Is MM a cult game?

Hey, kind of simple question really. There's like threads around about AoL being under-rated & it got me thinking the same about MM. There's no beef or anything about my thread but I just want to know if folk in the ZU community consider the game to be the best? I do, I know it's dated but along with ALttP I consider this to be the ultimate Zelda experience. The games have progressed since this one but I still feel as if it really raises the bar in many ways. I guess I’m a sucker for older games but MM still delivers today. The side-quests, the stories, the masks, the music & the overworld are still brilliant today. I suppose in a way, it’s more of a cult game than most, which is fine but I just wanted to know people’s opinions on it. Will we see a game like MM again?

Edit: Ah, I clicked on the wrong section, sorry! If someone can move it, that would be cool.

Presumably not. MM was very an very essential and exceptional game in the Zelda series in a good way.

I happen to enjoy MM, because it gives those "get everything done" freaks like me something to do

if you have a good hard think, MM is a MASSIVE change to the zelda seiries, i mean, having a time limit ristricts the exploration portion of the game, and zelda or hyrule is in no way involved (unless you count sarias song, you know, do-do-do,-do-do-do,do-do-do-do-doooo) but it doesnt make it any less of an awsome game, im from the UK, so not many people liked MM, only a select group, or cult, so I think its a question of change, not many people like change, but I loved MM and it remains (to me) better than OOT! BRINGON THE REMAKE OR DOWNLOAD, NINTENDO, OR FEEL THE WRATH OF KING GHOMA!

I think another MM alike game is exactly what we need. If you look at TP it was good, but japan sales were lower then expected (said by myamoto himself) and I hear a lot of people saying that the game was good, but that it either felt the same, or something was missing.

That's basicly the problem, nintendo has to realize they now have to go and try really different things and once more stray from Hyrule, the triforce, ganondorf and perhaps even zelda.

I impatiently await another Majora's Mask.

Majora's Mask is a cult classic. You never really hear about it in Nintendo's interviews, and it is never mentioned in magazine/website articles unless they point out "the unique time/mask system." Majora's Mask never gets the recognition it deserves. It wasn't just a oddity of the series! There was more depth to Majora's Mask than any other Zelda game.

MM was not your average Zelda game; it focused on other things rather than going from one dungeon to the next. Instead, it went in a more artisitic. You can go in the direction the game sets up, but there is so much effort put all over the game the really requires the player to pay attention to coversations and facial expressions on NPCs. The plot is very basic, but you can make it much deeper by being part of the world. By listening to peoples' stories and helping them with their personal problems; this Zelda revolves around you choosing your own personal quest instead of having your destiny chosen for you like all the other Zeldas. Because the game doesn't force any relationships on you, you feel far more connected to the people you help. You feel more connected to the world, and because of this, you have this emotional bond with the game that can not be duplicated.

Of course the gameplay is unique and more evolved than Ocarina of Time, but the artistic direction Nintendo chose for Majora's Mask makes it stand out. Unforunatly, MM is only known for being an oddity in the series when it truly is far more than that.

::Moved to General Zelda::

I believe that Major'as Mask was the best Zelda game by far!
It was a completely fresh step for Zelda, in that it broke from the rather demoded ALttP/OoT/TP tradition of the generic "collect three key items, engage random 'dramatic' cutscene, collect more key items then end" and was a much less linear game to the point where it even became close to the freedom of the early Metroid games.

People who complain about the time restirctions of the three-day system, in my opinion, are simply upset that they've finally encountered a Zelda game that offers a genuinely tough challenge that they cannot cope with, and so whine about it instead.
The Time system was awesome, it definately created some very real atmospheres.
It could make you feel very tense and anxious to do certain things at certain times, freedom and liberation, when knowing how much time you have to spare before a key event, etc.
The fact that you had to turn back time, thus, undo all of your previous work added to the difficulty of the game, especially if you wanted to full complete the game with all sidequests complete. It, in effect, extended the gameplay-time, and life of the game as a whole.

