Because let's get some shit right clear, right now
There's something that's been on my heart for a long time, and I just need to get this off my chest. I cannot express enough how important this is for me emotionally, but also, how important it is that the world read these words. We're going to discuss something so vitally important to the continued existences of the humanities that you should read this because it is good.
Remember the Nintento 64!? JUST PRETEND YOU DO, OKAY? Before the beautiful super-derper enhanced graphics of the new millennium, there were the blocky, awful garbage polygons of systems like N64, Playstation ONE, and that other thing Sega made. I, of course, grew up living on Nintendo. My brother and I played on the original Nintendo when our cousins lent the game system to us and it fucking changed everything ever. After that, all we did was beg our parents for a Nintendo. One mind-blowing Christmas, it happened. Nintendo happened. But that's not important right now. Don't worry about it.
Anyhow, many Christmases later, the n64 happened. The absolute bestest game I played on the n64 was Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. I wish I could brainwash myself so I could experience playing it for the first time all over again. My only hope is to pray that I get into a car wreck that is bad enough to wipe my memory, but not bad enough to kill me or leave me as a human vegetable.
Now, I know a lot of Ocarinafags are gonna say they 'prefer OOT' because that's just the popular thing to say to sound all hip and funky fresh. I'm not saying Ocarina of Time wasn't good. It's a barrel of monkeys on a scale from one to a barrel of monkeys, for sure. Also, probably one of the greatest games of all-time. You know why? Because it's Zelda, in 3D, and if that's not enough to make your nipples hard, it's probably because you never lived during a time when there were only 2D games. So when stuff became 3D, nerds were wildin' out. Obviously, turning a game franchise that was completely 2D into a three-dimensional wonderland is a difficult medium adjustment to tackle. Some of the game serieses that were great in 2D didn't translate into the third-dimension well, and I won't name any names+ Show Spoiler +
donkey kong 64
but LoZ worked out not-too-shabby.
It's time to slap the beef on the table, though. Time to discuss a real issue that needs addressing. Whenever I read reviews, summaries, etc., about Majora's Mask, I often read that it is "CONSIDERED THE DARKESTEST GAME IN THE LEGEND OF ZELDA SERIES" and I'm gonna go overboard with unnecessary total necessary bitterness here:
DARKEST LOZ EVER
So, why are people pointing out the dark darkness so often in Majora's Mask? Well, simply put: It is kinda dark. But so is Ocarina of Time. Uh, remember in Ocarina when Ganon takes over the world, and Hyrule is turned into a nightmare-world filled with mummies, and a huge evil castle floating over a crater where the former Hyrule castle once stood? Pretty fucking dark, if you ask me. You play Ocarina getting to know all these people in Hyrule and the surrounding kingdoms, and you get to find out later that they're ALL DEAD. Some of the dungeons in Ocarina, like the Shadow Temple, are really creepy. There's a lot of weird and creepy shit in Ocarina, and I can't even list everything.
Majora's Mask has a lot of the same kinds of stuff, most of which is copied right out of Ocarina of Time. The bombs in Majora explode prettier due to the expansion pack, and the Jungle Boss releases 400 poisonous butterflies, but there are only four worlds, and some really cool side-quests, but after that, the game is pretty much over. In those four worlds, though, you come across death quite a bit. But you also come across that shit in Ocarina. Both games have a graveyard, both have evil spirits terrorizing people, both have a kingdom that is now inhabited by mummies, and both have a weird villain. After you kick Ganon's ass, I swear I saw him cough up blood.
Some stuff Ocarina has that Majora doesn't are: that fight in the light-world against Dark Link, that smashy hammer, those crystals that give you powers you don't have in Majora, and moar worlds. I guess Ocarina also has more pointless running through Hyrule field, too.
Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying one game is darker or more gooder than the other. I'm just saying people need to fuck off with that "majoraz mask is prolly t3h darkist in the series" just because they had a nightmare once about that evil moon and peed their bed. One thing is for sure, though: Link is a total player in Ocarina. He loves Princess Zelda (I think) and Saria, and is engaged to marry Princess Ruto and agrees to marry Malon. I think Link also likes Impa, but she's a lesbian. In the end, though, Link gets no action because all the characters he meets just happen to be secretly bound to the spirit of the Earth or something and are all transformed into sages, which means they can never be a part of the human world or some shit, I dunno. Then he goes back in time, and all memory of the good times Zelda and Link had together are wiped away. Then Link's fairy leaves him. That is pretty dark, if you axe me.
