Are there any other games like Majora's Mask?

[Drathnoxis]

Just what it says on the tin: are there any other games that use the Groundhogs Day theme of just replaying a set time period over and over? It seems like this is a really good idea that could be explored much more, and yet I haven't heard of any other games that do so.

 

[Jazoni89]

Shadow of Memories (or Shadow of Destiny if you are American) has a heavy groundhog day like theme, which you have the power to turn back time, which you do in order to eventually solve who killed you.

It's a pretty good game, with a pretty deep storyline with a lot of twists.

It's underrated if you ask me.

 

[Glongpre]

I guess planescape torment does but I don't want to spoil too much even though saying it uses that theme is a spoiler. Although you don't go back in time...hmmm or relive the same moments.

That is the only game that came to mind.

 

[Resetti's_Replicas]

I haven't played Majora's Mask, so I don't quite know what you mean, but maybe try "9 persons 9 doors 9 hours" and its sequel "Virtue's Last Reward." It's a puzzle and story driven game, so might not be your cup of tea, but it's aces if you do like that genre

 

[ScrabbitRabbit]

Shadow of Memories (or Shadow of Destiny if you are American) has a heavy groundhog day like theme, which you have the power to turn back time, which you do in order to eventually solve who killed you.

It's a pretty good game, with a pretty deep storyline with a lot of twists.

It's underrated if you ask me.

I remember reading about this and being really interested but having no money. Well, it's payday now, so thanks for reminding me!

 

[Foolery]

Well, Lightning Returns is going to have a doomsday clock, but the game's not out yet, and I'm not sure if the Final Fantasy XIII saga would suit your tastes. Or maybe it does. I dunno. What kind of games do you like?

 

[magicman326]

If you're also into JRPGs, you may want to try Ephemeral Fantasia on the PS2; it had the same time loop structure as Majora's Mask but with 5 days to work with instead of 3. It's old, but you can find it on amazon for as little as $7.

 

[Dryk]

I haven't played Majora's Mask, so I don't quite know what you mean

Majora's Mask takes place within the same three day (54 minutes nominally but you get songs that speed up or slow down time by a factor of three) period. At the end of the 3 days the world ends and you have to go back in time before you get killed too. This resets your progress everywhere except a few places and your inventory. Everyone in the game has a schedule you can learn, which is important to finishing their side-quest. The goal of the game is to eventually be able to run through the main dungeons before the three days is up and confront the final boss.

I always found the theme of "help these people with their problems, get a reward, erase everything" somewhat depressing though.

 

[randomrob1968]

FTL?

heh

feels that way, anyway

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

GrimGrimoire, from the infamous Vanillaware Ltd. crew.

It's a real-time strategy game set in a wizarding school, starring noob witch Lillet. In the fifth day of school, the in-universe equivalent of The Greatest Evil Wizard Ever is released, killing everyone in not-Hogwarts and sending Lillet into a time loop, five days before the massacre. Gameplay takes place over and over those five days, as Lillet tries to figure out just what the hell went wrong. Every chapter consists of a single day, during which Lillet uses her accumulating knowledge of summons to best battles against newbies and condescending teachers. Every fifth day time is reset, though the plot keeps moving forward (every time warp is scripted as well; there're a total of 5 cycles, spanning 25 days overall).

It's a fun game. The story and its characters are fun to follow. Gameplay is quaint as hell though, and the screen turns to get crowded with your units and enemy units. Clicking, selecting and dragging is weird using a PS2 controller, though maybe that's just because of how I educated my thumbs. It also gets hard as hell nearing the end. Battles can go all the way up to 40, 50, 60 minutes, and there's no saving during them. So Game Overs usually carry hours of waste with them. Unless you swallow up and lower the difficulty, which you can do any time during the game.

