What a duo of games man. Pokemon will never have a Gen like this again. Part 1 was the pinnacle of Pokemon story and this is the pinnacle of gameplay. This is the most fun I’ve had playing a Pokemon game. Battling just feels so seamless and good here. Rotation battles and Triple battles suck (there’s a reason they’ve never come back…I think), but double and single battles are great! The story here, however, is a major drawback. Nothing really happens. Plasma is back…but not doing much of anything. N is back…for 5 minutes. The return of your rivals from Part 1 is cool but that’s all I really liked. I liked your rival’s design but god he was annoying. The story isn’t like bad tho it’s just pokemon. And the gameplay is fun enough to where I don’t care. You certainly can tell it’s getting easier, but that may have also been because of my team. My final team was Palkia (58), Cobalion (54), Virizion “Verizon” (54), Terrakion (52), Thundurus (36), and a whole bunch of HM slaves. Now I know what you’re thinking. “Rey, you’re cheating those are all legendaries.” And to that I have to say…nuh uh. I got Thundurus and Palkia at Level 5 through Dream Radar and then the other 3 are just given to you basically. So I’m not gonna just NOT use the resources given to me. I also just really like Palkia. But yeah, I had a busted team. And I loved them all. Good game.

Man, I don’t care what people think about this game this was FUN. I only ran through the story mode because when I tried online no one was active, but MAN that story mode made me want to play more of this game. This is the first non-traditional 2D fighter to really grab me. Like I want my friends to buy this just so I can play more. Some characters in this game like Joseph or Josuke 8 just feel like crack. So fun and honestly easy to pull off combos, I was having a great time. It’s not the most in depth fighter, but has enough content and characters to where I’d heartily recommend it. I also got it for 6 dollars on Woot which may be affecting my opinion just a tad.

This has been on my backlog for over 3 years and I decided that with the Thousand Year Door remake dropping soon, there was no better time than now to finally finish it. And yeah, it’s great! The story wasn’t anything amazing, but it did what it needed to. The music was very good, specifically Mothiva's Theme and the Final Boss theme. The combat, of course, hits. It's Paper Mario Combat but with some improvements I really like. Being able to swap turns to other partners is an inspired idea, and makes combat way more interesting than it would be if it just copied Paper Mario. However, I have some complaints. Only Vi can attack airborne enemies without using TP and it makes the team really reliant on her, so much so that I'd just reset sometimes if she died without having any revives. Badges aren't nearly as prevalent, I only had one I really relied on which allowed you to do nothing to gain back TP. And finally, once you unlock the Frozen Drill, the game is done. 12 damage for 8 TP. It breaks the game. But DAMN, it was fun. I highly recommend this. If old Paper Mario is truly back, then this game is kind of obsolete. However, even if it is, the game is very good.

Part of me still doesn’t believe this is real. I feel like we’ve been waiting for so long for Nintendo to even acknowledge this game and here we are and there’s a full remake. I honestly can’t believe it, I went to pick up my copy and I got it in my hands and teared up a little. Which I’d normally call some nerd virgin loser shit, but man with this game I can’t help it. Thousand Year Door and Super Paper Mario raised me, and are two of my favorite video games of all time. My emotions for this game are irrational but man are they true. So when I sat down to play this game I wanted to absorb all of it and I think I got enough to write a review. I’ll go by chapter.

Chapter 1- The perfect intro to a video game. Goombella, Koops, and Frankly are great characters and when you meet them you just can't wait to spend the adventure with them. It's also a good length for an intro chapter. Gotta say though, Koops SUCKS as a party member. He falls over to half the attacks in the game and can only hit on the ground. His overworld ability is great, but not in battle. Also I think it's strange that the new translation calls Hooktail a female from the start rather than saving it as a little surprise later on. Oh well though, doesn't matter.

Chapter 2- I always remembered this as a massive low point, but upon a replay it's not. The Boggly Woods have a great art direction and you meet Vivian here! Yay! The puzzles in the tree are definitely annoying, but it's still fun enough. Madame Flurrie is another party member who has a great overworld ability but in battle she's...fine. I'd never use her over some of the later members, but she's ok.

Chapter 3- Yeah, it's the best one and it's agreed upon by most people. The string of battles is so addictive because the combat in this game is so fun, Mario being called “The Great Gonzales” is fucking hilarious, Yoshi is the best party member at this point in every area, and Grubba will always be one of my favorite Mario characters. Phenomenal chapter and the new boss fight in the remake that you get in the post game sounds awesome, can’t wait to do it.

