Worst story

[Midna666]

Which Zelda game do you think has the weakest plot.

[MrMosley]

The Legend of Zelda has the weakest story because it has no depth at all.

*There is a thing called the Triforce. It is powerful. Princess of Hyrule Zelda breaks the Triforce of Wisdom into 8 pieces to keep Ganon from getting it. Ganon steals the Triforce of Power and kidnaps Zelda. Link has to find the 8 pieces of the Triforce of Wisdom and rescue Zelda.* (no mention of the Triforce of Courage)

Being the first in the series, Miyamoto didn't have to really create a full-fledged awesome storyline. The people who create new games never know if they are going to be a success or not, so a second or third part to a game is never promised, so a lot of the older games like for the NES didn't have very elaborate stories.

Other than that I might say Minish Cap because it absolutely cannot hold my attention. I have tried and tried to play that game and never can finish it.

[Midna666]

I think that Zelda 2 has the weakest plot.
The bad guy in the game dies in the games backstory,so he has pretty much no impact in the game.
And the sleeping Zelda in this game is said to be the first Princess Zelda,which makes no sense.

[Onilink89]

I havn 't played AoL.

So judging by the zelda titles i played, i would go say TMC.

The storyline is a little too simple compared to other zelda titles (that i played).
Its just to strait foreward and liniar! the only unexpected thing is that zelda has the light force! (well i kinda guessed that before i actually knew it)

[Josh]

Of course it's going to be the First Legend of Zelda. It didn't really have much to it other than you need to get the 8 pieces of Triforce so you can save Zelda and kill Ganon.

Can't get much more not detailed then that.

[Claire]

Of course it's going to be the First Legend of Zelda. It didn't really have much to it other than you need to get the 8 pieces of Triforce so you can save Zelda and kill Ganon.

Can't get much more not detailed then that.

The Legend of Zelda was the first of an incredible series, and quite frankly - I think there storyline was rather advanced compared to a majority of the games released for the NES. So for the time, and comparing it to other games - the story to me isn't very weak at all.

I cannot say which story would appear to be the weakest to me, because they all have flaws in the stories, but I cannot think of one that I could say have the worst storyline for a game in the time period that it was created.

[Chris]

Loz for sure, there was no real story, just saving Zelda and killing Ganon. Also, Aol was pretty weak, it just had no real plot.

[Master94]

Loz. it has that super mario style story. ganon prisons zelda and link must save him

[owenshev]

You can't really blame LoZ for not having a good story. It wasn't meant to be something like Twilight Princess straight away. The series had gradually evolved, thus making people think LoZ has a weak story. I'll admit, it's the same usual save-the-girl-beat the bad-guy, but back in the day, it was a massive game. It was actually one of the NES games that used the most memory to store.

Weakest story for me (based on the games I've played) I'd say TMC. I never really got into it that much. There are good concepts in it but the storyline dosen't really hold up. That said, it's one of my favourites ^^

[Master Link]

The one with the weakest story would have to be TMC. It didn't have enought plot twists. It is very Straight forward like Onilink stated.

[Ver-go-a-go-go]

The Original was fun, but it had absolutely NO plot whatsoever.

[Skull_Kid]

It had a plot, but, like pople said before, it was as game that was realesed more than 20 years ago, so, for the time it was released, it had a great story... The weakest plot i have to say that is probably AoL... I just don't like the sleepign beauty style of it

[Dark Link '98]

I agree. LoZ is a pain in the ***. I don't even know why I even bother trying to write a story of it.

[Dragon Tamer]

I didn't really think the first game had a good plot. :(

[Bluelink6]

Worst ? probably loz. Best ? Ocarina of time, imo.

[Skull_Kid]

Yeah, but it was that weak plot that started it all!

[kpllk]

PH. It doesn't even make sense. Maybe after a few more games it will all fall together and everything will make sense. But for now, it means nothing. Later, we might find out that it made the biggest effect in LoZ history. We will just have to wait to find out.

[blackice_cc]

I'd have to say LoZ. It had the a very simple plot, and there wasn't any in game advancements or anything. Just, Link goes to save Zelda. Yay. Not that it's a bad game, but it is lacking in the story department.

