Which Zelda game is darker: Twilight Princess or Majora's Mask?
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For me, Majora's Mask, by far. It doesn't matter what you do to brighten up Termina, it all reverts to the way it was before you ever set foot there, once you play the Song of Time.
Ocarina of Time, technically. After all, after Ganondorf came into power, it's heavily implied that a lot of people died, not least of which is the entire population of Zora's Domain. Remember, just because Link went back to the child timeline at the end doesn't completely negate the adult timeline. It all still happened. And don't forget the whole thing with the Kokiri, either. It's implied that they ended up dying after the Great Deku Tree died, so they're dead in both timelines.
And then there's Wind Waker and the whole "Hyrule was flooded, and only those inside the Castle were spared a watery death" thing.
And then there's Wind Waker and the whole "Hyrule was flooded, and only those inside the Castle were spared a watery death" thing.
You can still go talk to most of he Kokiri as an adult. And a new Great Deku Tree is born. f all he races, they prbably got off easiest (besides Gerudo)wintercoat said:
I'd say Majora's Mask is the darkest. When you complete a side quest like Anju and Kafei's, see them embracing there just before the world ends, and then go back to the first day and their tale is undone...that's pretty powerful stuff.
And try failing to complete Malon's side quest. Geez.
Death and loss are everywhere in that game. The side quests are masterful.
[sub][sub][sub]It's just too bad those dungeons and bosses suck ass...[/sub][/sub][/sub]
And try failing to complete Malon's side quest. Geez.
Death and loss are everywhere in that game. The side quests are masterful.
[sub][sub][sub]It's just too bad those dungeons and bosses suck ass...[/sub][/sub][/sub]
Darksiders, heck even the name is dark 
You fight all manner of creature from heaven to hell, but they do still retain a comic book art style so you don't get too bummed about the whole end of world thing.
You fight all manner of creature from heaven to hell, but they do still retain a comic book art style so you don't get too bummed about the whole end of world thing.
While Darksiders isn't ALL that dark, it wasn't one of the options. Sorry :/Mr.K. said:Darksiders, heck even the name is dark
You fight all manner of creature from heaven to hell, but they do still retain a comic book art style so you don't get too bummed about the whole end of world thing.
Easy. Majora's Mask. Dark isn't just about aesthetic, it's about what characters have to go through and how they deal with it. There is a lot of loss and sadness in Majora's Mask. Twilight Princes had a small amount of that, but nothing compared to Majora's Mask.
Easily Majora's Mask. Everything keeps getting undone, everyone has their own problems that can't all be resolved, and when the problems are solved they're undone.
Majora's mask 1000x
How many times do you go around searching here and there for something to stop the inevitable, only to get to that third day and have jack squat yet again.
If Link wasn't a generic mute hero archetype, he'd probably start having a mental breakdown about the 4th or 5th time he let everyone die.
How many times do you go around searching here and there for something to stop the inevitable, only to get to that third day and have jack squat yet again.
If Link wasn't a generic mute hero archetype, he'd probably start having a mental breakdown about the 4th or 5th time he let everyone die.
Majora's Mask a million times.
The high-minded heroism of "One man rising up against evil" established in Ocarina of Time gives way to the idea that a despot isn't the only grievance the people of the world have. The world is coming down around the people of Termina, but what if it doesn't? Their lives are still falling to pieces in goofy (Shiro the invisible guard) and downright heartbreaking ways (Anju and Kafei's relationship). It's cartoony, sure, but Majora's Mask's world, more than OoT's, is one where heroes can and do fail.
Helping who you can and realizing you can't be there for everyone is a very adult idea, which naturally serves to make some seriously dark moments. That cognitive dissonance of a child in a cartoony world facing an enemy with a dangerously single-minded motivation really adds to that. The many unspoken little tragedies you find as you pick and choose who to help (and if you fail to help those you choose to help) hammer the point home that you fucked up. No deus ex machina, no magic way out, not even a dramatic cutscene. You fail, and the moon keeps falling. Time to restart.
I wonder how many people think that Link returned to Zelda instead of continuing to pursue Navi...I feel like it's a poignant conclusion to the idea that the hero may not be able to save everyone or even make them happy, but there are always those waiting at home who he can be there for. I like to think he remembered what he had and choose to cherish it. That game was, however intentionally by Nintendo, all about learning one's limits as a hero.
