Why is Majora's Mask So Sad?

Season 6 Episode 9
This week we’re going to be talking about the sadness of The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask.
Legendary Adventures is a Legend of Zelda playthrough podcast. I’m exploring the evolution of the Zelda game series by playing through each game in release order, excluding spin-offs and multi-player focused releases. Each season focuses on one game in the series. Legendary Adventures was conceived and launched as an audio podcast. I am making video versions of episodes as I am able. You can listen to all my episodes by subscribing to the podcast.
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[@rossmurray6532]

Using sadness to motivate the player to save the world... It worked for me.
But the saddest thing about Majora's Mask is that, you can't help everyone.

[@Ptitmalle]

In 2000, we were playing the game with one or two friends and now we are millions of players to talk about everything in the game, thats why I love internet.

[@Tazerboy_10]

😀 - Yeah!

[@jonathanmulondo9206]

Majora' s Mask is the definition of a masterpiece. Difficult yet brilliant

[@ReboyGTR]

*Stories about death and the end of the world tend be sad.*

[@ImperiexPrime]

Majora’s Mask was the first time a game made me cry. Particularly the dialogue with Anju and Kafei accepting their fate together on the Final Night

[@Ptitmalle]

Its great to see differents aspects, it makes me love the game even more.
In 2000 I didn't have internet to discuss like this.
Great video, thanks !

[@elsiebartlett6808]

Beautiful game. Not just about sadness, but about healing from that sadness and pain through action to provide closure. By far my favorite Zelda game of all time.

[@KaneAsIAm]

These little bite-sized episodes are great! Keep ‘em coming!

[@KoenRH2803]

Man I wish they would go back to this kind of emotionally and existentially rich way of creating Zelda games. I’d give up all the quirky gameplay features only to have that again in a new game

[@TheJoninMonkey]

Another good short video. It's interesting that Aonuma talked about the connection between this game and the future timeline of Majora's Mask, but it does make sense. The reason The Legend of Zelda can get away with dark scenes and concepts is that it always gives you a way to make things right, and it is true that it serves a great motivator for the player as well.
Great stuff. Keep up the good work ^_^

[@cabbagewater]

I love Majora's Mask, the gameplay, story and art style. It's a timeless classic, where compared to later Zelda games the hardware limitation of the era had a "less is more" effect.

[@mitchpalm5908]

Great game - great content Paul!

[@vianabdullah2837]

I wonder if we'll ever get a Zelda game as eccentric as Majora's Mask and Link's Awakening ever again. Something that strays from the typical heroic fantasy.

[@Bird-wz7nx]

I mean, they do try every once and a while with weird spinoffs/ semi-spinoffs, they just don't often stick the landing.
And I daresay that if Link's Awakening and Majora's Mask weren't as good as they were, they would largely be written off as kinda interesting semi-spin offs, akin to Spirit Tracks.
So yes, I think we will, one day

[@trevorcarson5156]

is there a compilation of these

[@legendaryadventurespod]

No, not at this point, but there is a playlist

[@PTp1ranha]

This is the first time I’d seen anyone substantiate the idea of Snowhead representing Bargaining instead of awkwardly losing steam and letting the allegory fall apart.

[@Tazerboy_10]

🤔

[@Clyde-S-Wilcox]

I thought this said 'Why is Majora's mask so BAD' and I was like "oh finally, someone who realizes the game is crap."

[@nr5834]

One of the best in the series, but if you don't like it oh well. Alttp, Oot, MM, TP are my favs.

[@Bird-wz7nx]

I mean, it SHOULD be bad, with the short development time, recycled assets, the timer, the dramatic tone shift...
But it isn't, judging by the millions of fans and decades of praise.
You seem to be upset that people don't share your personal feelings about the game and you need to explore why this is.
These usually stem from frustrations over feeling like some important point is unrecognized.
Do you feel it perhaps comes at the cost of recognition of games you DO like, or something like that?