The Legend of Zelda series just went through a radical shift with the recent release of Breath of the Wild, and it likely will again with its upcoming sequel, but Nintendo's now cult-classic Majora's Mask is 20 years old, and another take on its original ideas could shake up the formula even more than a Breath of the Wild 2. The most recent Zelda introduced gamers to a bold, open world Hyrule in which the player had complete control over what they did and when they did it, but combining that concept with the unique time mechanics of Majora's Mask could make for a truly unique Zelda title.

Majora's Mask was released in 2000 on the Nintendo 64, and at the time it was received with mixed reviews. Nintendo had just obliterated gamers' expectations with the ground-breaking Ocarina of Time just two years before, so when players entered the doomed world of Termina under a strict three-day time limit for the first time, many of them wondered why the experience was so radically different. Over time, the title gradually developed a following that appreciated it for its own merits, and Majora's Mask is now looked upon as one of Nintendo's best Zelda experiences.

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The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask takes place in an alternate reality of Hyrule known as Termina, and after he stumbles into it, Link is tasked with returning the four guardian giants of the land to catch the Moon from crashing into the world and destroying it. Gameplay-wise, this puts the player on a three-day time limit in which the astral rock of despair looming above the landscape grows closer with each consecutive tick and tock. Players need to conquer dungeons, aid civilians in various quests, and explore the world all while paying very close attention to their clocks at the bottom of the screen. Even though the timer can be both slowed down and reset at the cost of deleting side quest progress, this main gameplay mechanic alienated Zelda fans back in the day because of just how different it all felt from the classic Ocarina of Time.

Majora's Mask Time Mechanics Should Return To Zelda

Happy Mask Salesman in Majora's Mask.

Times have changed in the Zelda community though, and a sequel to Majora's Mask may be a great way to keep the series going. When the original came out, fans simply wanted more Ocarina of Time, and after installments like Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword delivered that style of Zelda yet again, the fans were ready for a change. A Link Between Worlds and Breath of the Wild are both such widely respected and beloved entries in the Zelda franchise because they shook up the formula at a time in which the fans were craving a change, and adding the formula of Majora's Mask now may just resonate with Nintendo's current audience.

A 'sequel' to Majora's Mask does not necessarily mean a new game with an interconnected storyline of the original, but rather a new installment that takes the ideas from the original, and does something new with them. Imagine if Breath of the Wild 2 used a time limit system much like Majora's Mask and took place in a more condensed overworld. Exploring the world in whatever fashion is still entirely up to the player, but now the player needs to consider time when exploring areas. It could be an excellent addition to the new formula that Breath of Wild adopted since modern Zelda fans are overall more open to the big changes a game like Majora's Mask 2 might bring.

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