The most moving part to me is the Fierce Diety mask. When you've earned every mask from every character you healed, then subsequently sacrificed so you could heal someone else. You face the enemy with a righteous strength that was granted to you by all of termina.

I think the darkest part of Majora's Mask is that if you don't help the NPCs in the game, you eventually see what happens to them if you fail to save them. Or if you make a mistake, you have to rewind time and start again to fix what you failed to save.

Everyone would already known Termina is a parallel world if they just read Majora's Mask's manual. I'll admit, I thought that was a lame excuse for reusing models, but it was information we were given from the start.

I'm pretty sure everytime the moon falls, the Happy Mask Sailsman pulls out that organ and plays the song of time. We wake up, thinking we're dead, only to hear that familiar chuckle and repeat to you: "You've meet with a terrible fate, haven't you?" Beautiful writing!

7:21 swapping to the Bunnyhood here absolutely killed me xD Great videos man!

i love how you described this, the presentation is amazing!

Majoras mask is for people who played ocarina of time, beat every side quest and thought “That was cool but I wish it was harder and had more side quests” lmao

The darkest aspect of this game is the implication of failure. Assuming that resetting the cycle is the least of your worries, even if there are two timelines involving you failing or succeeding, without a doubt if you fail everyone is doomed. To understand the severity of the situation imagine your first playthrough and you find out about Romani's event, and then realize by the time you find out what to do to help her she went through the trauma of you failing her event quest, and that's only adding on to the weight of it all. The creepy part of it is the fact this happened and you wouldn't have known how to beat it until you get the powder keg which would take a few cycles and to Romani of all characters. And that's only one of the events, not to mention how Cremia attempts to deal with Romani on day 3 whether you fail or not making this the saddest event in the game. Speaking of which regardless of what you do everyone is doomed if you don't defeat Majora with matters made worse if you fail to complete anyone's quests.

"Is Mido ganna die?? Is what I'm saying..." Comedy. Gold. 😂😂 What a friggin savage. Subbed.

This has to be one of the best videos I've ever had the pleasure to stumble across in this platform. There's not a single complaint I can think of, it's just overall amazing. As someone's whose favorite game of all time is also Majora's Mask, I can agree that this game is both the creepiest and the most intimate at least of the whole Zelda franchise. I sadly was born a good amount of time after the game first came out so I didn't have the privilege of playing it on the N64, that didn't stop me from trying it out though, and I'm so glad I went through with it because I can assure you it changed my life, the game gives everyone a lesson along the lines of "Don't waste your time, it's limited and you'll regret doing so" which is a philosophy I've definitely kept in mind ever since. The game's whole theme comes together even better when you consider the correlation with Ocarina of Time, where a kid is forced to grow up too fast because of the circumstances of his life and, most importantly, the expectations pretty much everyone has regarding him. He suddenly sees himself as a kid trapped in an adult's body and as a result, he matures way too fast and, just when he's done maturing and he's accepted that he's an adult now, he gets sent back to when he was a child, so now the situation is reversed, he's an adult trapped in a child's body and Majora's Mask has always felt like the experience Link went through made him find peace with himself and his current situation. The whole Zelda series is a big friend of symbolism but this game takes the cake as it's the story where the Hero of Time, who arguably suffered the most out of all the Links, finally finds time to relax and enjoy peace, where he accepted the fact that his timeline will never remember him for saving Hyrule because he never did it there, it's the story that closes his cycle (which is honestly really fitting with the theme of the game) of what feels like endless suffering and not being able to enjoy a normal life. It's safe to say he did enjoy a normal life after Majora's Mask, based on Twilight Princess's Link being a descendant of his and, who he later on teaches everything he knows about combat, which is also my favorite part of the gameplay in that game, as you get to see a Hero of Time who has a lot of experience, as shown by his dialogues. I love the way they portrayed him as "Wise but not from the triforce but from experience" and this experience is used to teach someone who will definitely remember him and who will use these lessons to save the land of Hyrule, so he's virtually saving Hyrule a second time, except now someone will remember him for it. The Hero of Time is one of my favorite fictional characters as well, he's the perfect example of a hero, completely selfless as all he does is to help others, courageous (ever since he was 9 he's been facing gigantic monsters that could undoubtedly murder him in one fell swoop at the slightest hint of a hiccup on Link's side), and especially really strong, physically, but mainly mentally, even after all the pain he went through he never once even considered backing down as an option. This all contrasts him a lot compared to other Links, for example, the Hero of Legend (alttp-la-oracles) quite literally decimates a whole island and its inhabitants just so he can live and escape that place which, if you ask me, it's not very selfless. The Hero of the Wind is also a way different Link, his whole adventure starts because he wants to rescue his sister and even though this may seem as a pretty selfless act, he probably wouldn't have done it if it was someone else he doesn't know. This came out way longer of a comment than I intended it to be at first but all I want to say is: Amazing job man, this video essay is an incredible quality video, even moreso considering it's your first, you have talent for this, do me a favor and don't let it go to waste.

