Replaying Majora's Mask

08 Jun, 2024

I recently replayed Majora's Mask, the excellent second Zelda game on the N64, using 2Ship2Harkinian, a recompilation of the game. Because it's a recompilation (though I don't know if that's the right term, to be honest), you can run it on the Steam Deck and a bunch of other platforms - Windows, Mac, and other Linux platforms. It also has an extensive amount of configuration, both for graphics/audio, as well as enhancements and cheats. You can also run it at 90 FPS, which feels amazing on the Steam Deck. Compared to the original's 40 FPS, it feels incredibly smooth.

Majora's Mask is easily the best Zelda game, and probably my second favorite game of all time¹. Unlike most of the other games in the series, which are pretty linear and have one overarching story, MM is incredibly side-quest driven. The actual main quest line is not very long. The side quests are really entertaining, and the characters are well-written and interesting. And the core game mechanic, a three day repeating time loop, is still extremely compelling. It's incredibly surreal, surprisingly dark, and still one of my favorite games of all time.

In a world where most games are microtransaction stores ostensibly wrapped around a game engine, it was a lot of fun to play a game that still surprised me, made me feel a bunch of things, and was deeply satisfying to explore every nook and cranny of. Video games are fun!