How Poignant Should a Zelda Story Be?

[Spirit]

Poignant is probably the wrong word, but 'important' doesn't cut it either so i'll explain.

Zelda stories link, there is a timeline, they fit together in their own way but sometimes there are installments that do very little or nothing at all to move the story along. Mainly i'm thinking Both Phantom Hourglass and Link's Awakening. PH was a rescue Tetra/Zelda affair and that was really it, there was no shadow invasion or the resurrection of Ganondorf etc etc, if this game never happened the timeline wouldn't be affected, and Link's Awakening where it was all a dream... also means nothing to the timeline overall.

As Zelda followers do we care at all that an installment of a Zelda game like PH and LA do little or nothing to push the story forward or are we just thankful for a new Zelda experience each time? Do stories like LA that have no real relevance to the timeline feel like pointless filler in a franchise with three/four very open ended timelines?

 

[SNOlink]

I just like the new Zelda experience. Sure, they may have no relevance to the timeline, but that doesn't affect how fun those games are.

 

[godess reborn]

I think that a Zelda game should at least try to fit in the timeline. It doesn't have to be the entire point of the game, just a few things we have seen in previous Zelda installments that show a timeline does exist. It's the experience of playing the game that matters most (not saying that plotlines aren't important), but if it connects to other games it make it more interesting to look back on once we've beaten it.

 

[A Link In Time]

Nintendo has been placing a larger role on story in recent installments especially Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword. The company's development team has simultaneously been great at communicating feelings of love, anger, jealousy, grief through character's words and actions. A title in the franchise certainly shouldn't be overly sentimental, however, it is essential to include personas the player cares about. Zant and Ghirahim were more than your follow villain with each inciting not only fear but a certain demented sense of humor into their titles. The companion character of Fi as well as Midna further fueled the pathos fire in recent installments and it's this level of development I would like to see in the future. Also, Link's Awakening did boast a very "deep" and intriguing story especially considering that it was all a dream.

 

[MW7]

Personally I don't care at all about tying the stories together. I'd actually prefer that the stories would be scaled back, and oddly the two stories I liked most were side stories anyway- Link's Awakening and Majora's Mask.

 

[Mrflamexd3]

I honestly feel that the timeline is messing people's minds about how they like Zelda games.
Each Zelda game is independent (there are a few exceptions) and they are meant to be played like that. Enjoy each one and don't think, oh this one is only a dream so it's stupid. Link's Awakening and Phantom Hourglass were really great games and if people just played the Zelda games and realized that Nintendo didn't think about how the games would connect, they just thought about that game and how that game would make you enjoy the experience.
If you don't like Link's Awakening or Phantom Hourglass just because they add nothing to the timeline then I feel really sorry for you.

 

[skybird11]

a story is nice to have, but it sort of obstructs gameplay. i wouldn't mind if nintendo went back to games like ALttP or OoT where you find x objects, plot twist, rescue x characters. those two games were flexible in dungeon order unlike recent games where the story deems where your next destination is.

 

[Ventus]

Personally I don't care at all about tying the stories together. I'd actually prefer that the stories would be scaled back, and oddly the two stories I liked most were side stories anyway- Link's Awakening and Majora's Mask.

This really. Zelda's timeline has never been one to connect to each other in GOOD, meaningful manners and it was only recently that we got Hyrule Historia with the official timeline. In short I could careless about the bigger picture (i.e the timeline) and I just want that one Zelda game to have a story that means something to that specific game (e.g Ocarina sorta, Majora's Mask, Minish Cap, OoX).

 

[CheeseXCrackers]

Majora's Mask doesn't affect the timeline either because it happened in an alternate dimension, but lots of people still consider it to be the best Zelda game ever. It doesn't really matter whether or not the timeline is affected, as long as it's a fun game.
Actually, I hate the timeline. Nintendo probably just slapped it together to make the fans shut up. Before the timeline was created I always thought that every game in the series was it's own game and didn't relate to any of the other games in the series (with a few exceptions like MM).