[Hylian Hobbit]

PH. It doesn't even make sense. Maybe after a few more games it will all fall together and everything will make sense. But for now, it means nothing. Later, we might find out that it made the biggest effect in LoZ history. We will just have to wait to find out.

What doesn't make sense about it?

Anyway, LoZ is a good game, but you can't ignore the fact that it didn't have near as much of a story as the other games. Like blackice said (and possibly others), it was just gather the triforce pieces, save the princess, kill Ganon, then watch the credits. There was little to no development in the story as the game progressed. Yeah, it was made 20 years ago which is why it didn't have a grand storyline, but that doesn't really change anything.

[Mike Pothier]

Well, yeah, its definitely LoZ, but I think we're lucky to get the plot we did get. Its just a basic "Knight saves Princess from Dragon" story a fresh coat of paint.

Don't anybody knock the AoL story. It was a great followup to the first game.

[Petman1325]

Worst Plot: Adventure of Link. It had no real originality in it! You awaken the sleeping princess, not save the about-to-die princess!

Best Storyline: Ocarina of Time. This game sets everything up. It explains how the Triforce got there, how the Triforce was split, the sages who locked up Ganon, and the reconstruction of Hyrule/Imprisioning War.

The origional did have a plot. If you stayed at the title screen, it would tell you a story in 8-bit font! It would say that Ganon had the Triforce of Power and was going after the Triforce of Wisdom. Zelda split the Triforce of Wisdom to prevent Ganon from getting it, but now you are stuck with getting the pieces and smiting Ganon. :nerd:

[Skull_Kid]

I think tha LoZ's plot was way worst than AoL's... AoL is an excellent game, and had a pretty good plot, compared to LoZ, but is just my opinion

[Amelie]

I actually have to say Zelda II had the worst. For the same reason others said. It was kind of like Sleeping beauty or something

As for Zelda 1 being the worst. It wasnt. It worked fine for what you could do in the game. Go to the dungeons and get the triforce parts being the main thing. And what games back then really had story lines or ones that were really strong?

[ChargewithSword]

Give me a break. LoZ had the weakest plot compared to everything else.

Also AoL's plot was not just "Sleeping Beauty" the plot was also "Survival" remember, the minions of Ganon were on your tail so they could steal your blood in order to revive the evil king. It's a "Sleeping Beauty, Save the world from Evil Dictator, and Survival" plot. And that Evil Dictator plot is very overused.

[bellum]

I think Loz has the weakest plot for many reasons that I will post later

[Ver-go-a-go-go]

Also AoL's plot was not just "Sleeping Beauty" the plot was also "Survival" remember, the minions of Ganon were on your tail so they could steal your blood in order to revive the evil king. It's a "Sleeping Beauty, Save the world from Evil Dictator, and Survival" plot. And that Evil Dictator plot is very overused.

Perfest example right there. While LoZ was just "save the princess" with no other real objective, AoL was "Okay, these guys are right behind me trying to kill me so they can revive my worst enemy" with a side of "awaken the princess".

AoL clearly has the better plot.

[Amelie]

It might be better but its not original at all really. Thats why I vote it the worst. Sure. TLOZ wasnt original but it wasnt sleeping beauty either ^^

[Alder Dragon]

I disagree, I think LoZ was very in-depth with the storyline. Now, the NPCs were very limited and storyline apart from the manual was hard to pick up, but the plot was there and it was very in-depth outside of the game, at least.

I'd probably say Four Swords for GBA had the weakest plot, if you consider that one of the games. Aside from that, it's really hard to pick one.

[Amelie]

I actually agree

I guess I seem to forget about FS

Then again a game like FS can do with a weak story ^^

[Zeanith]

Hm...I'd say...Four Swords. (The first one) After about the second game, the writers got better, I think.

[El Bagu]

I would probably have to go with LoZ or AoL on this. But that was the way games were made back in the earlier days and the plot is not very bad for these two games either.

I have actually not played FS yet and therefore I haven´t considered this game.

Best plot could possibly go to Alttp, I believe it was awesome!

