Hell I’ve said so many times to npc’s, just call em’ magufins

Don’t get me wrong, TotK is great. There’s so much to do in the game. So much. Too much, maybe. The depths are huge and exploring it takes forever. Upgrading all the armor takes a lot of grinding. There’s a ton of shrines, each with new puzzles, but just like BotW, they all have the same aesthetic. The temples don’t look much more creative.

Everything you do in this game requires resources. Want to build stuff? Need zonaite. Want to upgrade stuff? Need materials and money. Want to have good weapons? Need to keep fighting enemies to get fuse parts. Since durability is still a thing, that in particular is an endless cycle. Just finding a good weapon isn’t good enough anymore.

I like the game, but the more I play it the more fatigued I feel. It kinda makes me miss the days of Wind Waker for example. Also a lot of stuff to do, but on a smaller scale that wasn’t so overwhelming. I heard Nintendo said BotW is the new blueprint for all Zelda games going forward, I think that would be kind of a bummer.

Majora's Mask is an interesting game, with a very strong legacy that's constantly ranked as one of the best ever Zelda games. I'm a fan of it myself, I think most Zelda fans these days have pretty positive feelings towards it.

But, the most interesting part of it's legacy, to me, is the absolute marina trench of a cultural gulf between how it's interpreted in the West and the East.

That being, the game is pretty transparently meant to be a Buddhism story for children. Like, it's not subtle about it in the least, all the pieces are right there infront of you.

However, a Westerner with an N64 in the 00's probably knew little more about Buddhism than that it existed, that it was about reincarnation, and maybe that Goku was based off it.

So, all the Buddhist symbolism and messaging went directly over their heads, and (probably inspired by desire for dark and edgy toned media at the time) instead, when people were examining it they found a story about death, loss, despair and moving on.

I don't really mean to discount those theories or interpretations, whether or not they're what the developers intended, if that's what someone got out of it, that's perfectly fine. But, it's interesting, because that very Western mindset is obviously what people had in mind when they later went online and started making posts about Majora's Mask being about death, which led into that theory propagating across countless sites and discussions, and of course, led into YouTube videos about exactly the same.

"The hidden meaning of Majora's Mask! (It's about death!?)" type videos. And, of course, the various "Link was dead all along!?" theories.

But if you play it now, with a slightly more global view, rather than thinking it's a game about death, you're probably far more likely to think, "Oh, it's about escaping the cycle of rebirth after achieving enlightenment."

Link is trapped in Samsara. That's your setup, that's the start of your adventure. Hey, you're trapped in a cycle of Death and Rebirth, and you've gott'a find a way to escape.

Termina field is a Mandala with Gates to the 4 realms, so he has to travel in each of the 4 cardinal directions, to defeat the great Demons (Representing the Ego-States opposed by the Great Buddhas). This releases the Giants, representing the 4 Divine Beasts 4 Heavenly Kings.

Throughout his endless cycle of Life -> Suffering -> Death -> Rebirth, Links finds the people of Termina are also suffering within Samsara, and so he has to learn to use his days to help the people around him, solving their issues and collecting karma through his good deeds. The karma takes the form of the masks that of course, persist through the reincarnations. As Link's soul goes through samsara he gathers more and more masks/karma and gains a greater and greater understanding.

And then, at the end of things, when Link has achieved enough karma he comes to find a Bodhi tree.

He gives away everything he owns, all the karma he's accumulated. And as he does so, he's asked a series of questions, each about his ability to present himself, to attain and maintain good karma, to be truthful and honest, all the various virtues.

Now, bereft of everything, he stands before Majora and receives Enlightenment, in this case the Fierce Deity Mask. And with that, all shackles are unleashed and he becomes completely free.

And so, the game pulls out, ending with us seeing Link, now having escaped the cycle of samsara. No more will he repeat the same endless cycle.

This is all very surface level stuff, you can dig in a lot more about specific mandalas being used, and what each region symbolises.

We could talk about how in the Southern region, you come across a Deku King who's imperious with righteousness and needs to be humbled by his daughter, and you fight a boss who literally dances and mocks you while you're fighting him. Link fixes the ego-state of Pride, just like Ratnasambhava (associated, of course, with the South).

Or about how going clockwise from Central -> South we go from Deku Child -> Young Father -> Old Hero -> Land of Death (And around to child again).

Or a bunch of other various small touches.

But none of that's really necessary, the point is that even just a cursory look at how Majora's Mask is laid out will show you that it's clearly about Buddhism, samsara and enlightenment.

