Majora's Mask as an alternate IP.

[captainaweshum]

Am I the only one who feels that Nintendo missed a huge opportunity with Majora's Mask? It always seems like the whole game was just an experiment in gameplay mechanics and storytelling, kept separate from the main cannon by being set in an alternate universe.

This game implemented many left-field changes from it's predecessor, such as shape-shifting, the three day timeframe, and a whole different mythos.

I expected at the time that the trend of reusing game sprites would continue with the next generation of the series. That they would begin with the next Zelda game (Wind Waker) being Zelda classic and then reusing the sprites and core mechanics for another Majora's Mask game where they could try out different ideas without worrying about messing with the original series.

In this way Nintendo could have have made two games much more cheaper and quicker and it would give the designers a chance to expand what a Zelda game could do.

Anyway, that's just my thoughts and what I feel would have been a brilliant move be Nintendo.

What do you think?

 

[Pielikey]

Snipped because nobody will leave me alone about this god damn post

 

[captainaweshum]

Am I the only one

Am I the only one

GRHGRHGRHGHGHRHHGHHGRHGHHHGHHRHRGHHRHGHRHRGRHHGRH
No, you aren't the only one. I don't care what it is you thought, it's Statistically impossible to be the only person to think something, including this

I'm sorry for yelling in large imagey text, I just wanted to get this out of the way so noone else had to.


EDIT: But I kind of agree with you about the majora's mask thing although I didn't play much of it

I see. I shall make sure to avoid such assumptions in the future. You absolutely right. Statistically impossible. Figure's of speech sure are funny that way. Thanks so much for pointing that out. I am in your debt.

 

[Xigageshi]

No captainaweshum, you are not the only one. I too really loved Majora's Mask and had hoped Nintendo would follow up with more like it. Twilight Princess is kind of a sequel to the idea of Majora's Mask in that the lead designer / director of MM was lead on twilight princess, it didn't seem to take as many risks as Majora's Mask did, though I confess I didn't get far enough through Twilight Princess to know that with certainty.

PS. To think I've been wrong all this time, and here I was, thinking that language is a method of communication and clearly expressed thoughts were it's aim, instead of rigid adherence to arbitrary rules. thank you for clearing that up for me Pielikey.

 

[megamanenm]

Am I the only one

Am I the only one

GRHGRHGRHGHGHRHHGHHGRHGHHHGHHRHRGHHRHGHRHRGRHHGRH
No, you aren't the only one. I don't care what it is you thought, it's Statistically impossible to be the only person to think something, including this

I'm sorry for yelling in large imagey text, I just wanted to get this out of the way so noone else had to.


EDIT: But I kind of agree with you about the majora's mask thing although I didn't play much of it

Do you take everything so literally? I'd love to see you read poetry.

 

[captainaweshum]

Am I the only one

Am I the only one

GRHGRHGRHGHGHRHHGHHGRHGHHHGHHRHRGHHRHGHRHRGRHHGRH
No, you aren't the only one. I don't care what it is you thought, it's Statistically impossible to be the only person to think something, including this

I'm sorry for yelling in large imagey text, I just wanted to get this out of the way so noone else had to.


EDIT: But I kind of agree with you about the majora's mask thing although I didn't play much of it

Do you take everything so literally? I'd love to see you read poetry.

I was going to respond to this but

1) I don't know who it is directed to
2) I realized that I just don't care.

EDIT : DISREGARD THIS megamanenm, I thought that this was some kind of ill-thought out rebuke from Stat-Boy.

 

[FernandoV]

Am I the only one

Am I the only one

GRHGRHGRHGHGHRHHGHHGRHGHHHGHHRHRGHHRHGHRHRGRHHGRH
No, you aren't the only one. I don't care what it is you thought, it's Statistically impossible to be the only person to think something, including this

I'm sorry for yelling in large imagey text, I just wanted to get this out of the way so noone else had to.


EDIT: But I kind of agree with you about the majora's mask thing although I didn't play much of it

Do you take everything so literally? I'd love to see you read poetry.

The figure of speech comes off a little pretentious so I believe that's his point.

 

[artemisfox]

Am I the only one who feels that Nintendo missed a huge opportunity with Majora's Mask? It always seems like the whole game was just an experiment in gameplay mechanics and storytelling, kept separate from the main cannon by being set in an alternate universe.

This game implemented many left-field changes from it's predecessor, such as shape-shifting, the three day timeframe, and a whole different mythos.

I expected at the time that the trend of reusing game sprites would continue with the next generation of the series. That they would begin with the next Zelda game (Wind Waker) being Zelda classic and then reusing the sprites and core mechanics for another Majora's Mask game where they could try out different ideas without worrying about messing with the original series.

In this way Nintendo could have have made two games much more cheaper and quicker and it would give the designers a chance to expand what a Zelda game could do.

Anyway, that's just my thoughts and what I feel would have been a brilliant move be Nintendo.

What do you think?

lemme fix this for you, the game was a direct sequel to OoT (and majora followed very distantly by wind waker) one of the only times they ever did a direct sequel. its not an 'alternate universe' ala twilight princess.

second they 're used' sprites because the world link was thrown into was an parallel world ( the only characters being aware of this being the skull kid, the mask salesman, and link )

if the game was an 'alternate IP' then the story wouldnt make sense. the whole begining of the game was link in the forest searching for navi, and the end instead of him staying, left once again on his search for his friend.

all this rambling to say. nintendo effed up when they decided to send the story in different seemingly senseless directions.
now what they SHOULD have done, was elaborate on many of the events in twilight princess. like the sages, the underground group that link eventually joins ( they're usefullness was skin deep, and only once near the end appear and kill like one enemy )
and of course ZELDA and midna. and why not zant.

i would complain about ganon being turned into an old man, instead of the hot headed power hungry maniac he was in OoT, but i'll save that for a different thread.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Am I the only one

Am I the only one

GRHGRHGRHGHGHRHHGHHGRHGHHHGHHRHRGHHRHGHRHRGRHHGRH
No, you aren't the only one. I don't care what it is you thought, it's Statistically impossible to be the only person to think something, including this

I'm sorry for yelling in large imagey text, I just wanted to get this out of the way so noone else had to.