I always see this "really dark" too and never fully understand it, Twilight Princess is dark too, when the world is in Twilight you find spirits of everyone and they're all terrified. And in Wind Waker the entire world was flooded and destroyed when Ganon returned. One of the reasons I see cited for Majora's Mask being so dark is because Link screams in pain every time he puts on a transformation mask but that doesn't make it especially dark. So I feel the same, future Hyrule in OoT seems just as dark as Termina.
I just finished the 3DS version, I didn't enjoy it as much as the last time I played it, I don't particularly like any of the dungeons, maybe Stone Tower but not so much the others. Also they gimped the Zora swimming which is really disappointing, I used spend so much time swimming just because I loved how it handled. Now you can only go fast if you use magic.
Link in MM is like Sisyphus: investing all he has in pushing a heavy rock up a hill, just to see it roll down again after he (almost) reached the top - rinse and repeat.
Its like a nihilistic nightmare... and you are fully aware and conscious of it. Eternal re-occurence of the same. Ouroboros - a snake eating its own tale. The darkest abyss staring right back at ya.
But it's not just about what happens, but the atmosphere.
Ocarina of time, is like, a tipical hero movie. There's this guy who is for some reason important and has to step up and save the world. Through its journey, there are going to be bad stuff, like the apocalyptic future world of ganon, however, the game is very "bright" in a lot of things. All the beginning for example, all the child part is very light.
On majora however, you start the game in a creepy forest, looking for navi, but then..that guy appears and you enter like this other dimension.. You lose your horse, gain a new fairy, turn into a plant and watch the dead guy whose soul is trapped on the deku mask. Then end up in this creepy place at the bottom of the clock tower and meet the creepy mask salesman while the song of healing is on the background he says: You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?". That gets you in the mood for a sad story.
The start cinematic is pretty telling too, there's this cheerful music while you see all the happy people on clock town, unaware of what is coming, then the music changes and you see majora and the moon, and you get a feelin of impending doom.
That feeling is further shown with the 3 day timmer. You git 3 days to save the world. 3 days. All the se people is going to die and you are (almost) the only who knows what will happen. Along the way, you meet a oot of people, and hear their stories, most of them sad stories. Then you have to basically tale the soul of that zora guy and the goron INE, who just recently diez and nos they are trapped inside the masl. The screams when you put it only serve to remind you of that. The moon is ver y creepy, and again, it helps vive the atmosphere of "this place is fucked up".
So yeah, there are other examples, but the atmosphere of the game is deffinitely darker. Add to that that creepy statue of lino, all the stories that have formed around the game, ven drowned, the link is dead theories, the fact that he actually dies with regret and becomes the hero shade.. There's all of that, that's why it is the darkest game.
On March 11 2015 21:54 Cricketer12 wrote: For the record, wind waker is the best zelda
Get out.
On March 11 2015 23:43 solidbebe wrote: I like twilight princess the best so
twillight princes is definitely the dankest darkest tloz.
lalz
On March 11 2015 21:07 moktira wrote: I always see this "really dark" too and never fully understand it, Twilight Princess is dark too, when the world is in Twilight you find spirits of everyone and they're all terrified. And in Wind Waker the entire world was flooded and destroyed when Ganon returned. One of the reasons I see cited for Majora's Mask being so dark is because Link screams in pain every time he puts on a transformation mask but that doesn't make it especially dark. So I feel the same, future Hyrule in OoT seems just as dark as Termina.
I just finished the 3DS version, I didn't enjoy it as much as the last time I played it, I don't particularly like any of the dungeons, maybe Stone Tower but not so much the others. Also they gimped the Zora swimming which is really disappointing, I used spend so much time swimming just because I loved how it handled. Now you can only go fast if you use magic.
THANK YOU! I'm glad someone agrees. I haven't played the 3DS version, but I've already heard some god-awful changes that were made. I guess you could always drink that magical milk that gives you infinite magic. I used to do that so I could roll around as a goron at top speed forever. It also really helps with light arrows, because those drain so much magic.
I never got those "MOAR DARK IS BETTER" dudes, until today i don't get their bashing on OoT 3D if the game was like that:
It would be a fucking masterpiece?
