Zelda: Majora's Mask - Clock Town Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 & Final Hours | Reacting To Video Game Music!

[@JCW5713]

What really makes the Final Hours so ominous is that once it starts playing, it replaces the entire soundtrack. No matter where you go, you'll hear that tune, even in places where there's no background music. Since background music is vital for setting the mood, hearing Final Hours play in places that are normally considered safe places is an effective way of telling the player that there are no safe places.

[@mindgrenademg9941]

And what makes it better is that you hear the clock chimes in the background

[@JCW5713]

@@mindgrenademg9941 Well...only when you're in Clock Town... I don't think you can hear the clock chimes anywhere else.

[@Fidelity89]

@@JCW5713 You can, every six hours. If that's what he ment...

[@Praying_Light_Force]

The Final Hours Is Actually The Music That Plays In Majora's Temple Which Is Inside Her Moon.

[@lazernor]

@@Praying_Light_Force incorrect

[@TheMajesticMrL]

Those final hours aren't the same without the sound of the bells

[@corruptedteka]

Oh that's what was missing ! I was waiting for something to happen but it never did, it was the bells !

[@Dash123456789Brawl]

And the regular rumbling of the earthquakes! TBH, I’m so used to it that my imagination filled in that blank for me.

[@peggieschafer485]

Yes! God, the bells really should have been included in this. I forget, do they play even if you're not in Clock Town? It's been a minute for me, unfortunately.

[@jellycore1316]

​@@Dash123456789BrawlAww, yeah, same here, so do I! XD

[@PairyKurta]

i kept waiting for it

[@JodanTheHero]

Day 1: _We've got plenty of time!_ Day 2: _There's still time._ Day 3: _We're running out of time..._ Final Hours: *_Time's up._*

[@VelvetAura]

Something I love about this to this day: The vibe of the first day in Clock Town is pretty clear, but the second day has more sparse instrumentals and sounds a bit more hurried, representing the residents and tourists alike beginning to realize the imminent danger and are starting to flee. The third day sounds like it's desperately trying to contain some sense of normalcy as to represent the few remaining people left who are in denial or the children playing in the streets unaware of the danger, but it's ultimately in vain as the threat looming directly over their heads is now impossible to ignore, and their hours are running out. Of course, the Final Hours song speaks for itself, but it plays during the final 6 hours of the three-day cycle (real time is faster) when the moon is about to crash into Clock Town. Yes, Majora's Mask is VERY much about time. It's probably more about time than its direct prequel, Ocarina of Time. The whole game is set within a three day in-game timer, because Link is trapped in a loop where the moon itself is slowly descending down onto the land (called Termina). There are many NPCs in the game all with their own schedules and stories. Some are more complex than others, but everything revolves around a schedule in Majora's Mask. The secret to mastering this game is to go Groundhog Day mode and know the ins-and-outs of these situations, handling them in a way that is a most efficient use of your three-day cycle. It's bittersweet because no matter how many problems you solve for the lovable characters of this game, you undo all of it the moment you reset the 3-day cycle. That, and you come to terms with the fact that you're essentially leaving the people of that cycle to die horribly. Not to mention the transformation masks house the departed spirits of fallen characters in the game, and putting them on is a terrible experience for Link. He screams in agony every time you use one. It's a very dark game to put it lightly, and I don't mean that in an edgy sort of way. More like an existential crisis sort of way. Yeah, this game left a massive impression on me. It was one of my first video games, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that it kinda... traumatized me? At such a young age, some of the concepts the game throws at you are really hard to take in and accept, so when I eventually finished this game as a teenager it came full circle.

[@darkpyro786]

Great description of the song and game. Do you remember a lot of your reaction as a kid playing it? Like the first time you heard final hours, can't imagine it was pleasant haha. As kids we're pretty much in sensory overload mode and songs like that are 100x more haunting than they normally should be. Like Lavender town in Pokemon

[@VelvetAura]

@@darkpyro786 yeah, it was a bit frightening for me to say the least. I actually used to shut my eyes every time I saw the scene where the Happy Mask Salesman discovers you didn't get the mask for him, if that gives you any indicator of how young I was. The Final Hours music always creeped me out as a kid, but I think it was because I didn't really understand how it was making me feel. I still kind of don't fully understand how it makes me feel, honestly, but I would say somber but yet incredibly calm. It's a conflicting feeling I get when playing the game during final hours as well

[@darkpyro786]

@@VelvetAura Conflicting is the best word to describe the overall feeling, I agree. I feel like that feeling hasn't replicated in any other game I've played yet

[@peggieschafer485]

I agree, the weight of what you're seeing doesn't really come through when you're younger. In 2000 I was 13/14, so more aware than others younger, but still pretty blissfully ignorant - the bright colors do an incredible job of disguising what you're actually seeing. The mutilated ghost of Darmani and the scary face the Mask Salesman makes were more horrifying to me than the *literal anguished screaming* of the spirits of the masks taking over and transforming your body. I missed Cremia urging Romani to drink more Chateau Romani to spare her the full awareness of what was about to happen, the true weight of the terror felt through the words and actions of the NPCs scattered all over the realm... It's amazing how these chunky collections of polygons representing humans have no difficulty with manipulating your heart any way the story writers want. For the young'ns baffled at how anyone can stop laughing at the hokey graphics long enough to get a story much less get attached to it so deeply, all the things that aren't hand-fed to you through sophisticated graphics get filled in by your imagination without you realizing it. When you get older, revisiting a game you loved years ago will jar you too and you'll be surprised at the rich environments you developed upon such astonishingly simple frames without even thinking about it. Try not to provoke either Zelda 64 or FFVII fans, these games were almost epiphanous parts of our adolescence and we'll fight you 😂

[@VelvetAura]

@@peggieschafer485 Yeah, there really is a ton of dark stuff in the game just beneath the surface. Occasionally it rises to the surface as well but a lot of it is subtext for most of the world. I was maybe 4 or 5 when I first played this, so when I first got to the moon crashing it really scared me. I also used to have nightmares about that Happy Mask Salesman scene I mentioned as a young child. And YES, I don't know how many times it needs to be proven that atmosphere and stories can still be great even without the modern day standard of graphics. It's worth noting that many of us first played this game on CRTs as kids, and games for that time looked better on CRTs because they were designed with them in mind. I still have an old one sitting in my house, and I like to use it whenever I get the urge to play one of my favorite classics

[@Greggles1138]

For Final Hours, imagine a normal resident of Midgar at the tale end of Final Fantasy VII, knowing that [SPOILERS] is hours, maybe minutes from impact and there is nothing you can do about it. You have no idea of any plans to stop it. All you can do is accept your demise or wallow in despair. That's more or less what is happening when Final Hours plays in Majora's Mask. It represents Clock Town's despair. It's up to Link to give them hope.

