Which was Darker?

[YIGAhim]

I never really even thought about the old sages in OoT actually. Cool.

Either way, the general theme of Ocarina of Time is nowhere near as dark as that of Majora's Mask

 

[Castle]

I always thought Twilight Princess was too superficially dark, but in terms of tone and subject matter it's almost as happy-go-lucky as wind waker.

Though if you ask me what the darkest game in the series is, the answer is undoubtedly Ocarina of Time. It's got:
- Genocide (Gorons)
- Brainwashing (Gerudo)
- Implied Mass Murder (Castle Town)
- Outright Depictions of Torture (Shadow Temple)
- Heavily Implied Abuse (Malon and the Horses)
- Allegations of Severe Human Rights Violations by Agents of the Royal Family (Shiekah)
- Assumed Childhood Trauma (Link and Zelda)
- Child Bullying and Ostracism that the Protagonist Conceivably Suffered Since Birth

... and we never really do learn what happened to the Graveyard Kid and the girl who chases the Cucco in Castle Town Market, other than that they're seemingly absent from the Adult period.

Thing is all this is happening between the lines. If you think too hard for just a moment you can read what ninty was implying. All of it serves to subtly reinforce a recurring theme through the adventure that growing up is a harrowing ordeal and the world you think you know has some seriously messed up stuff going on beneath the surface.

 

[Dio]

I always thought Twilight Princess was too superficially dark, but in terms of tone and subject matter it's almost as happy-go-lucky as wind waker.

Though if you ask me what the darkest game in the series is, the answer is undoubtedly Ocarina of Time. It's got:
- Genocide (Gorons)
- Brainwashing (Gerudo)
- Implied Mass Murder (Castle Town)
- Outright Depictions of Torture (Shadow Temple)
- Heavily Implied Abuse (Malon and the Horses)
- Allegations of Severe Human Rights Violations by Agents of the Royal Family (Shiekah)
- Assumed Childhood Trauma (Link and Zelda)
- Child Bullying and Ostracism that the Protagonist Conceivably Suffered Since Birth

Thing is all this is happening between the lines. If you think too hard for just a moment you can read what ninty was implying. All of it serves to subtly reinforce a recurring theme through the adventure that growing up is a harrowing ordeal and the world you think you know has some seriously messed up stuff going on beneath the surface.

Majoras Mask was more overt with how dark it was but a lot of the darkness in OOT can be overlooked. It is the presentation of it which is why you might miss some of those elements.

Just like in WW in fact. You think its a nice game and world and then you get Tingle. A truly villainous character who keeps slaves and he isn't even presented as a bad guy. No creepy music or nothing. Just an ordinary side character, until you think about what he really is.

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

I hate this use of the word "dark". Is it sinister? Oppressive? Bleak? Haunting? Are you talking about themes? Color pallet? Tone? What?

foreboding would be the way I see it

 

[CyborgElfStephanie]

I haven't played Majora's Mask yet but what I seen, it's so dark that it makes Twilight Princess look so colorful with rainbows and unicorns.

 

[Spirit]

Wind Waker!

But if i had to choose between MM and TP then i'd say MM every time.

As most people have said; TP just looks dark and moody.
Even when compared to other games TP still doesnt come off as overly dark in terms of content. In MM everyone was aware they were about to die. In TP the townsfolk didnt even know they were stuck in a weird limbo.

TP tries far too hard and it comes off as edgelord rather than dark or oppressive. It just has angst and some dark colours. I wouldnt even say the themes are dark, even when compared to Wind Waker or OoT.

 

[Deep Shadow]

In MM you are taking the souls of departed creatures and creating masks from them. Each of the characters who become transformation masks have left behind people they care about and who are grieving their loss (the Goron kid, the singing Zora, the deku butler). That, with the overall feeling of helplessness you have with the moon dropping down slowly make MM one heck of a depressing game.

 

[mistertc73]

majora's mask

 

[Caramel H]

In a psychological way, Majora's Mask was darker. You're in a constant state of panic in a town where most of the people are in denial that their lives will end via the moon crushing them in 72 hours, where the music gets creepier by the day and death is such a vital theme to the entire story in every chapter. You constantly feel anxious and helpless empathizing with the people of clock town and the other provinces, the fact you can't save everyone within those 3 days also gives a sense of sadness and grief. It's honestly unbelievable Nintendo wrote and created Majora's Mask within a year, that game is a true masterpiece and sets the disturbing mood better than most rated T/M games I've ever played/watched.

 

[Jirohnagi]

Majora's Mask was infinitely more dark, it had literally the death of everyone if you failed.

TP everyone was converted into Spirits and in time would likely become twili

 

[Vanessa28]

I love TP to pieces but MM was so much darker. Whatever sidequest you played (next to the main storyline)or whatever dungeon you had to complete there was always the terror of Death lurking over your shoulder. In TP it was just to repel the twilight and bring back light again but in MM you really had to race against the clock to prevent the world from dying. Every single character in the game was waiting for their doom as many of the sidequests showed us. This alone is way darker than the whole TP story altogether