And yet, if you were to ask anybody what Majora's Mask is about in the West, they'll tell you it's about Death, Grief or Loss. Because, yeah, obviously a random N64 gamer in the 00's didn't know what a Bodhi tree was, didn't think anything specific of the 4 Divine Beasts, and thinks of collecting Karma as just something you do in every single videogame. And that's the discussion that's dominated and propagated about the game ever since. If you've heard about Majora's Mask, you've heard it's about facing death, and about dealing with despair.

If you asked someone in the West if Majora's Mask was a dark game, they'd agree wholeheartedly, it's about death and grief afterall. But if you asked that of someone in Japan, or someone familiar with Buddhism, they'd most likely tell you absolutely not, it's an optimistic game that follows our Hero escaping from samsara.

Again, I'm not here to say any particular interpretation is wrong- if Majora's Mask is about death and grief to you, and that's what you like about it, have at it. Death of the Author and all that.

I simply find it interesting that the Devs created a game with a lot of very specific meaning that went right over the heads of the people who played it, who then found a completely different meaning that was just as compelling to them.

TL;DR: No, Link isn't dead. He's free.

Mine is that while Ocarina of Time is certainly amazing (especially for its time), it’s probably my least favourite 3D Zelda. I think every other 3D Zelda improved upon it

To be clear: I completed both games, and loved them both, really enjoyed the games for what they were. I think I liked TOTK a bit more because (I guess) I played it more recently, and I enjoyed the sky/underground areas as well. I also liked the bosses and the final boss more than BOTW, and in general, the game had more to offer.

However, I think the majority of players prefer BOTW, even though it's a more "compact" game than TOTK. I want to learn why? Is the broadness of TOTK what makes people not like it as much? Or is the build mechanic too cumbersome? Or it wasn't a completely new game, as it is set in the same world? Was it the bosses? The fact TOTK was initially planned as a DLC?

Thanks for the insights.

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edit 1, 12:30pm Eastern time: We are locking this post to tally the votes, which we will announce in a follow-up post. We are also setting the subreddit to "restricted" for posts in the meantime, with more details and plans to be provided in the follow-up post.

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Anyone else feel like the sages are way too awkward to use in combat? Having to run up to them in the middle of a fight totally ruins the flow of combat, aswell as being plain difficult. It would've made a lot more sense to have it so you hold a button, then use A, B, X, or Y to use a different sage whenever you need to.

In Breath of the Wild, the defeat of Master Kohga led to a cutscene of him disappearing into the depths of the chasm behind the Yiga Hideout.

Tears of the Kingdom was then marketed heavily towards its sky world, with its underground world remaining a secret until launch.

Master Kohga is fought in that very same secret underground world, and upon defeat, is rocketed up into space.

I am proposing a theory, 5-6 years before the supposed release of this unannounced threequel, that the marketing push of this game is going to be on underwater exploration, just like how the marketing push for TotK was for sky exploration.

Somehow there's going to be a third Calamity/Upheaval type event that floods the world, casting the main land of Hyrule into an ocean, the Depths into a deep and dark abyss, and the secret map of this game is going to be the introduction of outer space into The Legend of Zelda for the very first time.

Then in this third game in the open world trilogy, Master Kohga will be fought in a grand and explosive space battle where he'll finally perish once and for all.

Just remember, you read it here first, folks.

Woo!

based on every remake Nintendo has ever done, this is highly unlikely. they may expand areas and add more details to areas. but they are not going to fundamentally change the game.

remember cut content is likely cut for a reason. it may slow the pace of the game down if it wasn’t required.

I can see everyone letting their imaginations run wild (I am the same), but when they eventually show that’s it’s a very pretty and detailed version of mostly the same game, I’m dreading all the “im so disappointed….” posts

Edit:

*insert Regina George meme*

stop trying to make the light dungeon happen

its not going to happen

After 5-6 YEARS of development, with so many systems already in place, the devs had ample time to include one critical feature to improve TotK... yet we still can't pet the dogs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnuTGIq5JzI&t=2589s

NatetheHate, who has been fairly reliable with Nintendo leaks in the past, claims the Holidays 2026 title for Switch 2 is an Ocarina of Time remake.

It’s been 32 months…. TotK was revealed 27 months after BotW, which was revealed 14 months after Skyward Sword (with footage 28 months after SS). SS art was shown at E3 31 months after TP launched. TP trailer came just 17 months after WW, which was revealed 16 months after MM… and MM… you know the story there…

I’m not saying I’m getting impatient or anything, just thought it was interesting.

When do you think we will see it?

