The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask celebrated its 25-year anniversary on October 26, 2025. Below, we examine how it leveraged its unconventional time-travel element to tell some memorable stories.
Even a series as storied as The Legend of Zelda has produced a black sheep or two in its long history, but perhaps no installment is as divisive as Majora’s Mask. The second Zelda title released for the Nintendo 64 and the follow-up to the universally acclaimed Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask retained much of its predecessor’s mechanics and assets, but it reframed them with a recurring three-day structure that proved to be controversial among fans at the time. But while this unconventional time loop contributed to the game’s divisive reputation, it also gives it a unique identity among the series, and is the reason the game remains so moving more than two decades later.
Although Majora’s Mask revolves heavily around time travel, it was not the first Zelda game to explore the concept. Time also plays a central role in Ocarina of Time, embodied in the eponymous instrument that allows Link to access the inner chamber of the Temple of Time and retrieve the Master Sword. Once he pulls the sword from its pedestal, he can freely trek back and forth between two distinct ages: his idyllic childhood, and the dark future that awaits Hyrule.
Majora’s Mask, however, takes a much more fluid approach to time travel than its predecessor, giving Link a greater degree of control over the flow of time itself. Whereas Ocarina of Time had him repeatedly traveling between past and future to ultimately thwart Ganon, Majora’s Mask sees Link reliving the same three days as he attempts to stop the moon from careening into the world of Termina. Should time run out before he can complete his mission, he’ll have to use the Ocarina of Time to turn back the clock to the first day, buying himself another 72 hours to fulfill his quest–while also undoing all of the work he had accomplished.
This strict time limit imbues the adventure with a sense of urgency. Fail to clear a temple before the end of the third day and you’ll have no choice but to rewind the clock and begin the entire cycle anew, resetting not only your supplies, but the progress you’d made. Puzzles you had completed would be undone, quests would be reset, and characters you had met would lose all memory of the encounter. Not everything reverted with the clock; some key items–and the insights you gained along the way–carried over, but you effectively started from square one every time you rewound back to the first day. This gives the game a distinct flavor compared to Ocarina of Time, twisting its familiar gameplay loop into a unique shape that sets it apart from the rest of the series.
But as much as the time-travel mechanic changes the complexion of the gameplay, its biggest impact can be felt in the storytelling. Nintendo leveraged Majora’s Mask’s time loop brilliantly when crafting the game’s narrative, utilizing the repeating three-day structure to explore more personal, human stories that couldn’t be conveyed through a traditional linear narrative.
Because the game adheres to a strict time limit, every non-playable character Link encounters in Termina follows a particular routine, which reinforces the perception that they are all going about their lives, whether or not you are around to witness them. The postman diligently makes his rounds every morning and afternoon; the traveling performers hang about the inn by day and rehearse in the square by night; and certain shops only open at specific times. These routines offer an intimate look into the lives of the various denizens of Clock Town, which in turn strengthens your attachment to them.
Importantly, these routines are not immutable. By interacting with certain characters at specific moments, you could change their trajectory for the remainder of that cycle. Without Link’s intervention, for instance, the elderly woman from the bomb shop is destined to be robbed on the night of the first day, preventing the store from stocking the larger bomb bag she’s carrying. By learning where and when the crime will occur, however, Link can be in the right place at the right time to drive off the thief, ensuring the item is delivered (and earning a rare mask for his troubles). Depending on how you go about apprehending the criminal, you can even inadvertently blow him up, which not only destroys the bomb bag he’d stolen, but also prevents you from completing a related side quest later on in the cycle.
This loop–reliving the same three days and witnessing every possible fate that could befall the characters you meet–adds emotional depth to the game’s many side quests, and it leads to some of the most poignant moments the series has ever conjured. The plight of Anju and Kafei, the betrothed couple who are separated by mysterious circumstances just before their wedding day, receives the most attention and praise thanks to its complexity, an extensive and emotional mystery that takes several three-day cycles to fully unravel. But the most heartrending side story revolves around Cremia and her younger sister Romani, the owners of the ranch to the south of Clock Town.
Despite its proximity to the city, you’re unable to enter the ranch until the third day, as the main road leading into it has been blocked off by a giant boulder. By the time the boulder is removed and the trail is finally reopened, you find both Cremia and Romani mysteriously sullen; neither speaks much, and from the few words they do say, you can vaguely glean that some kind of tragedy had befallen the ranch and its livestock.
What happened to the pair remains a mystery until later in the game, when you obtain the Goron mask and are permitted to use the explosive Powder Keg, which allows you to destroy the boulder early and enter the ranch on the first day. At this point, you learn the pair are dealing with two interconnected dilemmas. Cremia mentions ongoing harassment from the rival ranch down the road, while young Romani enlists your aid to defend the ranch’s cows from a mysterious pack of “ghosts” that invade at night. The ensuing story is one of the more fraught and involved sequences in the game, spanning all three days and requiring deft playing to aid the pair during their respective quests.
Even if you do manage to successfully resolve Cremia and Romani’s dilemmas, however, there is still a sense of sadness lingering over the ranch come the third day. With the townsfolk planning to shelter in place there later that night, Cremia confides in Link that she is fully aware that not even the ranch is safe from the destruction the moon will wreak, and resignedly accepts the fate that awaits everyone. Romani, however, is too young to comprehend the coming apocalypse. Rather than tell her of what will happen, Cremia offers Romani her first chance to have a Chateau Romani–the ranch’s specialty milk drink that is exclusively reserved for adults. And on the night of the third day, just as the pair are set to retire for the final time before the moon falls, Cremia tells Link that they’ll both see him tomorrow, never letting on to Romani that the world is about to end.
It’s a heartrending scene, especially after all the trials you’ve endured with the pair, and is a poignant example of why Majora’s Mask remains such a captivating experience even 25 years on from its original release. Although the game’s unique time loop may have been divisive among fans at the time, it allowed Nintendo to explore themes and stories it couldn’t as powerfully convey with a traditional linear narrative, making Majora’s Mask one of the most emotionally resonant–and enduring–games the company has ever released.
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