I never claimed them to be totally non existent but virtually non existent. Bok Choy may have simplified them even more but not excessively so as they are in reality very simple and minor.
In the games, yes, but outside them, the stories are elaborate (TAoL backstory especially). So my point was that the simple fact even those games had stories surrounding them tells me that it really was Miyamoto's intention for Zelda to be a franchise focused around historical-like stories about Hyrule and other worlds that are all connected into a big multi-verse. Yes, that said proves that this whole "there was no story or timeline at the start" or "making everything up as the series moves forwards" thing is all just bs Nintendo pulled out of the a**es because Nintendo seems to find a strange sense of enjoyment/pleasure of messing with our heads and creating heated arguments and uproars in the Zelda fan community.
Miyamoto has literally been playing mind games with us along. Heck, there's even evidence that proves that Miyamoto had the whole history of Hyrule planned out since Zelda I. Evidence like Lorule's Triforce on the blade of Golden Sword Official Artwork for ALttP, long before Lorule was even properly introduced in it's rightful name. Then there's the sage names from OoT in Zelda II. And, if you turn the overworld map clockwise where the east side becomes south, it looks like an aged and wasted version of the same Hyrule from ALttP and ALBW. So ALttP was always meant to be a prequel of TLoZ from the start!
That all said, Miyamoto likes stories more than he leads you to think. The guy really is our world's version of HMS, as he always seems to like to keep himself surrounded in mystery.
