The Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask is in many ways superior to its immediate predecessor, the revered Ocarina of Time. The mechanics are more refined, the mask transformations allow for more diverse gameplay, the story is much, much better than Ocarina's, and the side-quests are the best of any Zelda game before or since.
The problem comes with the three-day time-limit, specifically the cycle aspect. Majora's Mask avoids the pitfalls of other games which featured a 'groundhog day-like' mechanic and become tedious and repetitive as you repeat the same tasks over and over, yet the diversity of things to do leads to its own problems.
Majora's Mask is a game which focuses on the side-quests to help various side-characters. There is nothing wrong with this in and of itself. As I have already stated, these are the best side-quests in Zelda history. The problem is that most of the time you help a character, when you reset the time that character returns to his/her unhelped state. My motivation to do the side-quests evaporated as I realized that no matter how many times I repeated the same quest (like restoring the great fairy) the rules of the game required that I undo all of the aid I had given to the side-characters.
For many people this won't be a problem. But for me losing the motivation to do the side-quests leaves me with just the 4 temples to go through, and those are weaker than the typical 3d Zelda dungeon because the time restraints limit how elaborate they can be.
If Majora's Mask could have sustained the motivation to do the side-quests it would have easily surpassed Ocarina of Time, but it can't overcome its weaknesses in the core campaign when its greatest strength has such a big handicap.
A Great Game Let Down by its Own Conceit
The Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask is in many ways superior to its immediate predecessor, the revered Ocarina of Time. The mechanics are more refined, the mask transformations allow for more diverse gameplay, the story is much, much better than Ocarina's, and the side-quests are the best of any Zelda game before or since.
The problem comes with the three-day time-limit, specifically the cycle aspect. Majora's Mask avoids the pitfalls of other games which featured a 'groundhog day-like' mechanic and become tedious and repetitive as you repeat the same tasks over and over, yet the diversity of things to do leads to its own problems.
Majora's Mask is a game which focuses on the side-quests to help various side-characters. There is nothing wrong with this in and of itself. As I have already stated, these are the best side-quests in Zelda history. The problem is that most of the time you help a character, when you reset the time that character returns to his/her unhelped state. My motivation to do the side-quests evaporated as I realized that no matter how many times I repeated the same quest (like restoring the great fairy) the rules of the game required that I undo all of the aid I had given to the side-characters.
For many people this won't be a problem. But for me losing the motivation to do the side-quests leaves me with just the 4 temples to go through, and those are weaker than the typical 3d Zelda dungeon because the time restraints limit how elaborate they can be.
If Majora's Mask could have sustained the motivation to do the side-quests it would have easily surpassed Ocarina of Time, but it can't overcome its weaknesses in the core campaign when its greatest strength has such a big handicap.