SeriousWB said:
OoT was more 'new' to gaming than MM was. (I prefer MM to OoT, but.. Credit where credit is due) |
Pish-posh and poppycock, my good man!
Ocarina may have established the 3D adventure game as we know it, but Majora's is the first game I know of where there's (the illusion) of an independent living world going on around you 24/7. Or at least 24/3. What other game is there where each NPC has his or her own life, a life which goes on whether you so much as meet that person or not? Majora's characters weren't mere props, waiting around lifelessly to be used by the player to activate or advance quests. Lots of them felt like actual individuals, who were trying to improve their lives whether you helped or not.
For example, suppose you never do the Kafei/Anju quest. In most games, the two would simply mope around, bored, until you got around to them, at which point they'd do their pre-scripted routine, politely pausing their affairs when it was convenient for you to do so. By contrast, Majora's has them acting and reacting to their situation. If you never so much as talk to them, they still play out their plotline (albeit in such a way that ends in failure). If you initiate their plot, but drop out at any of several points, they make their decisions and try to soldier on without you (albeit in such a way that ends in failure). And if you carry through to the end, they get their happy ending. But the point is that in their quest, as in Majora's as a whole, life always goes on, whether you participate or not.
Sorry for the mini-essay. I'm just still blown away by the ambition and accomplishment of that game, and disappointed that no one's really followed through since then.