And i don't get the praise on Majoras, it was the only Zelda that i dropped because i got bored by how the game make you repeat trivial things for absolute no point a ton of times, the time limit never made you act faster on a dungeon except if you are looking for fairies.
The time limit thing was im my opinion just a excuse to artificially increase the time of an already short game (see the MOTHERFUCKING NEED TO KILL THE SECOND BOSS EVERY SINGLE TIME just to talk to the NPCs on the second temple area).
I can forgive Okami unnecessary repetition because at least he let's you explore a vast world while Majoras...
PS: If anyone is going to type "ur OoT fanboY!", my favorite game of this franchise is Minish Cap.
On March 12 2015 06:32 Starecat wrote: And i don't get the praise on Majoras, it was the only Zelda that i dropped because i got bored by how the game make you repeat trivial things for absolute no point a ton of times, the time limit never made you act faster on a dungeon except if you are looking for fairies.
The time limit thing was im my opinion just a excuse to artificially increase the time of an already short game (see the MOTHERFUCKING NEED TO KILL THE SECOND BOSS EVERY SINGLE TIME just to talk to the NPCs on the second temple area).
Majora's Mask is just a really fun game. It just is. Okay?
I always thought Majora was darker because it had a darker undertone in everything, from the dialogues to item descriptions to other stuff, the game deals a lot with dead characters, dying characters, dying domains and towns and pretty much dying everything lol.
OoT in my opinion is not dark but rather melancholic, OoT is all about how everything was fine once and went to shit after Ganon takes the power, in Majoras everything is awful from the beggining a by the end everything stays pretty much the same.
Also OoT is all about a happy ending and everything getting better, in Majoras everything stays the awful same except without the moon falling thingy (woohoo I guess?)
At least thats how I take it from my 10 year old memories
You are right that OoT is pretty dark, particularly after the Seven Year Advance- that Spirit Temple *shudder. Plus the destruction of the Hyrule Marketplace.
However, I suspect one reason why MM made an impression as 'darker' is due, at least in part, to the beginning. OoT start pretty darn happy in the Kokiri Forest. Yes the Tree is poisoned and dies, but the start is is pretty bright and sunny. Going back to Kokiri as an adult is pretty morose until you clear the Forest Temple (probably my all time favourite dungeon as far as atmosphere, music, and boss.)
Whereas the whole forest scene start, the curse, that creepy underbuilding with the Happy Mask Salesman sets the tone. It doesn't remain equally dark throughout and I like the dungeons a lot less then OoT (but I quite liked all the side misions.) But that that last day has that inevitablility of doom feel. And I LOVE that Last Day soundtrack (I have it in my iTunes.) I think the looping destruction also plays into that darker feel- a sort of cycle of death that can't be broken until the very end.
For what it's worth, I think Majora's Mask very well could be the darkest in the series, and mostly for Falling's reasons, and even though I enjoyed it the least and it just felt like a series of sidequests thrown together to me, I also think Twilight Princess (One of my favorites) is right on its heals, if it isn't just as dark. I sort of want to call them equals.
Besides that, I think A Link to Past (the best Zelda game) and Ocarina of Time are essentially similar storylines, and that if OoT is dark then you have to give credit to ALttP as also being equally dark because they did the whole "Golden Land is shrouded into darkness" in both games. They simply didn't have the technology to make ALttP in 3D.
Wind Waker also got dark at the end, but not early enough and not deeply enough.
LoZ definitely has dark themes, but they all embrace it to different degrees. I think the NES games are the least dark. The Gameboy games fall in between OoT and the NES games, in my opinion.
I think Majoras Mask is the darkest because while wind walker there is a flood, if you don't play the time travel song the entire world blows up from the moon crashing into it....absolutely no chance to escape unlike a flood(noah's arc!)
On March 13 2015 07:18 catplanetcatplanet wrote: i think zalda is very drak gam THANKS
come fite me irl m8
On March 13 2015 04:39 starslayer wrote: i wish i had my last 3 mins back reading this.
I always encourage people to not read, especially books. It can be time-consuming, and you'll lose valuable moments of life that you could be using to do other more important things, like dropping a bowling ball off your roof onto a trampoline just to see what will happen.
On March 12 2015 12:08 wo1fwood wrote: ♥s Nina. Majoras Mask is the shit.
♥
On March 13 2015 06:25 Falling wrote: This is the darkest timeline.
