This review contains spoilers
There's something arresting, calming, and yet so powerful about taking a walk in the middle of the night.
The noises of the city envelop you, the people you see often seem out of place amongst the empty streets, and there's an ever-palpable sense of dread. As if something is going to jump out of the shadows at you at any moment, and that you're only counting down a timer to when it does by staying out longer. What is watching you?
The threat in Majora's Mask is much more palpable of course. The moon hangs over you at all times, a grim reminder of what's to come if you run out the game's time limit. But there's still that air of dread that suffocates you every time you go down a moonlit street in Clock Town. Those final hours capture every evening stroll I've had perfectly. The people you meet all with bitter acceptance of their own oncoming demise, some facing it with grace and others with fear, the ethereal and haunting melody of the music that plays during this time, the reverberating sound of the moon inching closer toward the earth and the bells ringing.
It just makes me want to give up. It's too powerful. If it can be stopped, then why hasn't anyone tried and stopped it?
The emptiness, that blanket of fear that those final moments create - that is what Majora's Mask is to me. An atmosphere that always manages to make me feel deeply upset, one where you watch tragedy after tragedy play out over and over again in front of your eyes. Where no matter what good deeds you've done, your progress must be undone and forgotten by those you've helped.
Link has already experienced this twice - he left behind the timeline he saved from Ganon, and is no longer regarded a hero by the familiar faces in his home. Then the second: he enters a world full of people who refuse to even recognize who he is, despite them being identical to his loved ones. And now we have to experience this tragedy of memory over and over, a loop of futility with minimal progress until finally, you're close to getting a break-
There's something arresting, calming, and yet so powerful about taking a walk in the middle of the night.
The noises of the city envelop you, the people you see often seem out of place amongst the empty streets, and there's an ever-palpable sense of dread. As if something is going to jump out of the shadows at you at any moment, and that you're only counting down a timer to when it does by staying out longer. What is watching you?
The threat in Majora's Mask is much more palpable of course. The moon hangs over you at all times, a grim reminder of what's to come if you run out the game's time limit. But there's still that air of dread that suffocates you every time you go down a moonlit street in Clock Town. Those final hours capture every evening stroll I've had perfectly. The people you meet all with bitter acceptance of their own oncoming demise, some facing it with grace and others with fear, the ethereal and haunting melody of the music that plays during this time, the reverberating sound of the moon inching closer toward the earth and the bells ringing.
It just makes me want to give up. It's too powerful. If it can be stopped, then why hasn't anyone tried and stopped it?
The emptiness, that blanket of fear that those final moments create - that is what Majora's Mask is to me. An atmosphere that always manages to make me feel deeply upset, one where you watch tragedy after tragedy play out over and over again in front of your eyes. Where no matter what good deeds you've done, your progress must be undone and forgotten by those you've helped.
Link has already experienced this twice - he left behind the timeline he saved from Ganon, and is no longer regarded a hero by the familiar faces in his home. Then the second: he enters a world full of people who refuse to even recognize who he is, despite them being identical to his loved ones. And now we have to experience this tragedy of memory over and over, a loop of futility with minimal progress until finally, you're close to getting a break-
There's something arresting, calming, and yet so powerful about taking a walk in the middle of the night.
3 Comments
Very true about the thematic power of the night. It's kind of reminiscent about the "o tsukimi" tradition and ties with the very ambivalent symbolism of the night in Japan. We are here forced to watch the moon, but in fear. I think the strength of the game is that you can still enter in a state of contemplation: Zelda has always been very deeply rooted in shinto tradition.
Spirits – evil or not – dwell in the night and amidst them all, human emotions. Thank you for sharing yours with us!
Spirits – evil or not – dwell in the night and amidst them all, human emotions. Thank you for sharing yours with us!
Kye you're such a great writer, I swear...
Majora's Mask is one of the very few games that has made me feel dread to such a degree. It's brilliant in many ways, but the looming threat of the moon falling down is like nothing else. The build up with the music and the characters becoming increasingly more anxious each passing day, the despair on display when the moon gets close, the feeling that all you've done was for nothing, it all adds up. And until you said it, I didn't even consider how Link essentially went through the same process of having his good deeds wiped out through time traveling after the events of OoT, can you imagine how he felt being cursed to repeat that same tragic affair over and over until he deals with Majora?
Much like Twilight Princess, I've only played it one time back a few years ago, but it left such a mark on me that even today I still consider it one of my all time favorites. I hope I'll be able to play it again in the future and get just as much out of it as I did back then!
Majora's Mask is one of the very few games that has made me feel dread to such a degree. It's brilliant in many ways, but the looming threat of the moon falling down is like nothing else. The build up with the music and the characters becoming increasingly more anxious each passing day, the despair on display when the moon gets close, the feeling that all you've done was for nothing, it all adds up. And until you said it, I didn't even consider how Link essentially went through the same process of having his good deeds wiped out through time traveling after the events of OoT, can you imagine how he felt being cursed to repeat that same tragic affair over and over until he deals with Majora?
Much like Twilight Princess, I've only played it one time back a few years ago, but it left such a mark on me that even today I still consider it one of my all time favorites. I hope I'll be able to play it again in the future and get just as much out of it as I did back then!
Vee
1 year ago
Coincidence?