Chapter 4- One of the chapters I remember being really tedious and bad, but no I think I was just a dumb kid and couldn’t find the letter P. Speaking of, the fact that you even have to do that is so funny, Dooplis is great, the crows’ conversations are hilarious, and you get to actually recruit Vivian! And she’s gay in the American version! Yes, Pronoun Queen! Too bad that now the God Fearing Libs of TikTok watching Americans refuse to buy the game, but they’ll just miss out on peak who cares. You can also recruit Mrs. Mows in this chapter which I did but never used her because she blows.

Chapter 5- another tedious one in my mind but no. Definitely a bit too much backtracking for my taste in the jungle, but I love Flavio, Cortez, and Bobbery so much that I don’t care. Bobbery is the best Party Member easy. Top 3 are Bobbery, Vivian, Yoshi.

Chapter 6- Definitely a weak point. I do not enjoy this one as much as the rest just because it’s not as memorable. No memorable boss, the train crew is ok I guess, and you spend most of it in the station, which isn’t very fun. Easily the weakest Chapter, but man You get the L emblem here so it’s ok. And DON PIANTA YOOOOOOO

Chapter 7- This is infinitely better in the remake due to the fast travel room. The Snow Bomb village becomes tolerable and the moon part was always fun, so this is a pretty good chapter. Nothing amazing, but pretty good.

Chapter 8- Man. I love this game dude. The bosses in this chapter rule. The puzzles in this chapter are great, and man, MAN what a final boss. I clutched out the final boss by hitting TWO SHINE SPIRTE BINGOS and destroying her. I cried at the scene where everyone reaches out to Mario. The music got to me, I’ll say it. I love this video game man. So much.

Chapter Ranking goes 3>>4>8>5>1>2>7>6

The remake here doesn’t add many unique features, but what it does add is great. Two new bosses which make me squeal, a remastered soundtrack which genuinely made me tear up on many occasions, ESPECIALLY the Glitz Pit Battle theme, some striking new visuals, and a TAD bit of rebalanced gameplay. I feel like the audience interferes way more now. But my favorite things they added was the concept art. It is all SO interesting. This game has such a unique development and getting to see a glimpse at that is special. Sure the game is in 30 FPS now (which is only noticeable in the Superguard timing), but this is easily the better version still. Still wild and weird.

The Thousand Year Door is special. The story, dialogue, and style is amazing. Even compared to the other Paper Mario’s, it’s just amazing. Even the side content like listening to Luigi’s story Is just phenomenal. This is so special. After playing the remake it’s a close tie between this and Super Paper Mario for being my favorite game now. Just man. The Combat is immaculate, the Badges here are perfect, everything is just UGH. I love this game. I love Paper Mario. Play it.

This is my favorite Zelda game.

After loving Ocarina of Time for the 3DS and N64, I wanted to play more Zelda. I can't remember if this was the next one I played, but it was certainly not too far behind me first playing OOT. I still remember getting an expansion pass and DK64 for christmas one year and getting Majora's Mask not too long after (I think? Or maybe I also got it on Christmas I forget). I played it and I remember just loving it. I had trouble with some of its time loop content, but I was absolutely hooked. I remember having a prima guide I would use for all the specific time stuff and all the stray fairies. I even remember busting that out in the middle of my Let's Play I did back on my (now deleted) old Youtube channel. I really loved this game but I also didn't replay it much at all. I played the 3DS version but as for the original, back in 2022, it was only my third time playing this game basically. Still, revisiting it then made me appreciate the game even more than I did before. So much so, I decided to bump it to a 10/10 because you its spectacular. Now though? Not only is it still a 10/10 in my eyes, but it will also be cemented in my top 5 for a long time I reckon.

