
Skyward Swordĭark fairytale atmosphere … Twilight Princess. If you thought Navi was annoying, you ain’t met mouthy sailor Linebeck. That, and the series’ most irritating sidekick. The touch controls were cool, but what everyone remembers about Phantom Hourglass is being sent back to the same dungeon again and again every time you threatened to make some small amount of progress. Long considered the worst game in the Zelda series, it hasn’t improved with age. I maintain that hardly anyone has actually finished this needlessly opaque side-scrolling follow-up to 1986’s The Legend of Zelda, because: a) it’s incredibly hard to figure out what the game wants you to do and b) the final dungeon has TWO bosses, and if you can’t finish it then you’re turfed out to attempt the whole thing again. Its weird, camp send-up of Hyrule and three-player puzzles have slipped almost entirely from my mind in the years since I played it, and what I do remember mostly involved shouting impotently at the screen as some online playmate entirely failed to see the solution to a puzzle that was staring them in the face. Once adjusted, however, the sense of accomplishment after completing dungeons and quests is amplified by also overcoming the game's time limit.The 3DS’s multiplayer Zelda game wasn’t so much bad (unless you tried to play it by yourself, laboriously switching between all three characters) as eminently forgettable. This can make things difficult as rewinding time can often interfere with the progression of a particular objective and takes a while to get used to.

Majora's Mask is a genre-defining time-loop game where Link must reset the three-day counter constantly, which can either create or fix disappointing side-quests and main objectives. Unlike Ocarina of Time, the titular instrument is now the source of stress for the player due to the three-day time limit imposed on them. This mechanic set the bar for just how creative players can be and continues to inspire players to experiment with the masks and how they can affect Termina. The masks in Majora's Mask, unlike its predecessor, alter Link's body and abilities, allowing him to embody beings like a Zora or Goron in order to overcome certain enemies and obstacles. Masks were introduced in Ocarina of Time, but comparing them to the masks in Majora's Mask is like comparing night and day. Related: Zelda: Who The Fierce Deity Link Mask Was Before Majora's Maskįrom here, the story and gameplay revolve around Link's ocarina and masks.

After Link gets a brief introduction to the concept of masks, he exits the underground only to be met by the horrifying face of the moon and the revelation that it will crash into Termina in three days.

The result of this meeting is Link's descent into Termina, a seemingly separate realm from Hyrule that is stuck in an unnerving purgatory. Majora's Mask opens with Link and Epona walking aimlessly through the Lost Woods, exhausted from their journey through time, only to be met by the Skull Kid and the titular Majora's Mask.

This darkness and ambiguity allow theories like Majora's Mask representing the 5 stages of grief to be generated and analyzed 22 years later. Whereas Ocarina of Time anchored itself as the joining and fracturing point of the series' continuity, Majora's Mask anchored itself as the most mysterious and ominous point in the timeline. Majora's Mask chooses to take the exact opposite approach and throws players right into a darker and more complex world.
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The titular ocarina is an essential part of Link's arsenal that gives him control over things like weather and time in order to solve puzzles or acquire the things he needs to defeat Ganondorf. The tightness of its pacing, forgiveness for the player, and innovative story and design are some of what makes Ocarina of Time one of the best entries in the series - but does that make it better than Majora's Mask? Giving the player unrestricted freedom and peace to learn is crucial for their future enjoyment and desire to face new challenges. Later entries like Breath of the Wild opt to just throw the player into the thick of it and while some find this approach to difficulty ingenious, other players may find it to be too intimidating and steer them away from what is otherwise a wonderful experience.Īs players become more confident, the game increases the challenge by adding elements such as the concept of time and time manipulation. Ocarina of Time's opening level lets the player take control of child Link and explore Kokiri Forest for as long as they like. Related: Zelda: Every Ocarina of Time Dungeon, Ranked By Difficulty
