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Which Game Has the Best Story?

How Important is Story to You in a Zelda Game?

  • Story is the Deciding Factor For Me

    Votes: 4 16.0%
  • Kind of Important, but Doesn't Make or Break the Game

    Votes: 8 32.0%
  • Just One of Many Aspects That I Look For

    Votes: 9 36.0%
  • I Don't Care Much About Story

    Votes: 3 12.0%
  • Stories Are Completely Unimportant For My Enjoyment of a Game

    Votes: 1 4.0%

  • Total voters
    25

Mellow Ezlo

Spoony Bard
Joined
Dec 2, 2012
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Slothkin
Some people say stories may make or break a game for them. Others might say the opposite. And others might just not care in the slightest about the story. So, regardless of whether you think story is important, you must have one you think is the best, so which one might that be? Maybe you like Majora's Mask, with its theme of impending doom and the coming of the apocalypse; maybe you like The Wind Waker, which featured a more personal story, with someone close to Link getting kidnapped, ideas later expanded upon in Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword; maybe you like the simpler, generic, bad guy takes over the world story, like in the original The Legend of Zelda, and Ocarina of Time; maybe you like Link's Awakening, which has arguably the most unique story in the series?

Some games have had great stories, some have had not-so-great stories, but which one truly has the best story? Discuss!
 

Jamie

Till the roof comes off, till the lights go out...
Joined
Feb 23, 2014
Gender
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In a Zelda game I care very little about the story because I don't expect there to be one. I suppose The Wind Waker or Skyrim **** probably have the best stories, maybe throw Twilight Princess in there but none of the stories are especially "good".

For other games, story can be a game changer. I find it hard to play through FFXV because the story is so bland. I'm expecting more out of a AAA JRPG than that.
 

Dio

~ It's me, Dio!~
Joined
Jul 6, 2011
Location
England
Gender
Absolute unit
Twilight Princess.

There is more complexity to the tale than there is to those in the other Zelda games which mostly feature very simplistic plots of bad guy taking over the world, rescuing the Princess and killing bad guy. That tends to be it and whilst some like that simplicity I find often characters dont tend to evolve over the stories course and end up lacking depth.

Yes the common story elements found in most Zelda games also feature but overall the story of TP is still the best this particular series has to offer and I find the plot takes a few interesting turns which we dont usually see in Zelda.

Character development whilst only done very well for a few individuals (Mostly it is even less), gave us some real standouts for the series in this game. The most obvious example is with Midna who is probably the most well written character in TLOZ, we really see her change over the course of the story and grow to care for her as her motivations are revealed she grows to care for Link, and I think even towards the end there could be some romantic feelings shared between them.

We also have the best pairing of Villains in Zant and Ganondorf. The former presenting himself as a badass main enemy to begin with but then the player begins to learn there is something even more powerful behind him. By the end of course Zant reveals his true nature in a sudden and unexpected way.

Twilight Princess also features a heartbreaking ending which I will never forget which features Midna making the decision to shatter the connection between the world of Light and the world of Twilight and as a result never seeing Link again.

I think the best video game stories or stories in general are the ones that make you feel. TP did just that and to a greater degree than any other so I have to award its story the top spot.
 

Cartoonmaniac

Biggest Zelda fan this side of the South Pole
Joined
Oct 8, 2016
Location
Stuttgart, Germany
I enjoy Wind Waker's "coming of age" kind of story. First, you're just a big brother trying to save your sister; then, you have to prove yourself as the next Legendary Hero. Very nice.
 

Castle

Ch!ld0fV!si0n
Joined
Oct 24, 2012
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A story can easily break a game but it doesn't necessarily make it for me. A good narrative can make up for a mediocre game but games are meant to be played which is why having a fun game should be everybody's top priority.

And I don't "look for it" in a Zelda game but by now nintendo has established narrative as a driving force in the Zelda series so I do consider it part and parcel to the experience.

That being said, Zelda games tell some of the best stories in video games. Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask in particular, but nothing beats Twilight Princess for sheer brilliance of narrative because of basically everything Deus said in his post and then some.

Such as everything this guy has to say.


How not to tell a Legend of Zelda? Yeah, Skudwart Schwartz. The smaltzy melodrama alone is cancer, and the story is way too high on itself. It always has to be the most important thing in the room crying for attention and sucking the life out of everything.

