Most "Serious" Zelda Game Story

[r2d93]

Hmmmm havent posted a thread in awhiiile...

Which Zelda game has the most "serious" story out of all the storylines? Not the most mature or the darkest, the most "no time for nonsense" story.

I'd say the most serious story is either Twilight Princess or Majora's Mask.

Majora's Mask for clear reasons. The moon is going to crash into Termina and literally kill everyone, and they are all freaking out about it. If the pity for the sorrow of Clock Townians doesn't make you want to stop that damn moon, the sheer terror of it crashing into you might. Plus, a very large majority of the sidequests are ridiculously serious.

SPOILER ALERT
And Twilight Princess had an urgent tone for some parts while having underlined tones of real life issues. To start off the madness, all of the children in your village are kidnapped, and you're the only one that can deal with it. Then, you finally find the younger ones, but Ilia is nowhere to be found. THEN you find her and she lost her freaking memory. Also, the game references how Colin is bullied by the other children, and really looks up to Link as a role model. Plus, Zelda makes a sacrifice to save a dying Midna, Ilia is concernicus for Prince Ralis, who also has to deal with his mother's death! Oh, and you have to save the Land by an impending doom and the loom of the Twilight.

What do u think?

 

[Ventus]

Majora's Mask easily had the most serious subject matter. I'm not talking about "zomg da moon wuz scar nd it maed mei pei mai pants zomg", I'm talking about the thoughts and emotions that pervaded Termina. I mean, you have to heal sorrow and emotion going through arduous task left and right. You have to find a way to heal your own sorrows, all the while dealing with the most bizarre of enemies: a clown wearing a mask. Sorrow, death and derision glaze the twisted alternate reality (excuse me if that isn't the politically correct term) and healing those pains in this legendary N64 classic is the most serious subject matter Zelda has ever obtained. You even have the option of allowing the moon to drop, which raises the question "Should [Link] HAVE to save people he doesn't truly know?".

 

[ZeldaFAYZ6251]

Twilight Princess because of how serious everyone is being...

Like in Spirit Tracks, Phantom Hourglass, Wind Waker, and all that, it has a few laughs and stuff but I believe that Twilight Princess has a very serious atmosphere.

I can agree with Majora's Mask because of the Moon and stuff and how it will crush everyone. Also no one can waste time because if you waste 3 days just trying to get Pieces of Heart, or money to but stuff then you pretty much just lost the game.

Another one is Skyward Sword, yeah the beginning is kind of normal and funny but once you start you rarely laugh at all. But honestly ,you were right, it was mostly between TP and MM.

 

[Shadsie]

Majora's Mask and Twilight Princess, with possibly Majora's Mask beating it out.

MM has is serious hidden behind a thin veneer of whimsy... which can have a way of intensifying a story. It's not just the impending apocalypse that makes it serious, though that helps. (I've been watching an anime series that's roughly translated "The Decline of Mankind" that is about... exactly that but *is actually very silly* ), so "Just Before The End" as a theme *alone* doesn't necessarily equate to depth or seriousness...

The whole game seems to be about death. Link meets people for whom he must carry on in order for their souls to rest and their unfinished business to be accomplished. He knows that three days will spell his own death and that of everyone he's been getting to know in this new world. It deals with feelings of isolation and loneliness, first with Link getting embroiled in Termina's troubles by looking for a lost friend, then it unveils the villain of the story being a lonely child possessed by a demon-mask. There is even a bit of philosophy as helpfully supplied by the Children in the Moon with their comments regarding "Who are you behind your masks?" Also, depending upon your interpretation and if you use the Fierce Diety mask, there's a question of "using a potentially more destructive and/or corrupt power" to deal with the problem of Evil.


Twilight Princess is serious in that it also deals with a bit of "moral gray area" a bit. You wind up seeking out these dark/corrupting powers in order to wield them against a greater evil. There's the thing about balance between "light and dark" and how things that appear "dark" are not always evil. You must become a "monster" in order to save your people. There's also a lot in the story in regards to overcoming prejudice. Link has to reach out and trust an evil-looking creature seeking dark powers (Midna). Midna, in turn, comes to shed her notions about Light Dwellers and comes to trust and care for Link, Zelda and the people of the Light World. To further the racial, cultural and class divides, Link winds up getting the Gorons and humans to trust each other again, and there's the doctor who will not treat a Zora and who makes no secret of charging an arm and a leg for his services.


So, I think both were very serious Zelda titles. I think Majora's had more of an ur-theme of "death" and Twilight had an ur-theme of "overcoming predjuice" (handled in a refreshingly non-cheesey way).

 

[Sir Quaffler]

Majora's Mask had the most serious tone, and the other people here have pretty much summed up most my reasonings for it. Particularly with the reasonings behind Link turning back time. Yes, he's avoiding the destruction by the moon. But why is he even bothering to help the people if everything he does is reset, and only he (and the souls laid to rest in the masks) get any benefits?