The story this time around is the weirdest it's even been in a Zelda game to date. Link, after transforming back to his child self at the end of OOT, is wandering through some woods on Epona when suddenly two fairies spook her knocking Link to the ground. Then this masked figure appears out of nowhere, steals Link's ocarina and eventually Epona and escapes. Link runs after them, falls down a very trippy hole and lands in front of both fairies and the masked fella. Right away, this mysterious fella puts a spell on Link and transforms him into a Deku! One of the fairies leaves with the masked fella while the other is accidentally left behind with Link. This fairy is Tatl, the other fairy is Tael and the masked fella is Skull Kid we eventually learn from Tatl. Tatl wants to get back to them and so she apologizes to Link for the earlier instance and pleads him to help her in reuniting with Tael and Skull Kid. Once you go further and try to escape out of wherever you had been, you end up in mesmerizing clock tower of sorts. As you try to leave, a strange fella (that might seem familiar if you played OOT) stops you. "You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?" is what he says. This is the happy mask salesman, and he tells you he can change Link back to his human form if he gets his ocarina back, but he also has to get the mask skull kid was wearing and stole from him back as well. You then spend 3 days in Clock town, a town in the land of Termina, and learn that people of Clock town are worried that the moon above you will fall and kill everyone. If you look up, yeah there is a very menacing moon that is much closer than usual. You do some things around clock town that eventually lead Link on top of the clock tower. He gets his ocarina back, remembers the song of time, plays it and somehow gets transported back to the beginning of those 3 days. The happy mask salesman transforms Link back to the human form, while also turning the deku form he was in into a mask he can use anytime, and then when learning Link didn't get the mask back..tells him why he wants it back so badly. The mask is Majora's Mask, an evil mask with dangerous powers to control the one who wears it. Thus, it's up to Link to get the mask back in the end. He also must worry about the moon, that will eventually crash down on Termina, killing everyone. He must explore Termina to see how he could possily do that though. I'll spare anymore story details but yeah this story is very weird and also depressing because the entire time you play, you realize in just 3days everyone and everything will be destroyed by the moon. And for that reason, I love the story of this game. It's not as grand or as a classic of a story as something like ALTTP or OOT, it's more experimental and thought-provoking which I love.

Let's get into the general gameplay loop. The three-day cycle mechanic is something you either love or hate I've noticed. There are three days before the moon crashes into Termina. You can only stop it from doing so at this point, by playing the song of time and going back to the beginning of the three-day cycle. Any progress with quests or dungeons is reset and any consumables are gone from your inventory. The catch is, you keep stuff like ocarina songs, weapons, your masks, your dungeon items etc. I can kind of see why people wouldn't like this mechanic but with the song of inverted time, you get PLENTY of time per three day cycle. I literally beat every dungeon on the first day, besides stone tower but that was because I was dumb, so like running out of time is kinda hard to do I feel. If you don't know to play this song before the start of each cycle, I can understand the frustration tho. As it stands however, I really love it personally as it feels really good to plan out a cycle, get it done as well as other stuff if you have time and then finally playing the song of time so you can save everything you did. That's the other thing, you can only fully save by resetting a cycle. Owl statues let you temporarily save but if you reset the game again after owl saving and don't owl save again, you go back to your actual save. I personally never had an issue with the save system in this game and again actually find it pretty satisfying.

The three day cycle plays a big part in the different events that happen throughout Termina. For example, the only way to get in Romani Ranch without going out of your way to get a powder keg, is to wait until day 3. This is because day 1 and 2 has a giant boulder blocking the entrance. The only issue is Romani, who is the sister of Cremia that owns the ranch, will be all weird on day 3. She will just spout nonsense and Cremia is worried about her and only wished she listened to her before. If you want to see what she means and what happened, you must wait until you get a powder keg, explode the boulder on day 1, and you'll see Romani in the ranch all good. She says that aliens are going to come very early that morning to steal their cows, so you wait until the time she tells you and yeah you defend the ranch from the aliens until sunrise. Then she's all good on day 3. I know that was a long explanation for one side quest, and that's not even getting into the milk delivery one that Cremia gives you the next day and can only be done if you fend off the aliens, but that's just how a lot of the side quests are. They can be very dependent on the time of day and three-day cycle but as such they're MUCH more fleshed out and way more interesting than the ones in OOT. There's a reason people say they're the best in the entire series, though that's also because a big chunk of the games run time is all this side activity. It just makes the entire world of Termina feel so alive, even compared to OOT the world feels way more realized here. That's not even getting into the Anju and Kafei side quest that is easily the most fleshed out in the game.

This game had a very short development cycle, notoriously so, so they had to reuse a lot of assets including character models. However, with these more fleshed out side quests, and the fact the game feels all weird and a bit dream-like at times, I think the reused models from OOT actually maybe elevates the game a bit because of the atmosphere it provides. That's not to say everything is reused. There are still plenty of new character models too. In fact, there are several new Goron and Zora designs that I think vastly improved those races and made them feel more distinct. The biggest improvement to a race though is the Dekus. Not only do they actually have an actual location here, the Deku palace. Unlike OOT, there actually are distinct designs here like the Deku king and princess and the Deku butler. Just makes me like the Dekus a lot more than I did in OOT.