The greatest element of the game, in my opinion, is the departure of teh traditional Zelda 'formula.'
All other Zelda games focus almost soley on the plot, nd have a plot driven story, like with the original LoZ and OoT; almost all Zelda games focus on a main, usually complex story and nothing else.
Majora's Mask, in contrast used a very simplistic plot (stop the moon from crashing in three days) but was an incredibly character-driven plot.
Every NPC was fully used to contirbute to the game, which would not be fully completed without having spoken to practically all of the NPCs in the game. I believe MM was unique in that NPC interaction was a necessity, and an enjoyable one at that.
Every character was given their own unique story and backround and a real relevance in the game, with all the sidequests contributing in what is the most emotional Zelda ever made.

In LoZ, it was uniting the fragmented shards of the Triforce of Wisdom and saving Zelda, in TP, it was collecting the Fused Shadows to help Midna save the Light and Twilight Realms of Hyrule, etc, etc.
Majora's Mas (as I think I've stated before) was not about saving the land from destruction, it was about saving the people you'd grown to care about from death.
The sheer emotion, heart and soul is what distinguishes MM from the other relatively cold and cut games of the series.

In fact, all these complex and intricate NPC quests and events made the actual storyline much more elaborate, as it seemed to me that the 'main' storyline of 'stopping the moon' became secondary to the hundreds of other storylines of the NPCs and such, such as re-uniting Anju and Kafei. for example.

People on the whole whine how much they think MM is a bad game, how it's too hard, how the time-system is too constrictive, etc.
I believe that they simply are whining about how for once, a Zelda game is genuinely difficult. Unfortunately, no elements from MM were used in any of the other proceeding games.
Wind Waker borrowed a little from the NPC characterisation ideal, but remain heavily focused no plot.
TP had a huge range of NPCs, but none of them were actually interactable, and the very few that were had nothing really interesting to say. THe only characters that were developed and characterised in TP were Midna and partially Link. A very wasted oppertunity.

However, in interviews about TP early in production, TP was called "the love letter to OoT fans."
Hopefully, the next Zelda game will be "the love letter to MM fans."

I agree with everythin SD had to say.


I want to add about replay value, bec of the NPCs. OoT WW TP all of 'em had no replay value, I beat it once maybe twice, and was totally bored of it. Granted they are still good games.

MM I can beat 100 times and still want more the game is just perfect in my opinion, and I hope that the next game is that "love letter to MM fans"

I think it could be considered a cult game since, as said previously, many people think the game is too hard because of the time limit and it's hard difficult since the beginning of the game. so you really need to be ready to get into the game and concentrate in playing it if you want to finish it 100%.
I remember the first day I played Majora about 6 years ago or more, going to face the skull kid on the clock terrace without having any weapon was scary, and it's one of the best beginnings in any game I've played.
About NPCs, I really liked the guy on the ocean side skulltula house, on the 3rd day he was freaking out about the moon falling in a very paranoid way, things like that made the game really wicked.
But yeah, I think it's more lilely to find people who liked either both OOT and MM, or only OOT, but finding someone who only liked Majora would be rare. And personally I don't want another majora-like game, gems should be kept intact. I'd like Nintendo to experiment with new stuff though, just like they did on MM.

On my list its 3rd, but yes, it is becoming underrated. Everyone seems to concentrate on OOT, TP, and *groan* WW.

Originally Posted by ShiekahSage

On my list its 3rd, but yes, it is becoming underrated. Everyone seems to concentrate on OOT, TP, and *groan* WW.

...but Majora's Mask was never even acknowledged fully by the Zelda community to begin with, let alone the Gaming community - as someone has very accurately stated, Majora's Mask is called the "Oddity" of the series and nothing more.

I would say now it's a "fad" to call MM and underrated game and OoT an overrated game. A lot of people still say OoT is the best game ever1!11, but those are mostly n00bz, who for the most part have really no idea what they are talking about.

But yeah Majora's Mask is definitely a master piece. It didn't take the typical direction most Zelda games took.

Originally Posted by Zeldafan1

I would say now it's a "fad" to call MM and underrated game and OoT an overrated game.

It will always be a fad to go against the crowd.

A lot of people still say OoT is the best game ever1!11, but those are mostly n00bz, who for the most part have really no idea what they are talking about.

I perfer the term "noobletian", but whatever. Every Zelda game has their fanboys including Ocarina of Time, The Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and A Link to the Past.