EDIT: But I kind of agree with you about the majora's mask thing although I didn't play much of it

Do you take everything so literally? I'd love to see you read poetry.

Put it in front of a camera and we may have a new reality TV show.

 

[captainaweshum]

Am I the only one who feels that Nintendo missed a huge opportunity with Majora's Mask? It always seems like the whole game was just an experiment in gameplay mechanics and storytelling, kept separate from the main cannon by being set in an alternate universe.

This game implemented many left-field changes from it's predecessor, such as shape-shifting, the three day timeframe, and a whole different mythos.

I expected at the time that the trend of reusing game sprites would continue with the next generation of the series. That they would begin with the next Zelda game (Wind Waker) being Zelda classic and then reusing the sprites and core mechanics for another Majora's Mask game where they could try out different ideas without worrying about messing with the original series.

In this way Nintendo could have have made two games much more cheaper and quicker and it would give the designers a chance to expand what a Zelda game could do.

Anyway, that's just my thoughts and what I feel would have been a brilliant move be Nintendo.

What do you think?

lemme fix this for you, the game was a direct sequel to OoT (and majora followed very distantly by wind waker) one of the only times they ever did a direct sequel. its not an 'alternate universe' ala twilight princess.

second they 're used' sprites because the world link was thrown into was an parallel world ( the only characters being aware of this being the skull kid, the mask salesman, and link )

if the game was an 'alternate IP' then the story wouldnt make sense. the whole begining of the game was link in the forest searching for navi, and the end instead of him staying, left once again on his search for his friend.

all this rambling to say. nintendo effed up when they decided to send the story in different seemingly senseless directions.
now what they SHOULD have done, was elaborate on many of the events in twilight princess. like the sages, the underground group that link eventually joins ( they're usefullness was skin deep, and only once near the end appear and kill like one enemy )
and of course ZELDA and midna. and why not zant.

i would complain about ganon being turned into an old man, instead of the hot headed power hungry maniac he was in OoT, but i'll save that for a different thread.

Well yes, I am well aware that Majora's Mask is set in a parallel world, so saying alternate universe was incorrect. Everythin I said still applies.

 

[Jabberwock xeno]

I agree with ya.

I'm the resident MM's fanboy/ocd guy, so yeah.

Majora's mask was a goldmine that Nintendo unwittingly found, but they are so focused on OoT's success that they didn't recognize what MM had that was so great.

i'd go into more detail, but I have [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/9.226212.7718808] already discussed [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.257801-Majoras-mask-one-of-the-best-and-creepiest-games-of-the-decade#9693835] this subject [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.247343-Majoras-Mask?page=3#9087568] extensively before. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.240120-Creepiest-Scariest-Video-Game-Character-Ever#8655918]

 

[captainaweshum]

snipped for ridiculous size

Congratulations! You win the award for most obnoxious way to intentionally misunderstand a commonly used hyperbole that nobody actually uses for its literal meaning!

OT: Majora's Mask is unique for the reasons stated, and it wouldn't be so special if too many ideas were re-used in future games.

You probably have a point there. The game may not seem so amazing if it wasn't a one off title. Still, I'd like to see it's slightly maturer and emotional atmosphere carried on.

 

[DustyDrB]

Zelda has the freedom to do "left field" type things in any of their games. I certainly welcome it. We don't need a spin-off franchise to accomplish it. I sure would love to see something like shape-shifting make a return. I definitely would love the kind of side quests Majora's Mask to come back. But Zelda games ultimately win me over with great boss fights, temples, and puzzles. Majora's Mask had some weak bosses and wretched temples.

EDIT2: Jesus fucking christ how come when I complain about something everybody automatically assumes I am a fucking pickle with no life or any understanding of the English Language? I'm just sick and tired of "AM I THE ONLY ONE"

And I'm sick of people being dicks because they happen to not like a common figure of speech.

 

[Lord Beautiful]

Snipped because nobody will leave me alone about this god damn post

If it makes you feel any better, I thought it was hysterical. Me, I get my panties in a twist when people use the word "literally," when they damn well should say "figuratively."

Getting to the topic at hand, that might be a good idea. Something worth exploring, certainly, as it's not as though a Nintendo-made Zelda would sell particularly badly. With one team led by Miyamoto making one Zelda game and another team doing something different with the franchise, it could lead to an arrangement like that of Infinity Ward and Treyarch, except the latter would actually do something significantly different than the former (ideally).

 

[Feylynn]

Majora's Mask was a vital part of Ocarina of Time's story.

Ocarina of time was about a child growing in body before his time to fulfill his destiny.
Majora's Mask was that child growing in mind.

I'd thought to explain that a significant amount more but really what the game says to you depends how you look at it and how deep you look. To me OoT and MM are the same game game, sure they are separated by cartridge and release but they are one story and one incarnation of link growing into a truer hero.
Neither would be anywhere near as good without the other. If they weren't a pair I'd easily claim Wind Waker to be better, but they are and that is not so.

Learning from all of their games, not just Majora's Mask for a new IP would be wonderful, but copying the pieces would cheapen a game that's already integral to the core Zelda and can't stand on it's own.

 

[Just_A_Glitch]

Well, Majora's Mask is probably in my top 5 games list, so I have to agree with the OP that I am sad they haven't continued with the universe it was set in.

Maybe one day...