You are right that OoT is pretty dark, particularly after the Seven Year Advance- that Spirit Temple *shudder. Plus the destruction of the Hyrule Marketplace.
However, I suspect one reason why MM made an impression as 'darker' is due, at least in part, to the beginning. OoT start pretty darn happy in the Kokiri Forest. Yes the Tree is poisoned and dies, but the start is is pretty bright and sunny. Going back to Kokiri as an adult is pretty morose until you clear the Forest Temple (probably my all time favourite dungeon as far as atmosphere, music, and boss.)
Whereas the whole forest scene start, the curse, that creepy underbuilding with the Happy Mask Salesman sets the tone. It doesn't remain equally dark throughout and I like the dungeons a lot less then OoT (but I quite liked all the side misions.) But that that last day has that inevitablility of doom feel. And I LOVE that Last Day soundtrack (I have it in my iTunes.) I think the looping destruction also plays into that darker feel- a sort of cycle of death that can't be broken until the very end.
Majora's Mask undoubtedly has one of the best video game soundtracks. Even after explanation, I still don't understand why Majora's Mask is the darkest one in the series.
Even after explanation, I still don't understand why Majora's Mask is the darkest one in the series.
It might not be the darkest, but I think it's understandably that it is perceived to be the darkest when a dark tone is set at the beginning and the dark feeling book ends all your gameplay and that you experience the end of the world again and again. Perception vs reality- I'm not sure if it is the darkest, but it certainly feels like it.
the creepiest thing ever(also super controversial) is the original fire temple music in OoT.
On March 14 2015 13:06 MountainDewJunkie wrote: Big article on kotaku about how Majora's Mask was a game about DEATH guys. Historical revisionism darkness
death is a major theme in the game.
for the record the only zelda game I don't really like is skyward sword(OHMYGODFISHUTUP, literally worse than navi)
On March 13 2015 06:25 Falling wrote: This is the darkest timeline.
You are right that OoT is pretty dark, particularly after the Seven Year Advance- that Spirit Temple *shudder. Plus the destruction of the Hyrule Marketplace.
However, I suspect one reason why MM made an impression as 'darker' is due, at least in part, to the beginning. OoT start pretty darn happy in the Kokiri Forest. Yes the Tree is poisoned and dies, but the start is is pretty bright and sunny. Going back to Kokiri as an adult is pretty morose until you clear the Forest Temple (probably my all time favourite dungeon as far as atmosphere, music, and boss.)
Whereas the whole forest scene start, the curse, that creepy underbuilding with the Happy Mask Salesman sets the tone. It doesn't remain equally dark throughout and I like the dungeons a lot less then OoT (but I quite liked all the side misions.) But that that last day has that inevitablility of doom feel. And I LOVE that Last Day soundtrack (I have it in my iTunes.) I think the looping destruction also plays into that darker feel- a sort of cycle of death that can't be broken until the very end.
Majora's Mask undoubtedly has one of the best video game soundtracks. Even after explanation, I still don't understand why Majora's Mask is the darkest one in the series.
probably because people bought into the "link is dead" theory or the ben drowned creepy pasta.
The idea that MM is dark has existed for much longer than "link is dead" videos or excessive creepy pasta. It really is probally because its "darkness" is more consistent than OoT. The beginning is very creepy, the main mechanic is turning into dead people with a pretty creepy transformation, some character design is really weird, like the giants and specially the last boss.
OoT also had that kind of stuff, like the town at night, some monster designs and some later dungeons, but it's more about the world becoming a dark place when Ganon takes over.
I can see why some people wouldn't say it's the darkest Zelda, but it's also not that hard to find reasons why so many people find it creepy.
Uh, remember in Ocarina when Ganon takes over the world, and Hyrule is turned into a nightmare-world filled with mummies, and a huge evil castle floating over a crater where the former Hyrule castle once stood?
Yeah, but that happens every Zelda and Mario game. People perceive MM as being darker because it had better characterization and was a little less cliche than the other games in the series. A giant floating castle is cartoonishly dastardly. Finding that little girl's dad trapped in the cupboard as a mummy was actually kind of unexpected. OOT basically just had the crazy windmill guy, which was more of a weird joke.
You're not wrong that OOT had some really cool dark atmospheres and if you really thought about them they're kinda messed up. Just there is this middle step of taking a cliche video game thing seriously, which you didn't have to do as much in MM because the game in general did a good job of being a black sheep.
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