Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on Majora's Mask. We finally get into a dungeon and also talk more about tone, weirdnesses in the save system, and other topics. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Sections played: Past the Swamp Dungeon

Issues covered: the horror of becoming a deku, the Lynchian lens, production realities and narrative, liminal spaces, archetypes, Nordic or Tolkienesque influences, turning down the audio, thinking about other Zeldas, being exposed to something edgy as a youngster, parenting influences, being unclear about how one beat a boss, not teaching the player, feeling punished, overindexing on character, trying not to blame the player, feeling the time pressure, layering gameplay on the world, the strange ways the faeries are hidden, discussing what persists, the notebook and the perfect day, being weird that you can leave and not knowing the rules, having to make a 60 hour game, revisiting the save owls, fast traveling (and a little diversion into game history).

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: American Werewolf in London, Twin Peaks/David Lynch, Drew, Jim Henson, Dr. Seuss, God of War: Ragnarok, Lord of the Rings, Stephen King, CalamityNolan, Outer Wilds, Groundhog Day, Death Loop, Deadly Premonition, Ultima (series), Dragon Quest (series), Hitman, Dwarf Fortress, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.

Next time: More Majora's Mask!

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