I have seen a lot of videos on Majora and this was definitely a new theory for me. Great concept and I completely agree without time I would be fishing and not stressing.

I can leave the temples, put the master sword back in oot and run around for the extra bottles and silly mask sidequests. I can swap kinstones instead of healing Zelda's petrification in minish cap. I can leave poor Zelda and the champions waiting for 220+ hours as I run around collecting koroks seeds and mushrooms in botw. Any Zelda game can have dark themes and creepy sections, a tragic story and high stakes, sure, and they do, but in Majora...

As a Gamer from the mid to late 90s who first encountered Legend of Zelda via Ocarina of Time, I took the Majora's Mask challenge like it was asking me to get to know it fast. Took a real challenge to finish this game especially the tougher parts in Snowhead Temple and Great Bay Temple. I didn't mind the 3 Day Cycle, it gave reason to why the NPCs were in their Groundhog day mechanic.

Being an "old" person, and having never seen this game, the talk about the game play means nothing to me. However, the presentation is great, and well thought out. Continue creating videos, and I'll continue watching and supporting them. Good luck on your future videos!

I wonder if the butler discovering his son could have been some sort of side quest. It feels like reminding him of his dead son only made it worse for the ending, since we see him lamenting his son. I just wonder, why was he even under the clock tower, past those iron doors?

I was surprised when at the end of the video you said you're a new channel! I loved the way you wrote this! I also loved the game theory reference! Keep up the amazing work!!

I have watched several of your videos now sir and all I can say is you did an absolutely phenomenal job and your delivery is spot on. My only regret is that I'm late to the party. Thank you for the entertainment sir!

Man, what a game. And what a video! I thought you had a very thoughtful take, even making fun of how well-beaten the dead horse that is “Majora’s Mask is the darkest Zelda game” is. I aspire to do some video essay type stuff like this at some point myself, and I’ve got a script right now about the storytelling potential of Mario’s world. When I see stuff like this it’s really inspiring. Keep it up!

There is a difference between traveling through time and reversing time. Traveling through time creates a new timeline, but this is not what happens in the game. Link in the game reverses time, canceling what happened during the last 3 days, keeping what he collected during them, so he does not leave behind Termina after Termina to be destroyed.

You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?

Can’t wait to see more of your stuff man, lovin it already bro ❤

I just found your channel and am glad I did! Your production value is incredible for a new channel, and I'm subscribing now. Can't wait to see more from you! 👍

Majoras Mask is my favorite Zelda game, Just found your channel tonight. I watched the Ocarina of time one; and now this one. Excellent videos :)

I, too find myself taking mirror selfies with the mask of Majora

2 minutes in and allready asking why you only have 66 subs :/ Edited: OH SHESH thats your forst video! Oh mann keep it up. Love your stuff already

first video i've seen of yours. I love your voice! really good points that you make, love listening to you talk!

This is great work and im looking forward to more of what you create.

10/10 vid you need more views and subs man

Love your voice and your style! Great video, thanks for making it!

Channels right up my alley, subbed

MM is my favorite, I got a copy as soon as I could once it was released, but that was also around the same time I finally got an N64. With Ocarina being the definitive end all be all video game of all time in that moment, I ended up with both basically at the same time. I played them both, switching to the other when I’d get stuck with any particular moment in either, and they both initially took me so so so long to complete because other than buying a guidebook the only way to figure out something tricky was to just fuck around and find out or to ask a friend. I remember how slow Majora felt, ironically. It was so incredibly intimidating. I ground down more often in Ocarina as a result of that but inevitably as a kid getting stuck led me to switch back over and there happened a moment where Majora clicked. Even having both and getting stuck and all of those pesky other failings of youth bogging me down, Majora revealed its self to be an entirely different, almost revelatory, experience.

