We’ve seen series producer Eiji Aonuma try his hand at various mini-games in The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D in the video introduction series for the game, and he saved the best for last, with the newly added fishing mini-game.
After looking back at how Ocraina of Time had fishing but it was gone in Majora’s Mask, Aonuma says that they talked about how people wanted fishing back, so they decided to bring it back this time around for the Nintendo 3DS version. He adds that there’s also the funny subject of whether anyone would have time to sit back and fish when the world is about to end in just three days, but they put it in with the thought of having something different to do in the game.
We get a first look at the “Swamp Fishing” area at 1:08 in the video. It’s actually a pretty wide area, but you start out by paying the man 50 Rupees (which even Aonuma says is pretty expensive) for an infinite amount of fishing time. You have a choice between a regular fishing rod, and a rod that has a sinking lure. The regular fishing rod has a lure that floats, while the other one is mainly used for catching fish on the bottom.
Aonuma starts out by looking for a good area where there might be some fish and launches his lure. Similar to real fishing, you can move the bait around to give it some action, and if you make it look lively enough near fish, they’ll bite. Once Aonuma catches his first fish, he explains that you can’t just reel in all at once, or else it’ll cause the fish to get away, so you’ll have to do it bits at a time in order to catch it.
According to the producer, this mini-game was made by someone who is really into bass fishing, and he actually taught Aonuma all there is to know about bass fishing, and they put those details into the game.
Next, he tries out the sinking lure, which you can see at the 5:24 mark of the video. This time, the lure goes to the bottom of the swamp, and you get a good look with the camera. If you don’t see any fish nearby, your best bet is to try a different area. Similar to the regular fishing rod, you’ll have to be careful not to reel in too much when the fish starts flopping around. This time around, Grezzo and Nintendo have added all kinds of new fish, including one that’ll appear to eat the fish you’re trying to catch.
To conclude his series of mini-game videos, Aonuma jokingly apologizes about his haphazard videos and his haphazard gameplay, but hopes that people enjoyed watching him play. He reminds viewers that Majora’s Mask isn’t all about mini-games, but that they provide a nice change of pace.
He also says that there are some parts that have been made easier to play, but the devteam made sure to make the difficult parts nice and tough, as he feels that the game wouldn’t have the same charm without that level of difficulty. He hopes the game will bring back memories to the older fans, and also surprise those who will get to play it for the very first time.
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D will release in North America and Europe on February 13, 2015 for the Nintendo 3DS.
