Majora's Mask in 2021 is an Existential Nightmare
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- Опубликовано: 20 сен 2024
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For Zelda Month I decided replay my favorite Zelda game and what I didn't expect is that Majora's Mask helped me contextualize the snap lockdown Aotearoa New Zealand went into back in August, and through that I was able to understand the game in a way I never had before.
Thank you to @wizawhat @iamerror and @weighty for lending their voices for the project and @eurothug4000 @GCVazquez and Wizawhat for the script help. Also a huge up to @AmieWaters for the phenomenal music. All Majora's Mask footage was captured using Nerrel's HD Texture mod pack.
It's crazy how much this game elicits such a personal response from most that play it, and in so many different ways no less. For personal reasons, growing up, learning to get go, and struggling to keep up with friendships really resonated with me.
I love when I see amazing creators in other amazing creators comments!
@@leftovernoise thank you for the compliment!
SAME
Dark Souls 1 is the same way. It's actually crazy how similar the conversations around these two games are.
If Majora's Mask came out in 2021, people would have said that scene with the carpenters and the soldiers arguing in the mayor's office was a super un-subtle metaphor for COVID. It's crazy how ahead of its time it was. Although I guess the likely explanation is that the types of arguments people have been having about COVID are the same kinds of arguments people have been having for a long time, and the game aimed to capture that type of argument.
seeing that scene again in today's landscape was so bizarre but like you said speaks to how long people have been having those kinds of arguments
I think it feels like a much more un-subtle metaphor for climate change. It's the exact way people talked about the subject during the early 2000s, although most sane people have woken up to realise how terrifying the situation is by now.
@@atmatey Yeah I can definitely see it being a climate change metaphor. I guess it’s just a shame that this kind of argument is happening about Covid AND climate change now though lol. How little we learn
Good analysis. It's a great stand-in for any of the many issues that are pressing the planet and humanity.
Resident Evil 7 the game is similar
12:42 - 14:07 - Wow. I am absolutely floored by this. I had never thought about the parallel between Link/Zelda and Kafei/Anju. Really powerful insight that strengthens the idea of Skull Kid as a dark reflection of Link.
Majora’s Mask was honestly a more controversial gamble for Nintendo than the GTA series was for Rockstar.
Ocarina is arguably one of the best games ever made, but it’s story is a pretty straightforward “save the princess and defeat evil” kind of story that is appropriate for all ages.
Majora’s on the other hand is all about depression, loss, despair, and anger. Additionally, the game only ends on a note of acceptance and healing rather than an actual victory over evil.
Majora's Mask is a truly unique masterpiece and will be my favorite game of all time forever 💜
I can’t wait to play it after I finish OoT Especially since I finally found a small CRT tv for my Nintendo 64 😁
This was truly a delight to watch. Your love for this game is crystal clear and Majora's Mask's analogous nature to the lockdown is such an interesting perspective. Glad you have this game man, MM was far from my favorite 3D Zelda to *play*, but boy do I love some MM content. Well done Mitch, this was fantastic!
You depicted how a lockdown feels in a nutshell. Defeat and repitition. Opression and frustration. A mirror image of the world we came from.
Why did you let politicians decide you're not allowed to go outside and meet people? I never had a lockdown and did whatever I wanted. It's actually incredible that people are letting themselves be decided over so easily. Hell, it even seemed like people was embracing it, as some sort of drama injection in otherwise boring lives.
@@aslemartinsen5284 Yeah same, I am a bit of a hermit anyway so was fine with it but never really bought into it. As time went on it became more and more clear it's mostly a scam. Here we are in 2023 dozens of lies later
@@aslemartinsen5284 Guy who made the video really drank the kool aid
@@aslemartinsen5284 Bread and circus. "The elite" have known how to control the unwashed masses for hundreds of thousands of years. Folklore, religion, the colosseum, all designed to keep the morons pacified. Look at America, not a peep over a year and a half of lockdowns, but willing to kill over football. The quintessential unwashed masses. The only nation on Earth with more weapons and ammunition than their government, a God-given right to literally stack government bodies as per the constitution, completely disarmed and defeated by old people with pens, in exchange for sports, Netflix, and McDonalds.
