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OoT has an extremely basic story even compared to its contemporaries. See: the legacy of kain series.

Good job on links awakening

TOTK has a good story imo, it’s just the delivery isn’t as good because of the freedom to see different parts of it. If there was more linearity with when you find the tears it would have been perfect.

One big thing I feel is lacking in both botw and totk's storytelling is the lack of intrigue around the dungeons. We know what they Divine Beasts are and what all the totk dungeons are; they're Zonai facilities. Botw in my opinion has the strongest story of the two but it still really fails in this degree. It was always so fascinating to think about the dungeons in the older games. Why does the forest temple from OOT have this mindbending vibe of an old haunted manor? The spirit temple is literally the torture dungeon for the Royal family??? Who used to live in the Snowpeak ruins before the Yeti set up shop there in TP? What's up with Arbiter's grounds and the city in the sky? Who made the acient Cistern from SS and why did they need the water purified? The sandship is still running after thousands of years??? It was always so fascinating and really captured a feeling that the world was bigger than the game. Botw's have a bit of intrigue for their connection to the champions but they're otherwise kind of dull. Totk' s are even less interesting. No implied backstory, they're all just Zonai mining facilities. It was disappointing, really. The temples used to be the highlight of LoZ and now I find them kinda boring. If Nintendo could figure out how to smush together the older games dungeons and storytelling with botw/totk's overworld design and sense of freedom, I'd think they'd have a perfect game all fans would love.

Whatever issues I have with ToTK are isolated solely with it. To drag down the rest of these excellent stories because one single narrative didn't resonate with you is an almost dangerous sentiment; "throw the baby out with the bathwater", if you will. The only rebuttal you should have to give when someone says, "Zelda stories have always been bad" should be "Majora's Mask."

That's such a wild statement, because if you were to go back to 2014 game spaces what the Zelda franchise was known best for WAS the story

My opinion is this: If you don't pay attention to story in Zelda, that's your fault. But don't call the story bad just because you don't enjoy it. I go back to the old games because I want to relive how I felt the first time I saw Impa, the first time I met Sheik, the first time I saw Ganondorf. These are all amazing story moments that will stick with me for the rest of my life. And if you, little Timmy, or whoever is hating on these stories, can't wrap your tiktok brainrotted skull around the wonders of a well crafted narrative, that's your own fault. Take a break from the internet and play some games.

I've always liked the stories, but I never thought about the quality of them. The symbolism did the work for the story to carry it in terms of quality, because it touches on the sacred. The Triforce represents something real. There is an actual balance of three forces in the human heart which gives us various kinds of strength, ability, and attainment. The Triforce itself and the mystery of what it represents were the main thing that always drew me to Zelda games.

I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have links Awakening without a link to the past, so I think a little credit is due to that game. Plus I also understood A Link to the Past perfectly well storyline wise, without having to read the manual for that part. There may have been things I wouldn't have understood about it if I didn't read the manual I suppose, but it wouldn't have been story. And you're the second one making a video tonight who has shit on a link to the past even if you weren't trying to, so you can all sick my duck.

It’s so petty to file a complaint to the government because you got offended by a joke in a commercial.

24:43 Ow, my back…

To be fair, you would have a stronger argument using footage of the 1998 realease rather than the 3DS footage

I couldn't help but ask myself - yes, Link's Awakening is a great game, but it's so compact compared to ToTK, is it REALLY better? Then I hummed the Ballad and nearly three decades later, just three notes hit me harder than anything in ToTK.

A Link to the Past is also excellent so I don't know why you glossed over it and went right to Links Awakening 😂

I Think in many aspects that people conflate a bad story with a simple one. Just because a story is simple does not mean it is bad, nor does a stories complexity make it good.

Nothing to do with anything but you should do a video expressing why you hate botw, that would be an interesting video to see

Meanwhile the conversations I overhear in my university “where is the weirdest place you’ve done the deed?”

Wind Waker has always been exceptionally underrated in terms of story in my opinion. Link is given so much life as a person, he's so expressive and full of energy, and his empathy for others- especially his family- shines through so purely, even in comparison to all the other Links and their capacities for kindness. And the throughline of everyone around him telling him he is _not_ the Hero, he's just some random kid, he's not fit for the journey and he's not the Hero of Time and he's not who they're looking for- But he is who they have, and he is the only one willing to step up and do what needs to be done. If only the Hero can save his sister, and then his friend, and then his _world,_ then he will be the hero, gods be damned. Shove it in their godly faces that he's completely capable of the job, _demand_ the tools they want to withhold from him, drag the Triforce itself up from the bottom of the sea if it refuses to show up on his hand any other way. Someone needs to save the world, and he Does Not Care if it wasn't supposed to be him. It _will_ be him.

