My Beef With Majora's Mask

[him over there]

All right I'd like to start by saying that this isn't just a complaining thread I have some bigger picture insights to what I'm saying. I like the game in question quite a bit as well so this is really more so for the sake of example.

Now Majora's Mask is often said to be the most emotionally gripping or dark Zelda game. I often agree with this accusation, especially with the Anju and Kafei sidequest but what I disagree with is people who say that things like the 3 day system are super innovative and artistic.

This isn't a plea that video games can't be art or anything but Majora's Mask and plenty of games that tell great stories through their gameplay aren't doing enough. A story to seriously be impactful needs to have a theme, a part of something bigger than itself.

The 3 day system doesn't really convey anything meaningful within the game. The story that takes place within it is pretty powerful but it doesn't add anything on its own save for a framing device. Their are a few instances where it does contribute a theme to a few of the sidequests, I often hear that the fact that the Anju and Kafei quest takes all three days is because love requires a lifetimes dedication or something along those lines but for the rest of the games it's largely superficial.

What I'm trying to say is that games with great stories, even those that tell it through the gameplay thus providing something that only games can aren't doing enough. They're nice and emotional but they're self contained and aren't really providing food for thought. yeah I almost cried at the good ending of inFamous but what was it saying?

Spoiler

It's sad when the main character dies?

That isn't a message.

 

[Ordinaryundone]

The 3 day system doesn't really convey anything meaningful within the game. The story that takes place within it is pretty powerful but it doesn't add anything on its own save for a framing device. Their are a few instances where it does contribute a theme to a few of the sidequests, I often hear that the fact that the Anju and Kafei quest takes all three days is because love requires a lifetimes dedication or something along those lines but for the rest of the games it's largely superficial.

Maybe because the three day system wasn't designed with the story in mind? It's a gameplay quirk. They wanted to give the player a limited amount of time to do things, and since they already had the day/night cycle from OoT they had an easy way of showing the passage of time. 3 days is as good a number as any.

Anju and Kafei takes all three days because its difficult. Unlike the other quests which can mostly be completed in a day or two, it requires the player to not only set aside their entire allotment of time for it, but also know exactly where to be during all three days.

TLDR: You are overthinking what was simply a gameplay mechanic. Its like the constant death and respawning in Dark Souls. A reason is given in-universe, but its more to justify a gameplay mechanic than prove any sort of point in the story.

 

[Asita]

The 3 day system doesn't really convey anything meaningful within the game. The story that takes place within it is pretty powerful but it doesn't add anything on its own save for a framing device. Their are a few instances where it does contribute a theme to a few of the sidequests, I often hear that the fact that the Anju and Kafei quest takes all three days is because love requires a lifetimes dedication or something along those lines but for the rest of the games it's largely superficial.

Au contraire my friend. What the three day system added to the scenario was emotion. While granted, that is an indirect impact on the story, it still adds to it. Everything you did had to be done with the clock in mind. Do you have enough time to do another dungeon? Hmm...the alien invasion happens in another hour...do I have time to detour and stop it? While the sense of urgency does become subdued over time, it never vanishes completely and remains in effect, forcing you to keep glancing at that clock at the bottom of the screen...which is nigh-essential anyways, considering the fixed schedules of everyone in the world.

This reaches its inevitable conclusion when and if the player ever attempts a "Hero's Run" (Helping everyone (except the bomb lady, as her sidequest is mutually exclusive with the Anju and Kafei sidequest) and defeating the final boss in a single three-day cycle). Why do this? Simple, because in-universe, the only run that truly matters to any NPC is the final run, when you actually complete the game, as that is the one that has lasting consequences for them. Due to the volume of sidequests and the very particular schedules, this can be rather trying (especially if you try to do the dungeons themselves in order to help the Great Fairies as well) but it is also incredibly cathartic if you pull it off, in an 'Earn Your Happy Ending' sense, which would not hold the same weight if the game's intrinsic timelimit didn't exist.

 

[Epona]

The 3 day system doesn't really convey anything meaningful within the game. The story that takes place within it is pretty powerful but it doesn't add anything on its own save for a framing device. Their are a few instances where it does contribute a theme to a few of the sidequests, I often hear that the fact that the Anju and Kafei quest takes all three days is because love requires a lifetimes dedication or something along those lines but for the rest of the games it's largely superficial.

Maybe because the three day system wasn't designed with the story in mind? It's a gameplay quirk. They wanted to give the player a limited amount of time to do things, and since they already had the day/night cycle from OoT they had an easy way of showing the passage of time. 3 days is as good a number as any.

Anju and Kafei takes all three days because its difficult. Unlike the other quests which can mostly be completed in a day or two, it requires the player to not only set aside their entire allotment of time for it, but also know exactly where to be during all three days.

TLDR: You are overthinking what was simply a gameplay mechanic. Its like the constant death and respawning in Dark Souls. A reason is given in-universe, but its more to justify a gameplay mechanic than prove any sort of point in the story.

Actually no, the 3 day cycle exists because they wanted to save space on the N64 cart. They couldn't improve graphics and also fit another Ocarina of Time on the cart. Read an interview about it a few days ago.

 

[Exius Xavarus]

I almost cried at the good ending of inFamous but what was it saying?

Spoiler

It's sad when the main character dies?

That isn't a message.

Ahah. What you did there. I see it.

I rather enjoyed the side-quests in Majora's Mask.

[sub]I have no further contribution to this discussion.[/sub]

 

[Cazza]

A story to seriously be impactful needs to have a theme, a part of something bigger than itself.

Majora's Mask theme is the five stages of grief. Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance.

http://www.zeldainformer.com/2011/10/themes-in-motion-majoras-mask-and-the-five-stages-of-grief.html

This works on two levels. The world Termina and it's people about the moon. Also about Link's lose of his friend.

I believe the 3 day system was so the player would replay it so they would see that and it shows the characters moving through it. When I played through the game I wanted Link to find Navi which is who I thought was the friend refered to. Some believe it to be Saria. It would be both.

Though at the end I accected that they were gone. How lonely the skull kids was and everyone needed to move on. I was 9 when I came to that conclusion back in 2000. I didn't see the stages of grief but I sure felt them as I played through the game.

Without the 3 day system the moon most likely would have only move closer as you finished major plot parts. Which isn't how the world works. When someone close to you dies or moves away the world doesn't stop for you to deal with the lose. Time is very important. You still need to go to work/school etc. Sure you take a one or so off but your not over it in that time. Sometimes it's to much.

Gameplay wise it got to much for me. I would be half way through day 2 and I decide not to risk doing the next temple and maybe running out of time. Or your doing one task and that time conflicts with another. That adds a stress that everyone has had to deal with. If you combined that with a lose of a loved one. That adds to the impact on emotion the game has.

Actually no, the 3 day cycle exists because they wanted to save space on the N64 cart.

As Crono said it was added for a functional reason. I feel they also used it to enhance the gameplay and story.