Zelda fans channel Majora's Mask on the "dawn of the first day" in final countdown to Tears of the Kingdom

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"72 hours remain" and the internet can't stop referencing the fan-favorite dark horse of the Zelda series

Majora's Mask
(Image credit: Nintendo)

With 72 hours remaining until The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom launches, the internet is relentlessly referencing Majora's Mask's classic "dawn of the first day" opening screen.

For the uninitiated, Majora's Mask is a weird but good Zelda game that takes place in a Groundhog Day-like time loop that resets every three in-game days, with each loop consisting of about 54 real-world minutes. On the first day, you're met with a pretty plain black screen that tells you you're at the "dawn of the first day" and that "72 hours remain." Well, we're now three days from Tears of the Kingdom, and fans all over the internet just can't help their little selves from making all of the references.

Because they deserve it, I'll start with the Zelda fan artist who's been making lovably bad art for 900 days leading up to Tears of the Kingdom. As expected, they absolutely understood the assignment here:

Here's some more:

72 Hours Remain! Let me have all of your wonderful 'Dawn of' posts! from r/tearsofthekingdom
this is going to be the longest 3 days of my life from r/tearsofthekingdom
I made an accurate version ("72 Hours Remain") from r/tearsofthekingdom

Need we go on? Point is, Tears of the Kingdom is three days away, and no matter how much Zelda fans channel Majora's Mask, that still equates to 72 real-world, agonizing hours and not 54 minutes. And remember, if we did somehow fall into a wormhole with Majora's Mask's world timer, we'd only get to play Tears of the Kingdom in the same 54-minute increments, and that doesn't sound like nearly enough time to experience the whole game. Or maybe I just unlocked a new speedrunning challenge.

If you're pressed for time, you should know you don't have to play Breath of the Wild first to enjoy Tears of the Kingdom.

Jordan Gerblick
Jordan Gerblick

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.