Wind Waker's plot always seemed all over the place to me and lacking in coherent themes. Of course, I'm no fan of WW and think it makes for a poor premise for a Zelda game overall. That guy's channel has an analysis series on Wind Waker too.
 
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Story is WHY i play games. Like movies, books and anime, video games tell stories only its medium can and i play to enjoy those stories. I have suffered through games with terrible slow down, graphics, gameplay, collision detection and design simply because the characters and story connected with me first before the bugs of the game reared their heads.

Zelda was the first video game i ever played. First game i realised that was telling a story and ive followed the series to enjoy the tales of hyrule and discover what and how each new title adds to the series as a whole.

With Zelda being a 'legend' of events it gives itself a lot of intrigue and mystery that is incredibly inviting for fans, ive not seen any other series do that as well as Zelda does.


As for the Zelda with the best story, I'm saying Wind Waker. It was so different and i couldnt wait to see a post apocalyptic Hyrule and how the series would move on from there.
The characters were great, i liked the way OoT was used in the narrative, i liked King Daphnes and Ganondorf's resolves and that ending gets me every time. I always tear up.
 

MW7

Joined
Jun 22, 2011
Location
Ohio
I really enjoyed Link's Awakening, Majora's Mask, Wind Waker, and Skyward Sword. Link's Awakening and Majora's Mask are creative and philosophical. They're just very interesting. Wind Waker feels the most epic to me, and Skyward Sword did the best job of making you care about the characters.
 

Pen

The game is on!
I've never cared much about story when it comes to video games in general. To me the gameplay is always the most important aspect of a video game. Perhaps that's why some of my favourite game franchises are Zelda, Pokémon and Mario. I play games to have fun, and to me it's always been good gameplay that makes a game fun. The story is just a neat little flare that's nice if it's interesting, but it's never the deciding factor for me.

That being said, I think The Wind Waker has the best story out of the Zelda games. It's got an interesting backstory and some very neat characters.
 

karu

Panamaniac
Joined
Oct 6, 2016
Location
Ravka
In my opinion, Twilight Princess had one of the best story lines. It was simple but full of mysteries and it was so satisfying when you uncovered something about a character. Though there are some moments in TP that I just don't like; when Illia remembers Link. It was so unsatisfying, she's just just like "Oh my god, I remember" gives you an item and that's that.

Majora's mask is a close second behind TP
 

Ventus

Mad haters lmao
Joined
May 26, 2010
Location
Akkala
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Hylian Champion
OoT-MM's story is the best story. Doing your job without so much as a complaint (OoT) but want to run the **** away from it because it's meaningless in the end (MM). die with ragrets. I give mad props to Link, it takes guts to do what he did.
 

CrimsonCavalier

Fuzzy Pickles
Joined
Mar 27, 2015
Location
United States
Gender
XY
I agree with @Castle in that a story can turn a good game into a bad game. But to me, it can also turn a mediocre game into a more enjoyable one. However, gameplay is the most important part of a video game. Bad gameplay is always bad. Stories can add or subtract, for sure, but if the gameplay is solid, I can still play the game.

As far as best stories in the series, Twilight Princess for sure, as @Deus said, and in particular the point about the antagonist: I loved Zant, but when I found out about Ganondorf ... whoa.

I'm also a big fan of the story in Majora's Mask, especially digging into the stories of each NPC. It made the world feel more vibrant, as if you felt more compelled to save the world than if they were just generic NPCs. They had families and feelings, and so I wanted to save them.

But to me the top story goes to Link's Awakening. In a world where the internet was not big, and so you wouldn't get spoilers from going online, I actually played that game from start to finish without knowing what to expect from the game. When I finished the game and the plot came around, not only did my jaw drop in terms of OMG PLOT TWIST, but looking back, a lot of the game made a lot more sense. Some of the things certain bosses say made sense. Characters make more sense once you know the story.

For example, I love Marin (as if my avatar wasn't a giveaway of that). I love her mysteriousness throughout the game—you never feel like you get to know her, and that makes it sad and interesting all at once. I love the references to other games in that game as well (Princess Peach, anyone?).
 
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