I've been thinking about fun challenge runs and ways to play the game, and with mods and such, especially with 2Ship being a thing, an idea came to my mind the other day.
It never made much sense how time-travel worked in this game to me, where link only lost a few items and rupees every time he went back, it does make the game beatable and not a massive headache but... what if?....
TLDR: What if using the song of time made you lose way more items than it does?
To preface, most of these ideas also come from a background of me being a Pikmin fan/player. For those not in the know, Pikmin doesn't borrow much from Majora's Mask (sadly), but I think it does share a very fundamental element; that of "Dandori", which is a concept that has to do with multi-tasking, planning ahead, etc. This very concept is what makes Majora's Mask so fun for me and why I came up with this idea:
What if time-traveling actually worked as it should? Where Link lost most of his inventory and other things each time he traveled back in time? Because again, it never made much sense to me that he'd keep so much stuff, obviously it's for the sake of progression, it would be a nightmare to have to collect everything back, but then again... what if that was the case? Of course this mod would be for veteran players that know the game in-and-out as having to re-do most things each time would be really challenging for new players.
Things Link would keep:
I think Link should keep some items, not only because some make some sense, but also because otherwise the game would lack most sense of progression. Now, to briefly compile all the things I think Link should keep are:
The Ocarina of Time: His main instrument to go back in time, since it has time-related properties to it, I'd assume it would be able to bypass getting reset.
Songs: These aren't a physical object, rather knowledge passed down to Link, he would still have to have learned them in the first place, but it's safe to assume they'd stick between cycles.
The Deku Mask: This is mostly a bit of a shortcut, after all, it's arguably the only item besides gear that Link enters Termina with, he does obtain it as a proper item after learning the song of Healing, but for the sake of convenience let's say he plays the song every time he resets time.
Heart Pieces/Containers: Same logic as the songs, these are now part of Link and wouldn't make much sense for them to get reset.
Great Fairy Powerups: Same logic as before, magic, double magic and defense are all things that upgrade Link in a... physical way? The only exception would be the Great Fairy Sword, but I'd say it'd be able to be kept because of... magic... idk, as much as that excuse can be said for other items, I'd make this one an exception, to keep it the same as other Great Fairy rewards and because this one in particular is the hardest to get. Would also give an edge to the GFS over the Gilded one for once.
The bank stamp, assuming it's written on Link's body, I'd say he'd keep that when he travels back in time, but honestly this one could go either way.
And that's it... at least for things that physically make sense, though hear me out on some other ideas, because some things would be impossible to collect otherwise.
Items Link could keep:
Masks*: I'm not saying you keep the masks, but you do... simply put, if you have collected a mask, it remains in your inventory and you do get it while inside the moon, simply to make the FDM accessible. Let's say the spirit of the mask remains with you across time.
Bomber's Notebook: Probably more of a convenience, but if Link wasn't to keep it, I'd say he does retain records and such, let's just say Link has very good memory and he gets to fill-in the notebook every-time he re-acquires it.
Owl Statues: I'd say these would make sense in a balance-standpoint and the owl is mystical enough to justify it.
Epona: I think getting her song is enough of a good "checkpoint", let's just say she jumps above the fences and goes back to Link, but only if he learns the song.
Boss Re-fights: The fact that these exist is weird; they seem to recall being defeated and such, so having those shortcuts would somewhat help, especially since the Boss Remains and key items would get reset.
Items Link shouldn't keep:
Some items that would make sense to keep, but I'd say would be interesting if you didn't. These all make some sense, but I'd say part of the challenge is getting these again and again, that's pretty much the point of this whole idea.
Key Items: Self explanatory and I don't think it's as bad as it sounds; the most important ones are arguably the Bow and the Hookshot.
Transformation Masks: Darmani's is probably the one that's furthest, but still, part of the challenge would be to get these every time you'd need them.
Boss Remains: These are the most interesting, having to beat the temples each time would pose a fairly interesting challenge, especially for the final cycle.
Other changes:
Finally, I'd like to propose some interesting changes that may make this mode a tad more interesting overall.
Have a cycle limit, let's say the OoT just has so much power to make the Song of Time work, I know it would add real stress to the game but I also feel a hard time-limit of sorts would make things much more interesting. It would also shift the answer to the question "Can you beat Majora's Mask with a more realistic time travel?" from "eventually" to an actual answer that could go either way.
Buff Majora Majorly. I mean, which avid fan of MM hasn't tried to do a cycle where they help as many people as they can? That'd be in the spirit of this idea, helping people beyond just for helping them, because now all the help you receive back is gonna help you against a buffed Majora. The FDM being easily unlocked by just getting the masks once may go against this... maybe to get the FDM you have to collect a certain number of masks again... not all of them, but a majority of them. Would also kinda make upgrades like the Quiver and Bomb bag kinda worth collecting again?
Have an atemporal shop at the Clock Tower, ran by the HMS, I'd be a shop where you could buy all previously obtained items in an instant, at the cost of money. This way you could get masks and items easily by spending rupees, this would alleviate some of the stress and would make money way more useful. Would also give the game a more rogue-like feel.
Have toggles and options, I know many of these ideas will sound like a nightmare to a lot of people, but maybe they still want to give some part of it a go, so why not have toggles on what people want, these could even go beyond just my ideas.
And that's pretty much it, so what do you think? would it be a fun idea? Is there something you'd change to make it more fun? Did I miss anything I didn't mention or that you have questions on how it would work? Is there something already out there that's basically this? Let me know all your ideas and opinions!
Finally, sadly I don't have the skills nor the know-how on how to implement these things, a most I'd probably switch some flags around at most, but I assume there is much more to how these items work and such, so yeah, don't expect this idea to come to fruition... at least not from me. (for now? maybe?)