Never again.
AMAZING AS ALWAYS!! YOU’VE BEEN KILLING IT THIS YEAR
This game help me with grief. In a weird way it made me think about morality and finding closure. There is something good that can come from the bad. There is something kind of beautiful in characters finding peace. Darmani crying tears of joy surrounded by people who loved him, Mikau remembering how happy he was with Lulu and the bang, the ghost being able to pass on his dance and the captain having one last race to name a few. It's those little things in life that brings us joy that we can remember even after the ones we love are gone. It's those moments I want to enjoy and look back on when the time comes so I can go in peace. Death doesn't have to be negative it can also be beautiful in way.
This video is _HOT_ . I gotta get myself on that Majora's Mask train again.
It's cool that your name is a Legend of Zelda reference and I find this comment on a Legend of Zelda video. :-) It's like a secret reference.
@@EnordAreven I'm even IN the video!
@@iamerror heck yeah!
A game that reused most of the assets of the game before it but rather than feeling like a lazy cash grab it's considered a masterpiece of a sequel. That's because they came up with a dark and trippy tone and a very cool story and concept
One thing that hits me about the quest with the little girl and her dad, was when I tried to speak to them again while they were embracing. I can't remember what exactly Tatl said, but it was something about Link being inconsiderate and not understanding. All it made me think was... No. He doesn't understand. He's an orphan.
There's a similar thing with the lover's quest, where a dialogue box essentially states that Link doesn't really understand relationships and marriage. Which makes total sense- yes, in OOT he was physically aged to adulthood, but he didn't have any adolescent experiences. He wouldn't know or understand such things. He grew up in a society of only children, then his life revolved around saving the world. Those types of relationships would be a mystery to him
But aside from making me feel bad for Link, it also sends another message: One of helping people even if you don't understand them. It's one thing to connect on common experience, but another to connect when there isn't any- other than the feelings themselves. Link doesn't understand what these people are going through at all. All he knows is that they're unhappy and he wants to do whatever he can to make them feel better. That's a level of empathy that very few people have, but if more people strove to be like that, the world would be a much better place
This video resonates so incredibly deeply, really does bring some heavy emotions to the service. Incredible job Mitch
Petition for you to _actually_ cover this video every year? I'd love to watch your relationship to this game develop over time. That's a fascinating concept.
I agree. I’d love to see how everyone’s views on covid have “developed”
My grandfather died last year and this game really struck something in me. Hard to explain, it kind of represents the grief and hopelessness I have felt.
It’s so fitting how you relate your COVID lockdown experience to Majora’s Mask. Considering you really need to wake up.
This was great!
Also I vote for annual Majora's Mask videos so we can hear all these takes
that would be a fun experiment, maybe I should 🤔
I cried a lot while watching this.
The transitions between real life and game were especially good at eliciting a reaction from my tear ducts. Though this isn't really strange, as just about every new perspective on the game's events and themes that I hear tends to pull my heart out through my eyes. However, your point about not being in contact with friends truly struck a resonating chord with me beyond just how you relate it with the game. I spent 2 years of my life with basically no contact with any friends aside from those who reached out to me relentlessly. This was half a decade prior to the pandemic. At the time, I was severely depressed and could hardly function. However, after I started to recover, I reached out to the friends I hadn't spoken to for over 2 years. While I feared that they'd resent me for disappearing, they accepted me back with open arms. Hell, one of the friends let me stay with him at his place for a week just to catch up and hang out. So while the pandemic has also seen me lose contact with a friend or two, I'm not terribly worried. I'm able to accept that we may not be close right now, but that doesn't mean that it will always be that way; and even if we never do get back in touch, that doesn't diminish the fact that we were friends and the impact we've had on eachother. I cherish them still, even if they are more of a memory at the moment.
Truly, thank you for this wonderful video and all the eye sweat it drained from me. I hope that you're doing okay despite the world.
Just the most refreshing take on a classic.
This is great stuff Mitch! Really interesting parallels between real life and MM; I especially like the newfound appreciation for the Postman's inner crisis. I picked up MM on the day it came out, beat it and never played it since. This video has reminded me of how much I really need to replay it!
