WhenThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomwas still developing, IGN interviewed Eiji Aonuma. He said the game would probably be “a little darker” than Majora’s Mask, which some revere as the darkest Zelda game of all time. However, when the game came out, many felt as though the game didn’t meet the expectations they’d been looking forward to.
While no one can deny that Tears of the Kingdom was successful, fans of the Zelda series may be looking for a different game to satisfy their need for something dark and gloomy. While several Zelda games could be considered the darkest, it’s truly up to the gamer’s own experience and opinion, though potential options can be given.
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass was released as the direct sequel to The Wind Waker. Taking place after Link and Zelda sail away from the Great Sea to find new land, the game truly begins when Tetra is stolen away by the Ghost Ship, leaving Link to come to her rescue.
However, he blacks out and wakes up in a land he doesn’t recognize at all, one that is being threatened by a life-consuming demon named Bellum. Even when Link finds Tetra again, she’s been transformed into stone. After a long adventure with new friends, Link saves Zelda, and they wake up on Tetra’s pirate ship, told that their adventure was just a dream. Could everything we experienced be diminished to that?
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks takes place 100 years after Phantom Hourglass in the land of New Hyrule. The controls can be a bit difficult at times, but the more modern setting for a Zelda game makes this entry in the series unique.
Betrayed by the demon chancellor Cole, Zelda’s spirit is torn from her body, which Cole plans to use in a dark ritual to revive theDemon King Malladus. The princess has no choice but to possess a suit of armor, called a Phantom, to help Link stop him. When Cole’s plan fails, Malladus tries to destroy the world, but our heroes stop him. Zelda gets her body back in the end, but it’s scary thinking about what might have been.
was originally released for the Game Boy in 1993, though later re-released for the Game Boy Color andremastered for the Nintendo Switch. In this game, Link wakes up on a mysterious island when his ship is destroyed in a storm.
Much of the game on Koholint Island is cheery and bright, with talking animals, friendly faces, andcameos from the Mario series. To escape the island, Link needs to collect eight instruments to wake the dreaming Wind Fish. In the end, the Wind Fish awakens, causing Koholint Island and everyone on it to disappear. As it turns out, the island itself had been the Wind Fish’s dream. Everyone you grew to know and love is now gone, erased with time like any other dream.
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Wakerfollows a young hero’s journey that begins with saving his kidnapped sister and ends with him saving the entirety of the Great Sea. When you think of scary moments in this game, your mind might go straight to the Earth Temple, filled with Redead and Floormasters. This dark dungeon is full of death and fear, but that’s not the only dark thing about this game.
The Wind Waker’s Great Sea is set upon the mountaintops of Hyrule, which was drowned by the gods when Link wasn’t around to stop Ganondorf. Those who could flee to the highest mountaintops, but not everyone could have survived a calamity like that.
Despite its usually bright visuals,Ocarina of Timesent chills down our spines at times. You begin the game as a child leaving the forest for the first time, journeying across Hyrule and even into the future to stop Ganondorf from having his way - only to realize he’s already shaped the future as he saw fit.
It was shocking to see the once lively Castle Town reduced to rubble inhabited by Redeads, and there are two dungeons more terrifying than that. A young Link must venture through The Bottom of the Well to get his hands on the Lens of Truth, guarded by the horrifying Dead Hand. He then must brave the terrors of the Shadow Temple, where the Sheikah once executed traitors to the throne.
From the moment you’re introduced toTwilight Princess’sversion of Hyrule, you know you’re in for a darker, more somber tale. Though beautiful in its own right, this Hyrule was one where its princess had to surrender to spare her people further slaughter. The people of Hyrule became mere shades in a land meant to be their home, overcome by the oppressiveTwilight Realm.
Your partner Midna is sarcastic and cynical as she lends a hand, and Link is shown what it would mean to give in to the overwhelming power of the Triforce. A light spirit is slain, and you slay Ganondorf, but Zant finishes the job by snapping his neck. Whether you’re a wolf or a man, this game leaves an impact on you.
Breath of the Wildtruly is an apocalyptic tale. Sheikah relics called Guardians were excavated only to turn against the people of Hyrule when corrupted by Malice. In their wake, the once beautiful Hyrule is left in ruins, and the world may be healing when Link wakes up 100 years later, but the scars of war still linger in the fields and mountains of Hyrule.
Life is found only in select pockets and the few brave enough to travel the road. Guardians still wander the land, ready to fire their lasers and shoot our hero down. Some civilians may have survived, but we’re left wondering how many lost their lives because Zelda failed to connect with her Goddess-given powers soon enough.
InMajora’s Mask, we leave the Hyrule of Ocarina of Time behind to find the dear friend we lost along the way. Instead, we’re met with a quest where we only have three days to save a strange land from a crashing moon, and everywhere in Termina is marked by grief.
The people of Clock Town live in disbelief that the moon could ever actually fall, Woodfall’s fresh waters have been turned to poison, and the Gorons of Snowhead freeze as it grows ever colder. Great Bay’s prized diva lost her eggs and her voice, and the dead roam free in Ikana Canyon, unable to find rest. In Termina, people have died, and we see what’s become of them, but still, we have no choice but to continue.
