Hello, my 'name' is Kaynil and have a confession to make: The first time I played the game I was very disappointed with it.
I really played it full but I had my head filled with OoT and I wasn't ready for the 'sidequest' to be different from the paradigms set in my head from OoT. I disliked so much I couldn't simply pause and instead I had the owl statues to save. That there were only 4 temples. Oddly enough I enjoyed the three day mechanic but it confused me how I could keep rupees in the bank and items but loose the instances of them like every bomb and arrow collected. This was all passable but the problem I had was that at the start they hinted about Navi. I was (now I know) one of the few that actually enjoyed Navi's company so I was really hoping to see more about Link closure to his Journey by finding Navi. The end completely disregarded it so I felt it vague....
It wasn't until my second play through that I could appreciate the game for what it really was, without the OoT haze of expectations, just Majora's Mask, and I was rewarded with re-living the emotional side of Termina and how really the game was all along about Link personal growth between situations that can and cannot be changed, about how different attitudes can change your outlook in the same situation, the bonds of friendship, the importance of not holding regrets and what it means to be yourself. The first time I had been really touched by many of the scenes and the second time it just made me realise how many life lessons were crammed there. It is definitely a game I treasure dearly and that marked me in a positive way.
To play it you need to be in the right state of mind, which is flexible and open. You need to forget what you think Zelda games should be like, what its predecessor was like and enjoy the game right on its own terms. Also, it is very important you are not trying to rush through it.
People get very frustrated because there are so many minigames and only 4 dungeons but we're missing that the focus is not on the dungeons but in the interaction with the residents, learning about them. A small landscape but I learned so much about Terminian residents than Hyrule ones and so I cared more what'd be of them. I actually feel compelled to want to save them. I actually feel pressured and anxious like no game ever had because this game was less forgiving than others. Instead you were hit by the consequences of your ineptitude: Do poorly and you will feel the weight of guilt upon your shoulders as a little girl gets kidnapped by mistake and brainwashed, a monkey is put inside a bowling pot and comes out not moving any more, a young love is crushed with solitude and despair and more... Not "whoop" start again. Simply "Whoop" this is what happens next.
I love stalking the Terminians and finding the hidden conversations and bitter sweet moments. Even now I find things that I didn't understand as whole when I played before, like the whole "numbing drunk" a children so it doesn't feel pain when the world ends.
About how it fare against other Zelda games: I certainly wouldn't recommend this for a first Zelda game jut to anyone. It is usually polarising, either you enjoy it or you are frustrated by it, if you adapt quickly you can surf through it but otherwise it just becomes a heavy chore that hinders the experience. Since it is not longer the underrated game it once was I don't feel the strong need to defend it I once did, instead I'll just say that if you like challenge and feel open enough to let go of certain Zelda paradigms this game will be a rewarding experience.
Although I don't have a defined top 10 of Zelda games, I believe MM is nested somewhere my hypothetical first five spots.