[Shadsie]

I once wrote a fan fic specifically to fill in the GAPING PLOTHOLES I found the original LoZ.

That is - "Were the dungeon bosses Ganon's creatures or royal family-appointed guaridans? If they were Ganon's, then why didn't they just take the fragments they were guarding to their master?"

And, also, why was Ganon just waiting around for Link to BRING THE ToW RIGHT TO HIM at the end of the game?

LoZ had a very simple story and, indeed, it was advanced for its time (its plot makes more sense to me than original Super Mario Bros.) , but it still had a few plotholes you could drive the Starship Enterprise through.


That said, I'm actually torn between it and Zelda II/AoL. I mean, Zelda II had quite an intricate little plot (especially with the manual stuff, which I didn't find out about until fairly recently because the copy of the game I had as a kid was used and didn't have the manual with it)! But, AoL's plot just... kinda.... made little sense. I found it very confusing. "There are two Zeldas? What about the one that was rescued in the last game?" We don't learn hide nor hair of her and its' all very strange.

I'm also wondering, if Ganon's minons need Link's *blood* to revive their master, why does Ganon return on the death-screen when Link falls into lava or water - presumably without the minions being capable of retreiving his body and thus his blood?


Eh, but tighening up video game plots is the job of fanfiction writers.

[Zarom]

LOZ was definitely the one with the weakest story/plot. There wasn't much details.
All you have as stories is the prologue and the end of the game where Zelda says like: ''Thanks Link, you are a hero!''

So, LOZ.

[basement24]

I would tend to agree that LoZ has probably got the simplest of the plots, but I think AoL's might be more disappointing. It had such a brilliantly in depth backstory that was not followed through with the actual plot itself.

Instead, the game's plot is very much that of LoZ's in a way. Instead of obtaining things at the end of a dungeon, you had to leave things instead, all of which just leading you to rescuing the princess. If it weren't for that backstory, then the main story just wouldn't be worthwhile.

So, while LoZ's was simplest, I think AoL's was actualy worse because the lead up was just so promising and in the end it didn't deliver.

[peanutjoepap]

I thought PH had a very weak plot. Instead of buying a map you have to go through this giant temple that tries to kill you to get something you could buy for 10 bucks from a shop or (errr) tingle. What real harm did Bellum do. It killed a whale, put a few weak monsters that you could kill with a stick all over the place, tuned a girl to stone (for trespassing), and made a creepy ship that runs from thing every it sees. Bellum had no back story, no reason for doing any thing, and had no plan what so ever. Not to mention you did not get a sword upgrade forever. And the biggest problem is that it never tells you were you are, if it is a dream or not, and why did it only last ten minutes? I could go on, but I think I have made my point.

[Master Kokiri 9]

I'd say the original Loz. No depth whatsoever. Just defeat all 8 dungeons, get the triforce piece from each one, and kill ganon in the 9 dungeon. Then you'll rescue the princess and that's all.

[Niko Bellic 817]

Out of the console 3-d Zelda's, Ocarina of Time's was the worst. It's just the standard good vs. evil plot to me.

[ottobot]

LoZ had the weakest plot because there wasn't one. then again it didn't need one

[Shnappy]

I see a lot of people talking about how LoZ and AoL had simple plots/stories that weren't very in depth, but I'm not going to count those.

Video gaming at that point wasn't very advanced. Heck, the stories of those games were a lot better than most NES games released at a time, because a lot of NES games didn't even have a story to begin with. They were a great start to the series and the interesting and complex stories/plots that came from them.

I haven't played through LA, but, the ending has been spoiled for me already (not that I mind that too much), and I've heard that the whole think is just a dream. Come on, man. I know that LA's one of those games where a lot of people say "you diss it, you die", but I think that's kind of weak.

Other than that, none of the stories were actually bad, in my opinion, and I can't pick one that I can say is the "worst". But, a may be wrong about the importance of LA being a dream, but from what I know, I think that it's not that interesting if the game is "just a dream".

