Dataminers Find Evidence of Master Quest DLC and Possible Majora’s Mask Remake in Ocarina of Time

The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time

© Nintendo

For the past few days, Zelda fans have been searching the Ocarina of Time remake for anything that might hint at a similar reimagining of Majora’s Mask. One of the more compelling pieces of evidence is actually hiding in the game’s code, where dataminers have also found evidence of Ocarina of Time‘s Master Quest difficulty mode.

Let’s start with the Master Quest, as it’s more straightforward. The mode originated on the 2003 GameCube port of Ocarina of Time and is a harder version of the base game, with stronger enemies and rearranged dungeons. The Master Quest was playable from the outset on this version of the game, so if you wanted to play a harder version from the start, there was nothing stopping you. The 3DS remake Nintendo released in 2011 also included Master Quest, but you could only play it after completing the main game once. So when the Switch 2 remake seemingly omitted it, fans were naturally disappointed. However, dataminer MrCheoze has uncovered what appear to be files for Master Quest in the code, with dataminer OatmealDome confirming it.

According to OatmealDome, it appears that the Master Quest will be unlocked by owning DLC, rather than as a standard update that would be pushed to all players with an online connection. What remains to be seen is whether this DLC would be paid content or not. It could also be given free to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers.

“The data is incomplete, but I can confirm that the world is mirrored and dungeons are modified (e.g. cows in Jabu-Jabu’s Belly),” they wrote on Twitter. While Nintendo could distribute the DLC for free, I don’t see why they went to the effort to make it be unlocked by DLC instead of just including it in an update…”

OatmealDome says that as of the current patch, the Ocarina of Time remake code only checks for one DLC, which is referred to as “MQ,” so it’s unclear if Nintendo has any further DLC plans down the line.

Now for the hint that a Majora’s Mask remake might be coming. This one’s a bit more roundabout, but YouTuber Austin John Plays has released a video testing out various amiibo figures on the Ocarina of Time remake, and in doing so may have discovered a hint at a future Skull Kid or Majora’s Mask amiibo figure that could add the titular mask to the game as a wearable piece of equipment.

You can watch the video for a breakdown of what most of the Zelda amiibo figures unlock in the remake (it’s mostly consumable items), but through some altering of NFC tags and scanning them, you can essentially scan the not-yet-released Young Link and Young Zelda figures and unlock the masks they’ll let you wear when they launch next year. The NPCs you meet around Hyrule have unique dialogue for both masks, and the video shows a handful of those interactions. However, there is also code for dialogue for an as-of-yet unknown mask that isn’t described with a lot of concrete details, but the dialogue that is in the game right now sure does sound like stuff people might say if they saw Link wearing Majora’s Mask around Hyrule.

In general, the dialogue hints that this mystery mask makes them uneasy, with someone even calling it “otherworldly.” Austin John theorizes that this is dialogue coded in for a future amiibo figure featuring a character from Majora’s Mask, possibly Skull Kid, and that this amiibo could be coming out alongside a Switch 2 Majora’s Mask remake.

As far as “evidence” of a Majora’s Mask remake goes, it’s definitely the most convincing thing fans have found thus far. The Ocarina of Time remake includes the Happy Mask Shopkeeper, a character who plays a major role in Majora’s Mask, and he seems to have been modeled to look like he does in the sequel. Now, there’s more reason to believe Nintendo has something in the works.

Austin John Plays goes so far as to theorize that the Majora’s Mask remake might already be mostly complete, which would be a pleasant surprise, but for now, all we know for sure is that Link appears to be receiving some kind of eerie mask in an amiibo update at some point.

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