The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

Opportunities for playing Majora's Mask are expanded compared to Ocarina of Time ; surviving puzzles based on the use of various weapons and music are supplemented by the use of masks, hero reincarnations and a three-day cycle time limit. As in the previous parts of the series, Link owns basic movements, such as walking, running and jumping, uses many objects to fight enemies and solve puzzles; most commonly used are a sword , shield, and bow with arrows . He owns several sword techniques and can learn new skills during the game. Link can stun enemies with Deku Nuts, and then strike with other weapons. Bombs can harm enemies and get rid of obstacles, and Hookshot (a device consisting of a handle, chain and hook) is able to cling to the enemy and drag him to Link or cling to an object and pull Link to him.

Masks and transformations

Masks, which first appeared in Ocarina of Time as an additional quest, play an important role in Majora's Mask . There were only a few masks in Ocarina of Time , and only one could be worn, while in Majora's Mask twenty-four masks were used, some of which were needed to advance the game.

Unlike previous games in the The Legend of Zelda series , here Link can optionally acquire various looks: the Deku Mask turns Link into a Deku Scrub man, the Goron Mask turns Link into a Goron, and the mask of Zora (Zora Mask) - in Zora (Zora). Each reincarnation carries special qualities.

Deku Scrub can:

• strike a spin
• shoot bubbles out of my mouth
• jump on the water several times but cannot swim,
• plans in the air by firing from a Deku Flower.

Goron Link:

• roll at high speed
• punch with deadly force
• stomp the earth with your massive body
• enter the lava without damage,
• press heavy switches with a belt.

Zora-Link (Zora) can:

• use your smooth body for fast swimming,
• throw out boomerang- like fins,
• generate a force field
• walk along the water

Many game levels are only available using these abilities.

Link and its three transformations cause a different reaction in the minor characters of the game. For example, Goron-Link and Zora-Link are free to leave Clocktown, but Deco-Link looks like a child and the guard will not let him pass. Many animals also interact differently with the four forms of Link. For example, dogs do not react to the usual Link, walking about their business, as in Ocarina of Time . Deco Link, however, will be attacked if he passes the dog, Goron Link will scare the dog so that he will run away, and when he sees Zora Link, the dog will joyfully run after him.

A special mask of the Fierce Deity's Mask can be obtained at the end of the game, if all the other masks are collected. The mask of the Ferocious deity turns Link into a larger, stronger version of himself, with characteristic marks on his face, with evil white eyes, in a silver tunic and with a mystical wearable weapon. He also uses a large two-handed sword that is capable of firing bursts of energy when aiming at an enemy. To properly use the power of the mask, it can only be used in boss battles. The fierce deity has the same voice as the adult Link in Ocarina of Time .

Many masks that do not have the property of transformation bring some situational benefit. For example, the Great Fairy's Mask helps return stray fairies scattered across four temples; Bunny Hood allows Link to run faster; Stone Mask (Stone Mask) turns Link into invisible to most minor heroes and enemies. Less significant masks, however, are used only in additional quests or in very special situations. Examples include: the Postman's Hat, which allows Link to reach an item hidden in the mailbox, and the Kafei's Mask, which begins a long and complex additional quest, the prizes of which are several masks.

Three Day Cycle

Majora's Mask is a unique game among the games of the series The Legend of Zelda , because it introduces a time limit. This limit is 3 days (72 hours) of playing time, which corresponds to approximately 72 minutes of real time. Therefore, the player must go through dungeons and solve puzzles quickly. The player is reminded of how many “hours” are left at each sunset and dawn. The clock at the bottom of the screen counts the time, and how much time is left. Until the end of 72 hours, Link should return to the beginning of the First day with the help of the Song of Time, having lost it on the Ocarina of Time, which was presented to her by Princess Zelda in the previous game The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time . After that, the three-day cycle is repeated. By doing this, Link is left without the minor items he collected during the cycle, such as rupees, bombs and arrows, but basic items, such as masks, keys and weapons, remain. But there is one trick: rupees deposited in the bank can be returned even after returning in time. If the player fails to return on the First day before the end of the Third day, the Moon will fall on Cloctown, which will destroy the Term, and Link will return to the beginning of the First Day. In this case, all items, including the main items accumulated from the moment when the Song of Time was last played, will be lost.

