[[2026 Games#^087492|2026 Games]]  ## 2026-10-11 I played and even 100% **Majora’s Mask** as a kid. But I was a kid, and subsequently, a damned idiot that didn’t like it as much as my precious baby, **Ocarina of Time**. And I never went back to it because I had undiagnosed anxiety and the thought of dealing with the three day time loop was enough to put me off of playing it again for decades. But I’m medicated now, and it’s spook month, so I’m doing my first playthrough since I was like, 7 years old, using the “2 Ship 2 Harkinian” recompilation. This lets you set up a whole bunch of QOL stuff to make the experience smoother[^1], including widescreen, 60FPS, the ability to add hi-res textures, the ability to equip items to the D-Pad, and more. Some of them are even bigger than that, like the ability to stop time in dungeons and what not — but they felt like they went against the spirit of the game, obviously, so I skipped those. **Majora’s Mask** is an entirely different beast when you’re an adult. It’s actually a much creepier game than I remember. I think I kind of pushed it out of my brain because people leaned so heavy on that aspect of the game to the point where I didn’t take it seriously anymore. But it is in fact quite a spooky game, perfect for October. It's all implied, which makes it creepier because my overactive adult imagination fills in the gaps. I’m currently in the Woodfall Temple, and fairy partner Tatl notes ashes at its center. What are they? If you’ve been paying attention to the game so far, and remember what happens afterwards, you can guess, and it’s horrible. It’s the same for the masks that let you transform into the other playable forms, who are seemingly all based on people that the Skull Kid just straight up murdered, maybe? Who knows! Nintendo will never tell. :) The thing that I’ve had to be very cognizant of is pushing away my urge to check a guide whenever I feel stuck. I don’t normally do that anyways because optimizing the fun out of a game is antithetical to how I enjoy them. But this game gets me close because the time limit pressure makes it feel like I need to make use of every minute of the day. [[A Day and You|Kind of like in real life]]. Not to bury the lede too much, given how stupid I am, but that’s kind of the point, isn’t it? If I forgot to save the bomb bag lady at midnight of Day 1 because I was too busy doing jump attacks on logs to get a piece of heart, then I guess I gotta get to it next cycle. Every mistake made, every wrong turn, every failed quest line is just a chance to get it right when I go back in time, armed with knowledge, and maybe some new items to speed the process up. Child me, impatient and stupid, thought this was dumb. Adult me, slightly less impatient and probably just as stupid, thinks this is actually kind of cool. Thanks medication. I will return when I finish the game, hopefully before October is up. ## 2026-10-22 Got my 100% progress for **Majora’s Mask** wrapped up. This game gives me the same melancholy vibes as [[Earthbound]]. The Ending was quite affecting. Everything works out in the end, but much like the aforementioned quirky [[JRPG]], it feels like Link's received a scar that will always be with him. It’s no secret I'm an absolute [[Save Your Game Please|mark for Ocarina of Time]] and all it represents to me. But it's also easy to see that **Majora’s Mask** is the superior game. Mechanically it’s more interesting, with better puzzle design and side-quests that are so integral to the game they may as well not be called side-quests at all. The additional forms Link can use add some nice variety as well. And story-wise this game isn’t even on the same planet as **Ocarina of Time**, in the sense that it. Well. Has one. There’s a lot to unpack, but the main themes are, in my opinion, pretty obvious. Healing, and hope. **Majora’s Mask** is a very stressful game, because there is an impending, unstoppable doom that feels inevitable. The Moon is relentless — frankly it could easily be interpreted as death itself, given the characters that you lose throughout the game. And it’s also literally impossible to stop the end of Termina (and likely the world) from being destroyed in one three day streak. And yet we continue to fight against it. Refusing to accept the end, finding hope and happiness in this world despite the overbearing sense of hopelessness. And most importantly, working to heal the pain of the people around us. I feel like Cremia[^2] sums it up quite well during her quest line. > [!Quote] Cremia > With every good deed, a child takes one step closer to adulthood. Link helps the people around him selflessly, despite being on his own journey, and it’s that selflessness that both allows him to leave childhood behind and save Termina. In healing the hearts of others, I’d argue he's able to heal himself, and process his own loss of a good friend. So uh yeah, pretty good game I guess. [^1]: please don’t use the word “friction” at me right now, I am so tired I will actually crash out. [^2]: one of my OG media crushes, deadass lol