Agreed…well, maybe tied with Majora’s Mask 
A Link to the Past is an amazing game, and may be one of the only games to be practically ‘perfect,’ in that there is nothing I can think of that I would change.
If we can turn this into a generic Zelda thread, what exactly am I missing about Majora’s Mask? I got through about two or three cycles of the clock and the deku temple crap, and couldn’t take it any more. The fiddly bits with the schedule book, the constant repetition of stuff if you weren’t decently fast about it, nothing about it grabbed me. It struck me as essentially a poor distillation of everything I disliked about Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time (fetch quests, talking to everyone sixteen times to figure out what chain to do stuff in, repeating/recrossing vast amounts of uninteresting terrain) without adding anything but an annoying time mechanic that forced even MORE repetition.
I really like the concept of Majora’s Mask. Having to repeat the same three days over and over and over again until you get everything just right. It’s like Groundhog Day: The Game (and I loved Groundhog Day).
But I don’t think I could stand playing it for very long either.
I remember thinking when Majora’s Mask was announced that they were making an entire game out of the most annoying quest in Ocarina of Time. I never played it, but does that about sum it up?
The game’s certainly not for everyone. The very reasons for your dislike are exactly why I loved the hell out of it. Specifically, they made it that much more immersive. Let me explain.
The Time Mechanic: Yes, it could be frustrating–running out of time, having to essentially restart from scratch. And yet it made everything in the game that much more palpable. It’s one of the first–and still only–games that made me feel as if the fate of the world really was in my hands. If you neglect that responsibility, the world, quite literally, is destroyed. It lent every single act significantly more weight when everything you do is compromising the amount of time you have remaining.
And more importantly, the execution of this ‘time limit’ concept was superb. The subtle changes in Clock Town’s theme, reflecting the chaos as imminent destruction neared. The ‘shrinking screen’ effect that corresponded to the chimes of the bell tower at the end of each day. The fact that you could look up at the sky at any time and watch as the moon actually got closer with each passing hour, serving as a constant reminded of your ultimate objective.
As a slight digression, a popular complaint against the original Pikmin was the 30-day time limit. That, to me, was what defined the game. Removing it from the sequel killed the fantastic balance of urgency vs resources that the original struck. Instead, you could simply tool around leisurely, pumping up massive reservoirs of Pikmin, killing any level of suspense (and resulting satisfaction) that the game had. Pikmin wasn’t a game about exploring, it was about survival.
**Schedule Book: **I’m actually going to speak to the larger issue of character interaction in general, of which the scheduling book is a part of. Majora’s Mask is one of the few games to provide a world that truly felt alive. In stark contrast to “open-world” games such as Grand Theft Auto, where the only meaningful character interaction you had was finding increasingly hilarious methods of killing them, Majora’s Mask allowed you to actually assist people in non-juvenile ways–sometimes in rather abstract, but realistic methods (well, within Zelda standards).
Every character in Clock Town had a schedule. You could follow one over the course of the entire 3-day adventure and watch each one performing unique tasks throughout the day. You could interact with these characters watch how it would change their behavior over the next couple of days. No game, to this day, has offered a world that has felt as alive and “real” as Majora’s Mask (don’t get me started on Oblivion’s contrived AI-driven behavioral system). The fact that you could wander around town, watching these characters go about their daily lives, is still impressive to this day. Hell, you could even stand in place and simply “people watch”–an act that hasn’t been replicated to any meaningful degree since.
The schedule book was merely a tool you had available to help track the events you’ve set in motion–as I recall, I didn’t even have to use it that much as most events are intuitively explained in-game itself. The schedule book was just a reminder. And for the record, much of the character interaction in Majora’s Mask is optional, particularly as you delve deeper in the game.
Although Majora’s Mask had “only” four dungeons, the puzzle elements extended far beyond the mere confines of Temple walls. Instead, the entire world became a puzzle, thanks in part to the time and character-interaction dynamics.
Addressing some more of your complaints. Vast amounts of uninteresting terrain? I can’t understand this at all–Majora’s Mask world is relatively confined (whether compared to Ocarina of Time or other similar games). As such, I found every area to be interesting and unique–certainly no less so than Ocarina of Time.
Fetch quests? To some degree, I suppose. But almost every adventure game has “fetch quests”–it all comes down to how they’re presented. I dug their incorporation in Majora’s Mask and felt they fit the narrative quite well. Plus many of them are optional–I don’t remember the game having any more required ones than any other similar games, or even other Zelda games.
Talking to everyone sixteen times to figure out what chain to do stuff in: This is an exaggeration, as I’m sure you intended. I don’t know, perhaps it comes down to how we perceived the world, but I never had much difficultly figuring out who to speak to, or when to do it. There certainly was no need to speak to everyone in town countless times–perhaps you missed some key details earlier?
Anyway, again, Majora’s Mask certainly isn’t a game for everyone. If you’re easily agitated by, what can be, seemingly repetitive activities, stay away. The game’s not for you. If, however, you view those same activities as a real-time puzzle of sorts–one that tests the skills and information you’ve acquired up to that point–the game is simply riveting.
