Formal elements

“Formal elements, as I’ve said, are those elements that form the structure of a game…Players, objective,
procedures, rules, resources, conflict, boundaries, and outcome: These are the essence of games, and a strong
under- standing of their potential interrelationships is the foundation of game design” (Fullerton, p. 57).

Players

Invitation to Play

The first formal element Fullerton discusses is invitation to play; in a digital game, this comes
in the form as a start menu that invites the players. In the case of Majora’s Mask, the player is
invited with a fairly ominous start menu that piques the player’s interest, to which the player
can press the start button to skip or watch the full start screen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVCHGGv0W_c

This start screen offers the player some context into what the story and setting of the game
will be, before taking them to another menu, where the player can make a game file. It also
gives them the option to name their playable character (who will be referred to as Link in this
presentation).

Role of players:

Majora’s Mask is a single-player game; following Fullerton’s player interaction patterns,

Majora’s Mask falls into the single player versus game interaction pattern, where “a single-
player competes against a game system…Because there are no other human players in this pattern, games that
use it tend to include puzzles or other play structures to create conflict.” (pg. 59). The player uses the analog
controller to control Link and interact with NPCs and complete objectives throughout.
Objectives

As defined by Fullerton, objectives “define what players are trying to accomplish within the rules of the game”
(p. 68).

Majora’s Mask’s main objective is to defeat the Skull Kid, who is possessed by an evil and
powerful mask called Majora, before the moon falls in 3 days’ time. The game structure is so
complex, however, that in order to actually fully complete the game, Link must go through
numerous different partial and mini objectives. This includes subquests that are necessary in
order to reach the main objective, as well as different subquests that are not necessary for
game completion but drastically add to the game’s dramatic aspects, which will be discussed
later on. Offering a fairly large world to go through, Majora’s Mask relies on the player’s
exploration; in fact, Fullerton actually discusses Legend of Zelda games specifically when
talking about exploration: “In games like the Zelda series, the objectives of exploration, puzzle solving,
and sometimes combat intertwine to form multifaceted gameplay.” (p. 72). Majora’s Mask is a clear example of
this.

Procedures and Rules

Procedures are defined by Fullerton as “t he methods of play and the actions that players can take to
achieve the game objectives “(p. 74). In the case of Majora’s Mask, this is found in the manual, where there is a
breakdown of what each button on the controller does:

Since this is a more complex game, this is only a very basic description of the procedure. The entire breakdown
of each button’s uses throughout the game can be found in the original Nintendo 64 instruction manual, linked
HERE.

Interaction Loops

Daniel Cook discusses the concept of Interaction Loops and “how a player interacts with a game and how the
game in turn responds to the player” (pg. 153).

1. The player starts with a mental model that prompts them to...
2. Make a decision to...
3. Apply an action in order to...
4. Manipulate the game rules and in return...
5. Receive feedback that...
6. Updates their mental model. Or, in other words, they start to learn how the systems of the game work.

Majora’s Mask interaction loop follows this model but in a fairly unique way. Consider the following:

1. Majora’s Mask is a sequel to another Legend of Zelda game, Ocarina of Time. The basic controls,
submenus, and even many of the NPCs and enemies are all recycled from the previous game. As such,
a large majority of the players have previously played Ocarina of Time and already have a mental
model formed as to how this game will have to be approached.
2. Even in the case that a player is not familiar with Ocarina of Time and has no prior knowledge with the
game design, the game does not throw in any action right away. There is first a cutscene before the
screen moves to a playable one.
3. The player may be confused at this point, so they press random buttons to see what they would do.
 4. The code within the game registers the button presses and acts accordingly. At this point, the only
buttons that will actually work are the control stick to move around and the start button to pause or
resume the game.
5. The player will see the visual feedback of their button pressing on the screen.
6. The player will then update their mental model to account for the button pressing and what its function
is.

The game starts off fairly simple in this interaction loop so as to not overwhelm the new player, before
progressively incorporating new functions that can be combined with other functions, defined by Cook as
skill chains (pg. 154). Two lower-functioning interaction loops can be combined together to create a higher
functioning interaction loop. Majora’s Mask has a feature where different masks the player collects all have
different functions. Because of how quickly this can becoming overwhelming, the player is first introduced
to the basic functions of each mask, then are shown how to trigger each mask’s special abilities.