As a Melbournite I appreciate this video so much. I think you've just convinced me to replay Majora's Mask :)
Damn, this is really good! Can't believe how relevant this game is in this day in age. Art truly reflects life in many ways. Now for me pull out that Majora's Mask from my bin somewhere.
Living in Idaho, we didn't have any business or social shutdown. It's terrifying governments around the world and even states away can be so forceful.
Wow, I had connected the argument in the Mayor's office to the pandemic but I had no idea how many other themes there were that could be connected. Great job!
Unfortunately the pandemic was bullshit tho
For me majoras mask was the most meaningful game I’ve ever played to me when I got it my grandma was on her deathbed we were trying so hard to accept this fate that we forgot what mattered most time the time we spent with my grandma was both happy and sad when she finally passed due to Alzheimer’s I went through depression hopelessness and I struggled to keep up with all my friends that were moving so fast in life compared to me I tried so hard to make others happy that I didn’t have the time to process my grief properly I was simply stuck in that depression day after day the same schedule the same food the same time spent sulking in that grief when I played majoras mask I felt a sense of comfort I felt at peace the way majoras mask made me feel was indescribable I related to link on having so much responsibility at a young age when the credits rolled I cried because the way I took it was all good things must come to an end like my grandma we all have a certain amount of time how we spent it is up to us but for a lot of people they follow a certain schedule everyday when I finally accepted my grief I moved on in my life but still cherished those good memories and finally feeling like the weight on my shoulders was gone eventually adulthood came and here i am sorry that was long
I didn’t realise you lived in New Zealand. That’s rad. I’m also in Tāmaki Makaurau and picked up BOTW for the first time after experiencing a decline in mental health because of this lockdown and it’s been helping me out majorly. Thanks for this video, I'm thinking of you and what you're going through.
kia ora Michael, I'm so glad you found that through BotW another game I love to turn on to chill out haha, hope you and yours are holding up well with... whatever this is going on here
Once a year, every year I will sit down turn off all the lights put my headphones on and play majoras mask from front to back.
This was a FANTASTIC video, very well written and shot, your voice was calming and nice. Also thought it was cool that you used Nerrel's HD texture pack, your choice of shots was very well done!
I just found this video, but I really appreciate that you discussed how the game has a lot to say about acceptance and learning to let go. There are a lot of interpretations out there about the game that makes it seem like it's really about Link either being dead, or how traumatized Link was that led him to continue to search for Navi and eventually become the regretful Hero's Shade. On it's own though, the game really shows Link go from a child who is insecure about where he currently is in his life and seeking out those who gave him a sense of purpose he once had, into someone who is able to rediscover himself and let go of old friends who are no longer in the same world as him. This Link out of all the Links had a rough journey, but I think the ending sequence shows that he now has the ability to move on in his life without looking back.
Wow ive always said OOt was my fave game of all time but after playing majoras mask again after a close ones death, no game has had such a profound effect on me as majoras mask did. Its a genuine masterpiece up their with any classic piece of cinema or literature.
I remember playing through the ocean temple when we got the call that my father had died in the hospital and it took me a while to pick it back up but eventually i did and this game has a special place in my heart even with the sad memories attached. the theory of the 5 stages of grief may not have been the intention but if you replay it with that lens it can really help you come to grips with a trauma or loss and can transcend a video game to become a psychological tool to grow and heal through. this game is a masterpiece
Great video, thank you for making this. I played as a child when the game came out and I remember feeling like it was a more serious version of ocarina of time. As an adult after watching this I can appreciate the themes and archetypes that made it so special and that were lost on me as a 12-year-old. Thanks again!
Really love this! MM has long been my favorite Zelda game, and this has me considering a replay. Been a while!
great video man, I really liked your interpertation of the game and the way you saw equivalences between your own life and the game. have you read "The Plague" by Albert Camus? I read it as an assignment in university and I was really surprised by how similar it is to Majora's Mask, it really feels like MM is directly inspired by it (not saying it is inspired by that book, I dont really know if it is or not but it feels like that). they both explore some of the same themes in very similar ways with similar character archetypes and developments.
oh no I've not heard of that but I'll look into it!!