No.
Red, did you have any issues with the Anju/Kafei quest? I was pretty young at the time so maybe that’s why, but that’s often cited as the really frustrating one since it requires so many independent things. I agree Majora’s Mask is great, I personally like it more than OOT, and I agree that MOST of the masks were mostly obvious if you just talked to people or observed for a little bit, but Anju and Kafei is still pretty maddening. Not poorly designed, mind you, but I can indeed see where people got frustrated with the game if they didn’t like some of the mechanics in that quest.
To be perfectly honest, I simply don’t remember–it’s been nearly 10 years since I first played it 
But I’m guessing since I don’t remember whether it made me frustrated or not, it more than likely didn’t (though again, I could be wrong). I do realize it has frustrated a lot of people out there, but it is an entirely optional part of the game.
I also thought it had a really fulfilling award, because you actually start to care about these characters. (Btw, spoiler did anyone return to the hotel on the third day, after ‘failing’ that sub-quest? It’s pretty heart-wrenching)
This is probably it–I go into Zelda games wanting some puzzle solving and a lot of interesting swordplay and dungeon mazes–to me, MM didn’t feel like a Zelda game, and honestly I can imagine myself enjoying the exact same game with a different label on it, but the set of expectations I bring to the table hamstrings me.
Probably also this is why I like Twilight Princess so much–the dungeons have the kind of on the run puzzle solving that grabs me, and I found the swordplay nothing short of stellar, especially on the Wii (your mileage obviously does vary, but I’ve found that for whatever reason I tend to pick up Wii control schemas faster than many–the shield bash nunchuck thrust, for example, took me maybe fifteen minutes to perfect) where I got the feel I want from a Zelda game–I’m riding along through a field to my next quest, two boars with goblins come up on me and out comes the bow to nail the first set, then switch to sword and cut off the other set back and forth for a bit, suddenly I’m looking at that section of Hyrule Field entirely differently because I’ve never veered off this way before, etc.
Majora’s Mask suffered from boredom for me because I never quite got into it enough to get the hang of a lot of the mechanics–I ended up seeing the same things over and over due to falling off things, redoing, running out of time. I can STILL remember the deku temple’s general layout and scenery, and I haven’t touched that game in a decade. The sense of urgency was crippling for me, too–I don’t mind being rushed occasionally, but feeling perpetually rushed (especially as I was having a hard time figuring out what the heck to do with everyone in the town, as mentioned) was draining enough I got sick of it very fast. Which is probably part of my problem, I don’t really cope with temporal stress well and it was seriously affecting my ability to play. I’d hit the Song of Time and immediately start thinking, shit, what’s next, I only have X hours this cycle so it’s gotta be GO TIME.
Uh, I don’t like Majora’s Mask, but…no. What are you talking about?
There was a quest in OoT that involved changing masks and different times of day - you’ll have to forgive me the details as I only played that game for a few days in 1998. It annoyed me so much I quit, even though I was liking the game up until that point.
TP isn’t my favorite Zelda game, but keep in mind that the crappiest Zelda game is still 99% better than most of the stuff out there*.
Besides, the water level in this one isn’t so bad, which gives it +1000 points.
Although Zant himself is a hilariously lame villain, I really loved the boss battle with him where you run through mini-versions of the previous bosses. And I loved the Yeti stuff for the sheer quirkyness.
*The CD-i games don’t exist. Shhhh.
I think the Yeti stuff was my favorite part of the game.
Ah, I remember. No, Majora’s mask isn’t much like that at all. There is no trading system or having to walk up to random people with the right mask on to see if they want it.
Still a bad Zelda, though, that Majora’s Mask
It’s kinda funny how we’re at least partially developing a hierarchy of different types of Zelda fans here, mostly apparently centered upon whether Twilight Princess was good or Majora’s Mask was good or neither (but almost never both).
It’s especially interesting considering Majora’s Mask, Twilight Princess–and let’s not forget, Wind Waker–were all directed by Eiji Aonuma. Perhaps not coincidentally, those three are pretty clearly the most divisive of all the Zelda games (barring perhaps Zelda II).
To me, he was a one-hit wonder who hit it out of the park with Majora’s Mask, but has faltered in his attempts since in his silly self-imposed objective of “making a better Zelda than Ocarina of Time” (paraphrased). If only he realized he already has succeeded. Unfortunately, it’s this mind-set that likely resulted in Twilight Princess being a near retread of of Ocarina of Time.
Zelda needs a refresh and I’m hoping his adherence to his stated philosophy doesn’t impair the next Zelda game in the same way.
That is interesting.
I guess I’d be the bottom of the barrel, because the one I got most into was The Adventure of Link.
But, at the risk of losing my Nintendo fancard, I’ve never actually finished a Zelda game :o. I enjoyed the hell out of the first two when they were new, then kind of wavered on the next two, then didn’t play another until Twilight Princess, which I’m obviously not digging. I guess I’m probably just not nearly the Zelda fan I once fancied myself to be.
I liked them both.
Burn the witch!