Opinion: Nintendo Should Use Majora's Mask As A Template For Future Regions

[A Link In Time]

I've been pondering the next round of Zelda games recently and one aspect which struck me as lacking in the DS games and Skyward Sword was the region variety. There was your traditional grassy plains/forest area, a volcanic mound, some underwater cove. In a nutshell, the usual. Videogame critics aren't the only ones who like change, gamers to do. Nintendo has traditionally been a company adept at enforcing change, however minor, and executing it properly.

When I ponder the best of Action-Adventure landscape, one of the prime examples of the aspect at its come comes from none other than a Zelda game-Majora's Mask. It was a title which defied logic, defied Nintendo's business logic even, as a niche installment was created with dark undertones which failed to appeal to a large portion of the fan base. But at day's end, Termina was a realm to admire.

Nintendo took Ocarina of Time and twisted everything about the commonly acclaimed "best game of all time" on its forehead. Gone were the Lost Woods, Goron Mountain, Zora's Domain, the normal world present at OoT's tranquil start. Instead attention was shifted to the more dismal Adult Link half and how to turn that up a notch in a direct. The products were the poison infested Southern Swamp, the ice cold Snowhead Mountain, and the pirate ridden Great Bay. Top that off with a moon looming overhead and you've got one hell of an adventure.

I've already argued in the first half of a prior thread that Majora's Mask is a template for future success. But if Nintendo learns one thing from said game it's how to make a fantastic, eccentric world which defies reality and even the cantankerousness of videogame logic itself.

What are your thoughts on the areas present in Majora's Mask? Were they well developed and a break from the norm? Should Nintendo use those ideas in subsequent Zelda journeys? What other Zelda games had nontraditional albeit well developed environments? What other Action-Adventure franchises should Zelda look to? What are some aesthetic ideas you possess?

 

[New Link]

One complaint about Zelda in general for me is how 1 place is 1 place the entire game!

SS fixed this a bit with the second section of each area but it would be cool to see more variety within each area

 

[Spirit]

MM is a game i've been waiting for Nintendo to try and emulate again like they did with OoT by creating TP.

MM as a whole was zany with an inverted sense of logic that fit the Zelda world perfectly, it made common puzzles that much weirder and harder even though there was no real difference aside fromt he world they inhabited. MM in many ways is Zelda's equivalent of Silent Hill 2, i remember in Silent Hill 2 there is some writing on a boarded up window which says 'there was a hole here, its gone now' nothing has made so much yet so little sense and MM did exactly the same for me. MM's opening cinematic tell you everything you need to know... a sleepy little town watching the time tick by as the townspeople get on with their daily lives and then, oh-my-god-why-is-there-a-giant-moon-with-a-face-in-the-sky?!

The locations in MM were every bit as zany and were above all, fresh. Its been a while since MM now and although we may soon get a remake, i think its high time nintendo cut loose with all out imagination and surreality to give the next installment a more interesting appeal than more recent titles

In terms of any other games Zelda could look to in terms of locations to use or at least their style than i'd say games like Xenoblade Chronicles, ICO, Shadow of the Colossus, and perhaps even Pandora's Tower. All of these games pile on the mystery while seemingly being nothing out of the ordinary at first glance, and theyre all beautiful to boot. Here's hoping that if nintendo havent let their imaginations run wild, that they've at least took inspiration from the best possible examples.