[@sildrex]

It's worth noting that Majora's mask was made in only a single year and yet it still manages to be many fans (including mine) favorite Zelda game. Eiji Aonuma said in one of the "Iwata asks" interviews (Iwata being the then CEO of Nintendo who did regular interviews with developers) that his team had been told to do a followup game for Ocarina of time and the original project they had been given was what would become "Ocarina of Time: Master Quest" but Aonuma and his team couldn't get excited over the idea of just working on what was basically just ocarina of time with flip-side dungeons so Miyamoto said he could make a new Zelda game as long as they could put it out in a year. I think the strict deadline kind of worked in the game's favor. They ended up re-using a lot of assets from Ocarina of Time (items, character models, etc.) to save time but that also meant they were focused on making an interesting world and dungeons rather than trying to upgrade or one-up everything from the previous game. It's a little more thoughtful than Zelda tends to be with a lot of fodder for fan-speculation on the exact nature of parts of the world, and despite it being darker than pretty much any other Zelda game, it also has some really excellent feel-good moments and (being a more polished ocarina of time system) it also just feels great to play. for me, the inbuilt 3-day system kinda makes it the most fun of any Zelda game to just pick up and start playing again.

[@Redblaze27]

I think Nerrel put it best in his "why the 3DS remake is bad" video with "the game ended up taking the shape it wanted to take." as Eji Aonuma was really nervous about remaking it and doesnt understand the game. Like, building off of Ocarina of Time's gameplay and visual assets, the game ignored so many pillars of Zelda game design and allows for a suprising amount of freedom, like bosses having so many ways to tackle them that they even included a way to refight them whenever you please.

[@yasskb]

Final hours is one of the scariest song ever. It plays during the last 5 minutes before the end of the world.

[@randomtheorist251]

"Sounds like nightmare inducing." Yeah... That's kinda the whole game.

[@WallessJ]

I love how you are able to determine so much just from the music, its wonderful to hear your take on so many beloved titles as an outsider.

[@jasonbales6536]

It’s really a testament to how thoughtfully crafted Komodo’s music is.

[@nicksharma8238]

Yes. So cool to see an outsiders new perspective. Binging all his Nintendo videos

[@emmanuelguerrero3071]

@@jasonbales6536 Its Kondo... Koji Kondo lmao.

[@rezahydra]

Majora’s Mask is easily one of the wildest game stories you’ll ever hear. Rushed development leading to a game that shouldn’t of happened that broke all conventions of gaming not only at the time, but still influencing so much to this day. If there was a contender to Twilight Princess for my favorite Zelda, this would be it alone just because of how beautifully executed it was.

[@BboyKeny]

To me what always stuck is that the time aspect is both your enemy and your saviour. The end is always close by and you got to plan your days to make progress, which can be very tense. But you can always safely reset to day 1 if you mess up. Which is very forgiving and makes it possible for just screwing around and exploration. The amount of side quests and story you have, will keep you busy.

[@autisonm]

Yeah I really enjoy those two games but I'd give the edge to Majora's Mask.

[@Zephhi]

Facts. Majora’s Mask is a masterpiece and TP is probably my second favorite along with OoT

[@rezahydra]

@@Zephhi Don’t like OoT personally. Think it’s aged terribly. Doesn’t help I played it after TP which was OoT again but better imo. But without it A LOT wouldn’t of happened. So I respect it regardless.

[@Zephhi]

@@rezahydra That’s alright. I don’t think it’s aged terribly at all. It’s dated, but it still holds up. Framerate is a bit iffy but the 3DS version fixes that Though I will say that the 100 it has on metacritic is not deserved because it’s really not the best game of all time

[@DisableYT]

I love Final Hours. It fits the context of the game so well. The game's sound design really compliments it, too. The song by itself is something you'll only really hear in the pause screen. In-game, this song is accompanied by a series of earthquakes, and an endlessly chiming clock tower that you can hear no matter where in the world you are. It really helps sell the sense of finality the track is going for.

[@VelvetAura]

Yeah, being able to hear Final Hours from anywhere in the world really makes it feel like the entire land of Termina is praying, or perhaps mourning

[@stellamarie32]

One of the big themes to Clock Town is denial. Day 1- Everything's mostly fine, a little chaotic, but normal bustling city. Day 2 - The end draws closer - The town is buzzing as people argue about whether to cancel the festival and flee for their lives. People are rushing to get out, there's a great anxiety in the air. Day 3 - A few still struggle internally to leave or not, but a most of what are left are the staunch deniers or the ones who have accepted their fate. And you can hear the looming that literally staring down over the town.

[@ATXnomad698]

One of the coolest things about MM is that the writing is believable. It's honestly a lot like Jaws; it's just as much about how scary the crisis is as it is about how scary everyone's response to the crisis is.

[@supergamer1388]

I gotta say, Day 3 and Final Hours just don't sound right without the Earthquakes and constant tolling of the bell. You are right on the money for Majora's Mask and the popular reception.

