to explore this strange new world, turn back into his Hylian form, and save Termina from certain destruction.
As time elapses, the moon comes closer and closer to the planet. When the final countdown begins (4), it's time to start worrying.
Then it hits you: perhaps I should've hurried a bit more. And then it really hits you!
Majora's Mask features vintage Legend of Zelda gameplay, including all the swordplay, boomerang throwing and clever puzzles introduced into the 3D realm by Ocarina of Time. But as much as the control resembles the predecessor, 30 minutes into the game you realize that Majora's Mask is a very different experience. First, there is a sense of urgency that wasn't present in any of the previous Zelda games. Like in Ocarina of Time, time passes as you explore the overworld -- but each minute truly counts in Termina. If you don't save someone on the first day, it may be too late on the next. There are no time-outs in Majora's Mask. After 72 (game time) hours, the world ends because an evil, grinning moon crashes into the planet. No ifs and buts. Okay… There is of course Link's compact time machine: the Ocarina. But Link can't jump back and forth to any moment in time. He can only jump backwards to the first day of his adventure, which means pretty much everything he accomplished since then is effectively reset. How do you stop the world from ending when there is no way to explore everything in three days and if all you do becomes meaningless anyway the moment you travel back in time?
Majora's Mask masterfully tackles this question and really uses the passage of time as a puzzle element like few games before it. It's about when you do what, and what you bring back from the future. Tools and artifacts once again open up new ways and options, but it's not all about items, either. Non-player characters no longer just hang around town or stay in their houses giving you basic clues -- all the people Link bumps into seem to have a life of their own. It's not just about exploring and finding hidden items anymore. It's about cause and effect.
At the heart of the game is Clocktown, a bustling town that's not by accident located at the center of the map. With its large clocktower and the large moon hanging overhead, it serves as a constant reminder that time is running out. Everything revolves around the clock -- and it's this town that really brings the game together and turns different quests into one coherent adventure. The Clocktown store doesn't have the item you need because it didn't get delivered on the previous day. The person who had the item got robbed. What do you do? Prevent the person from getting robbed, of course. Something happened to the farm last night? Do what you can to actually be there when it happens. As you talk to characters, you find out what happened in the past, and then you travel to the past to alter or influence the different storylines. It's brilliant. To help you make sense of it all, Link can get his hands on a notebook that tracks all the meaningful characters and gives you clues as to when character-related key events take place. The interaction with the Terminians isn't even necessarily part of the overall main adventure, but solving all 20 main characters' problems is the only way to guarantee the best ending.
But the addition of the notebook isn't the only major upgrade over Ocarina of Time. Using the masks concept introduced in the previous game, Link is not only able to gain new abilities but also transform himself into four new forms:
Each new character still looks somewhat like Link, but comes with a set of new abilities. Some people may feel that the transformations take away from Link's character, but there's no arguing that zipping through the waters as Zora Link (right) or rolling around the landscape as a Goron (left) isn't a much more enjoyable way to explore than walking or riding on horseback. And though Deku Link got a bit of a bad rep as his form is imposed on Link as a punishment at the outset, his helicopter ability isn't anything to scoff at.
Graphically, Majora's Mask looks a whole lot like Ocarina of Time. Even though the game requires the 4MB Expansion Pak to run, it's obvious that the Zelda engine wasn't so much limited by RAM than by fill-rate. Majora's Mask still runs in low-res (320x240) at sub-30 frames per second, but returning players will notice an increase of on-screen characters and a more complex overworld. But it looks like the added RAM is mostly used to keep track of the branching game system and the 20 key characters. As a matter of fact, in many respects Majora's Mask is graphically inferior to Ocarina of Time, mostly because of some odd texture and color scheme choices. But there is just so much diversity and the different areas blend together so organically, one can't help but be impressed. The ambient audio and sound effects are just as good as in Ocarina of Time, but the dark and moody music is actually even better. And let's not forget that Majora's Mask brings back the beloved Overworld Theme at a crucial moment in time. Turning back into Link's original form becomes all the more meaningful when you step out of the city and the memorably Zelda theme kicks in and invites you to explore the sprawling landscapes. Add to that Dolby-certified Pro-Logic surround sound separation, and you've got a game that was very much ahead of its time in terms of sound design.
Japan versus US
Since the US version of Majora's Mask was released later than the Japanese one, Nintendo had time to fix some bugs and make on major addition: the interrupt save. One of the most annoying things about Majora's Mask was the inability to save your progress without warping back in time and resetting the dungeons. For the US version, Nintendo reduced the number of available save slots to two, but added the ability to save your progress at a dungeon entrance. Ideally, Majora's Mask would let you do an "interrupt save" anywhere and anytime (while keeping the changes you made to your environment so far), but the save space required for such a feature would have been too large for the game's S-RAM chip. If Nintendo ever plans to revisit Majora's Mask -- or if it plans to create a game with a similar structure -- a more intuitive save system is a must.
Although most critics lauded the game for its originality, a few gamers reacted unfavorably to the game's convoluted save system and complicated structure. Many returning players also complained about the lack of grown-up Link -- although one could argue that the inclusion of what's commonly known as Oni Link (horribly translated as "Fierce Deity Link") at least somewhat makes up for the omission. Alas, unlocking Link's final form makes the last boss battle way too easy, so the sense of accomplishment for beating Majora's Mask isn't as high as in previous Zelda games. But the easy battle detracts very little from what's otherwise a fantastic -- and commonly underrated -- game. Majora's Mask came out too late in the N64's lifecycle. There is no doubt about that. But anyone who actually invested the time into playing through this little gem will have found a deep and rewarding game that's a far cry from other "same engine" games like Tomb Raider that simply add new environments and a few new moves.
Should you go back and play it?
Yes. Like Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask looks very dated when played back on large-screen TVs due to its low-res graphics (320x240 with anti-aliasing was not a good idea after all!), but if you want to play a Zelda game that breaks away from the traditional mold, there is no way around it: Majora's Mask is a truly great game. While there are some problems, such as logical lapses with the events, some technical glitches, and some missed opportunities when it comes to tying the story into the greater Zelda canon, you should definitely try it, if you haven't played it yet. It's also worth giving another look to if you finished it years ago.
[ 本帖最后由 记事 于 2006-8-17 08:22 编辑 ] |
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发表于 2006-8-16 22:36:50
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