Something else that's more fleshed out in this game is its overworld. Termina field is way more interesting visually than Hyrule field, and the secrets are way better too. It visually looks better because of the four different regions making each section of Termina feel different. It also helps this game just looks a lot better visually in general, no doubt due to the expansion pass. The secrets aren't just random bombable holes. They're pretty much all holes still, but they're either just under a boulder like before or are open already and you just have to actually find them. Like some of them are hidden in tall grass and the only way you'd know is because butterflies tend to fly above them. That's not just a random invisible hole you'd only know is there because of a rumble add-on, that's a natural visual cue which I much prefer. Also, the main Zelda theme here is just such a banger and I prefer it over Hyrule Field's theme. The areas that branch from Termina field are all great too in terms of their secrets, though they were also good in OOT as well. Outside of this though, you have Clock Town. I think this is hands down the best hub world/starting town (whatever you want to call it) of all time. It has memorable characters, it has plenty of things to do, you go there A LOT and will learn all the ins and outs of it., it has it all. That combined with the impending doom of the moon, and the various dialogue of what they are thinking on each day. It's just so good. The dialogue actually can change in each day as well. By day 3, some characters could be cowering in fear knowing they are about to die while others have accepted it and want you to make sure they have no regrets. The characters in Clock Town honestly make the story.

Still on the gameplay side of things, let's talk about masks. There are 24 masks in this game and they all do something. Some transform you into races with different move sets, others are just used with side quests but it's up to you to learn when they're needed. Going back to the transformation masks, they're all amazing. You already know Deku Link is a thing but he has the ability to go into flowers that shoot you out into the air so you can fly temporarily and get to certain places. You have a nifty spin that's pretty fast and you can also shoot magic bubbles as a projectile. Goron Link is strong and tough, can actually use those aforementioned powder kegs and is easily the fastest thing on land because of his roll. Seriously it's fun as hell to just roll through termina field. Small tangent quick, I also much prefer getting around in Termina compared to Hyrule. Instead of having just an alright warp method, you not only have a much better one here. You can also use Goron Link to get around super fast AND if you have no magic or just want to play as Link, you can use the bunny hood which like doubles your speed. It's great. Anyways, the third transformation is Zora Link. Zora Link is taller and can grab some taller ledges (I think Goron Link can do that too actually), you have an attack that's basically the boomerang from OOT and the most important thing is you can swim in water. The Zora swimming in this game is phenomenal, it's very response and feels amazing to use and it's just super-fast as well. All three transformations are amazing, and I honestly can't pick a favorite. There's also the giant's mask which is used in one boss fight. Kinda cool but it's just the same as Link's move set. Fierce Diety though is insanely powerful and super cool, but you also don't get that until the very end of the game, right before the final boss.

The set of dungeons in this game are all great I feel. There's only four but they all feel realized and distinct from one another. Woodfall is the most basic and doesn't have a central mechanic like the other three but it's a damn good first dungeon and probably my favorite starting dungeon in the series. Very visually appealing too, and the boss at the end, Odolwa, is great because you can defeat him however you like. Do you want to defeat him by stunning him with arrows? How about with Deku Link? It gives you options which I love. Snowhead is maybe my least favorite of the four dungeons but it's mechanic of the center having a column you can change in size with Goron Link is really cool. That and it has easily my favorite boss in the game and probably my favorite boss in Zelda, Goht. It's simple, just attack him by chasing him as Goron Link. Simple yet a ton of fun due to Goron rolling being naturally a blast. Great bay has you changing the flow of water and it's honestly a lot better than the water temple because Zora Link isn't tedious like the iron boots. That plus the visuals and music, makes me like the dungeon itself better than the first two. Unfortunately, I'm not a big fan of Gyorg. It's somewhat tedious to fight and doesn't make great use of Zora Link, however it doesn't damper the dungeon itself which is fantastic. The final dungeon, Stone Tower, is the best of the four and one of my favorite dungeons in the series. It not only makes use of all three transformations, it not only makes good use of the mirror shield and the light arrows, but it's main mechanic is you can flip the temple upside down. This mechanic or reusing the dungeon but being upside down, is brilliant and changes the feel of the dungeon way more than you think. It can definitely be a bit confusing on a first playthrough, I was even confused on this most recent playthrough because I forgot about something (dumb on my part tbh) but the complexity and use of the main mechanic is just fabulous. It's a shame the boss of the dungeon also isn't that great. It's better than Gyorg and isn't frustrating as it is just easy. You put the giant's mask on, and hack away at Twinmold. You have your normal moveset so it kinda just feels like a normal enemy. Kinda cool power trip but yeah it's not as good as the first two temple bosses. Then Majora's Mask, the final boss, and its other phases are really cool and weird and disturbing but they are always so easy because I always use Fierce Diety Link which breaks the fight. It's an amazing reward for sure, you must have every mask in the game and give them to the kids in the moon. I also have to say I love the moons visuals so much, they're so surreal.