As another kiwi who turned to video games to deal with the lockdown, this video really hit home.
So many amazing parallels you made to our current situation! I can’t even pick what hit the most because it all did! 💕
Thank you Maddy! 💕
You sound like you got 5 booster shots
This guys brain is mush. Sick of the Chinese cough being used
this game is a true masterpiece. its probably the most fleshed out zelda game i have ever played
Beautiful words and video brother, tough times indeed;
but hopefully things can go back to normal again soon.. Much love from across the pond in Aus.
Art imitates life
thanks for sharing a game that means so much to you and for making the video that you've always wanted :) I learned and felt a lot in these few minutes! :D
The part about the mailman wow. Great video, there were some very very weird similarities between MM and our spiraling world these days. Next time I play it I will be feeling something completely different than before.
I am absolutely blown away by this analysis! I am drawn to this game again and again myself, and perhaps subconsciously for many of the reasons you describe. I will look at it even more thoughtfully now as I play. Thank you and best of luck to you in your future endeavors.
Every few months I just get the urge to play through it again 1-2 times
The title: exists
Me: this is gonna be weird
The video: is what it is
Me: I'm feeling something disturbingly familar about all of this
Good video heavyeyed, a beautifullly haunting artistic perspective
This was really good! Majora's Mask is truly one of the greats merely by the thematic richness people find within it.
Loved this video man. Keep making more! Very introspective your thoughts.
I can’t ever finish this game. I’m too detailed oriented to deal with having to start over every 3 days. The time aspect really drags me down. That being said, I love watching people play it and I truly do love the narrative of the game, so I end up watching a lot of videos like this. Thanks for keeping this game alive; especially during the pandemic
This is like the most insightful video I’ve seen abt the modern day in a long time and it’s abt majoras madk bruh
Majora's Mask is likely to be my favorite game of all time. I enjoyed very much how you emphasized that a lack of communication can lead to unnecessary isolation, as was the case with Skull Kid. Maybe we shouldn't ever be afraid to tell someone that we miss them.
Thank you for such a great watch.
Thinking I should go back to finish this game after it crashing in the Swamp temple for me as a kid. Fantastic insight yet again!
do it!! you’ll love it
So this was the first video game I ever played. I can remember discovering it at my aunts house when I was five years old. She would always play on her n64 when I was over. One day I wanted to play a game. I dug through her hun of games and a golden holographic cartridge caught my eye. I threw it in and began playing. Replaying it several times I’ve learned something new every time. Most recently, I listened to final hours to the end and realized just how much the music plays a roll in the game. And interacting with people during those five minutes absolutely destroyed me. They know the end is coming, are trying to deny it, but can’t. And so they accept and wait. They don’t run. They don’t riot. They just sit.
It was the 2nd game I played and I wasn’t allowed old enough to get the n64 but I got the 2ds and I played the game when I finished it I was young and I restarted it and now I’ve been trying to beat it for 4 years now.
Wow this is a masterpiece! You did an incredible job on this video! Gotta watch it a few more times!
I feel like this should have more views, I loved this ❤️
You just keep getting better and better, thank you for making such a beautiful video man
you’re really cool!
Beautifully done. Congratulations on how well this turned out. This can truly relate Majora's Mask to things being felt by everyone on the planet right now.
brilliant and gorgeous video. I wanted to come up with a more elaborate comment, but since I can't organize my thoughts the way I'd like, I'll stick to saying thank you for sharing this reflection with us. this truly is something special
This was my first zelda game and I love it forever.
it's mask o'clock
This aged well. "Super spreader events" lol
more people are dying in NZ without lockdowns from covid than they did with them
Majora’s Mask has been, and always will be my favorite! It brings emotions that in reality we all go through. It made me feel personally connected to the characters, and the side quests were amazing💛
I actually feel the same way u do about this game. I’ve had to make an unwanted move away from my hometown to somewhere not as good. It feels parallel to my hometown, just like Termina is to Hyrule.
final fantasy 7 is this game for me, not because of the themes necessarily, but the sound track, characters and world. the nostalgia of it is just really comforting to me, and i just have an absolute blast whenever i play it. it's just the sense of adventure, the flying around the world map, and just the scale of the epic set pieces, the weapons attacking migar, exploring the temple of the ancients, or just chocobo breeding and racing at the golden saucer. or just finding all the hidden story cutscenes that are so intriguing like lucretcia's cave, or the secret zack cutscene in the nihbelhiem basement.
just a 10/10.