Rules Restriction Action

Majora’s Mask relies heavily on NPCs and locked areas to restrict access temporarily. For example, one of the
very starting restrictions in the game is to keep Link inside the town. There is a guard at the door that will not let
Link pass because it is dangerous outside and they cannot let him leave without a weapon.

Likewise, there are areas blocked off that Link needs access to by the “Bombers Secret Society”, which can only
be accessed after a subquest (finding all the members of the society and getting the code to the society) has been
completed.
Rules Determining Effects

Majora’s Mask follows a very unique time constraint, where the game imposes an in-game 72-hour cycle, which
is actually about an hour in real-time, tracked with an on-screen timer. Once the 72 hours is up, Link must go
back in time, and many of the game's events and mechanisms restart, with only successfully- completed
objectives and their rewards surviving the time loop. The items the player carries outside of the time loop can
drastically change how gameplay was previously, giving access to restricted areas and giving opportunity to
interact with NPCs in different ways.

For example, the time loop always begins at the same area in the middle of the town’s square, right underneath
the clock tower. The very first quest of the game is to go through a series of obtaining different items in order to
be able to reach the top of the clock tower, where Link will find the Skull Kid wearing the Majora’s Mask.
Because he is not equipped to fight him at this point, he will have to go back in time to restart the time loop. The
very last quest of the game requires following this exact quest to reach the top of the clock tower, only this time,
Link is now well-equipped to fight the Skull Kid, leading to completely different results.

Resources

Of the different resources Fullerton describes, Majora’s Mask incorporates the following:

1. Health: Link has a number of hearts that can be affected by enemy attacks. As the game progresses, the
player can earn more heath containers to have a larger number of maximum hearts.
2. Currency: Majora’s Mask uses Rupees, the in-game currency, that is frequently used to buy different
items, weapons, hearts, and other resources needed for game play.
3. Actions: Many of the puzzles throughout the game rely on certain actions in order to successfully
complete them.
4. Power-ups: Link has a green energy bar that allows him to perform certain special attacks. In addition,
the masks Link collects throughout the game also offer unique special powers and abilities.
5. Inventory: The game utilizes two different inventories: one for weapons, and one for masks. Both of
these start out empty that the player can fill up as they progress through the game.
6. Special terrain: In the open world of Termina, where Majora’s Mask takes place, there are a number of
different terrains: swamp, beach, mountain, and desert. Each of these have their own special
characteristics that may help or hinder Link’s abilities. For example, the swamp has a number of
 poisonous waters that will hurt Link to swim in, which the mountain has pockets of ice which can be
melted to find useful items underneath.
7. Time: The entirety of the game relies of the concept of time to complete tasks. As previously stated,
Majora’s Mask imposes a 72-hour in-game time loop before the mechanisms restart, so it is important
for the player to always keep in mind how much time has passed. The player also has the ability to
manipulate time by slowing it down or fast forwarding, as some quests must be completed on a certain
day in the 72-hour time period.

Conflict

Fullerton defines conflict in gaming as elements that “do not allow the players to accomplish their goals
directly”. While procedures and rules also offer this, Fullerton breaks conflict into 3 categories: obstacles,
opponents, and dilemmas.

Obstacles

Many of the obstacles throughout Majora’s Mask are physical restrictions that cannot be accessed until the
player has received a certain weapon or mask, or completed a certain objective. For example, to get access to the
game’s beach area, there is a large gate that can only be jumped by a horse. As such, the player must first
embark on a sidequest to get his horse, and this sidequest itself is met with physical obstacles that can only be
overcome after Link reaches a certain point in the game. Most of the sidequests and objectives in the game lie in
sequence and cannot be accessed until the one before that has been accomplished. There are also 4 temples Link
must complete in order to reach the main objective. To even reach these temples, the player must solve a series
of different quests filled with puzzles and obstacles, in addition to the many puzzles inside the temples.

Opponents

There is no shortage of opponents in Majora’s Mask, taking in the form on different monsters. Each terrain has
its own terrain-specific monsters that, when seeing Link, will come to attack. In addition, each of the 4 temples
that Link must go through in order to complete the game have their own monsters, as well as their own mini-
boss and major boss that Link must also defeat.

