The Mesmerizing Depression of Majora's Mask

     Like any Zelda game, Majora's Mask captivates the player through a litany of reasons. But to me, Majora's Mask has always been one of, if not the most unique in the series. Not necessarily better or worse than other entries in the series, but just.. different. That is a loaded statement, because plenty of Zelda games have "unique" characteristics. But I think King K said it best when he said Majora's Mask is "oppressive."

    It is the product of many ideas of many people. But above all, it is the product of a finite amount of time for the creators to come up with and execute on their best ideas. But in that, they also had to discard concepts that didn't the make the cut based on a combination of quality, importance, or once again, time. Through all that stress and strife, the core gimmick of Majora's Mask was born.

    Most games in the series has a core gimmick that sets it apart from others. Ocarina of Time has time travel, A Link to the Past has the light and dark worlds, and so on. Majora's Mask revolves around choices and consequences. Most entries convey the high stakes well enough, some more dire than others. But for Majora's Mask, the world is on the verge of outright ending. Whether you believe Termina is some windfish-esque dream or simply another region of the same globe which Hyrule also shares. Either way, the world is about to be wiped away as opposed to reigned over by a powerful tyrant or some dark wizard.

    The 3-day loop has you constantly forsaking the majority of Termina and its NPCs. You can only do so much during each cycle. You have to actively ignore the plight of most inhabitants, or else you will run out of time. Romani Ranch will get invaded and its livelihood abducted almost each and every cycle you play through. You really only need to pursue this side quest once or twice, but that means you will leave Romani to fight on her own almost each and every time. And there are no branching possibilities there. Without you, she will always fail. Anju and Kafei will never be reunited. The monkey in the Deku Palace will never escape his imprisonment. The Gorons will freeze and remain in utter despair with the absence of Darmani. Lulu will never see her eggs returned. And Pamela will never see her father returned from his deformed gibdo curse. These NPCs, their peers, and the respective regions are all stuck in a cycle of damnation that will not be alleviated until Link prevents the moon from falling once and for all. But to achieve that, Link ultimately has to ignore most all of these needs over and over and over to move from one region and dungeon to the next toward the end goal.

    But you know what? Majora's Mask is also beautiful. Its sights and sounds were a more abstract leap forward that built wonderfully on the art style of Ocarina of Time. OoT catches a lot of guff for it's repetitive backgrounds and somewhat empty overworld hub. This is rightfully so, but that doesn't take away from what it accomplished for the time. Majora's Mask enhances the visuals and style of OoT. It goes wild with the aesthetic choices and soundtrack. And when I say wild, I mean that from the perspective of a spectrum of quality. There are not really any areas in this game that don't sit well with me . Whether it be the visual design, the gameplay, or the soundtrack, just about everything has at least on redeeming quality. (Yes, even Beneath the Well). The visuals have so much more variety and more clarity, and the game just looks, sounds, and plays better overall (as it should).

    While the 3DS remake has a much more pronounced affection for purples and reds, I somehow feel that same theme was present in the original. But in general, it is a much more colorful game. The clock has a vibrant design, but it signifies the limited time you have. The purple water of the Southern Swamp and Woodfall is beautifully striking, but it's a threat. The tribal reds and greens of the Deku Palace walls hide the pending fatal miscarriage of justice within. This theme is repeated in so many ways throughout Termina. No matter how bright the colors, it's likely there is always something gloomy or sinister around the corner.

    The one exception may be the Astral Observatory. While this is ironically where you can get the most up close and personal with the moon outside of the final hours, it always had this protective atmosphere that held on to what little fleeting innocence was left of Link and his childhood. That same fleeting sense of relief and shielding from the real world are part of why we circle back to the nostalgia of games 20+ years later. The clock still runs, and the earth will still shake. But the vibrant colors and scrolling ceiling never lose their mystical appeal. To have gained access to the Observatory for the first time, it basically amounted to you playing a game of hide and go seek with a bunch of kids. That's about as innocent as it gets.

    The theme music within the Observatory is also a big part of the experience. It magnifies that atmosphere I'm trying to describe. Not to say the rest of Majora's Mask's soundtrack is all doom and gloom. It can be as vibrant as any in the series at times, but there is also plenty of give and take. Clock Town's theme progressively takes on a more ominous tone by day 3. For every Deku Palace theme, there is a Stone Tower. I tend to think the whimsical joy of the Astral Observatory theme is starkly contrasted by the Final Hours theme.

    When you combine the improved presentation and capabilities of the engine with the mood of the story and its characters, you get a game that lures you in then traps you in its depressing loop of failure. That inevitable failure seems to put fans into two separate camps. The zeitgeist of today's opinions is that Majora's Mask is either one of the most creative and commendable executions of the old Zelda formula. Or it is viewed as unnecessarily obtuse and punishing.

    I can't think of a game I would like to forget everything I know and get the chance to experience it again for the first time more than this. While Ocarina of Time constantly guided you to where you needed to be, Majora's Mask expects you to do the heavy lifting in most scenarios. When you combine that with the vast quantity of optional content and the virtually unlimited amount of times you can revisit any given quest or task, I will never understand what is not to love.

    There is always the argument to be made of to what end is all this? Link spends cycle after cycle keeping Termina and its inhabitants in an inescapable purgatory. In Link's Awakening, Link wrestles with the morality of waking the windfish. If he wakes it, the citizens of Koholint Island will perish. But do they really? The game implies these are constructs and not actual people, it is a dream after all. Link's relationship with Marin complicates this as much as anything. If Link were to give up or deny his quest, he would get to remain with Marin. But the greater good of the island as a whole would erode over time due to the growing threat of monsters. To save Koholint and its inhabitants from a terrible fate, he must erase them from existence. In Majora's Mask, Link has no choice but to perpetuate their punishment and suffering as long as he needs in order to ultimately save the globe from the moon.

    Outside of the desperate isolation exacted on the protagonists of the first four silent hill games, I can't think of any other games (which I have personally played) that has its premise and worldbuilding as inherently sad and oppressive as this. Everyone around you is stuck in a loop of false hope, failure, or arrogance. And there is no butterfly effect. You cannot complete half of a side quest and hope an affected NPC will be in a better spot on Day 1 next time you reset. They are all set on predetermined paths, and you HAVE to save them.

    The final product here is as depressing as it is beautiful.