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Quite a few changes have been made to the 3DS version of Majora’s Mask compared to that of the original game on N64.
While many players have complained that this has “dumbed down” the gameplay, I am staunchly in the camp that many of these changes are actually better for the overall experience, and take into account the change in platform and player complaints from the earlier release.
Here are some of the changes you should expect with side quests and general gameplay.
(NOTE: This has been written in a way that is intended for players who are familiar with/have beaten the original N64 version of Majora’s Mask. Newcomers to the game may still find this guide handy, but are less likely to recognize certain rooms and areas right away.)
Owl Statues and Save Statues
There have been a number of changes made to the Owl Statues that have cut down on some of the awful frustration that was the saving process in the N64 game.
- A number of “save statues” have now been scattered all over the world alongside the usual Owl Statues. While you are not able to teleport to these with the Song of Soaring, you can still use them to save at more convenient places (e.g. at the entrance of each of the Temples vs the entrances to the Temple areas).
- Not only do the updated Owl Statues look different, they can be activated by simply pressing A next to them, no matter what form you are in. This is exceptionally handy for saving before the end of the first three days trapped as a Deku Scrub in Clock Town, and also when you are trying to complete quests in Great Bay while your sword is being reforged up at the mountain.
- The Clock Town Owl Statue has been moved slightly so now is directly south of the North Clock Town entrance in South Clock Town and faces the Clock Tower.
Clock Town Banker
The banker we are forever cheating out of funds used to be situated in West Clock Town. He can now be found set up directly behind the Clock Tower facing the North Clock Town exit in South Clock Town.
When depositing rupees, he will now automatically fill in the exact number of rupees you currently have in your wallet rather than forcing you to click it in digit by digit.
Bombers’ Notebook
The Bomber Kids are a small society of small children in Clock Town who try to do as many good deeds and make as many people happy as possible.
- After you get the secret password by playing hide-and-seek with the Bomber Kids, you will not have to write this number down after you reset time. Jim will just give you the Notebook without you giving the secret password to the Bomber Kid in East Clock Town.
(NOTE: The locations of the Bomker Kids during the hide-and-seek game have also changed. See Bomber Kid Locations for more details.) - After doing the first three days and getting the Notebook when you reset time, you largely ignore these kids in the N64 version. In the 3DS version, they have stepped up their game and will run up to you with rumors from all over Termina. These are like the hints from the Truth Stones scattered all over the countryside, just more centralized.
- The original Notebook only had a certain number of entries for people that needed help – you could seek out these people, and after speaking to them, you would be able to see their schedules and when certain important events would happen to them. The 3D version Notebook records everything for you: whether you’ve beaten the Bomb Gallery challenge three days in a row, what the winning numbers are for the lottery, etc.
“Hole of Truth”
There is a new addition to the Clock Town Tower – a little crawlspace that looks very much like the Stones of Truth. This is like another extended help hole, giving you hints on what kind of rewards you’ll get if you complete certain objectives (usually Pieces of Hearts) and how many you have discovered.
Saving and Returning to the First Day
In the original game, the bane of my life was the save mechanism (in conjunction with the stupid bird flying near the Milk Road entrance in Termina Field). Saving using the Owl Statues was temporary – you could use them to avoid keeping your game on perpetual pause, but once you accessed that file again, it’s like it was never there. The only real way to save any progress was to turn back time.
Imagine what happens when there’s a power outage. Or that damned bird steals your newly-won Great Fairy Sword. (The completionist in my soul would hold with no such truck.)
In the 3DS version of the game, the gamemakers have saved me from the frustration and very real danger of flinging my rather expensive 3DS at the wall, by implementing hard save mechanisms in both the Owl and Save statues. If you save at one of these and turn off your game, you can still go back to it.
It also means if you’re late by twenty seconds to reach Lon Lon Ranch before Cremia sets off with her load of milk bottles, you can get back there without going through the whole process of blowing up the boulder, and spending another night shooting ghosts.
(This is a godsend.)
Song of Double Time
This song is played by double-tapping the first three notes of the Song of Time. In the original game, it would jump you forward in time – if you were on the Night of the First Day, playing this would send you into the Dawn of the Second Day.
Using this song was a bit of a hit-or-miss in the original game – it generally wasn’t used unless you had absolutely no interest in doing more than one quest at a time in the same three-day sequence.
In the 3DS version, using this song allows you to decide how many hours ahead you want to move ahead by making it a much more versatile and useful mechanic.
As you can see, many of these changes and updates to the game are ones that many players wanted and could never have, or which we never even knew we wanted but needed anyway. Many of these changes seem small, but they are exactly what we asked for when we were kids and demanded to know “why can’t depositing money be fast and easy?”
For other guides and tips for Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, check out the Master List.