[@alejandrotti10]

There's a lot of stories in this game following the same three days. This is one of them. Day 1: Welcome back to Termina! All the citizens work as usual, preparing for the Carnival of Time, that will be celebrated in three days. Everyone is excited! In honor of the mythical four gods, saviors of their world, each person brings a handmade mask to the festival, celebrated around the Clock Tower, where on the eve of the festivity, opens its doors to the roof, where an ancient song is sung from afar. According to those who know the tradition, if a couple united on the day of the festival and dedicated a Mask as a sign of their union, it would bring luck. However, a lady with a moon mask in her hands was worried about the whereabouts of her husband. He disappeared not so long before the day of the wedding, and now there were rumors about if he left her to live a better life on some distant farm with another girl. Was it because of her? But then, what would be the meaning of the letter she received last night? The imp from afar doesn't seem to care. He's just happy to play with his mask, laughing at the uncertain fate while the moon descends. Day 2: Welcome back to Termina! Oh, it's raining, but the show must go on. Even if a nephew, a hero or a lover dies, there's a carnival in two days. Everyone is doubtful. The skies are clear, aren't they? The moon seems creepy to, but what can they do about it? It's not like some devil is threatening the world or anything. There's no time to tell fairy tales, if there's time at all; they must have faith in whatever the future plans with them. There's a young man hidden near the laundry pool, wearing a mask from his childhood to hide his appearance. He laments a lot about his life; his sun mask was stolen by a nasty thief, and his adulthood was taken by the mischiefs of an imp with the face of a devil. Without both, he can't return to his loved one to fulfill the promise he made to her when they were kids; but he won't waste time. Whatever happens, he will try to recover what he has lost. The imp from afar seems down. He feels alone at the top, with only a terrified fairy and a falling moon by his side. And the mask... The mask tells the truth. The moon must fall. He's thinking about the gloomy fate while the moon descends. Day 3: Welcome back to Termina! The moon's falling over all of us! But there's a carnival tomorrow! It can't fall now! Everyone is afraid! Where are the gods, the giants who once saved the world? Did they exist in the first place? Is the moon even real? Are their lives even real? Death is coming. No! The show must go on! There's no time, there's no time. To think there is no time. To remember there is no time. Even the ghosts doesn't remember the stories of so long ago. Only the happy mask salesman remembers the rumored origins around that devilish mask. Only the imp remember the betrayal of those who called friends. Only his fairy companion remember those friends who everyone else called gods. Only the hero and his yellow fairy friend remember. Only they have time. Kafei would seek for the thief, even if it leads him to the graveyard that once was a proud empire. But even then, the hideout of the thief has a self mechanism defense in case some intruder wants to go there alone. And considering how Ikana is far from the town, to who Kafei would ask for help? Even then, whatever is put in the mechanism, will be transfered to the thief itself, so afar from the inevitable doom of Termina. Is it over for his quest? Or maybe a miracle will happen? Someone who carries a lot of personas over his own would arrive and retrieve the Sun Mask for him, if fate itself decides so. The imp from afar gave himself into the desire of the mask. The moon must fall. The moon must fall! Oh what an inevitable fate! Final Hours: There are almost 70 masks that the hero can face. Almost 70 identities to take over his own. But he's no hero anymore, he's just Link the child. No one will remember his story as his own, and everything he faced before is now lost in time. Even Navi left him, after successfully guided him to defeat the lord of evil himself. What was left for him? Nothing, except to take a new identity. But which one? The one that he had during his first day in Termina? Or the ones that he had during his first day in Termina? After all, how many times did he live his first day in Termina? The second, the third, the same dreadful final hours? Was he even still alive anymore? Skull Kid remembers him. He was a friend too, but he also left him. And now he's just a lonesome imp, with only two fairies by his side. Tatl and Tael, brothers of the same kind. Howvever, Skull Kid is no more. His fate was sealed when he stole that mask, after all. He left Tatl too, on his quest of pranking everyone by making the moon fall over everything. Was this his rage against the world? Or maybe... Against the ones who left him? No one in the city knows what's going on. They're trying to live their lives, or at least what's left for them. Even in some places, the dead seemed to return from the grave and help them out with the calamities of their respective temples, but they didn't praise the hero. They praised the corpse of a withered child, a buried leader, and an injured guitarrist. The hero learned the Song of Healing not to heal their wounds, but their spirits instead, so they can rest in peace, and no one but those who remember knows that truth. That song only saved one single life; the last life to which he played. Even then, those moments where he saved everyone, was really him, or was just his masks? The lovers are no exception. Anju, the lady of the Moon Mask, waited until the end of his loved one, even if it costed her her own life. Kafei, the young man of the Sun Mask, would only arrive one and a half minute before the inevitable, just so he can marry his loved one once and for all, even if it costed him his own life. But destiny cannot be changed, can it? The happy mask salesman smiles in agony, looking at the top of the clock tower. Will the hero be there, confronting the inevitable in utter despair? Did he leave the town, looking for a place to hide from the one thing he cannot hide? Or did he joined other ones in their despair? Or maybe in their hope? Oh, what a terrible fate...

[@liraco_mx]

"This is uncomfortable", as you should feel as you know the end is near (because you can literally see it coming in the form of a giant moon right above you)

[@Izithel]

One of the aspects I like is the increasing speed of the composition as the days go on. Day 1 is 100 bpm, Day 2 is 125 bpm, day 3 is 150 bpm. The tension in town is going up as the final doom approaches, not just the citizens are in denial but the very soundtrack is, and if we just play the cheery tune harder and faster we can surely ignore what's going to happen. But just like the citizens the soundtrack can't pretend everything is fine any more no matter how fast and loud it tries to play the happy town music as dread creeps in trough those discordant strings on the final day. And Final Hours, well at that point pretty much no-one nor the soundtrack that can deny or stop what's going to happen. It's almost accepting of the tragic fate that is about the befall the world, and the best part is that it plays everywhere in the game world, no matter how far you run you can not avoid it. The world is doomed. It's funny, the first time trough the Day 1 music is a bit grating, to cheery and chipper. But after a while you start look forward to going back to that tune, a nice cheery break from the trials, and 3 more days before the moon crashes into the world killing all.

[@goawaypleasethanks]

The best way to put the 3rd day song is denial. It screams "Everything is fine! Just go about your day as normal!" While the reality is looming in the BG. And sky. Also, has anyone noticed final hours kinda sounds like Ganon's theme? The way it climbs is so reminiscent of the man who doesn't even make an appearence in the game. Almost like it's his evil is still driving the world into chaos. Including Termina. Nothing escapes his malice.