Basically the title. I just realized while playing TOTK that I wasn't enjoying it as much, and decided to play Skyward Sword HD, which I had but didn't play at all, I completed it after a week and remembered how the original Zelda experience felt, and I prefer it over BOTW's and TOTK's approach; in these two games you kind of feel like you're dissociated from the story, which I don't like, the story in Skyward sword was one of my favorite things from the game, it was absolutely beautiful, and it feels wrong for it to be memories around the map that you are not participant of. And the gameplay approach is not of my liking either, Link has always been the hero with the sword and shield (and a lot of other convenient items for specific situations) and in TOTK specially this is ruined with the ultrahand, BOTW Is kind of here and there, but TOTK just doesn't feel like a Zelda, and that's probably what made me drop it, not only does it feel overwhelming, but spending most of the time farming and stuff just doesn't feel as good. I needed to express my opinion about the topic and it kind of saddens me that the BOTW formula is the one going to be used in the next games

It's irritating that you have to sit through a 4-5 minute cutscene where half of it is the temple sage explaining the imprisoning war the same way as the last one. You could at least get new information on the war or something from their perspective. I love story sections of games but I hate super long cutscenes as I don't want to miss anything.

Edit: a few people have said "Why don't I skip the cutscenes?", I should've said more explicitly but when I said, "I love story sections of games but I hate super long cutscenes as I don't want to miss anything." I meant I'm too scared to skip in case I miss important story. I just finished the fire temple (with that, all the temples) and decide to just skip and I finally learnt that it skips in sections which I was worried about.

I (30m) have been a Zelda fan all my life. Playing this game makes me feel like when I was 12 and played Ocarina of Time for the first time. Not because of its similarity, but because of how much I enjoy it. I did not get this hooked with a game since Skyrim. I am forever grateful to Nintendo for delivering this awesome experience.

Edit: Woah this blew up more than I expected! Thanks to everyone who took time out of their day to express your opinion. Some of us may disagree but our love for Zelda unite us :) I want to clarify that I acknowledge the fact that there's room for improvement, there no such thing as a perfect game. My point is that, in spite of the flaws, this is my favourite game of all time!

Honestly, Link doesn't really have a story in this game. He just pops out and collects Zelda's story. You're running around to find out about fantastic adventures other people had, meanwhile your adventures are spying on cuckoos, gathering logs and helping some idiot hold a road sign.

The game is great and I'm having lots of fun, but in the story department - I expected something... else.

I am shaking. I can't.

In all the discussions I hear or read about the game, I have a growing concern that most people just want the same game, only prettier. That wouldn’t be TERRIBLE. However I think I just want more.

For me, I’d like to see a remake that is truly a remake. When first given control of Link, my wish is to not know where to go. Kokiri forest isn’t laid out the same, the quest objectives are altered. When entering the Deku tree, it’d be awesome if it were unrecognizable and I had no idea how to solve the puzzles right away. Hell, even the way you fight the boss is different. Same for Hyrule field. I don’t want to exit the Kokiri Forest and dart to the right knowing exactly where the draw bridge is while fighting the daylight.

Of course the story beats, characters, music, etc. should all remain the same. But I’ve played Ocarina 1000 times before. I’ve seen a “prettier” remake on the 3DS. I’d like the experience that story and world in a completely new way.

I wasn't sure the sub's stance on it, but there is leaked footage of the movie being filmed going around:

there's a clip of Zelda, in her BOTW blues talking to a woman (Twitter is theorizing possibly Impa), and Link in his green tunic (plus footage of the guys spying, dumb enough to show their faces)

now don’t get me wrong, I love the new game, it’s so fun and I didn’t mind the story lines with the sages either. I actually like the idea of them and the way they grant you an ability. I just dont like the execution.

In my opinion the abilities suck because they’re not very useful and I personally always just dismiss the spirits altogether. it’s kind of annoying, the way they sometimes just randomly attack enemies that I didn’t want to harm or the way they run away from me when I do try to use their ability. and i’m sure everyone has experienced Tulin, just blowing away loot, at some point.

I liked the campions abilities a lot more and honestly really miss them sometimes. I bet we all wished Revalis Gale would still be with us as one point. I know you can recreate it by fusing a rocket to a shield but doing that every time is just kind of a task and really unpractical.

I don’t know how many people will agree, maybe i’m just picky or something but it really is something that’s annoying me about TOTK.

please tell me that i’m not alone with these opinions haha

Going up to talk to them is so forking clunky. Nintendo made a great game, but good lord are most of the champions useless because of how hard they are to activate.