Page Text: Exclusive: Blind gamer Terry Garrett on finally beating Majora’s Mask, his most memorable moments, and what’s next
By Reece Heather on Apr 2, 2022
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Six years on from the moment when Terry Garrett beat Ocarina of Time , he has now finally reached another incredible milestone by conquering its direct sequel, Majora’s Mask. For the uninitiated, this may not sound like such a big deal — until you discover that Terry has been blind since the age of 10.
Upon beating the game, Terry was kind enough to share his thoughts on the playthrough, his love of Zelda, and what’s to come in the future for his inspirational YouTube channel, TrueBlindGaming.
Before we dig into that and his latest achievements, though, I am obliged to welcome newcomers, as always, by suggesting they begin by observing the video below. The following is Terry’s first-ever Ocarina of Time video that did the rounds back in 2011. Here, he walks us through his elaborate audio setup, his trial-and-error approach using emulator save states, and how he uses the unique audio cues in the Nintendo 64-era Zelda games to his advantage. Not only is this a wonderful showcase of someone overcoming their handicap to enjoy video games in an ingenious way, but it also offers a whole new level of appreciation for Ocarina’s and Majora’s exceptional sound design. Above all, it will demonstrate to you just how extraordinary this decade-long pursuit of blind Zelda playthroughs has been, which is difficult to convey through words alone.
“I would say that Majora’s Mask was harder than Ocarina of Time, but I had more help along the way this time. I was doing more of the sidequests of the game since that’s what Majora’s Mask is built on.” The “help” that Terry is describing comes from his wonderful fanbase. A number of his followers send him detailed explanations and personalized walkthrough videos to help guide him through many of the more difficult and non-linear sections of the game. Upon Terry’s request, they also often describe the many locations he explores in the game for him, as well as visual subtleties within the game’s cutscenes, in order for him to visualize the world more vividly and better understand the context behind the story and situations that the protagonist Link finds himself in. The comments on each of Terry’s videos are flooded with comments of positivity and support, and his Discord server is full of people offering their help and suggestions as well as rooting him on through the many goals he has set before him.
Majora’s Mask can be a difficult game to beat even for the fully sighted and, of course, Terry had his fair share of challenges throughout his journey. “The place I thought I was gonna fail and not be able to pass was defending Romani‘s Ranch from the ghosts,” he says. This section is particularly hard to beat without sight, as it involves precision aiming with the bow and shooting down waves of enemies across a very large and open area. Fortunately, a notable fan of Terry’s known as Drain came up with a very clever and specific method that catered perfectly to this limitation, involving Z-targeting a dog, facing certain directions, and using the loops in the music track to aid in timing.
Since a lot of Terry’s progress relies on trial and error, there were also times that he would come across new strategies on the fly to overcome the hardest part of the game. “The thing that surprised me the most was getting the Bunny Hood,” he says. “When I kept trying that and failing, and then finally a method clicked and it worked, I was so excited.” In order to obtain the Bunny Hood in Majora’s Mask, the player must round up 10 Cucco chicks in Romani Ranch’s Cucco Shack for the Bremen Mask’s marching melody. The initial idea was to herd the chicks into an enclosed space to avoid them scattering too far, and while that didn’t work out as planned, Terry improvised and ended up creating what he calls the playthrough’s “most successful failure.”
Of course, Terry doesn’t just play Zelda on his channel, as you can also catch many videos of him playing Minecraft , Portal , Shades of Doom , Oddworld , Guitar Hero , and Bit.Trip Runner . However, it’s clear that Zelda is very near and dear to him. “If I had to pick a game that I enjoy more between Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, I don’t know if I really can,” Terry ponders. Like many Zelda fans, he has a tough time picking a favorite. “Ocarina of Time was the first one I beat and it has a special place in my heart. But Majora’s Mask was so much fun with the next-gen abilities and all the added features that weren’t in Ocarina of Time. So I love Ocarina of Time for its originality, but I think Majora’s Mask is a better-built game.”
Fittingly for a game such as Majora’s Mask, the finale in Terry’s playthrough feels somewhat bittersweet. It was incredible to watch him finally beat the game after all this time, but we fans will certainly miss having new episodes to look forward to. In a moment that bookends a riveting journey that began back in 2019, you can catch him finally sticking it to Majora below.
“I think I want to take a break from Zelda because it is stressful at times and takes a lot of focus and time,” Terry says. However, he is certainly not done with gaming content, and it’s possible that he’s not done with the Zelda series either. “I want to do other projects like Stardew Valley, and Minecraft which is currently becoming more accessible. Maybe in the future, the next Zelda game I would tackle would be Twilight Princess, since that, even though I haven’t personally played it, is my favorite Zelda game of all time.”
Being the overachiever he is, Terry didn’t simply play through Majora’s Mask to the end, either. He obtained every mask, bottle, and Great Fairy in the game, gathered the majority of the Heart Pieces, and went out of his way to conquer the many sidequests. Believe it or not, he’s still not quite done yet, as he plans to upload a bonus video of him defeating Majora as Fierce Deity Link. As well as the videos above, other highlights of the playthrough include his battle with Goht , infiltrating the Pirate Fortress , and smashing the competition at the Goron Race .
We’d like to thank Terry for speaking to us, congratulate him on his astounding achievements, and wish him all the best in all his pursuits both in and outside of the incredible TrueBlindGaming channel. The Zelda fandom is full of amazing people, and Terry is a shining example of the inspiration that can be found within the community. As his channel’s slogan goes, “the only limit is yourself.”
Reece Heather
Reece is the news editor and columns editor at Zelda Universe, and is the greatest video game journalist in the history of video game journalism. He recently won an award for "World's Most Influential Video Game Critic," but had to decline his certificate as his ego is now too big for him to leave his front door.