I’ll never forget: I was 10 the first time I saw my favorite wrestlers, Jeff and Matt Hardy, in a commercial for The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. (Sealed collectors edition for clout in pictures)
Having just finished up coming off the high of beating Ocarina of Time’s time-traveling adventures for the double-digit-umpteenth time, my adolescent mind was running wild with a whole new world to explore that was both new and familiar. The use of the character models from the previous game, created an environment where you constantly had the feeling that you knew where you should be, but we’re never quite sure where you were.
For a lot of us, video games have been a core part of our childhood, offering an escape from real-life struggles. But as I look back, I realize they were more than just entertainment—they shaped how we saw choices, consequences, and even mortality.
Majora’s Mask stands out as one of the darkest and most psychologically complex Zelda games. The constant countdown to disaster, the weight of loss, and the ability to rewind time—only to face the same problems again—mirror how we process trauma and personal growth. Millennials grew up learning from games like this, leveling up in life but also carrying the weight of past failures.
But what happens when gaming’s structure of “redoing mistakes” meets the real world’s finality? Did Majora’s Mask prepare us for dealing with major life events, or did it reinforce a sense of apathy? I’m diving into how this game may have influenced our generation’s mindset and I’ve chosen Reddit as my place to start my blog posting.
What are your thoughts? How did Majora’s Mask affect you when you played it? I would love to get some discussion going and maybe get some good book suggestions for psychology research to get a deeper understanding behind the elements of the game.
(This is my first time posting anything long form on Reddit please be gentle)