I've been a fan of Vanillware since Odin Sphere and GrimGrimoire. I like the gameplay - I think Odin's is as good as fighty side-scrollers get - and I adore the gorgeously hand-drawn 2D graphics with layered depth and little pulsating animations that breathe a little extra life to the game, even as background and foreground elements. I must roll my eyes at the attention Dragon's Crown is getting for its depiction of a gainaxing sorceress, when insofar every Vanillaware game has cast one busty female amongst into the story. The lady to the right is Opalneria, a teacher of necromancy in Grimoire. Yes, her boobs heave with every breath during cutscenes. And do google "Odin Sphere Odette", who was Queen of the Dead in that game and was even more buxom than Opalneria or the new sorceress.

This has derailed from a "recommend me a time loop game" to a staunch defense of Dragon's Crown. My point being, Vanillaware has been casting buxom necro-femmes (the sorceress does raise as well) in their games since at least 2007. It's what they do. It's practically a cheeky in-joke, a recurring gag everybody always agreed with. Nothing to be annoyed about, I think.

 

[Your Fearless Captain]

This is kind of like asking, "Are their any games like Fahrenheit?" Well yes, David Cage has made other games but none of them are quite as batshit insane.

 

[KoudelkaMorgan]

Its one of my top 3 Zeldas, along with Link to the past and Link's Awakening. Zelda 2 is in 4th place.

Radiant Historia uses time travel and the butterfly effect pretty heavily on DS. You will obviously be replaying certain scenarios more than once with different choices etc.

One could argue that Forbidden Siren is also cyclical, but mainly I can't think of any other example not already listed.

 

[Alakaizer]

Don't the Dead Rising games do that? You've got 3 days to survive the zombies, and it can be reset somehow with level intact?

Other than that, I got nothing. Personally, I didn't care for that aspect of Majora's Mask, it's one of the reasons I stopped playing it on my first attempt.

 

[Squilookle]

How about Braid? Doesn't that one pretty much use reliving a moment of time as it's primary gameplay mechanic?

 

[madarrao]

Fate/ Hollow Ataraxia, Kagetsu Tohya(although those are both sequels to their respective series, so to understand the story you need to go through the first installments)

Higurashi No naku koro ni,

Steins Gate (although this one is mostly self inflicted)

BlazBLue uses a Timeloop excuse to say that all its endings are canon...

 

[Nonomori]

Is Majora's Mask actually any good? I know when it first came out there was a bit of distain towards it because of the concept and darkening of the Zelda world, but I've never played it and was just wondering if it's actually a good/enjoyable Zelda game?

The thing which has put me off it the most is the fact that so many people said you can't just relax and enjoy the game, but on the other hand I find the concept of a Zelda-esq Groundhog Day quite interesting.

That's not exactly true. In fact, you have all the time of the world.

Some people get stressed, but I don't understand at all. It's not like a typical timed mission. You have enough time for dungeons and infinite cycles to smell the flowers.

I think Majora's Mask is the best game ever made about time travel, but is also a game for curious and patient people. The moon will never defeat you because knowledge is everything in this game. You have to know where and when to complete sidequests. Too late? Rewind. Defeated? Try again, now you know what happens. After a few adjustment hours, the game is more about using time at your favor than running against the clock. It's a lot of fun.

And there is nothing really like it...

 

[AdamG3691]

I haven't played Majora's Mask, so I don't quite know what you mean

Majora's Mask takes place within the same three day (54 minutes nominally but you get songs that speed up or slow down time by a factor of three) period. At the end of the 3 days the world ends and you have to go back in time before you get killed too. This resets your progress everywhere except a few places and your inventory. Everyone in the game has a schedule you can learn, which is important to finishing their side-quest. The goal of the game is to eventually be able to run through the main dungeons before the three days is up and confront the final boss.

I always found the theme of "help these people with their problems, get a reward, erase everything" somewhat depressing though.

I never found it depressing...

then again, maybe that's because on my endgame loop I redid as many of the sidequests as possible to give everyone the best possible ending

 

[Launcelot111]

Radiant Historia is the closest I can think of. You start establishing a long timeline of events in the game as you play, and you can revisit significant moments to try another outcome by choosing new decisions or using skills obtained later or by visiting alternate timelines. It's not quite a loop, but it plays on the time travel angle well.