[@jacobmonks3722]

Majora's Mask has the best music in all of Zelda, none of the other soundtracks capture such a range of positive and negative emotions. The panic, dread, loss, heartbreak, and fear is counteracted by the hope, peace, gratitude, and passion felt in every area of the game's world. It's my favorite video game of all time because of how much it says with so little, how powerful its themes are especially in the doom and gloom of our own world, and how every part of the experience in both gameplay and story ties back into those themes of despair and hope.

[@Mrinsecure]

Majora's Mask is definitely an outlier in the Legend of Zelda series, not only for its tone, but also for its weirdly philosophical bent. In practical terms, Majora's Mask is about a world that is on the precipice of a world-ending calamity, a moon that is going to crash into the earth in 72 hours, and only Link (and his ability to warp time) has the means to save the world. In more philosophical terms, Majora's Mask is about death, and coming to terms with loss. Clock Town, the hub, essentially represents denial, with a town full of people who seem to do their best to ignore the disaster literally hanging over their heads. As the days pass, the music gets more frantic, as the citizens become less and less able to keep their lives going in the face of an undeniable, and unavoidable, disaster. Each major section of the game, likewise, is themed around one of the stages of grief. And it's interesting to explore how each civilization deals with what seems to be inevitable doom.

[@diamondrust4719]

It's been years since I last heard the "Final Hours" and it is still as hauntingly beautiful as it was when I was a teen.

[@NobleRed]

It’s wonderful that you got to experience this. The main theme of majora’s mask-clock town- is a perfect distillation of the game story’s main themes. It’s Groundhog Day if it were done by Zelda’s team. And each day moves you closer to doom. The end of a people. As their physical end crashes into their homes with the freakin MOON! And that last piece… Oh man does it resonate so much. The once jovial people who do their day-to-day without a care now cower under their once-refused end times. Breaks my heart just thinking of just strong will characters, ones you’re CERTAIN would be ready to face the end stoically and without fear, are actually terrified. Hiding in the back tearfully wishing they could flee their terrors. As a kid it hit hard watching it all unfold as I pushed the time limit to its… limit. This one hits hard when you hear it first… and guts you once you KNOW what REALLY is happening. 10/10 game truly. It’s on my personal 50 games to play before your game is over.

[@VelvetAura]

Well put. I absolutely agree

[@GURGLEGUY12345]

I'm so glad I gave this game another chance when I was younger. As a child, I visited the home of my mother's friends and had my first experience with _Zelda,_ being _Ocarina of Time._ Of course, it was Ganondorf's fight and I kept getting my ass kicked because I couldn't time the swings right, but it interested me, and my mom's friend said I was doing pretty well anyway. So, couple or so years later, I had my nana rent an N64 and a copy of _"Zelda"_ (I didn't know the subtitle, let alone that there were two on the N64), and it ended up being _Majora's Mask._ So, I get home, plug it in, start the game, make my way through the starting area and out to Clock Town and...have no idea what I'm doing. Can't figure out what I'm supposed to do, so I just wander around aimlessly until the moon drops. At that point, I think I was old enough to know that's not supposed to happen, but still couldn't figure out what to do and, petty and spiteful little brat that I was, declared that I hated _Zelda._ Dunno what got me back into it, but I'm glad that I did.

[@cloudkitsune17]

As a kid, the Final Hours was one of my favorite tracks and I would constantly pause (open the menu) to stop the ticking clock so I could listen to it longer (before it was easy to pull up on KZbin to listen to). It's so eerie and sad, I love it~

[@porgy29]

The music from the last two songs being so uncomfortable works really well in the game play. You only have so much time to complete a quest before you have to reset the day so you are always racing against time to get what you can done before you have to reset everything and loose your progress on anything you didn't finish. Those songs are both making it clear that you only have a short while left while reminding you that at any time you can just go back to the nice and happy day 1 and not have to deal with it. Any time you have to wait until the Final hours the game makes sure that you are very uncomfortable the entire time you are doing so and the music is a huge part of it.

[@bowoflight4]

The hollow sounding synth for the final hours really makes it seem so ominous and that section of the game really is ominous because the setting is ghostly streets in a town that's mostly been abandoned while the moon has come within inches of this town before crashing. It's truly the right level of dark and ominous that make you feel like the end has come

[@Graeldon]

Majora's Mask is such a beautiful gem of a game. A Groundhog Day style story with time-bending mechanics makes for such a unique and unforgettable experience. It's not a super long game, unless you are aiming for 100% completion. Worth looking into, but I'd recommend playing Ocarina of Time first to truly appreciate how the game evolved.

[@Djrhcp1]

Seeing you react to this and kind of paying more attention to the music makes me realize how much of a masterpiece this game is. The way everything is connected and the time events throughout the whole thing are so well thought out is insane! No wonder I always struggle when choosing my favorite zelda game

[@hmgirlpopuri5819]

I think people have already explained it well in the other comments but yeah, the short version is that Majora's Mask is set 3 days from the end of the world with the apocalypse getting closer every day.

