It is basically two games in one. The Clocktown/‘sidequest’ time loop game, and the traditional Zelda dungeon game. I tend to agree that the latter is mostly just not good. The dungeons don’t improve with the existence of the time mechanic - in fact they needed to add a mechanic to slow time down because of how poorly the two designs mesh, which is kind of antithetical to the whole initial conceit, in my opinion.

The Clocktown Game, on the other hand, I think is really cool. You get to see all the routines and problems that characters have over those three days, and nudge events towards desired outcomes. Exploring how all their lives intersect, and how they react in the literal face of impending doom, allows for some really cool stories and moments.

It’s a Clocktown game trapped in the body of a Zelda game.

I absolutely love this game. It was great because you have to do actual puzzles, which for sure gets annoying sometimes. But figuring how to fit everything together with the time constraints feel much more gratifying to succeed at. It also stops me from just endlessly running around doing random stuff for no reason like the Witcher or something 🙃. Different strokes for sure!

The way I think about Majora’s Mask as a Zelda game is that in addition to exploring the physical world, you’re also exploring time. That does necessitate “backtracking” by forcing time resets and a lot of waiting around if you don’t immediately know what you can be doing in parallel (though the two time control songs make that part easier).

With the exception of the dungeons themselves, the game typically fast tracks getting you back to where you were when you just reset. Some mechanics like that the game forces on you pretty quickly (song of soaring fast travel), others it lets you figure out on your own (dungeon boss instant warp after beating them the first time).

Side quests can be a bit more troublesome to deal with if you have to reset part way through, but each interaction point that you have to go through offers you another way to handle things (or to not and let another sequence of events happen).

To your last point, the game really throws refillable items at you in the overworld, so a lot of times you can skip that (I’m not saying stocking up doesn’t take forever on reset, it does. You just don’t always have to)

All in all I really love the time mechanic of the game and that let’s me forgive some of the other flaws of the game. If it fell flat, then yeah I can see how the game quickly becomes a chore. But I adore the game, hence the username

You made it further than me. I was an absolute completionist in OOT and when I started MM, I just extremely put off by the reset time and do things over again. I wanted to finish what I was in the middle of, but having to be interrupted and even plan what I was going to do rather than just explore and fumble through things really bothered me. I really don’t think I made it through more than a handful of time resets before I gave up

Majora’s Mask is a hidden gem if you ask me, it doesn’t get nearly the same praise as OOT because the latter was more friendly with the public, and this one is… Well weird, but the perfect one for Halloween season no doubt.

I have only played the 3DS version and I enjoyed it, as others have pointed out, you really need to do the side quest as they are a huge bunch of the game, I completed it 100% I think, but I always had a guide on my hand because I’m dumb.

As for the replayability time… Yeah I don’t see myself coming back to his one in the near future (maybe on Halloween though), other Zelda titles like OOT and Twilight Princess? Sure!

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Majora’s mask is really all about the side quests. There is not actually very much repetition of stuff required, I’m not sure where you got that idea. If that’s your main objection you should really have given them more of a shot.

I’ve played and finished almost every Zelda game, one of the things I love about the Zelda saga is that every game has lots of common points with other games. But also it has its unique mechanics and feel.

Majora’s Mask is among the most complex games with its time mechanics and timed events. Also the atmosphere is quite opressing and strange compared to other games. Also you need to knowledge that N64 Zeldas almost belong to first generation 3D games which compared to new adventure 3D games aren’t as intuitive or playable.

Not counting the switch games

BotW is a Wii U game.

What a great system, too bad the eStore shutdown and I’ll only ever pirate nintendo games to make up for all the shit they stole from me.

I’ve not played it but it does indeed sound terrible. I didn’t even like OoT all that much though, even though it’s been hyped to oblivion.

Did you make much use of the Inverted Song of Time? I was in the same situation as you the first time I really played MM, I putzed around in the game as a young kid and then actually tried to beat it as an adult. I’m no pro gamer by a long shot but the inverted song of time basically made the time mechanic a non-issue for me.

When you’re thinking about what to do next, try to divide the game into major milestones (pre-temple stuff, temples themselves, etc) and then follow the loop of (1) slow time (2) do major milestone (3) go back to town, deposit money, start over. It’s a little tedious, I know, but tbh I think taking small breaks to collect yourself between major milestones is a good way to approach adventure games anyways.

And, as the others said, you’re shooting yourself in the foot if you ignore the side quests completely. If you do all of them, the final boss will be one of the most fun, one-sided beatdowns in video game history :D