Welcome to my Zelda journals

 Hi everyone,

I wanted to chronicle my thoughts, feelings, and experiences playing through the Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. I’ve previously beat the game on the 3DS, but now I am playing through the N64 version, which is ported on the Switch.

I’m starting this journal several days into my playthrough, and while commuting to work this morning I played through the Woodfall Temple. On my lunch today, I’ll finish exploring it to get ahold of the remaining stray fairies that have escaped my grasp. My goal for this playthrough is to complete the whole game, or 100% of it, as it is commonly referred to within the Zelda player base.

Why keep a journal about something as silly as a video game? I admit I am doing this more to do something than anything. What I mean by that is I have always wanted to write and go in-depth on my thoughts and opinions regarding a wide variety of things the Legend of Zelda is up there on that list. However, I often find myself frozen when it comes time to put the quill to paper so to speak. Thus, my design in writing this journal is twofold; expose myself to and thus become more comfortable with writing and talking about these things while also giving myself to think deeply and clearly about the many things that these stories (the video games) can teach me. Of course, there is the hope that I will find something in this worth sharing with others. And I suspect that my reasons for undertaking this will also evolve and expand with time.

 
Before delving into any of my thoughts or feelings about the game's subject matter, I want to say something on a personal note. It has been years, probably close to seven or eight years I would say since I have been able to lose myself in the world of video games. I like to be able to bask in the world of the game I am playing and enjoy it for everything it purports itself to be. I wouldn’t say that I am quite back to the childlike wonder and amazement I felt when I first was introduced to the Zelda series all those years ago, but I am trying to let myself slip into that mentality and just enjoy the game as I am playing it. Usually, I just feel pressure to speed through the game and win as quickly as possible. I am doing my best to let go of that and focus on enjoying the game for itself and it has been refreshing. I hope that in the coming days I’ll be able to update you further with more good news on this front.

Now, with all that being said, here are the things within the story of Majora’s Mask that have settled in the forefront of my mind. I have many questions about Majora and his intentions. I have noticed within the Zelda community there seems to be a pretty significant divide between players as to whether or not Majora is evil. The other possibility is that he is simply the embodiment of chaos as two of the major themes in this game are those of chaos and order. I am striving to keep an open mind about this and looking to gather further thoughts on the matter as I move forward in the game.

 

Another subject, perhaps an obvious one is that of the masks. What do they mean? What is their message? The purpose of a mask can be festive or deceitful, but regardless people wear masks to conceal that which they don’t want to be seen. It draws attention toward something other than the truth. How then, is it that the Hero must wear so many different masks in his righteous quest? The answer is not forthcoming to me, however, I hope to get to the bottom of it throughout my playtime in this game and story.

 
In any event, I welcome you to this journal and hope that you will find something interesting to read here, and perhaps you’ll find answers to things here that will positively apply to your life. I don’t know how often I will journal though I will try for daily writing. I don’t have a good idea as to the structure of what these posts will look like. I suppose for now daily entries such as this will make the most sense, but perhaps in the future, I will dedicate whole entries to answering questions like the two posed previously.

 
- Samuel