[@MajoraZ]

Replying to this late but Majora's Mask is extremely special to me and I wanted to gush a bit and explain/expand on how the variations on the theme here fits into the game's mechanics. As other people have alluded to, Majora's Mask runs on a time loop where the same 3 days constantly repeats over and over as the moon crashes closer to the earth at midnight of the third day. The premise alone lends itself to a feeling of tension and gloomyness, but the way that actually functions MECHANICALLY and ties into the game's narrative/writing, themes, and music (as you've heard here) I think honestly makes it one of the most artistically meaningful games in the entire medium, in that it's something you COULD NOT do in any other entertainment or storytelling medium. For starters, even before the whole time loop starts and the game really opens up to you, you have link being ambushed in a surreal realm between worlds where he's transformed/stuck in the body of a week enemy in a nightmarish acid-trip sequence: You're stuck in that body during the initial 3 day cycle, and are largely powerless and helpless and nobody in town is willing to talk to you or help you, which itself contributes to the feeling of inevitable doom and stress the game has (it also litterally has a timer constantly ticking down on screen, and the moon inches closer and closer further down in real time). Additionally, each NPC in the game has their own preset schedule across the entire 3 day loop: They don't stand around in place, but will actually go to different places and interact with other NPC's and will have their own tasks and different dialog depending on what time of day it is and which day it is. This makes the game feel VERY alive and organic, like these are real people and a real place, which adds stakes to the threat (litterally) overhead. As other people have mentioned, they also react to the increasing danger, where different people cope with it in different ways, or try to escape on the second or third day or increasingly are breaking down emotionally over it the further along the timeline is. This (and the sidequests I mention below) can get VERY dark. Unlike a lot of other Zelda games, Majora's Mask also has a HUGE emphasis on sidequests which actually make up the bulk of the game's content, where you're helping people and their problems (which narratively are often rooted either indirectly in the catastrophy that's underway, or via Skull kid having personally cursed or stolen etc them), and the 3 day time loop itself acts as a puzzle where people are only in specific locations at specific times, and you can lock yourself out of events necessary to solve their sidequests if you don't interact with them before a given time: this is also done organically, where rather then it being an arbitrary gate on your progress, it's based on their actual life and the nature of the issue, like maybe they already sold off the item to somebody else by then or so on. A lot of side quests also intersect with one another, where one person maybe rewards you with something you need for another quest or where solving their problem makes them available to then visit somebody else, etc. In practice, that means you CANNOT do every sidequest in a single 3 day cycle. In fact, you can't even do most of them or really more then a single of the main-quest objectives (which are solving the problems and breakdown of society in different quadrants of the map outside of the central clock town hub). So every time you hit that limit and have to roll time back... all of the work you put in to finish sidequests, all of the people you helped: undone. You're forced to see them suffering and troubled again with them none the wiser to what you did to help them. Suffice it to say that visually and in terms of music and audio the game also similarly has a very gloomy and dark tone: As you've heard, the clock town music goes from cheery to sort of subtly melancholy to unnervingly manic to haunting and ominous over the course of the time limit, but this extends to so much of other aspects of the game. There's just a complete and utter synergy of how the game's mechanics (the time limit creating stress and inevitability, the cycle forcing you to see your progress undone, the sidequests and schedule system), writing/themes (the premise of the moon crashing, how creepy Skull kid/Majora's mask is, the surreal/trippy tone, seeing people break down over their impending demise, the fact that link's powerups are actually tied to the dead unfulfilled souls of other characters, etc) and other elements that you could not do in a book or a comic or a movie. It's simply a piece of art.

[@zackblade3856]

The context is you have 3 days to save the world, what you listen to is how the main town changes as it comes closer to impending doom, and final hours is what you listen to 6 hours before the sky comes crashing down on you

[@Stephen-Fox]

Since you asked how it plays - Zelda is a series of adventure games with most having a fairly straightforward overworld/dungeon split, and Majora's Mask adds a 3 day time cycle, which ends either when you choose to time travel to reset the time cycle to the start, or when the moon crashes onto Clock Town at the end of the third day. During that three day time cycle you can clear dungeons (clearing a dungeon is permanent progress towards completing the game, but the area around the dungeon resets so you need to sometimes need to beat the dungeon boss again) or you can do side quests, with each NPC having a scheduled series of events they do during those three days so you're gathering information during those three days to figure out where you need to be and what you need to do to fulfil those side quests before making sure you're in the right place at the right time to actually complete them. All with a lingering doom literally hanging over the world.

[@Kraator57]

Jesse! The moon's falling! Get out of the way! Oh my god he has headphones on. He can't hear us. Oh my god!

[@darkpyro786]

Bro imagine playing this game as a kid. After hearing the final hours I know I wouldn't have been able to sleep for about a week lmao. Glad I dodged that bullet

[@justanotherartist5646]

Thank you for reacting to this!! I actually was the one that uploaded that video on my old account "NeoSlayer93". I'm going to see if I can remember my login for that. I do wish I used "Final Hours" with the bells and earthquake sounds from in-game as well, but too late 😅

[@LooseAsADEUCE]

Chrono Trigger is actually a perfect comparison bc of all the time travel and the seemingly doomed fate.

[@Fuzunga]

Majora’s Mask has always been pretty beloved, but what you described was pretty much what happened with Wind Waker. It came out after Majora’s Mask and everyone was upset that it was too cartoony and happy, but now it’s regarded as one of the best Zeldas by everyone.

[@AggressivelyLoving]

this game is the best game that was ever made. no doubts. everything put together is a masterpiece, music,setting,gameplay,story. holy shit there will never be a game as good as this one

[@KnucklestheEcidna]

the moon comes crashing down on the town. and you're stuck in a 3 day loop to save everyone.

[@Varizen87]

Majora's Mask is a game where you relive the same 3 days over and over as the region you're in is destroyed by The Mad Moon falling at the end of the 3rd day. It is impossible for Link to do what needs to be done in 3 days though, so he has to reset the world back to the beginning of the first day through the Song of Time constantly. The 3 day cycle though allows for various time sensitive events and character events that are time sensitive, making for very interesting side quests. There are a few that take the whole 3 day cycle and 1 that takes to the literal last second to complete, and being a moment late can mess everything up. Anyway, Link constantly must reset the cycle while he secures pacts with giants to stop the moon from falling all so that he can reclaim the stolen Majora's Mask, an object of great and dark powers, from the Skull Kid. An object that should not be in the hands of a child has been stolen by a child... and it spells the end of everything.

[@pointlessmanatee]

majora's mask is art

[@a.t.rivera7460]

mannn majora's mask freaked me out So hard as a kid. the Final Hours music was something that always struck me to my core. such a haunting and yet weirdly pretty melody. also LOVING the subtle Emotionless Passion playing in the background of your commentary! Tekken for life!

[@SyLuX636]

This games explores very dark themes, what is the meaning of your life and to do with it. If this were your last days to live what would you do with that time you have left. This game explores a multitude of those ideas with each character in the town and villages surrounding it.

