I played The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

The Legend of Zelda minus Zelda.

I appreciate that Nintendo took the lessons that they learned from the Ocarina of Time and took more risks. And those risks certainly paid off. There are a lot of positives to go over in this game, so let's get into it.

In the context of the story the time system not only makes sense, but for game play provides an interesting challenge. The constant threat of losing your progress to returning the the first day incentives you to hone how you play and in ways encourages speed running.

This also brings out the Groundhog's Day element to the game. You are living the same three days over and over again. Learning about who's where and when. There's puzzles that can only be solved at certain times and there's people who are in specific areas at specific times. The whole game is alive around you.

That being said, you can disrupt those things and effect how things play out in a mini Butterfly effect. And one thing I'm still working on, but my brother does every time he plays the game. Achieve the perfect day. You accomplish everything over the three day time you are given. It seems impossible, but I've seen it done and it is stressful.

In this game the puzzles are more fit to the scenario and much more interesting. The dungeons have a better, more distinct feel to them and the characters are more distinct. Possibly because they're doing what they're doing whether or not you're there.

The Mask mechanic was an ingenious addition. Now most of the masks had a purpose or a function that you could help you. The Bunny Hood let you run faster, the stone mask effectively made you invisible to sentries if you didn't move. Like Snake and his cardboard box. (Yes, I had to listen to metal Gear Solid music a couple times while playing this game.) There was a mask that let you dance, another to lead animals around, one to find fairies. There's a ton of masks and most of them do something.

And you even got masks that changed what you are. I really enjoyed transforming into the other races of the game (though the first three day period as the Deku Scrub dragged on so long and nearly drove me nuts just trying to get anything done.) And utilizing their special properties was a great addition to the game, even providing the tools for more interesting puzzles to solve.

Though some things were frustrating, (I will end those beavers!) ultimately all of the masks were a big win in this game.

The strongest part for me in this game, though, is the story telling.

I don't subscribe to the theory that Link is dead in this game, Nintendo themselves disagree, but death is a constant companion in this game. And not in the killing monsters sense. There's loss woven deeply here. And it would seem that every transformation mask is from someone who has died. You're even present at Mikau's death.

Mikau, the soon to be father.

Darmani, the Goron hero who desperately wants to live again and help his people.

The twisted tree, likely the deku scrub that died for your first mask, and child of the Butler.

Each area does, indeed, seem to correspond with another stage of loss acceptance, and there are many characters who need to be healed and are dealing with loss or nearly lost.

Anger, denial, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. You see characters in these various stages, for their own reasons. Some of which you may even be able to empathize with, as loss is something we all must come to accept, but we never are ready for it. Even expected loss can be a wrenching feeling.

And there's Skull Kid. A child with no friends, and no family. Found by two fairies he finds companionship. But not guidance. The three of them slowly, unnoticed to them, turn towards cruelty. Stealing on a whim, and mocking others. But it's when Skull Kid steals Majora's mask that things escalate quickly enough to no longer be ignored.

But Skull Kid isn't the enemy here. He was a lost and scared child, wanting only to have friends, fun, and nobody to answer to. When consequences finally catch up to him, he's frightened again. It's hard to not actually feel sorry for him.

This game certainly deserves the praise it gets, it's fun, well paced (after the first three days,) and has a great story worth knowing for yourself. Because under the loss and grief, there's persistence. Not just your own, but of others. Mikau dies trying to save Lulu's eggs, Darmani died trying to save the Gorons of Snowhead. Romani trained and fights to save her cows from "them."

Even in loss there's hope and the determination to push forward and make things better than they are.