The saddest thing about any old game we love, is that the more we play it again, the farther we remove ourselves from why we originally loved it. Those memories diminish as we add clearer context to our memories.
I’m a frontline HCW. My experience during COVID was… different than everyone else’s.
"The idea of growing up and letting go is an idea that most of us have had to grapple with in one way or another." - hit me right in the feels.
During your intro: "I found it helped me in ways I didnt expect. Its the game I always come back to."
Me: "Yes... Its everything..."
edit: btw cried. Thank you for this beautiful love letter to my GOAT game.
Great video :) It's amazing when a game can offer catharsis to a player both as a child and as an adult, but in different ways as our life situations evolve. What a lovely gift!
I hope you can get back to playing music soon!
I loved this video! Been playing the Zelda franchise since I was a kid and this absolutely got to me. Left a sub :)
Damn, this was excellent. First video of yours I've watched, and wasn't expecting any of what followed when I wrote the other comment about Hyrule Historia. Will be checking out the rest of your channel!
I've never played Majora's mask but I am from New Zealand and you have encapsulated perfectly how a lot of us feel in regards to the government and the struggle we face with the lack of proper action
Going through a break up. I've moved to new country
I don't have any friends. This game is so fulfilling
Really doing something no one else is doing with this one, and while it might be a bit devastating looking at the game like this, its also quite cathartic in a way. Also, wasn't aware of the state of things in New Zealand. Hang in there man :)
Beautifully done…truly.
Cool essay on the pandemic. It felt personal without being pretensious
Hey thanks for watching. Check out the amazing Amie Waters song "Final Hours" that features in the ruclips.net/video/JkaIgr1RwqQ/видео.html
Making an edit here over a year later, turns out this video got some traction again which is cool! Unfortunately most of the people coming in are anti-vax or covid deniers which if you see this and want to comment let me just say - I do not care what you have to say, alright cool
I am honored to have my music be in such a powerful and personal video.
isn't NZ like in the best situation with covid? In my country we had low amount of cases like 100-200 per day, I look up stats now and yesterday was 10,000... This will never end.
I feel sorry for extroverts and social people... I'm not one of them.
I've been debating downloading Majora's Mask the last few days since I finished Skyward Sword again (anxiously awaiting the new game). I was actually only looking for the trailer, and came across this, and it reminded me how much I loved MM. I absolutely fell in love with Zelda as a teenager, and it's been ages. Thanks!
Heavy, solid take, good video!
had to stop watching this video some way through last night (EST time), you did an unbelievably good job communicating the concepts and emotions. that combined with using subjects we have personal feelings about already made us burst into tears at some point and cry without being able to stop for a bit. dont think we can finish this video, and thats okay.
Dude that was one of the most beautiful intros to a video, the music that went with really struck me
Actually, Termina is a Spanish word that literally translates to "finish", or more significantly, "end", or "the end". I am pretty sure Nintendo did that on purpose, as the main plot of the game involves the moon and the end of the world.
It's a few minutes before the New Year of 2023 and I was just thinking of Zelda Majora's Mask and how much this game has impacted me over the years, the game, the music since I was a kid..and I found this video on YT. I think I'm going to boot it up on my Switch with my N64 controller I got for it.
I feel the same way about comparing KOTOR 2 with current events.
Hate to break it to you my friend, but that right-wing guy you mentioned was right. Covid-19, even on the onset, was never a threat to most of the population. The CDC's stats literally showcased here in the U.S. that the vast majority of deaths were all people who were old, obese to some degree and/or who had some serious underlying condition in conjunction with those two things. What New Zealand and Australia did made zero difference in the overall outcome. They should have followed Florida's model.