This is even better then your Ocarina video! Nice dude

I don't think Hyrule would be effected by the moon crashing in MM, but the tree in the lost woods that acts as a portal might explode? :P There was something odd that was more recent claiming that Termina never really existed. It was created by the mask's dark powers combined with the Skull Kids memories and it all vanished after the events of the game... I hope that's not their real explanation for it...

This game is not just Link's struggle against the time limit, it's the team's too. As all true artists know, an artist always puts a piece of themselves into their work. A bit of their soul, their interests, their emotions, their fears and darkness. Their dreams and nightmares, their wishes and curses, their lives and deaths.

Randomly typed in Zelda videos….found your first video! Great to see another Zelda enthusiast and hope your Channel does great!

Think Termina is supposed to be an illusionary world created from the dark influence of Majora upon the Skull Kid. Majora represents the childish feelings that prevent our personal growth to adulthood. As Link travels through Termina he gathers masks representing the different faces and techniques we use to overcome our negative feelings preventing our growth until we get the Fierce Deity, the accumulation of all the other masks, that battles away the childish techniques. If you believe in these Buddhist influences on the game then it might not be hard to believe Termina was an illusion for Link and the Skull Kid to overcome. As painful as it is to think about. Someone had made a video regarding Buddhist influences that I'm taking from and I'm convinced.

Termina is more than just a "Parallel World." Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say it is less than one. Termina is a world that exists only within the twisted powers of Majora's Mask itself. It is a funhouse mirror reflection of Hyrule built out of distorted memories of the Skull Kid - and, possibly, Link - which was created when Link chased the Skull Kid and the mask's powers began to awaken and possess the Skull Kid. Thus, you can look at Majora's Mask as something like a vision quest as Link fights to overcome the Mask's dark influence. The world of Termina is a dark, dreary place full of tragedy, little hope, everything cursed and despoiled in some way. Exactly as the wicked spirit Majora would make Hyrule into, if it could. So, it is just as phantasmal as the world of the Ocean King, or Koholint, which means it doesn't operate according to anything close to normal physics. Rather, Link's progress through Termina, untangling the miseries and making everything right over time, could be seen as a battle of spirit against spirit - the Hero vs Demon Lord trope playing out again, as it did with Link vs Ganondorf. The time-travel thing is not likely creating actual parallel worlds or failed timelines, it's more likely to be something much more abstract than that. When Link finally defeats Majora, it's likely that Termina ceases to be - but, the final confrontation is also the culmination of every heroic thing he did... that is why, if you go all the way, you can obtain the Fierce Deity's Mask, which seems to represent the determination of all the people of Termina to see this thing through, all the faith and gratitude they have becomes Link's power. It is a very angry and vengeful Link, hence why it takes the form of a wrathful deity variant of his adult self. This is more meant to be a symbol than taken literally, I would say. In the same vein though, it's likely that whenever Link decides to face Majora, all of his runs are blended together - every good outcome he has ever achieved is the end result, as if he DID manage to do it all within three days.

I don’t know if it’s dark so much as sad that all of the good that you do for people; the difference that you make is undone every time you rewind time. It’s not possible for the average player to create a canonical version of the timeline where they both help everyone individually, AND save clocktown along with everyone’s lives. It’s like nothing matters in the end except stopping moon.

Awesome to learn that the first game you played was Majora's mask cause the first I ever played was ocarina of time and it's still my favorite game to this day lol these two games took up so much of my time as a kid.

Man I was looking for a channel to practice my English and luckily I ended up finding this work of art, it was beautiful to see the affection you had when talking about this game, success on this journey friend

I'm currently playing through Majora's Mask again for like the 3rd time this year. Though since I'm playing the GameCube port I'm constantly worrying about it crashing lol

Your channel is fantastic, my man. You definitely earned my sub. Keep up the good work, brother!

