"One of the most surreal narrative sequences in videogame history"

I've been reading a bunch of game design-related textbooks for my classes and I've usually been dismayed to see them all neglect to mention Majora's Mask. I think this game (along with some other Zelda/Nintendo titles) is a wonderful work of art that deserves greater attention and respect from within the industry, so I was excited to see my latest textbook reference it and I wanted to share it with you guys.

The book is titled "Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames." The relevant section was written by Stephen Jacobs, a professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology who teaches courses such as Game Writing and World Design. He talks about typical game story plot models and then talks about "Bending and Breaking Models." Majora's Mask is the one game he uses in this section as an example. Here's the blurb:

These three models give you tools for understanding how narrative functions. They also, by virtue of laying down an established pattern, provide opportunities for certain narratives to stand out by going against the orthodox expectations.

[...]

The movies Run, Lola, Run and Groundhog Day allow their characters to "replay" their stories and "try again," in a manner not unlike the structure of many games, which require the player to repeat a challenge over and over until success is finally achieved. This trans-temporal structure even makes its way back into games: Eiji Aonuma's first game as director of the Legend of Zelda franchise, Majora's Mask (Nintendo, 2000), is structured around a repeating loop of three days, within which the player struggles to understand the problem they are facing, and ultimately divine its solution, before culminating in one of the most surreal narrative sequences in videogame history as the player encounters two children at the foot of a monstrous tree - a metaphorical manifestation of the crisis at the heart of the story.
Models for narrative should therefore be recognized only as tools for understanding the conventional structure of a story, not as eternal laws that cannot be varied.

(Jacobs 32)

This nod to my favorite game got me excited since it shows that one game scholar has at least noticed it. I was particularly happy to see that he brought up the end of the game.

I've written an entire article about the meaning of the metaphor of Majora's Mask's finale, and I hope you'll read it if you haven't already. Here's the link.

Jacobs and I both agree that this part of the game is a metaphorical representation of the game's true heart. So what are your thoughts on it? (Please read my explanation of the metaphor first.) What emotions does the field with the tree inspire in you, both as you play through that part and reflect on it later? Would you describe the tree as "monstrous"? (At times the tree does inspire an ominous sense of fear of some sort in me, especially when I'm far from it and it becomes a shadowy silhouette.)

What do you think of that sort of metaphorical form of storytelling? Would you like to see more games try to take their narratives in this direction? Are there other games with comparable sequences you'd like to bring up?

What do you think of the way the game industry and media treat the storytelling in Nintendo games, based on whatever you know of this subject? Do you think some Nintendo games feature stories told in ways that deserve greater attention and respect?

Originally Posted by Hylian Dan

What do you think of that sort of metaphorical form of storytelling? Would you like to see more games try to take their narratives in this direction? Are there other games with comparable sequences you'd like to bring up?

1- Majora's Mask has one of the greatest storytelling forms in gaming, the 3-day loop is awesome.

2- I still remember the first time I saw the tree and the kids, I didn't understand it too much because my english is bad (I know, that sequence is merely visual, but I didn't understand almost anything from the previous story leading to it), but now that my english is a bit better, and I have replayed MM, plus I have read your article, is all clear: Majora's Mask has so much content in the subtext that makes it one of a kind; I have never seen any other game (not even any other Zelda) with the depth of MM...

3- If you are using Majora's Mask as a model and ispiration, you will become a great videogame creator. I hope you could make someday one game as good as MM. Good luck!

Majora's Mask it's a game that deserves an award, not only because of it's graphics or gameplay but for it's storyline.

Dan you've outdone yourself, it was a really good read. The message is appropriate to the series and very easy to see included in different forms.

For some of my thoughts, I always found to moon plain to be eerie rather than malvolent, pleasant but off-putting.
As for the maturity of the mask children, I took it to be Link helping the Skull Kid to mature finally getting the FD mask as a weapon from his mind, sort of saying 'Get this thing out of my head!'.
For the final battle I generally came to thinking the progression of the forms represented the layers of the villain. First the Mask, the symbol which first comes to mind when we think of our enemy and we associate with all the problems in the world, then the Incarnation as the user of the evil powers, then finally the Wrath which was the root of all the problems and the true malice of the mask working through the Skull Kid.

Often I wonder if the Skull Kid became worse due to the mask did the mask pick up some of the Skull Kids traits? And if so, where do we draw the line between the mask and the user?
Finally, does the form of the demon reflect the user? Say it fell into the hands of a burglar or rapist for example. Really morbid there, but hey may as well think about it.

Anyway, good job Dan. I know I've not really agreed with your work in the past but I really respect the amount of thought and detail you put into it. And if I've seemed like an arse to you before I'm truly sorry for it.
Keep it up!

I can accept that most people seem to think that MM has the best story, even if it's not my own favorite, though I can't help but think that 95% of that is due to the fact that Ganon isn't in it.

95% of why it's not your favorite or why it's the best story?
Either way I kind of want to bludgeon you, but I'd like to clear things up first.

The latter. Why it's the best story.

Bludgeon away, I expect it to happen anyhow.

I recently discovered that there are birds flying near the tree, if you look closely.

I don't really have any firm ideas, but a few things struck me.

Most notable was the difference between the exterior and interior of the Moon. During my first playthrough, when Link entered the Moon I was expecting something dark, dank, intentionally 'bad'. But the interior is nothing like the exterior, serene, dreamlike, ignorant in every way of the fear and danger occuring externally. Think of the way the children say "Ah, nice weather, isnt it?".

The questions of the four moon children each convey insecurity about friendship, happiness, right and wrong actions, and the honesty in which we can percieve others. This is relevant to what the entire moon is, I think. There might be relevance in the fact that to the world it presents a face of anger and tension, but internally it really is a beautiful thing, bound by insecurity and ignorance of the world around it.

Link enters the moon and shatters that insecurity. After helping everyone in Termina, and enduring the unsettling questions of the Moon children, he becomes Fierce Diety, a more powerful version of himself. Link's strength comes directly from his positive actions in Termina.

I think this is tied intimately with Skull Kid. If we look at his relationship with the Giants and his nature throught the game (internally inseure, externally villainous), we can see connections there. The four Moon children surrounding the tree I have always considered at least partly representative of the Four Giants.

Perhaps the Moon is a representation of Skull Kid's fear and doubt regarding his friendship with the Giants. At core, his intentions are good, but he fears them because of the way he percieved them to have rejected his friendship. There is no doubt that Majora's Mask would have tempted these fears, and turned them into actions of spite.

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I suppose the Moon and everything in it was largely symbolic, or intended to pass off a meaning by the way it was presented. The conversation with all of the children was quite directed, and the think that the meaning of the game was intended to be told here.

I think it stretched the limits of what can be used to convey a meaning, in a very good way.

While I rarely venture into the Zelda sections of this forum, I have to say I'm happy I stumbled all the way here, and read this thread and your article, Dan. Great work, it really highlighted and exposed some of the subtle things I never caught in Majora's Mask (which is my favorite game of the series).

Thanks for the read.