Another aspect I want to bring up was actually discussed several months back in an article by Axle the Beast on whether MM was't the darkest story in Zelda. In it he mentions that the game deals with death and the passing of loved ones to the other side. No other Zelda game really deals with this, and indeed most games in general don't touch this subject matter of what happens to those after they die. I thought MM handled it quite beautifully, helping those who died to see all the good they had done in the world and allowing them to move on in peace.

Although I still consider TP to be the darkest, MM is the most serious. (TP was dark in the traditional sense; MM, while being supremely weird, dealt with the weightiest subject matter.)

 

[Spirit]

Majora's Mask easily had the most serious subject matter. I'm not talking about "zomg da moon wuz scar nd it maed mei pei mai pants zomg", I'm talking about the thoughts and emotions that pervaded Termina. I mean, you have to heal sorrow and emotion going through arduous task left and right. You have to find a way to heal your own sorrows, all the while dealing with the most bizarre of enemies: a clown wearing a mask. Sorrow, death and derision glaze the twisted alternate reality (excuse me if that isn't the politically correct term) and healing those pains in this legendary N64 classic is the most serious subject matter Zelda has ever obtained. You even have the option of allowing the moon to drop, which raises the question "Should [Link] HAVE to save people he doesn't truly know?".

^ i agree with all of that. Although i do want to say WW, but i guess that would come under a 'what is Zelda's deepest story' thread

 

[tweexcore]

I think Wind Waker has some pretty serious subject matter that often goes overlooked. At the heart of it, it's really a game about learning from mistakes in the past, and making a conscious effort to correct those mistakes. The King of Red Lions has a particularly affecting arc, IMO. In helping the hero of the winds obtain the triforce of courage, he's correcting the mistakes of his ancestors, who effectively erased OoT Link from their timeline, breaking the hero reincarnation cycle and leaving Hyrule without a champion. Which of course results in the eventual destruction of Hyrule. KoRL "makes" a new Link for a new world. He's seen what can happen to a world without a champion (worse, he knows that what happened to Hyrule is partially the fault of his own ancestors) and wants more than anything for the people of the new world to have a hero they can rely on. It's only after providing them with one that he can wish for the gods to truly destroy old Hyrule, the ruins of which perhaps serve as a symbol of his ancestor's failure.

 

[Random Person]

Twilight Princess. Majora's Mask had a lot of dark things in it, but it didn't take itself as seriously as TP did in that regards. Another candidate is WW but because WW was going about a story book type atmosphere, it was bound to stray away from the serious tone it could've had.

 

[DavisMicrophone]

Link's Awakening, easily. As the story develops, you are confronted with immersion within the game as a facet of self-delusion - the characters are not real, their support and praise are illusory and they will die and be forgotten the moment you succeed in your quest. The game's story serves as a melancholy critique of video games and the people who design and play them.

 

[TheLastAvenger]

Majora's Mask. The main plot of the game was pretty much "The moon will crash into the city and kill everyone if you don't do anything about it". The game also seemed a lot more darker and serious when I compare it to other games. Twilight Princess is a close second.

 

[Kylo Ken]

Twilight Princess. A whole realm of people oppresed is pretty bad. And, the only Zelda game where she dies. And she actually kills herself.

 

[DarkestLink]

I agree with Twilight Princess but not Majora's Mask. The problem is, the characters seldom took the actual threat of the moon seriously. There were a few special cases like the Swordsman Trainer, but I wish we had seen more of that. More emotion from the characters. I wish they had taken the moon as a more serious threat rather than the "Meh...guess we might die. *shrug*" attitude they had.

 

[New Link]

Majora's mask by far has the most serious story matter. The way the same characters react to things that are happening is just moving. Like Cremia and Romani, where Cremia lets Romani drink Chatau Romani because this will be their last night and to help her through, or all the gorons reaction to you dressed up as their leader, or the whole Zora band and the girl being not able to talk and on and on.

But, Wind waker after you retrieve the master sword becomes a more serious game. With trapping Zelda for her own good, sages withering, world on brink of destruction, KORl's death, and Ganon's final monolouge, it is a very deep story also

 

[Linknerd09]

I think I consider TP a very serious story. Twilight Princess is a very serious and complicated game. Although there are some scenes that are quite happy and fun, mostly all involved sadness, understandment, and seriousness on some stuff that it requires some patience. Plus, we get to go to another realm, which is the Twilight Realm and also have to have some more complicated things like having to bring both Sol sphere in order to reach Zant.

 

[TwilightOcarina]

Most definitly Twilight Princess, for all the reasons you stated. But for me, playing Skyward Sword is a little crazy right now too.

*Spoilers* I mean, so far all I know is that Zelda is in an alternate dimension, The crazy dinosaur dude is about to scare me to death even though I beat him about a month ago and that mean lady who takes Zelda everywhere not only forced her away from me but told me I was TOO SLOW even though I just defeated the stupid giant LAVA ROCK. Geesh, lady. I'm pressed for time too. After that I was no-nonsense for the next couple dungeons. OHHH Look at the shiny- NO. Must. Save. Zelda. She's depending on me! Then she just gets sucked into an alternate diminsion. ._.*End Spoliers*

Well played, Zelda. Well Played.