[@Rubick471]

I will never forget my first experience of the Final Hours in the game when I was little. There is a circular field outside the main town hub where I was just running around when it began. The clock strikes midnight for the third and final time in the game, and what normally would be silence is broken by a haunting and beautiful tune--the "Final Hours". Only six hours remain. The night skies turn the most eerie mix of dark blues and bright, subtle reds signaling impending doom. It was terrifying but also magical, enthralling even. I remember being taken aback and just stopping to listen and watch the skies for the moon to fall. It is among the most unique experiences I have ever had in all my gaming life; I struggle to think of others from any game that can even come close.

[@Arksimon2k]

Definitely a theme of time in this one, so very intersting you got a Crono Trigger vibe.

[@anje93061]

Third Day are similar to when the player getting higher and and in Hyrule Castle in "Twilight Princess" where the music goes from sad loneliness to the dark and more threatening Ganondorf's Theme.

[@christopheraldana1038]

Honestly the only thing the Final Hours theme is missing is the ambient giant church bell chiming. Given the context of when it's playing I always imagined that there was some other poor and heroic soul staying behind to alert the coming of the end

[@zephytime8196]

The final step of the Couple's Mask quest is a singular moment in video gaming history and in my opinion, listening to the final day theme is incomplete outside that context, particularly without those fucking bells tolling the end of the world as you wait, hoping for nothing more than the long lost love you'd been searching for to come back to you one last time... to await death together.

[@peggieschafer485]

Heartbreaking every time. You've got your Song of Flight and bunny hood getting you there first, and you can't help but run around impatiently while Kafei runs as fast as his stubby child legs can take him. Hearing that door *finally* open doesn't bring the relief it should, because that moon's still just about to crash and there's nothing you can do to stop it.

[@okamanokama]

Aaaaaa fark, I haven't played this game properly since it came out and the ACHE in my chest remembering this side quest 😭

[@tafferinthedark]

You should have picked the version of Final Hours that includes the clock tower bell and the earthquakes. "Ask not for whom the bell tolls... it tolls for thee."

[@JoeBo24]

The version of Clock Town by Rozen is very very good too!! It will give you chills for sure

[@psilocyberspace]

The little melody in the beginning is a melody that's in most Zelda games as far as I know, and will always play when the sun is rising to signify the shift to daytime.

[@wesnohathas1993]

That melody is actually the Sun's Song from OoT.

[@ortrus5911]

This song is a good example of what Majora's Mask is about, does a very good job at reminding you of your time left, specially on last day and final hours. Can confirm that working so hard to clear a dungeon and having the final hours song play is even stressful, as it reminds you how little you have left before you have to start all over again. Out of all the Zelda games Majora's Mask is probably the "hardest" to go in blind, as it's a direct sequel of Ocarina of Time, so to fully get the background the prequel is needed. Even without it though the game, while not being edgy, makes a very unique experience, one where your actions matter, and yet you have to undo them on every reset. The fact it's impossible to help everyone on each run and the fate that awaits some characters if you don't is the biggest difference compared to other Zelda games and makes it so unique.

[@mr.e3123]

its a 3d character action game with some platforming elements. the gimmick in this game is that youre stuck in a time loop of 3 days, you have to complete a series of dungeons in order free some magical giants who will stop the moon from falling on the world annihilating everything and so that you can stop a Deku Wood Imp who is wearing a Mask that contains the power of pure hatred and malice. you also travel back and forth through this loop in order to solve the problems of many of the denizens of this world. the tracks you are currently listening to is the main theme of the main town in the center of the world and play on day 1 2 and 3 and final days plays everywhere in the last 6 hours Majora's Mask wasnt as well recieved at the time but has a substantial cult following for its unique story and world and how it stands out amongst its peers of the time for having not alot of the standard story elements and characters of the other games: no triforce no zelda no ganondorf. it was a very ambitious and experimental and divisive game in the series to be sure

[@segafan2437]

And that is you hitting my top three games that affected my life. Sonic. Ffxiv. Majora's mask. Played this game on the gamecube when i was about 9-11. Took me those two years to finish it. And it affected my views on people and the world, and my preferences on media for the rest of my life. In the final hour, you stand in the middle of what was a cheery market, starring up in horror as the moon with a glaring face and angry eyes comes crashing down apon you, dark sounds rumbles and cracking skies. And the clock tower's heavy bells toll.

[@CMB505]

So you are correct on a lot of thoughts. This is a time oriented adventure game where you have to explore this world under a three day (roughly 72 minutes) time limit. Clock Town is the center of this world. The big game mechanic is you have the ability to time travel back to the start of the three day cycle. And it's a mixed bag for people. Some do not like it because they feel like they're to pressured and hate that some consumable items like arrows, money, etc are removed with every time jump. I actually love it, and learned to just manage my time to make sure I give myself some space. Plus you can easily get consumables back quickly enough. The biggest strength to this system is that it gives the world a lot of depth. You see a lot of NPCs repeating their cycles and learn a lot about them and the world around you. And that, plus the overall dark despairing atmosphere makes it very deep story wise. Even small characters like the postman you learn about his dreams, and motivations, and fears of the giant thing in the sky and his soon to be coming death because of it. Tragic and deep stuff. It's a game that becomes amazing, especially if you learn a few tricks to manipulate time and your resources and try to focus on doing smaller things instead of large chunks at a time.

[@wesnohathas1993]

With most NPC's having fleshed out schedules over the course of the entire three days, Termina ends up feeling the most alive out of just about any game world.

[@emmanuelguerrero3071]

Excellent blind reaction to an extraordinary soundtrack. Thank you for covering this and giving your thoughts! subbed

[@charlestrudel8308]

im gonna say only this: welcome to the doomed world of Termina. (yup, Termina, like a terminal phase disease)

[@theanthropologuy7775]

This was always my favorite game. Link can turn into an electric Fishman who plays a skeleton guitar, come on! Final Hours is devastating in game, seeing people denying/accepting their fate

[@PhirePhlame]

I do think there's a minor issue with grouping the Final Hours with the Clock Town music suite: Final Hours plays through the last six hours of the in-game 72-hour doomsday clock, no matter what area you're in. Clock Town, Termina Field, Great Bay, _everywhere._ The end of the world is just around the corner and you cannot escape it as it looms.