But yeah Majora's Mask is definitely a master piece. It didn't take the typical direction most Zelda games took.

Majora's Mask should have been the direction the series took because we have been getting nothing but OoT remixes (or rehashes) since. It makes me sick on how TP refers to OoT's time as "the golden years", and how WW makes the Hero of Time's adventure look far more epic than WW's.

Majora's Mask threw all the cliches of the series, and created some entirely new and fresh while still being true to what makes Zelda Zelda! I can't believe Nintendo is taking steps backwards with WW and TP to be more like a 10 year old N64. It's time to forget about trying to recreate the past!

All Zelda needs is exploration across an extensive world, memorable characters, sword combat, a hero in green, and puzzles. Forget the same old Triforce story, forget Ganon, forget the Master Sword, and forget Hyrule. I realize I'm getting off topic, but MM did this 7 years ago, and since then, Nintendo has seemed to retract their steps back to '98 which is extremely disappointing. If Nintendo continues to release rehashes, or updates version of the same game/story, the series will continue to go downhill (in both sales and quality). We really need another Majora's Mask. It certainly was a revolution for the series in terms of doing something entirely new while still being true to the spirit of the franchise.

Yes, Majora's Mask was a revolution for the series.

I don't know if I'd go so far as to say it's a "cult game." While not most people's favourite, it's still generally well liked and popular, although greatly overshadowed by OOT. But it certainly seems few people find it their favourite. So I suppose you could say it's a cult game in that it has a few devoted fans who rate it far above other Zeldas.

For me it would be number 2 behind TP. I love the darker tone, and the masks, and the time system. It was a fresh departure from usual Zelda. I hope to see something very different like that follow TP, and I have a hunch we will. I'm not sure why I think that, but I feel we'll get a game that breaks the ALttP/OOT/YP formula again.

Originally Posted by SuperDecimal

People who complain about the time restirctions of the three-day system, in my opinion, are simply upset that they've finally encountered a Zelda game that offers a genuinely tough challenge that they cannot cope with, and so whine about it instead.

I've played and beaten the original Prince of Persia. Don't say I hate MM's time system because I somehow can't cope with it.

The three-day thing was brilliant to me; it kept things fresh and just added a new dimension to Zelda. For the record I completely agree with Kee Something, it was a revolution for the series and was proper progress for Zelda imo. The world around you in the game was very deep: it just had so much life and they created a brilliant atmosphere too, not bad for an N64 game huh? Plus, it's true that it is hardly mentioned anywhere in the media but I guess that's just the way it is. I would love the next Zelda to be like MM but who knows.

I just finished Majora's Mask less then a week ago, and I must admit that OoT, TP, and WW are better by far IN MY OPINION. I don't care about the time limit(Doesn't disturb me much), but what I care about is the fact that it focused too much on the sidequests. I like how this game has so many side quests and all, but having only 4 dungeons is unacceptable! When I finished it, I was like: What the hell!? That's it!?

I expected there to be at least 7 dungeons and at least one hunt(TP had three, and those were fun. WW's hunt still sucks, but it still involves the awesome darknuts). Ocarina of Time didn't have a hunt, but it had 9 solid dungeons. So Nintendo realized that MM had only 4 dungeons, and having limited dungeons meant they had to make every dungeon extra special. Well guess what: They screwed up. They made the Great Bay Temple suck like ****! However, I must admit that the 2nd and 4th dungeons were awsome. The 1st dungeon was just okay. Hell, I didn't even care about those stupid sidequests. I went through the entire game with only the deku mask, goron mask, zora mask, gibdo mask, captain's hat and that other mask which I forgot what it was called.

They should make more games like TP. It didn't have much sidequests, but it had an awesome main quest and alot of AWESOME dungeons. The main quest was the longest main quest in a zelda game. I love that game so much.

However, there's one thing I love about the game: It's the only 3d zelda which is actually difficult! I mean, Nintendo kept ruining their chances by making 3d zelda's easy, and 2d zeldas difficult. For some reason, they don't realize that 3d difficulty is more fun, like it is in MM!

So I'm not saying I hate the game. I love the game, but I love OoT, TP and WW more by very, very, very, very far. Especially TP.