Which Game Was Darker, Majora's Mask or Twilight Princess?

[SpiritGerudo]

I don't really think you can apply stereotypical terms like "dark" to MM, it's just too unique, nor can you really compare it to other Zelda games for the same reason. There are a whole mixture of controversial feelings, with the suffering and pain of the people as well as the happiness they are brought by Link, not to mention Skull Kid and his problems. However, I'd actually say TP is "lighter" for one memory that comes from it. At the very end, during the credits, you see all of the people of Castle Town celebrating, and I remember thinking, "Why the heck are they celebrating??" After you clear the Twilight from the land, nobody is afraid anymore, everything goes back to being normal, people go on with their daily lives, and Link's actions no longer have an effect on the people, more or less. They didn't react to the castle being cut off like it is, Link's quest belongs to himself and his friends alone. So why do they celebrate? Past the first three dungeons, nobody was really in any danger except Link, which means that the tone of the story drastically changed, and all of the sudden the game isn't dark anymore, it's just . . . standard, for lack of a better word.

 

[Majoras-Light]

I honestly think that TP is much darker. Now, if it wasn't for the LoZ MM Manga, I may not be saying the same thing. In the Manga, Skull Kid mentions that he just wanted a friend, and so he took the mask for fun. Now, in order to save the world, you have to call on four giants to help. Skull Kids old friends, that is. Also, every time you defeat a temple, peace usually restores to that area. Such as Snowhead. And yes, there are very happy things and moments in MM. Clocktown for example. That place made me happy.

Now, in TP, we have a hopeless feel. The world is being taken over by evil BEINGS where in MM, evil that wasn't generating from something "real" was what caused chaos. There are dark feelings all over and the whole world is plunged into chaos and as a matter of fact EVERYONE KNOWS IT. You have your little dark themes and side quests in MM, but overall, I honestly think TP is much darker. This is my opinion so you can take it or leave it, but this is my point of view on things.

 

[Ventus]

@Darkkroses, I very much agree now that I think about it. Majora's Mask was less dark so much as it was twisted. Just like taking fear - nonexistent sense of danger - and making it SEEM real...which is what fear already does. Twilight Princess was much more about DANGER, which is a real sense of...well, danger.

 

[Majoras-Light]

I completely agree. MM was fear in a twisted way and reading the Manga, at the end I smiled when I saw the "friend" relationship between Link and Skull Kid. I honestly think it is a way of showing, don't change yourself to get friends back.

 

[DarkestLink]

Having started MM again...I think MM is actually darker when it comes to graphics. TP is just more realistic...but MM actually uses darker colors overall. I'm comparing the main fields of both games as well as their lighter moments and darker moments.

 

[Drahsid]

Twilight princess isn't dark at all, its just nintendo saying their on team edward. BLARHHHG TWILIGHT RUINED A ZELDA GAME AND LOTS OF PEOPLE MINDS AND CREATED WARS!

Oh, and majora's mask was daker, sure you saved somone or completed a task and its all light and happy- wait you just looked at the sky and remembered, your going to die soon.

 

[EmptyElegy]

I personally believe that they were both dark, just in different ways, although I feel that MM was darker, mainly because it had a darker feel to it. Majora's Mask was dark because of the foreboding sense of doom that you felt every time you looked into the sky, and the knowledge that if you didn't stop Majora, everyone in the land would die, and that even if you manage to save Termina, not everyone would be happy in the end. Now, Twilight Princess was dark mainly because of the graphics, and how they had a more faded and darker appearance, but Twilight Princess was dark in story as well, at some parts. There was a feeling of hopelessness and danger wherever you go, with evil running all over the place, and the kingdom being thrown into Twilight. But with MM, I think the overall atmosphere was darker than TP.

 

[CynicalSquid]

Majora's Mask.

Twilight Princess doesn't have a moon that might crash into the planet and kill a bunch of people.

I feel Twilight Princess just tries too hard to be dark.

 

[Majoras-Light]

Well, the moon does crash but you get this feeling that you can save everyone. Well, because you can. Both games are fantastic, I just think that TP was darker with the whole, PURE EVIL feel. I love the way MM ends! If you don't know, then press the button up there and watch it! It is a heartfelt game. I love the whole feel of it. :drama::triforcepiece:

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

I feel Twilight Princess just tries too hard to be dark.

just what i was gonna say
i don't know,majoras mask just felt kinda natural in its tone while in twilight princess its like 'lets jam in this creepy cutscene here and put this ominous soundtrack there....'

 

[Emerald]

While they're both dark games, especially for a traditionally lighter series like Zelda, I think Twilight Princess is much darker.

Twilight Princess is just an inherently dark game. Almost everything about it is gritty and realistic which is rarely seen in the Zelda franchise. The textures are dark, the characters are mostly dark, and the story is dark. Dark, dark, dark. Even the heartwarming moments like when Link finds the kids in Kakariko Village are shrouded out in Twilight and darkness; they're scattered stars in a black, unforgiving sky. And the dark parts in the game are extremely dark, from the Twilit Beasts to the ominous portals in the sky to the minuscule flakes of black that float in the air. It's just a very dark game.

Majora's Mask is a different entity. While still a dark game, it's dark in a different way. Whereas Twilight Princess had stars in a dark sky, Majora's Mask has sunspots on an otherwise regal and blazing sun. The game has many more light parts. The characters, with the exception of the third day, are for the most part very cheerful and excited for the Carnival of Time. The game has its creepy parts like the moon, the Skull Kid, and the Happy Mask Salesman that are accentuated by the otherwise gleeful residents of Termina but it is largely a happy game with very creepy moments. It's a different kind of dark. It's still very dark for a Zelda game, though.

Although Majora's Mask has several creepy moments and many more of them than other Zelda titles, overall Twilight Princess is the darkest game of them all as it is more wholesomely dark and encompasses a very eerie tone throughout the entire game.

 

[Spirit]

I'm rather sick of this question, they were both dark but in different ways.

MM was surreal and unnerving with emphasis on the surreal

TP had a serious overtone to it and was a lot more mature and a little bit more violent than usual.