[@rotciv557]

Something I'll say about MM that hasn't been mentioned is how effective it shows off Existential Horror in what is *technically* a kids game. Typically, when a Zelda game wants to veer into a more horror sort of atmosphere they tend to go for the Gothic style, with the sort of architecture, themes and monsters that are typical of that genre. Even more rarely (almost exclusively when dealing with places full of undead foes) they might even go for something more grotesque in feel, showing off a bit of gruesome imagery, but MM is the only game in the franchise that has a large quantity of the fanbase debating whether or not the events of the game are even *real*, or if it was all a fucked up nightmare, or a dying dream. The plot reads like if someone tried to make a Zelda themed Lovecraft novel, but featured a protagonist that is actually capable of taking on such impossible circumstances.

[@olivia7782]

As much as he's known (deservedly) for his extremely catchy stuff, Kondo also wrote a lot of more atmospheric or spooky pieces for games too. The dungeon themes for the two N64 Zelda games all have a very mysterious, often ominous, type of sound, and are all composed by him, but those arent really the type of songs people are likely to recommend

[@Darkslicer17]

love this game and it's music

[@jeffreyreeves]

You should hear Day 3 and Final Hours with the Earthquakes and Bells towing. The added effects give you more sense of urgency and dread as time begin winding down....

[@mr.mystere4999]

If you're interested in giving the two N64 Zeldas a go, I would truthfully recommend the 3DS versions of the games, especially Majora's Mask. The music is unaltered, and they made the game look really damn good, and the moon even scarier. You are in for one hell of a ride! The game is a direct sequel to Ocarina of Time, so it assumes that you've played it and starts pretty fast. The game is played on a 3-day cycle, and every character in the game follows a set schedule. The N64 version actually would not let you save unless you reset the cycle by playing the Song of Time. The 3DS version eases that up somewhat by letting you save at an owl statue.

[@mr.mystere4999]

Hello myself from 9 months ago!! How are you today? Me? I am good!

[@EsporHB]

Excellent choice of song. I also thought about choosing it and so I am glad someone else took this song.

[@definitivamenteno-malo7919]

Majora's Mask is a game that explores every single negative emotion and also, healing and hope. It's an exquisite and sensitive peace of art that gets better every time you play it, being really close to Shenmue in the terms of content. Also, dark as fuck, 10/10 gave me a terrible fate.

[@charleswright8294]

Ngl, majora's mask is probably my third favorite zelda game, behind botw as no. 2, and twilight princess as 1. Hol up, i just now realized that i never actualy finished majoras mask... i wonder if i can find my 3ds, lol

[@Ghorda9]

in game the final hours track would be accompanied by the large town bell.

[@VelvetAura]

Only in clock town itself!

[@luciferfaust]

I wonder if you were picking up hints of a chasing melody when you compared it to some stuff from Chrono trigger, I remember you mentioning those themes in a handful of Chrono songs

[@joseluis.colungag]

Final Hours is just the game telling you it's over and there's nothing you can do to stop the apocalypse... except going back in time.

[@Captain_Char]

the final hours, is prob some of the most somber music in a video game, like the imagery in this game goes hard with the music

[@corruptedteka]

Oh hell yeah !! I wasn't expecting this ! This game is very special. Very somber vibe. I myself could not play it because it gives me anxiety... but i really appreciate what it does !

[@Monke80s]

Man and this is Day 3 and the final hours without the Earthquakes caused by the moon and the absolute death red color that is the sky

[@flesnessfilms9283]

Final hours isn’t the same without the quakes and bells

[@DarknessIsThePath]

Day 1: Happy Cheery Town Song Day 2: Ah a lil bit of Rainy Day. Day 3: We are all going to die! Final Hours: Doomsday

[@joevanno4323]

Rozen has a fan made version of clock town that I love a lot as well that combines the first three days and some of the final hours feel as well.

[@Pirabit943]

Are there vods anywhere for your live streams? I would like to see your first reaction to seeing majora’s mask.

[@slashn73]

The Soundtrack of your video is from Kazuya Mishima of Tekken 2💜💜💜

[@blenderpanzi]

When playing that game I didn't like the soundtrack as much as for Ocarina of Time. There are a lot of tracks that induce unease. But there are a few that I liked when playing it (Clocktown and Stowntower Temple in particular), and then came the cover versions by Theophany and I just loved all of those tracks. I'd really like if you could look into the two fan album's "Times End 1 & 2" by Theophany, especially comparing the tracks Clocktown and Deku Palace with their originals!

[@Doodle1678]

The final hours aren’t just the final hours of the day but of the world the last few hours before the moon crashes and everything is gone

[@Firestar0513]

All I have to add to this comment section is that you should do an image search for "Majora's Mask Moon" and then reread the comments you heart-reacted to that gave context to the scenario in which this song plays, and realize that abomination was what they were referring to every time they mentioned the moon. Imagine that terrifying thing staring down at you throughout the entire game, getting closer and closer every day, ending in nothing but the sound of earthquakes, the endless droning of a clock tower bell, and the Final Hours part of this song.

[@Exidel]

Majoras Mask is easily one of the best games ever made. The whole game exists on a 3-Day Cycle, doing as much as you can in those three days, then using the Song of Time to return to the dawn of the first day to restart the cycle before the moon crashes down on the world.

[@SirSlush_]

This game is very divisive among the community. It's my personal favourite Zelda game but I know fans who can't stand to play this game. I think the other comments have given you all the story context you need and yeah, you're pretty much spot on with your analysis.

