Majora's Mask 2: The Untold Legend of the Fierce Deity Developer(s) Extrasolar Inc. Publisher(s) Nintendo Platform(s) Nintendo GameCube Genre(s) Action/Adventure Release Date(s) July 2, 2007 Age Rating(s) E Media Included GameCube disk

“The last shall one day be first. Remember that, Oni.”

Majora, Majora's Mask 2: The Untold Legend of the Fierce Deity

Majora’s Mask 2: The Untold Legend of the Fierce Deity - known as Majora's Mask 2: Revenge of the Fierce Deity in Japan - is an action-adventure title for the Nintendo GameCube that was originally released near the middle of 2007. It is described as a prequel to the story of The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, and players get their first look into the history of the Fierce Deity and Majora’s Mask. It is not part of the main Zelda series, as this game does not allow the player to play as Link, and as such qualifies as a spin-off.

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Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.

Long ago, the land of Termina was first created. The wise and benevolent creators who would one day be known as the Four Giants immediately took it upon themselves to create two entities that would protect the new land where they could not interfere with mortal affairs. These two god-like entities were fashioned with the use of the Four Giants' strongest magic, created to serve and protect the mortals that inhabited the land. The Four Giants knew their creations as Majora and Oni

Despite the Four Giants' benevolent magic at work within them, these entities were far from perfect. Each had a vaulting desire to protect and control the land alone, each seeing the other as a threat to the peace, and eager to please the Four Giants, they competed with each other for power.

Neither of them were allowed to show themselves to the people, but both of them quickly began to break that rule. Majora appeared to the innocents of Termina as a thief and a trickster, and all soon learned to fear his deadly deception. Oni appeared to them as an angry god, demanding regular offerings on pain of horrible consequences. He was soon labeled by the people as the "Fierce Deity."

The Four Giants, angry and disappointed with their creations, ordered that their contact with the people be broken at once. The two entties lost their titles as Protectors of Termina. Majora and Oni disregarded that order, and soon broke out into total war, wreaking havoc and nearly completely destroying parts of Termina in their efforts to destroy the other.

The Four Giants immediately took action. In order to preserve Termina and keep it as safe as possible, the Giants used one of their most powerful curses on the two. They were both turned into masks, imprisoned within the deepest, darkest part of the realm for all eternity, and were stripped of their god-like powers. Though they still possessed incredible magic powers, they were no longer demigods.



Feeling shamed and responsible for their two failed creations, the Four Giants promise never to allow Termina to be in danger again, so they removed the memories of Oni and Majora from every mortal in Termina as they rebuilt the land, making sure that none would ever speak of the events that happened there.

Fearing of the future in which their creations might free themselves, the Four Giants hid Majora's Mask and the Fierce Deity Mask away carefully within the realm for the troubled and vengeful spirits to rest.

Still, the Four Giants' creations are not entirely forgotten. The spirits of the once-great are still confined to those masks; their hatred of their masters has spread to a hatred of Termina itself. They cannot be freed unless someone wears the mask, in which case the entities would enter their body and exert control.

The masks remain undiscovered to this day...



...or so they thought...

Spoiler warning: Spoilers end here.

Gameplay

Unlike all previous Zelda titles, the game doesn’t feature Ganon, Link or Zelda in any way whatsoever. The main “hero” in the game (the character the player controls) is the Fierce Deity. As in Majora’s Mask, the main villain in the game is Majora, and gameplay progresses through puzzles and battles. At the end of every dungeon, there awaits a magical artifact that holds an eigth of the Fierce Deity's original power, not counting the first dungeon. When he gains one of these artifacts, his power increases to give him another special ability to proceed in the game; either to access a new area, solve a puzzle, or defeat a miniboss. Majora is also collecting his artifacts, and so the player must always be time conscious, as Fierce Deity has to collect his artifacts before Majora or the game gives an automatic game over (although once he collects his artifacts, Majora gains all of his at the same time, therefore commencing the final battle).

Controls

Like all GameCube titles, this one makes use of the controller.

A Button - Fire Long-ranged attack from weapon.

B Button - Swing Sword for a Short-ranged attack.

Start Button - Pause.

Control Stick - Move.

R Button - Perform an action (i.e. Open a door, pick up an item).

L Button - Go to Inventory.

Y Button - Open Map of Termina.

X Button - First Person View.

Dungeons

Bosses

Overworld

Much like the other 2D and 3D Zelda series games, there is a specific location that actually consists of a number of other locations, called the Overworld. The Overworld in Majora's Mask 2 is the land of Termina, but a still earlier version of it. The Overworld's sole purpose is to provide a connected road to other dungeons really.

Reception

The reception to this game was generally positive due to the storyline. In the first Majora’s Mask, the origins of the Mask and Fierce Deity was one of the biggest mysteries in that game. Nintendo Power recently awarded it "The Best Graphics on the Nintendo GameCube" award (the graphics were one of the best-looking titles for the Nintendo GameCube in its lifespan), and the "Best Storyline for a Zelda Game." It was rated 10 out of 10 by Metal Bones. Fans enjoyed the gameplay extensively, specifically the battles, "which have a more into-it feel to them," as stated in Nintendo Power's review of the game in Issue 218 (It received a score of 10, as only one other Zelda game - Ocarina of Time - has managed to get).

Trivia