Great video!!! Love hearing others thoughts on such a profound game

Its still speculation that whenever he plays song of time that that timeline still continue and link goes to another timeline, maybe the timeline resets for everyone.

I’ve also dreamt about this game! That’s how real and immersive the story felt for me.

Ιt's my favorite Zelda game. I played it when I was 6 in 2000 when my brother bought it. It was... an experienced that helped me grow up and develope empathy

Quality videos man, really enjoyed this and your OOT one. Keep up the great work!! Liked & subscribed 👌

Personally TP is my favorite but MM is second and i alway go for a replay every year

3 months ago bro gotta keep them uploads coming ❤

That pokemon mug was empty, who you trying to fool 😂

Really great video as well as the Ocarina of Time video too. Majora's Mask is still my all time favorite to this day.

Termina is part of the Lost Forest that is why its a "parallel dimension". Its an invention of the Forest.

This game helps me for my writing im inspired by this game

I think it can be summed to the emotional weight. There’s a lot of dark stuff in the different Zelda games, but Majora’s Mask is more emotional depth to accompany it

“these are lands full of..” me: fetch quests

I do feel obligated to mention Skyward Sword's time travel explicitly *not* creating alternate timelines, so there's a chance its the same for Majora's Mask's time travel. After all, the Master Sword is a mysterious blade, maybe it alone has the power to split the timelines? Especially considering Ocarina of Time is the only instance where the Master Sword itself initiates time traveling, besides perhaps tears of the kingdom

It's been a while since I played this game, after watching this, I've decided to play it again. I'm sure that another dark aspect was one of the band members being a peeping tom. I'll have to play it and check it out. Thank you for your videos, I'm glad I found you on here. ❤

ok no, the aliens scared the shit outta me

Surprised u only have the amount of subs u have

I’m surprised I never hear anyone talk about how Pamela’s father seems to groan the notes of the song of healing . Unless it’s just me…? Lol

Are you gonna do all the games like this and break them down I loved this so much thank you for all the time you put in this video!!

@theskippymcdoo My “Four year old favorite game ever” is a game for the Apple IIe and Commodore 64 called Below the Root, based on a trilogy of novels from the 70s by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. Have you ever heard of it or played it? It may not QUITE be Majora’s Mask, but it is pretty amazing in its world building and extremely unique storyline and mechanics. It does seem like it might be a precursor to the Zelda series in a number of ways.

Great video. I personally love this type of content and appreciate the way you present the information. Look forward to more

For myself, when I first got the Gold Cart for my B-Day as a teen, I was like woah, this as dark af... But it wasn't just the asthetic... I felt uncertain the entire game... Like something was off, digging deeper into how Majora's mask was to certain aspects of life. It made a lot more sense, and why is was so dark overall. Great video overall.

One of the best analyse Videos I have ever seen. I can't belive that you are so good at keeping someons attention for such a long while. I wish you a lot of success with KZfaq and a pleasent day. I am from germany sorry for any grammer errors 😅

First time I saw the cutscene taking off the deku mask. It shook my 7 year old soul to the core.

Great video!!!! Best of luck!!!!

That was awesome. Thank you so much for taking your time and really explaining this. You earned my sub for sure 🙏 ❤️

This is the Legend of Zelda if it was written by Hidetaka Miyazaki

this video was great man kudos

Watched the video 3 times now i love the style of your presentation

From the moment I first saw screenshots in gaming mags back in early 2000 combined with its dark artwork I absolutely fell in love with the concept of a day cycle mechanic and impending doom from failure and was ready for it by the time Christmas 2000 came and loved it even more than I could possibly imagine , I had no complaints about the owl statues either like c'mon we were kids that grew up on late 80's early 90s console games that never let you save any progress so any thing else was a bonus to us

You forgot 1 maybe 2 People. The Deku Butler and the Deku Butler's Son. Because the Deku Butler's Son was Out of Termina, Majora Stole his Soul and transferred it to Link, who then Turned it into a Mask with the Song of Healing. The Deku Butler's Son never got a Grave or a Gravestone like Darmani and Maikau.