Truthfully, I don’t think that TOTK has a BAD story (it had way more of an impact on me over BOTW) but like you said it is heavily flawed. It frustrates me mostly because I see a story that could’ve been held in a similar regard to MM, WW, or OoT. Instead its gameplay holds it back in a way that not even SS faced- because at least SS had a cohesive narrative even with its janky game mechanic. TotK just couldn’t commit to seeing the emotional payoff of its story because it was antithetical to the gameplay- which to me means they should’ve told a different story and saved TotK’s for another gameplay mechanic. Or alternatively, respected the story enough to see how the gameplay could enhance it and vice versa. Like if you can do things in any order, then that should create multiple endings or reactions. Like if you find out (spoiler) is Zelda, then all of the side quests with Penn should be have altered dialogue, or something else that builds on what you know instead of reiterating it. same concept applied to the sages- the temples were underutilized as a form of storytelling about the sages from the past. so even if you cant change the dialogue of each of the new sages awakening (which is dumb, because OoT had sages awakening that highlighted their personality and if they didnt want the sages to say the next plot point, then Rauru can say it because he's there from the beginning, or Sheik can do it), the temple still makes us care about why this sage from the past died. which seems to be somewhat what they were going for in totk, but they dont commit. so again, the crumbs of story that are there are good- but they need refining and commitment. hell the final scene of the game is beautiful and impactful, and couldve been even more so

Zelda games have always had bad stories….since 2006 lmao

Totk has damaged this franchise to a very sad point

Great video, the only thing I don’t like is that majora’s mask “transcends the medium” as an argument that its story is as great as any other bc that implies that video games are worse as art pieces compared to other mediums that a game has to “transcend the medium” to be equaly as good as others stories portrayed by novels, films or comics. I believe vido game is a excellent medium to do art if not the best and seeing how so many people minimize the medium even subconsciently makes me kinda sad

The virgin "Zelda stories have always been bad actually" vs the chad "TOTK's story is good actually"

tbh, i dont really like the last of us as a game. it shouldve been a book or movie. the gameplay wasnt really fun. and i think thats why its so good that zelda puts gameplay first. it can ONLY be a game. it cant be a movie. something i didnt like was how you used the OoT remake to show the facial expressions as if you didnt have any faith in the OG to deliver when i think it was enough to support your point, and chosing the remake made your point weaker since i can just say "oh, but this is a remake"

This may sound odd but Hello Kitty: Island Adventure is like a mix of BOTW & Animal Crossing. Great video again ;)

I think what most people were trying to say is "zelda story's have always been simple" and that's very true, TOTK was first time it seemed like nintendo wanted to make the story a bit more of a focal point and they botched it pretty badly, so were zelda stories always bad? no they were just never super duper important. the 2 exceptions imo being MM and SS those 2 games lived and died by it's story/characters

Honestly my biggest fear is that Nintendo takes the criticism to heart and makes the next Zelda game like a western heavy story game with constant voice acting, movie-like acting and character drama. I love the way Zelda has told stories in previous games in a way only games can. Through environment, legend and other inhabitants of the world. Wether it be complex as in MM or simple but beautiful as in OoT. I hope that will not prove to be a thing of the past. Great video! Happy I’m not alone in loving classic Zelda storytelling

Also, I feel like the people who say this just can't find the words to describe something else. Which is that the plots have never had the complexity akin to something like Xenoblade or Final Fantasy. They're games with long cutscenes that explain the lore in detail and the existence of multiple timelines converging on each other. The plot for Skyward Sword which goes into this direction the most is pretty basic. Nintendo's development team has always prioritised creative freedom and new gameplay mechanics over narrative consistency.

What I appreciate about Majora's Mask is how the strength comes from the writing of the episodic scenarios and side quests. You get a really good feel of the lives of everyone in Termina and how they're coping with the end of the world. The story in Tears of the Kingdom is fine and gets the job done but it's told in an unintuitive way. The twist is really interesting but the game is structured where you get spoil yourself from that impact. It would've been better if they showed the memories in order after you beat the temples rather than unnecessarily splitting up the main quest in half. Not the best, but at least the ending segment is phenomenal and I'd still put it above Breath of the Wild and Twilight Princess.