[@leonardovazquez993]

Everywhere at the end of Termina i guess

[@vincentpey3929]

Majoras Mask is unike amongst all Zelda games, others have some sinister subtletys and or dark segments of the story but Majoras Masks tone and Atmosphere is entirely build arround a lingering sense of Dread and inevability, Doom is allways on the horizon, your time is running out. You see Majoras Mask takes place in a strange world named Termina, in this land tragedy has struck. A vile fiend wearing a demonic mask (the titular Majoras Mask, wich is moreso wearing him) has come to terrorize its enhabitants it has killed people, cursed the land, awoken the dead from eternal rest and even imprisioned this lands devine guardians. The grand finale of its misshief is to burn everything to the ground using a demonic moon with a giant staring face, to crash into the land wiping out everything in a gigantik inferno. When Link arrives only three days are left before it happens, the player is put on a timer each day lasts 24 minutes so you have 72 minutes to accomplish something before you eather watch the world end or travel back in time to the first day effektively undoing your progress. Throughout the days you can see the people go about theyr buisness in real time, you can watch as they deny their fate only to realize the reality of their situation when it is allready too late. Final Hours plays as soon as the timer hits the last 5 hours and this theme overrides every song in the entire overworld, no matter where you are from the highest mountains to the lowest valleys you can hear and see your Doom slowly but shurely approaching... I Love this game theres no other game that is that disturbing and strange but at the same time so beutifull and enchanting, Teremina is such a strange but wonderfull world. No other Zelda game is like that, however many of them have some sort of dark undertone, but Majoras mask is different especially since it is the direct sequell of THE quintecential Zelda Game "Ocarina of Time" the shire contrast is so incredibly jarring and fascinating. Fun Fact: theres a longrunning theory that each area represents a stage of Grief, some people even think that Termina is a sort of afterworld or purgatory... Hope youll do more Zelda in the future there are so many amazing tracks in this series Some of my favorite tracks are: Midnas Lament Lost Woods (Twilight Princess verion) Ancient Hero Ganons Tower (Ocarina of Time version) Ocarina of Times main theme Hyrule Castle (Twilight Princess version) Hyrule Castle (Breath of the wild version) Deku Palace Stone Tower Temple Song of Healing and many many more

[@hishouha]

Zelda games are my childhood, the songs are so good so I'd love to get more videos on them !!! I haven't played Majora's Mask yet sadly, but since I got the Switch N64 emulator online, I'm replaying Ocarina of Time and then I'm jumping onto MM which I'm VERY excited about because I love dark and creepy things like that. The vibe I'm getting with this song is so intense, the first day is like a normal town song you hear in Zelda games, then it becomes faster and faster until it gets super dark at the end, announcing the end. Chills man !!! 🥶 Zelda games aren't horror games, but they really have some creepy stuff like the Redead who traumatized me when I was a kid 😂

[@equest511]

I SHALL CONSUME!!! CONSUME ALL!!! O:< 👹

[@tkc1129]

They should have left the bells in for the final song. :-D

[@Gakusangi]

Final hours, ones before everyone dies

[@yasskb]

If you didn't played OoT and MM I would love to see blind playthrough on your channel !

[@Skycastle]

I wish you'd listen to Theophany - Deku Palace; and - Woodfall temple I'll leave it at that and end it with saying it was so nice to watch your reaction to this track and game

[@MorphBaller388]

JUST PLAY SOME OF THESE GAMES PLEASE

[@onihero126]

Final hours: nighttime, THE MOON, dark trees. Yeah you will See the Moon in the final hours of MM the best.

[@Mijiroth]

After the success of Ocarina of Time, they were forced to bring out a sequel as fast as possible to ride the hype and so Majora's Mask was created in one year. No time to overthink the story or the mechanics and just PANIC and I think this game encapsulates the anxiety the developers must have felt. My favorite game, period, and one that surpasses Ocarina of Time by a long shot, in my book. A game like this will never happen again, cause developers are not willing to take these kinds of risk anymore and just go fu** it let's throw shit at the wall and see what sticks. What I love about this game is that it focuses much more on helping the people and not the grand adventure. The "keep the moon from falling down" plot seems almost secondary. Final Hours is contextually creepy cause at that point, the bustling town is almost entirely empty, except for a few stragglers that are too stubborn to realize what is happening, the ground is shaking, the sky is red and there are fireworks going off reminding us there was supposed to be a festival going on right now and not the end of the world. There's a version here on KZbin with the other sfx which is so much more eerie. Also you can hear it no matter where you are in the world, even if you're in some dungeon it just constantly reminds you that you're running out of time. And you CAN run out of time.

[@chickenking67]

"Is this like the end of the game?" In a way...

[@GeekInBelgium]

Not the Zelda I would tell you to play first, but it's still one of the most unique experiences in a video-game. The 3DS version is definitely the one you want to try if you decide to try it. It indeed was poorly received at launch, a lot of people didn't like the constant pressure and the heavy atmosphere of the game. It also has the best side quests you could hope for.

[@GameMaster0097]

Masterpiece

[@Zuernaxashyr]

I recommend the Dragon Age Origins main theme next!

[@arch4609]

Time passes as usual, but not many realize it's true worth. Creeping, impending, total annihilation comes.

[@veeegy2745]

Heck yeah, my first and favorite Zelda Game!! I love this track so much.

[@thenonexistinghero]

The original Majora's Mask has a few huge flaws. The saving system was just awful. You could only save properly with a full cycle reset. There were also Owl statues to make a temporary save that would get erased upon loading. If you had a power outage, reset the game accidentally or if it crashed... well, you'd get sent back to start of your last cycle with absolutely nothing saved. And dungeons could be fairly lengthy, so an Owl statue wouldn't always be within reach. Basically this meant the game required long play sessions. There's also a few other things like the notebook being too cryptic and the bosses being a joke. The 3DS version improved on everything other than 2 things. They made it 'slightly' less creepy in some parts. And the swimming with 1 of the transformations is worse. Personally, I consider the N64 version to be significantly worse than Ocarina of Time. But I think the 3DS version of Majora's Mask is just as good as Ocarina of Time (and OoT 3D).

[@wesnohathas1993]

I fall into the opposite camp, finding nearly every change the 3DS version made except for visuals (but in some ways that too) to take away from the experience.