Author Topic: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D Preview  (Read 3408 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline CurtDogg

  • Staff Writer, Twitch Streamer
  • NWR Staff
  • Score: 7
    • View Profile
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D Preview
« on: January 26, 2015, 07:14:00 AM »

A few hours with Majora’s Mask 3D highlight what makes this remake so promising.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/hands-on-preview/39506/the-legend-of-zelda-majoras-mask-3d-preview

It seems like only yesterday that The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D was unveiled to the world. Fans have been clamoring for this remake for quite some time, and it came as a shock that we’d be getting this game in February, earlier than most people expected. With the final version of Majora’s Mask 3D in hand, I spent a lot of time with the Nintendo 64 classic over the past week.

Right off the bat, Majora’s Mask 3D looks absolutely gorgeous compared to the previous 3DS remake of Ocarina of Time. While Ocarina of Time 3D looked good, most of the textures and areas didn’t look that much better than the original Nintendo 64 release. Majora’s Mask, on the other hand, looks as if everything was made from the ground up, really showcasing what the 3DS is capable of. Any worry I had about the game’s darker art style not translating well to a portable experience quickly dissipated as soon as I started playing.

Quite a few elements of the game have been changed and streamlined as well. Like the Ocarina of Time remake, there’s a special stone located inside the Clock Tower where you meet the Happy Mask Salesman, which you can crawl into and get a vision of what you’re supposed to do next. This really helps when playing such a large game on a portable system, since it’s easy to lose track of what you were doing if you play this game on the go, and have to start and stop playing on a semi-frequent basis. It also helps that there are way more spots in the world to save your game, as compared to the original version, where you could only save at the Owl statues scattered across the game world.

So far, I’ve only really noticed one change to the game’s world, and that’s the location of the Bank Teller in Clock Town. He used to be located on the west side of town, but was moved right behind the Clock Tower, making it much easier to notice and find. The bank allowed you to deposit rupees, and retrieve them when you traveled back to the First Day, instead of losing them. The Bomber’s Notebook, as well as the hiding locations of the Bombers, have also changed. The notebook now gives players more detailed descriptions of locations and times of each of the game’s many sidequests and records, making the game not only feel more streamlined, but also easier to obtain every mask needed to unlock the final mask later in the game.

As far as the game feels, it’s essentially identical to the original release on N64, with a couple added benefits. The first one are the gyroscope controls that return from the 3DS remake of Ocarina of Time, allowing you to freely control your aiming by moving the system. This allows for more pinpoint accuracy with bubbles, arrows, and more. Thanks to the New 3DS XL, the face-tracking also allows me to not lose the 3D effect when moving the system around, so this feature has a big leg up over Ocarina of Time. Camera control can also be manipulated via the New 3DS’s C-Stick or the Circle Pad Pro, allowing you to rotate and scale the camera in various ways, similarly to how The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker’s camera operated.

As someone who absolutely adores Majora’s Mask, this 3DS remake has thoroughly impressed me so far, but I can’t say for sure how I truly feel about the game until I’ve fully completed it. We’ll have a full review up on February 4.


Offline InvaderREN

  • *
  • Score: 3
    • View Profile
Re: PREVIEW: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D
« Reply #1 on: January 27, 2015, 02:37:55 AM »
Just wondering if you can clarify this statement: "Thanks to the New 3DS XL, the face-tracking also allows me to not lose the 3D effect when moving the system around, so this feature has a big leg up over Ocarina of Time."
[/size]As a new 3DS owner, I immediately fired up OOT and was blown away by the unbreakable 3D effect. I assume you mean that when OOT was RELEASED it did not benefit from the unbreakable 3D? Because all older 3DS games are now friggin awesome thanks to new 3DS :-) MK and Smash are unbreakable!
[/color]



[/size][/color]

Offline nhaines

  • Score: 3
    • View Profile
    • Homepage
Re: PREVIEW: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D
« Reply #2 on: January 27, 2015, 04:28:43 AM »
The "unbreakable 3D" effect is a system feature of the New 3DS.  There's a secondary camera that turns on if you have face tracking enabled, and it detects the position of your face and adjusts the 3D grille so that it is optimal for your current angle of viewing.

This keeps the 3D effect sharp even as your hands slightly move and greatly improves the immersion.

Offline InvaderREN

  • *
  • Score: 3
    • View Profile
Re: PREVIEW: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D
« Reply #3 on: January 27, 2015, 05:06:35 AM »
Yes, but why does MM have a "Leg Up" over OOT... All 3D games on the new 3DS are equal. What does "Leg Up" even mean in this context?

Offline Neifirst

  • Score: 4
    • View Profile
Re: PREVIEW: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D
« Reply #4 on: January 27, 2015, 07:37:42 AM »
Yes, but why does MM have a "Leg Up" over OOT... All 3D games on the new 3DS are equal. What does "Leg Up" even mean in this context?

I think it's pretty clear that the author is comparing the experience of playing OoT 3D back in 2011 on the original 3DS versus MM 3D on the new 3DS in 2015.  The sentence evens begins, "Thanks to the new 3DS XL..."

Offline InvaderREN

  • *
  • Score: 3
    • View Profile
Re: PREVIEW: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D
« Reply #5 on: January 27, 2015, 01:44:14 PM »
I still don't think "Leg Up" is really correct though. As 90% of 3DS owners still have a non-new 3DS this means MM will have the same 3D immersion as OOT.
Combined with the fact that a new 3DS owner who purchases both OOT and MM together will get exactly the same benefit from the enhanced 3D... 
So the "Leg Up" is that new 3DS displays 3D games better and MM just happens to be the newest? OK. That is certainly true. But it's not a leg up. It's just new tech. The game has nothing to do with the new 3DS really.