Dilemmas

The game features a number of different sidequests, where completing one sidequest could potentially affect the
player’s ability to complete another one, so the player must decide which sidequests they will prioritize.
Additionally, some sidequests may have differing results depending on the actions that the player takes. Because
the game runs on a time loop, it is wholly possible to explore the different options each time the time loop
restarts, making dilemmas not hugely effectual in this game as the player is still able to explore every possible
outcome.

Boundaries

The game takes advantage of the physical terrain to keep the player within boundaries. In the swamp area, the
terrain features large trees across the perimeter of the playable area to keep the player in bounds. In the beach
area, there is an invisible border that will hold the player in place if they swim out too far. The snowy mountain
area uses snow storms and high mountains to keep the player in place, while the desert also incorporates large
unclimbable mountains to keep the player within boundary.

Outcomes

The nature of Majora’s Mask makes it a non-zero-sum game, as defined by Fullerton: “a non- zero-sum game is
one in which the overall gains and losses for the players can be more than or less than zero” (p. 92). Majora’s
Mask’s progress is measured by how many of the game’s numerous objectives the players has accomplished. As
Fullerton states, the nature of having a system based on multiple objectives “can create measurable outcomes
without the finite judgment of a zero-sum game“ (p. 92).
Dramatic Elements

“Dramatic elements give context to gameplay, overlaying and integrating the formal elements of the system into
a meaningful experience” (p. 97).

Challenge

A challenging activity that requires skills

Majora’s Mask offers a series of different challenges that get progressively more difficult as the game goes on
so the player has time to enhance their skills and adjust to the difficulty levels. As the player completes
objectives and wins more weapons and items to help them along their journey, their skill levels in playing the
game also improve.

Clear goals and feedback

Fullerton emphasizes the need for clear goals and feedback in gameplay. In Majora’s Mask, feedback is marked
by winning different rewards, such as items, weapons, and masks. While goals are not always outwardly stated,
Link has a fairy creature, Tatl, that comes along his journey and offers different hints to help the player figure
out where their goal should take them next.

The paradox of control and concentration on the task at hand

As previously stated, Link has a fairy friend that not only offers him hints on where he should be going, but also
speaks up to encourage Link to stay focused on the task at hand if the player gets distracted with other things.
The fact that the player controls every one of Link’s moves, furthermore, makes it incredibly easy to immerse
oneself in game play. In that moment, the player IS Link; the player controls Link, is able to see things from
Link’s point of view, and every outcome in the game is a result of the player’s moves.

The transformation of time

Time, evidently, is a significant element that controls much of the game play. Although the player is constantly
tracking time within the game, the fact that the in-game clock is much different than real-world time makes it
incredibly easy to disconnect from real-time and feel that time is passing much faster. This, coupled with the
fact that many objectives need to be completed before the inevitable time loop occurs, often has the player
playing at least until the end of that objective, resulting in a game that “suck[s in] players in for hours on end
because they involve players in flow experiences that distort the passage of time” (p. 101).

Experience becomes an end in itself

Fullerton emphasizes the importance in the idea of a game being autotelic, or “something that is an end in itself”
(p. 101), meaning that the experience of play outside of reaching goals is enjoyable. Majora’s Mask is filled
with a world of sidequests. activities, and mini games that may not contribute to the end goal, but still offer a
fun experience. Because all these sidequests and activities end in some sort of reward, the player is still offered a
sense of achievement even for minor gameplay even if they were not working towards the end goal. This results
in a world full of exploration and enjoyment outside of just completing objectives.

Play

“In the case of games, the constraints of the rules and procedures are the rigid structure, and the play within that
structure is the freedom of players to act within those rules—the opportunity for emergent experience and
personal expression” (p. 102).
Nature of Play and Types of Players

According to Roger Callois’ classification of different types of play, it would seem that Majora’s Mask falls
into a rule-based play (ludus) environment, but does not quite fit any of the four fundamental types of play. The
nature of the game is not competitive, and while there are some mini-games within the game that are gambles
and up to chance, the game generally is not chance-based. You may argue that it can be make-believe play, as
the player controls Link’s movements and Link can be seen as an extension of the player, but one can also argue
it’s not immersive enough to be considered mimicry. Lastly, there is no vertigo play involved. It seems like
Majora’s Mask incorporates elements of each type of play but does not follow one specific nature.