This is extremely smart thank you❤
Being I just found you and this video for the first time ever, I was excited to hear about what a new voice had to say about my favorite Zelda title and my 2nd favorite game, period, of history. I grew up playing this game, the hand me down gift from my cousin of the N64 and me as a simple 8 year old, I just chose the gold cartridge at the pawn shop with my saved money from cutting lawns and birthday money. I played it long before playing OOT, and at one point, I wasn't even aware of the existence of OOT, but it didn't matter. The joy of playing this game, the wonder it made me feel, when I couldn't go out and play with my friends at that time, due to health problems at a younger age, I now see that in recent years, when hitting the end of peak adult life, I had forgotten the joy of playing this game.
Then I watch this video, and I realize, of a year staying inside as a kid, and seeing how it's echoed in my later life...I forgot the way this game made me wonder, but also how much it impacted my childhood, and now carries impact into my life. I plan to go dig out my old N64 in the morning, it's my day off tomorrow, but I think this simple cry I got to have, not out of self pity, but out of being reminded what it means to love this game, and see the parallel to my life, in a number of different periods of time, which gives me more appreciation and joy that in my childhood, even in the hard times, it's almost as if I was being prepared for this. Thank you for this meaningful video. I think I rediscovered something about myself.
You got my sub HeavyEyed, and I look forward to perusing the rest of your backlog.
beautifully done
This game meant a lot more to us than we knew as children
It's not that they don't believe in the danger. It's that they're not hiding from it in their homes like cowards.
I just got done watching this video a year after it was posted, and as Majora's Mask is my favorite game of all time, this video touched me in a way i cannot describe, the video made me cry in a good way. Connecting the game to real life struggles was one of the best ways to go about explaining why the game means so much to you. Majora's Mask is truly a timeless masterpiece. Ocarina of Time may be seen as the best Zelda game by a lot of fans, and I don't blame them for thinking that, but Majora's Mask is truly something special that in my opinion, no game has ever been able to recreate. The pain that, not only everyone in Termina, but also Link goes through is incredible. Sometimes the game feels too real, and for being a game with such a crunched production, is impressive how many mixed messages the game tells. The thing I like the most about Majora's Mask is that the story can be looked at in so many different angles, every playthough is a new experience, no matter how many times you've played it, no matter if you know all the ins and outs of the game, there's always something new. I love the message you put out in this video, that this game teaches you that no one's experiences are worse than other's, it's in the eye of the beholder. Not to say that someone's experiences are equal to that of someone else's. I love this game so much, and I'm glad that people are still talking about it to this day, and I hope that everyone at some point gets to play it at least once.
the way this game has impacted me is very similar to your experience with COVID-19 (and most of our experiences) as it has been a comfort game, as ironic as it is, considering how dark of a game it is. It has helped me get through so many things and im glad im not the only one that uses this game as a comfort. It truly is a remarkable game
I love this game so much
The part about “they didn't reach out, but I didn't make the first move either” really speaks to me. The fact that someone on the other side of the world could express similar feelings to me shows that this is something that definitely isn't limited to my circle of friends. Thanks for making this video; I will take it to heart!
I was stuck in Argentina for around 250 days. I wish I owned this game for my 3DS when I was in 2020…
I had this theory that Skull Kid was the Termina Counterpart of Link. I know Zelda and the Goddess don't exist in Termina but that'd be a pretty cool thought that Terminas Link once got lost in the Lost woods and became Skull Kid
Really great video! I have subscribed and look forward to seeing what you are doing now. Just a note, termina might not be related to terminals but rather to the latin word for “to finish” or “to conclude”; not so much a point in the journey but the end
In hindsight, knowing that you were mislead by your government, I wonder if you still feel the same way?
the way you worded this i know you think you have the idea youre smart but its very obvious youre a dumb cunt
1st Day: 2019 Q1
2nd Day: 2019 FQ
3rd Day: Start of 2020
Final Hours: Lockdown
Dawn of a New Day: 2023 (hopefully…)
Very Very Underrated Video i will spread this beautiful message and you my friend have definitely earned a sub
I don’t remember paying for RUclips premium.