Wind Waker and Link Between Worlds also have pretty great stories too. And honestly I feel like even Link to the Past has a pretty good story to it; it's pretty basic but there's enough complexity and surprises in it, especially for a SNES action game, and there's definitely an emotional arc to it which you just didn't see much of back when it came out. I do feel that TotK's story is a *bit* better than most folks give it credit for, and there's a pretty big recurring theme of sacrifice, for both Zelda and Mineru. There's also a lot of fun subtle environmental storytelling with the Zonai mines and how the Yiga Clan interact with them.

This is always frustrating to hear. It sounds like these people haven't played older Zelda games like Twilight Princess/Wind Waker/Ocarina of Time/Majora's Mask, etc. Totk's story wasn't even bad, it was pretty good.

solid video!

in my opinion BOTW and TOTK don't have bad stories, they're just told in horrible ways.

"Zelda's stories were always bad" Bro my favorite Zelda game is Majora's Mask and I didn't even played it. And for what reason ? THE STORY AND THE LORE (and the OST too but the OST are always good in a Zelda game)

Exactly, I hate cutscene based games, I want to play game not watch a movie, Zelda walked a very good line by integrating story into game......before botw and especially totk

the story beign shart is why i didnt buy it

One last constructive comment, OOT did not "revolutionize" story telling in gaming. Final Fantasy 6 and Chrono Trigger literally beat oot to that by 3 -4 years. Not only did those games come first, they took more risk. And have better story telling and actual character growth. They actually weren't afraid to show the world getting destroyed and characters dying. Ocarina of Time just feels like kiddy stuff compared to that. But it gets more recognition because its a Nintendo game. 🙄 Well at least Final Fantasy 6 and Chrono Trigger are available on modern hardware like PC and newer consoles. Also Final Fantasy tactics says Hello.

Just because Zelda games have good lore does not mean they have in depth character development or good story telling. Ocarina of Time is the most safe ans predictable game ever. And people actually think it "revolutionized gaming" Zelda games are basic safe nintendo games. The only adults who think Zelda ever had anazing story telling, are people like yourself who haven't seen much media. Try some Yakuza. Try some red dead. Play a classic Final Fantasy game. Watch Pulp Fiction. Gdet better tastes.The zekda franchise has as much depth as a rain puddle.Quit trying to make 2 inches if water look like an ocean.

None of the Zelda games have bad stories, but they're all equally about as deep as Super Mario Bros 3. Oh no. The princess is in trouble. Go save her. A better story driven experience would be red dead redemption or Berserk..But fair warning, those might be too mature for you. You think Zelda is deep after all so Berserk and rdr might, well, blow your mind......no offense.

I like how you talk about OoT but I think using the original footage rather than the 3D remake would make it clearer

It's been happening a lot this recent years. Star Wars is the prime example. Sequel trilogy defenders usually go for the "it was never good" argument as well.

wait is majora canonically a she???!

I have NEVER heard this "Zelda has always been bad" argument. I'm glad this is a discussion that can put that to rest, however.

I'm sorry but please. Aonuma is pronounced ow-numa, not A-O-numa 😅

Yeah. They are all pretty bad. Play some witcher 3 for a better story

I'm actually gonna say I kinda agree with the "zelda stories have always been bad." I probably wouldn't say it that harshly since alot if them are certainly decent, but yeah I've never played zelda for the plot. What I will disagree with though is that totk is on par for the series. This is clearly disproven by playing litterally any other zelda game, seriously totk is just that bad.

Botw and totk have pretty bad stories, but imo you can't really do much more with their stories. You have to keep them bare bones, ambiguous, kind of, simple. Because the real story of these two games is the one you wrote for yourself while you play. For the first time in the series the story is infinitely replayable because you write a new one Everytime. The "story" in these games is acting moreso as a backdrop, and context for the actions that you take, rather than an actual story. And I honestly prefer it that way, FOR THESE TWO GAMES. I miss classic Zelda for sure, but in an immersive, open world like this, I want my story to be mine. (That being said the story for these two games still blows u aren't wrong)

and they said majoras mask was creepy

If a zelda fan doesnt think the series has good stories, im sorry, but theyre not a zelda fan. Yes, i will gatekeep this point.

I actually really liked the story of totk, it was simple but nice. But i do think the stories can be much more for zelda