I don’t know about the timeline conclusion. Thing is, why does the bank guy remember Links account balance if he isn’t the same guy. Maybe time works differently for terminas pocket dimension ?

you presented this so well ! very impressive for your 1st video , i enjoyed your essay thoroughly ! subbing 4 sure , looking forward 2 what else ya got in store

Amazing work my friend

Great video! it's a deceptively simple answer that what "makes" Majora's Mask is the 3-day cycle. I think it's easy to latch onto the metaphysical "well it ACTUALLY mrans X" of the game.

Really great video. I loved it and I hope to see more great stuff. Your got a new sub

I always thought that it was implied that the Goron elder ended up perishing in the ice/snow as he seems not to re-appear after the snow has melted. This definitely lends some more validity to the premise that this is the darkest Zelda game

The saddest thing is that when you visit Romani ranch and then talk to the two sisters specifically the oldest cremia she tells Romani that she can sleep with her for that night and when Romani asks cremia if she can try Romani milk wich is the equivalent to alcohol she says yes this implies that cremia knows there probably going to die but doesn't tell Romani because she's a child

Really enjoyed this video. Keep it up my man!

What is the song that played at the very beginning of the video?

I remember being so excited when I got this game for my 3DS, but overtime I was in shock how dark this game was, and I fell in love with the game. Like I had just beaten Ocarina of Time 3D, and going into it, I knew I was going into something different, but how dark it was, that caught me off guard and thats why I love Majora's Mask 3D.

In my opinion it feels almost like a biblical version of hyrule. Lol. If link like jesus really died. Instead of link being in purgatory maybe he is in hell? And 3 days later after link beats the game link comes back to life. The game essentually starts out with you've met a terrible fate like you said. Almost implying link died. You have a global catastrophic event that will essentially wipe out all life. Like the flood. Then when you go inside the moon you see this garden like paradise with the tree. Then inside it becomes a spiritual/ deity battle between good and evil. Michael the archangel vs lucifer. Lol. Bit of a stretch but theres probably alot more similarities or even story lines taken right out of the bible 😂 just a thought lol.

Nice job brother 🎉 anju and caffè’s storyline is so beautiful and memorable and I just love it and I remember being so moved by it when I was playing it that I think I cried when I finally finished it

loved this video. you deserve more viewers

Amazing in depth analysis. Subbed

I wouldnt agree with the multiple timeline when the hero leaves. If this were true, then it means he would meet with himself everytime he went back in time. I just think everything goes back to what is was in the same timeline.

Fantastic video man.

Very nicely done! Finally I have reinforcement on saying this is my favorite Zelda game of all time

Glad I got this reccomended to me! Even tho I've never played Majora's Mask, it was nice hearing on how its the darkest game in the series

Nice vids bro bro

I never thought of it breaking up into different time lines. I always thought of it more like the movie Groundhog Day, where the repeats the same day over and over. He does different things. Tries to save a homestead man but he dies anyways. Tried to commit suicide but still wakes up every morning in the same hotel and the same day, same people and same routines happen. Eventually he breaks the cycle and is able to move on. I always thought Link was in a cycle like this. Where he would just go back in time and everybody else is going back in time too. But now, from this point of view … every time he plays the ocarina of time , he is dividing the time line and that makes more sense if looking at past Zelda games. Link goes back in time, but that timeline is still there where he left. That timeline is left without a hero. The moon falls every time and everyone dies. 😨 Whoa.. maybe I’ll go back to how I originally thought of it. Just like the movie Groundhog Day. No different timelines. Everything just repeats every three days. It’s fine. Everything will be fine. No one dies over and over again it’s all gonna be fine… 🫣

Majora's Mask is definitely the heaviest Zelda game in regards to its plot, atmosphere, and environments. But it's not the creepiest Zelda game. That honor goes to Ocarina of Time. The Deku Scrub you control is creepier than 99% of what Majora's Mask throws at you AND it can defeat about 70% of the enemies, clear most obstacles and is ultimately beneficial once the song of healing is learned. Ocarina of Time doesn't give you the option of turning into a scarier monster than those you face, a faster creature that can simply outrun most danger, nor does it let you mess with your enemies or the flow of time to the same degree. Majora's Mask is the bleaker game to be sure, the more heart rending game even, depicting a suffering land full of people on their last legs, but it is not the creepiest. Despite the ever ticking time limit it's not even the most oppressive Zelda game. That honor goes to Zelda 2 and its unrelenting difficulty that only lets the most skilled of players to out pace it for long. Unless you just find morbidity in of itself creepier and more oppressive than vulnerability.