The types of players Majora’s Mask would appeal most to are more than one, considering how many different
features are present throughout the game. The ones that are most relevant are:

1. The explorer: The large open-world offers a great opportunity for those who like to explore.
2. The collector: There are several different things that can be collected throughout the game. Masks,
fairies, weapons, and rupees are all things that The Collector would find appealing.
3. The achiever: The vast number of different sidequests and their achievements would most definitely
attract The Achiever. Near the beginning of the game, Link receives something called the Bomber
Society Notebook, that the player uses to note down different NPCs that Link communicated with
that he can help with. This in itself offers a huge and extensive opportunity for achievement
collection.
4. The Artist: Majora’s Mask was revolutionary in its graphic design at the time of its production, where
most Nintendo 64 games were released with 2D graphics. A couple years ago, Nintendo rereleased
Majora’s Mask for Nintendo 3DS with updated graphics, boasted a very beautiful and colourful
world.
5. The Storyteller: The story that Majora’s Mask follows is rich and mysterious, offering just the right
amount of story to keep the player intrigued while staying ambiguous enough to instigate a number of
different theories related to the game.

Premise

The game begins off as a continuation of Ocarina of Time, where Link is searching for his fairy friend, Navi, in
some unknown woods. Players who have not played Ocarina of Time may be confused about the premise. As
Link looks for Navi on his horse, he is attacked by a Skull Kid, who promptly robs him of his ocarina and runs
away. At this point, the game is still set in these mysterious woods, but after chasing the Skull Kid into a
mysterious cave, Link is transformed into a creature called a scrub and finds himself in the land of Termina,
where he must track down the Skull Kid and get his ocarina back before the moon falls in 3 days. This premise
is intentionally fairly confusing, because more of the story becomes clear as the player continues the game. The
entire point of this premise is to introduce the main character, the main antagonist, and the main setting and
objective.

Characters

As stated, Link is the main character in Majora’s Mask. Fullerton discusses the concept of Free Will vs.
Automation characters, and Link is a clear example of an automation. He does not talk, and all his actions and
movements rely on what the player controls him to do. The only sense of autonomy Link shows is when the
player stops interacting with Link for a certain amount of time, without pausing. Link may swing his arms
around or yawn as he waits for the player to control him again; if he is low on health, he will pant. Fullerton
discusses this same situation with an early version of Sonic, and how little quirks like this “establish him as a
unique character” (p. 111).

Story

Majora’s Mask in unique in its storytelling in that the story very subtly progresses on, considering the time loop
that resets all in-game narratives every 72-hours. It is not until the player completes main objectives that they
can really see the story going forward; additionally, many subquests have their own stories intertwined with the
main story. “The story does not change based on the player’s actions, and yet it is richly developed and the
relationships have depth and importance in regards to the gameplay” (p. 113).

World Building

The Legend of Zelda series is known for its intricate land of Hyrule that many of their games are set on;
however, game designers took on a completely different world, Termina, for Majora’s Mask. This is not
completely jarring or unfamiliar to Legend of Zelda fans, as many of the elements in Termina had been recycled
from Hyrule in Ocarina of Time. The world of Termina itself may be confusing to the players at first, but the
player is able to collect map pieces and talk to NPCs who are able to help guide the way as the game progresses.

The Dramatic Arc

Majora’s Mask is known to be one of the most emotionally gripping stories in the Legend of Zelda series, and
much of that can be credited to its dramatic arc.

Exposition: Link is in the woods in Hyrule, looking for his old fairy friend, Navi.

Conflict: Link is robbed by the Skull Kid, who steals his magical ocarina and disappears with it into a cave. The
cave leads to a portal into the land of Termina, where the moon will fall in 3 days because of the evil Skull Kid.

Rising Action: Link must go to all the temples in Termina, where he will recruit the help of the giants who are
supposed to protect the land of Termina.

Climax: Link discovers that Skull Kid is not evil and was once friends with the giants. He is just possessed by
an evil mask, Majora, who is controlling his every move. He frees Skull Kid from Majora’s grasp.

Resolution: Link fights the evil Majora and stops the moon from falling into Termina. Everyone celebrates with
an annual carnival.

While the main story itself may not seem as gripping in text, the constant feeling of doom that the NPCs exhibit
knowing that the moon will fall in 3 days adds a lot to the emotional and dramatic aspects of the game. This,
coupled with many of the tragic backstories that the NPCs have, make it a game that is famous for its emotional
toll.

System Dynamics

“A system is defined as a set of interacting elements that form an integrated whole with a common goal or
purpose.”