When a cycle is restarted, all Link actions from previous cycles are canceled, including any progress in incomplete dungeons, and they must be re-run. However, if the dungeon was completed to the end, Link retains the key won there and can once again fight the boss if he wants to, which is new for The Legend of Zelda games .

Link is not the only hero who is associated with changes in time. Secondary heroes have a schedule that they follow throughout the cycle, and many of them need help following this schedule. Using a notebook called Bombers' Notebook, obtained by Link in Locktown, he can keep track of a lot of people’s schedule and identify important points when he can intervene to help. At the right time, solving tasks that range from providing a soldier with medicine to restoring an engagement to an engaged couple, Link can earn masks and other useful things. Usually, certain events are possible only on certain days, and only if other events have already occurred. These events are reflected in the Bomber Notebook.

Link can also manipulate the passage of time, changing the way the Song of Time plays. If Link plays each note twice, it will result in a Song of Double Time, and it will move to the beginning of the next morning or evening (6 a.m. or evening). If he plays the Song of Time on the contrary, then the resulting Inverted Song of Time will make time move twice as slowly, doubling the amount of time, for example, so that Link can return on the First Day.

Majora's Mask is not the first game in the series The Legend of Zelda , which focuses on time. In Ocarina of Time, there are certain stones that tell time if you tap on them with a sword, and certain places where the day changes from morning to evening. The clock stops when Link enters a city or dungeon. In addition, but only in the Japanese version of the game, there is a built-in real-time clock that affects the events in the game.

Melodies

The Ocarina of Time, Link's mystical instrument, plays an important role in Majora's Mask . As in the previous game, Link teaches magic melodies from those he meets on the way to acquire special abilities: from weather control to teleportation and time travel. Each type of Link transformation uses its own instrument: Deco-Link plays the Deco pipe , Goron-Link plays the bongs , and Zora-Link plays the guitar from a fish skeleton.

The most important song in the game is the Song of Time. It is used by Link to return to the beginning of the First Day; this is the only way to restart the three-day cycle and constantly maintain progress in the game; if you play the melody in the opposite direction, time will flow more slowly; if you play the first three notes twice each, then Link will be moved forward in time, to the next sunrise or sunset (but not to the sunset of the Last Day, as this will lead to the end of the world). Other melodies are mainly used to advance the plot of the game, for example, opening a new path. Elegy of Emptiness is a unique melody because it is used as a riddle in one of the dungeons. Song of Healing is used to detect many items, both in the main plot and in additional quests. And finally, melodies such as Flight Song exist for the convenience of the player, allowing teleportation to the main locations and facilitating the implementation of many unusual tasks and additional quests available.

After the release of the remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the Nintendo 3DS handheld game console in 2011, rumors appeared about porting Majora's Mask to this platform ^[2] . However, the first announcement of the remake , dubbed “The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D”, took place only on November 5, 2014 as part of the presentation of “Nintendo Direct”. ^[3]

The game went on sale in Europe and America on February 13, 2015 ^[1] and was timed to coincide with the release of the updated New Nintendo 3DS console , some of the new functions of which were used in the remake.

Like the previously released Ocarina of Time remake, Majora's Mask 3D introduced updated graphics using stereoscopic images , as well as support for gyroscope and touch-screen controls. In addition, the game contains a number of changes in the gameplay and additional mini-games. ^[four]

The game received rave reviews from critics. According to the Metacritic aggregator , the game rating is 95/100 (based on 27 reviews). ^[5] The version rating for Nintendo 3DS is 88/100 (based on 82 reviews). ^[6]

In the first week of sales in Japan, 314 thousand copies of the game were sold for the Nintendo 64, and a total of 3.36 million copies were sold worldwide. ^[7]

• Amateur translation of the game into Russian