Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Majora's Mask 3D Fishing Journal 2, Day 1

It's fishing time, again!

I did complete the whole thing last year, after Majora's Mask 3D got released, but I want to do it again and I want to do it a little bit more efficiently. I want to try to get all the fish in as few cycles as possible.

And overall I'm having fun with this, because this is easily the most interesting and fleshed out variant of fishing in the Zelda series, which at the same time really added something more to the different masks in the game, where many of them are only used once and now get to see some more value with the fishing.

The random number generation aspect can be off-putting, but all you really have to do is use the door and check the pond. And that's not really a big issue. In fact I managed to almost complete the entire Swamp Fishing Hole collection in a single 3-day-cycle. Here's what I caught:

  • Termina Bass: 13cm
  • Termina Loach: 22cm
  • Groovy Carp: 5cm
  • Fragrant Reekfish: 10cm
  • Mooranha: 5cm
  • Postal Salmon: 34cm
  • Cuccofish: 6cm
  • Ancient Fish: 107cm
  • Colossal Catfish: 117cm
  • Ferocious Pirarucu: 174cm
  • Lord Chapu-Chapu: 357cm

The only thing missing would be the Sweet Ranchfish. And I did in fact saw one, and despite being lured with Epona's Song he just wouldn't bite and then suddenly disappeared (probably because it was around 3PM, since he just appears from 6AM to 3PM). If that little fish wouldn't have been so fickle, I could start with the Ocean Fishing Hole tomorrow, instead of spending another cycle in the swamp for just one measly, little fish.

Otherwise it went quite well. I even caught three Lord Chapu-Chapus. Yes, THREE of them...


With Fierce Deity Link (and probably Goron Link) you can reel them in relatively quickly. When I caught my first Chapu-Chapu last year, I was playing as Deku Link and it took forever to reel it in (don't fish as Deku Link, ever). And this demotivated me from trying to catch him again until now, where I found that it's easy enough with the power of a god.

The Colossal Catfish also appeared automatically in the last hours of the 3rd day, because the earth is rumbling all the time. You directly get the jingle, when entering the pond, so you can just quickly leave and enter, until you hear the sound. You don't have to go on that pillar and stomp it as Goron Link each time.

And if you thought that the Zora Moon Dungeon was bad, try dolphin jumping onto that pillar... Yes, you can just hop there as Deku Link, but usually I'm checking the pond as Zora Link and then just want to quickly go up to the pillar to check for the catfish, where a dolphin jump seems like a shortcut, but it usually isn't. Anyway, if you visit the pond during the final hours, it saves you the trouble of going onto that pillar. But you also have to be careful that there's time left to catch the Colossal Catfish. Getting smashed by the moon, because you were too distracted with fishing, is probably one of the most unheroic ways of dying in a Zelda game, right after getting zapped by a shopkeeper for stealing.

Well, lets see, if I can get that Sweet Ranchfish tomorrow. That little...

3 comments:

K2L said...

This is a continuation from the comment I left in the other article, as it was getting excessively long:

Cycle 9 - I visit Romani Ranch and do absolutely everything I can do there (I even spend the third day just to see that sad moment when Cremia decides to give Chateau Romani to her sister so she doesn't realize the world might end).

Cycle 10 - Retrieve all Zora Eggs in Great Bay, which of course takes a while. Whenever I have the chance, I also do the Gorman sidequest in the Milk Bar, as by that point I have all transformation masks. =)

Cycle 11 - All I do in this one is the Oceanside Spider House and get the Blast and All-Night Masks. The fact that the Giant's Wallet and Blast Mask are only obtainable in the first day and the latter is only available near the end of the third always makes this cycle very anomalous, as it's otherwise hollow and just for procrastination.

Cycle 12 - I read the two stories told by Grandma, do the very long quadruple race string from the Beaver Brothers, and do the "who writes the better song" sidequest in Zora Hall.

Cycle 13 - I complete the Great Bay Temple, make the band's rehearsal, and beat the highly difficult Fisherman's torch minigame.

Cycle 14 - It's at this moment when I take the opportunity to complete the game's Title Deed trading sequence, as well as the reunion of the Frog Choir band and the collection of the Heart Pieces that require either Zora Link or the Hookshots. I also activate the Ikana Canyon's Owl Statue so I don't have to see that idiot boast that "I will not let you pass" nonsense more than once.

Cycle 15 - I dedicate this cycle to Ikana Graveyard so I can explore all opened tombs without distractions. Well, except going back to the Oceanside Spider house to get the Heart Piece with the help of the Captain's Hat. This marks the first cycle since the 1st when I, inevitably, play during the last six in-game hours (I would prevent it with the Song of Double Time, but I don't play it as I'm already very experiences with the game).

Cycle 16 - Once again I do the Kafei and Anju sidequest, both to obtain the second mutually-exclusive item (Postman's Hat) and to officially complete it now that Ikana Canyon is available. Naturally, this is another cycle where I'm watching the death in the sky so closely.

Cycle 17 - I progress through all of Ikana Canyon, Beneath the Well, Ancient Castle of Ikana and Stone Tower, stopping only when I activate the latter one's Owl Statue. This is a very hefty and demanding cycle, but it's damn worth it,

Cycle 18 - Three Words: Stone. Tower. Temple. That dungeon plus the collection of its Stray Fairies keep me very busy during the three-day period. XD

Cycle 19 - A breather cycle. I do the Secret Shrine miniboss gauntlet and then collect the remaining money necessary to obtain the Heart Piece from the Bank (in all of the cycles, I deposit any money collected before playing the Song of Time. By this cycle I'll have gotten between 2500 and 3500 Rupees in my account, with the ultimate goal being 5000). In the event I've missed or forgotten something, I do it during this cycle as well.

Cycle 20 - With everything complete through the mainland of Termina, all I do here is play the Song of Double Time five times, buy a Chateau Romani and drink it, collect arrows and then wait until it's midnight to confront Skull Kid, access the Moon and go finish the game.

Eduardo Jencarelli said...

This is one sidequest I have very little interest to revisit. Getting the regular fish wasn't so bad, but getting the boss fishes was infuriating at times. And having to do it on a timer isn't what I'd call fun. Fishing is about losing track of time and being patient. Not something that matches that well with Majora's time-oriented design.

TourianTourist said...

@K2L:
It's interesting, how you purposefully avoid using the Song of Inverted Time. I might try that on my next playthrough. It's also interesting, how you end up with exactly 20 cycles, which is twice as many as in my latest playthrough. It adds up perfectly, because you only get half the time per cycle.

@Eduardo Jencarelli:
At first I thought that the fishing minigame would take a huge blow to the replay value for a 100% run, but I'm enjoying it quite a lot. It feels pretty nice to do the fishing, AFTER you've already saved the world of Termina. To have a little pause as the hero. The timer is only an issue with fish that appear very late, like the Colossal Catfish, otherwise it doesn't really bother me that much.