0:04 Nice mug. 16:18 Why is the text cut off?

I always boast how i love the game even though it creeps me tf out like a terrifying (but good) tarantula that looks like my top favorite game on n64.

Now while Majora's mask may be the darkest Zelda game I still find there are a few games who can potentially match or surpass its fear factor...Majora's mask was still the scariest game I ever attempted for years and evolved my ability to game. There are 3 factors though that distinguish said games from Majora's mask 1 All of the games that have a greater potential fear factor from Majora's mask have a firmly M rating . 2 All of the highest fear factor games are made much more recent than Majora's mask. 3 None of these games are made by Nintendo Majora's mask is a pioneer of its time in terms of fear and is the scariest non M rated game I've ever played.

I'd like to challenge you a bit on the "games are meant to be fun" mindset. Sure, by most standards they are fun. However, "fun" is not an exclusive outcome. Try playing Pathologic (2, preferably). I highly suspect they took what Majora's Mask was hinting at and kicked it up to 11. Literally. You have 11 days to save a town. And it doesn't end well.

I've played through this game at least a dozen times in the 20 or so years since it released, and never once realised the reality that every cycle you start reaches the inevitable end, with or without you. Ultimately affirming the nihilism many of the characters feel. Bleak.

Carnival, traditionally, is a time of inversion. When peasants become kings. I’m saturnalia, a peasant would be come king, to signify this inversion. At the end of saturnalia, they would kill the peasant king. In termina, it’s the land of inversion. It’s the upside-down to hyrule’s right-side-up. The land is falling apart because in the inverted world, the remainder is constantly happening. The land’s not in proper order. The moon crashing is perfect symbolism, because night is the inversion of day. Termina is the perfect name, because a land that lives inverted is terminal. The land lives in perpetual carnival, and at the end of carnival comes death. During carnival there is no order. Only chaos. The hero from the land of right side up, has come to restore order and invert the inverted world. But normal hero’s can’t save this world. They don’t know how to interact with it. The sky is falling. The trickster doesn’t fight like Ganondorf or traditional hierarchical structures. Ganondorf/other forms of evil have meaning behind their evil. In a world that’s right side up, evil stems from disordered purpose (I.e. communism). A desire to use force to make the world a better place. However in this inverted world, there is no black knight or order to evil’s structure. Just like the land, the evil has no purpose or meaning. It stems from the tricksters pain and a desire to end all order. Existence itself is pain for the trickster. So how does one deal with such an evil? How does one overcome meaninglessness. The answer offered by majora’s mask, is to inject meaning. The boy hero comes in as a trickster, opposing the trickster skull kid causing the world to die. He’s a trickster because while he is a boy, he’s also a hero who’s experienced adulthood. He’s not what he appears. It’s a trick played on the trickster. The only way to inject meaning is to speak the same language as the one destroying all meaning. Link is the only one that can save the time, because skull kid, is a child. Playing a game. Children don’t understand meaning on a profound level like adults. Link is a child, so he knows what it’s like to want to play games; however, the trick is that he is also a child and knows what meaning is on a profound level. Navi leaving him gave him meaning after the events of ocarina. It gave him a quest to complete, to restore the order of self. Link is conflicted now, not fully man not fully child. However, is meaning is what drives him forward. Navi left him because her purpose was done, and the meaning imbued in that timeline was done. Link set out to find her, but it was symbolic of him finding new meaning. Link is plunged into chaos before the events of Majora’s Mask. However he has meaning to pull him out of the chaos. He is able to save Termina because he speaks the language of the trickster (chaos/tricks/childhood) but also because he is imbued with meaning (adulthood/order). You are right that he’s the most tortured, because he’s a Christlike figure. In order to save everything, he has to sacrifice everything. Link’s purpose is to be a sacrificial lamb. His love can only be one way. It can’t fully be restored. Yet, he chooses to do it anyway. It’s dark, but profound. Thank you for your analysis, I really enjoyed your video.