I sincerely cannot wait for a 3DS remake. Unlike OoT3D which stuck so fast to the original in a bid to not offend anyone, I want them to embrace the legacy it attained over the years as the bleakest game in the series. I would love to see new dramatic art, better cutscene cinematography, stark shadows like in the original concept art, poignant "slow music" commercials, the whole nine yards. Of all the older entries in the series, Majora's Mask is probably still the freshest in terms of gameplay and story.
The high-minded heroism of "One man rising up against evil" established in Ocarina of Time gives way to the idea that a despot isn't the only grievance the people of the world have. The world is coming down around the people of Termina, but what if it doesn't? Their lives are still falling to pieces in goofy (Shiro the invisible guard) and downright heartbreaking ways (Anju and Kafei's relationship). It's cartoony, sure, but Majora's Mask's world, more than OoT's, is one where heroes can and do fail.
Helping who you can and realizing you can't be there for everyone is a very adult idea, which naturally serves to make some seriously dark moments. That cognitive dissonance of a child in a cartoony world facing an enemy with a dangerously single-minded motivation really adds to that. The many unspoken little tragedies you find as you pick and choose who to help (and if you fail to help those you choose to help) hammer the point home that you fucked up. No deus ex machina, no magic way out, not even a dramatic cutscene. You fail, and the moon keeps falling. Time to restart.
I wonder how many people think that Link returned to Zelda instead of continuing to pursue Navi...I feel like it's a poignant conclusion to the idea that the hero may not be able to save everyone or even make them happy, but there are always those waiting at home who he can be there for. I like to think he remembered what he had and choose to cherish it. That game was, however intentionally by Nintendo, all about learning one's limits as a hero.
I sincerely cannot wait for a 3DS remake. Unlike OoT3D which stuck so fast to the original in a bid to not offend anyone, I want them to embrace the legacy it attained over the years as the bleakest game in the series. I would love to see new dramatic art, better cutscene cinematography, stark shadows like in the original concept art, poignant "slow music" commercials, the whole nine yards. Of all the older entries in the series, Majora's Mask is probably still the freshest in terms of gameplay and story.
Majora's Mask as I find the villain more creepy and he was lonely before he got the mask. Also it seen bleak that all the stuff you do like prevent that girl being kidnapped etc was all reseted when you go back to day one (granted it was fixed when it's over but still).
Yeah definitely Majora's Mask. It's just filled with really subtle things that you might not even notice at first.
The implications of what happened to the Deku Butler's son for example. It's implied that the Skull Kid killed him and put his spirit into Link, trapping him as a deku scrub. The butler talks about how link reminds him of his son and at the very end we see him mourning at that sad looking tree from the very beginning...
Somehow the whole thing being implied rather than told directly makes the whole thing even darker, to me at least.
captcha: until tomorrow
The implications of what happened to the Deku Butler's son for example. It's implied that the Skull Kid killed him and put his spirit into Link, trapping him as a deku scrub. The butler talks about how link reminds him of his son and at the very end we see him mourning at that sad looking tree from the very beginning...
Somehow the whole thing being implied rather than told directly makes the whole thing even darker, to me at least.
captcha: until tomorrow
Twilight Princess was downright cute compared to Majora's Mask. Your girlfriend takes an arrow to the knee and then loses her memory. Oh noes! Zant/Gannon cover the world in twilight so it's habitable for them (but no one knows it's happening?). I suppose the twilight was kinda bad since there was that one innkeeper that died/transformed into a monster in Kakariko, but that was the worst casualty in the game as far as I remember.
Dungeons and bosses were pretty fun in TP though. I hated Majora's Mask until just last year because of how underwhelming the main quest was. Now that I played MM again and got all the masks, I consider it the superior game.
Dungeons and bosses were pretty fun in TP though. I hated Majora's Mask until just last year because of how underwhelming the main quest was. Now that I played MM again and got all the masks, I consider it the superior game.
Well, considering that the masks for the main guys in Majora's Mask are all dead and you are essentially playing their doppelganger, and that the Fierce Deity Mask is essentially the most evil thing in existence and the Hero is wearing it, I'm going to say Majora's Mask.
Beyond that there is still the subtle implication that they don't evacuate the city because they know a moon collision is not something to escape from, most every character in that game knows they are going to die, and not knowing what to do they just keep calm and carry on doing the only thing they know.
Beyond that there is still the subtle implication that they don't evacuate the city because they know a moon collision is not something to escape from, most every character in that game knows they are going to die, and not knowing what to do they just keep calm and carry on doing the only thing they know.