This game has my favorite OST in any Zelda game. It's so atmospheric and depressing and melancholic I love it. My absolute favorite song will always be Song of Healing. It's hauntingly beautiful yet full of hope at the same time. Honestly, it's in my top 10 VGM ever, it's simply hypnotic in how good it is. Another song that was always like that for me, is Astral Observatory. I'd literally fall asleep to this back in the day it was so calming to listen to. The Final Hours theme that plays during those last 6 hours are the opposite of Song of Healing, instead they make you feel hopeless and accepting of your fate. Tragic yet fitting for the game, I just love how many emotions this soundtrack can pull out of you. That's not to say there aren't catchy more upbeat songs. Deku Palace definitely fits in that regard and the Stone Tower Temple is probably my favorite dungeon theme in the series, it's so good. I can talk about this game's soundtrack all day, just know it's peak.

This is my longest review at this point and I'm really glad I could do this game justice. Back in 2022, I was trying to think of how to write a review for this game. For days I was putting it off, until randomly I decided to do a shitty two sentence review just so I can be done with it. I never felt good about that because I truly wanted to get my full thoughts out as I just adore this game. Hopefully I've finally done so here, and I hope if you did read this entire thing, that you enjoyed it. I have nothing else to say except play this game, you won't regret it.

"Your friends...
What kind of... people are they?
I wonder...
Do those people...
think of you... as a friend?"

Majoras Mask is one of my favorite games of all time, but even though I say this, my opinion on it was very different at the start. When I first played the remake on my 3DS last summer, I completely hated it. To this day, I don't really understand why I didn't like it. Maybe it was the time limit or the confusing start, or maybe even the fact that to fully enjoy the game, I had to complete all the sidequests (I don't really like to 100% games), but after giving it another try in September 2023, again on the 3DS, I realized that all of these "negative sides" were actually the best part of the game, was when Majoras Mask became one of my favorite games oat.
But since i had always heard that the n64 version was better, i decided with the new recompilation project to get all the masks and finish the game for a second time, and i can say that it was one of the best decisions i made because this playthrough helped me fully realize how much i apreciate this game, so much that i even grabbed all the fairies in the temples!
The temples are one of my favorite parts about Majoras Mask, and I think that they are some of the best in the whole series. Even though Twilight Princess has the best ones, imo, if I had to rank them, I would say that:

-Snowhead was probably my favorite one since I love how it uses the goron's mask abilities and also how it looks, which, in my opinion, is the second most creepy after Stone Tower. The OST also sets a perfect tone for how it looks and feels while playing.

-my second favorite is the Stone Tower temple, the ost is amazing, i love how it reverses when the temple is turned around. Also, it's amazing how it combines all the things you learned in the previous temples in this sort of final test before the fight with the skull kid.

-Great bay temple was also amazing but kind of confusing in my opinion. I loved how the zora abilities were used since it was my favorite mask in the game.

-Woodfall temple was also very good for a first dungeon, I loved its ost but unfortunately, it is overshadowed by how good the others are.
Another thing that i love about Majoras Masks are the masks, they are all so cool, and i love all the different uses they have. My favorites are probably the zora mask, the bremen mask, the bunny hat, and the captain's mask. The ost was amazing, and it compliments the game's atmosphere and vibe so well. My favorite tracks were the Astral Observatory, the Song of Healing, and the Termina Field.
The most particular thing for me is that this game isn't afraid of talking about more mature themes like death, loss, grief, and most of all, the concept of masking your true identity, and I like how these themes are not forced into the game but instead are represented in a very natural way through its characters and their quests.
Majoras Mask is, in my opinion, one of the best games of all time, and even if its gameplay loop and mechanics may not be liked by everyone, I think that it's one of those games that needs to be played at least once in their lives since there will never be something like it again.




EDIT:i forgot to say that destroying Majora's with the fierce deity mask was one of the best feelings i've ever had while playing a videogame, imo getting all the masks is worth just for that alone.