[dumb180]

Hmm. Out of the Zelda games I've played, probably LoZ. But it's not like LoZ's story is particularly bad. That Link is just.. a little different.. from other Links. Whereas most Links are unlikely heroes or people that merely 'fell into' the situation, he's more of a standard medieval knight. He saw Impa in danger and stepped in because that's what a chivalrous knight would do. And then he continued acting when Impa told him about Zelda. Though the backstory doesn't really say it, I think it's a safe bet that this Link was out looking for danger before he ever heard of Impa. :)

I like the plot, but since it's more or less all in the backstory, I'd have to go with it.

[Faedeur]

I'm kind of torn between TMC and PH. I got close to the end of TMC, and was kinda disappointed. As for PH, it only held my interest for a short ammount of time. I couldn't stay interested in it.

[startimer]

I thought PH had a very weak plot. Instead of buying a map you have to go through this giant temple that tries to kill you to get something you could buy for 10 bucks from a shop or (errr) tingle. What real harm did Bellum do. It killed a whale, put a few weak monsters that you could kill with a stick all over the place, tuned a girl to stone (for trespassing), and made a creepy ship that runs from thing every it sees. Bellum had no back story, no reason for doing any thing, and had no plan what so ever. Not to mention you did not get a sword upgrade forever. And the biggest problem is that it never tells you were you are, if it is a dream or not, and why did it only last ten minutes? I could go on, but I think I have made my point.

Completely agreed.

But now for me to add my $0.02

I see a lot of votes for LoZ/AoL. I agree that the plots are overly simple, but they're not bad

If you want a bad story, play Four Swords.
There are supposedly good faries that posses the keys to the villans lair, but they'll only give them up IF YOU COLLECT ENOUGH MONEY!!! WTF!?!?!

[Subrosian]

Worst: Loz
Best:LA/Alttp/MM
Link's Awakening had a plot that made history in the videogame world.
It was the very first game to incorporate the whole 'it's a dream' plot.
Plus, it isn't a twist ending, you see it coming.
MM had the darkest plot 'cause *insert rambling about how MM is the darkest Zelda game ever*.
Alttp was pretty good because of it is the first game where Link has a family(member),
and because Agahnim was about kill Zelda to bring back Ganon at the beginning of the game, gave it a sense of urgency.

[Dungeon killer]

Loz, because mainly you just wander around until you find the next dungeon and you no advice on what to do next!:thinking::nod::nerd:

[ironknuckle1]

even though I havent beaten AOL i really think from what i heard that it has a pretty strong plot.

[Sparky]

In all seriousness, the first two titles in the series, but they have reason to, so thats acceptable.

Phantom Hourglass would be the worst for me, which is unfortunate, as it is an okay addition to the Zelda series. Runner up for worst would be Ocarina of Time, mainly because it failed to captivate me at all.....

[SirenOfTheSea]

Four Swords, if it counts. It wasn't very in-depth and just a bit of a side sequel. It's a good thing that Nintendo didn't make it.

If Four Swords doesn't count, then I can't really pick. All of the storylines in Zelda games are great, including the original two, but they each have their flaws.

[linktothefuture]

I would say FS has the worst story but i don't think that counts. Loz is also pretty bad.

[Chrono]

In all seriousness, the first two titles in the series, but they have reason to, so thats acceptable.

Phantom Hourglass would be the worst for me, which is unfortunate, as it is an okay addition to the Zelda series. Runner up for worst would be Ocarina of Time, mainly because it failed to captivate me at all.....

I'm not sure if you or anyone else that said LoZ and AoL have actually read the entire prologue.

[TVTMaster]

Discounting our NES friends since there was never really any pressure to even have a story back then, I'm going with PH, straight up.
Here's PH's plot:
...
...you ready?
...
"There's an evil squid. It kidnapped the princess, and killed some whale guy. Collect X magic things to kill it."

I mean, really. PH's story had less going on than LttP, for god's sake. At least LttP gave you the Agahnim=Ganon twist at the end and turned everything on its head with the Dark World in the middle of the game. OoT at least had the Seven Years of Darkness and Ganon's takeover. Hell, even Link's Awakening, which never really gave you any story except in the beginning and end, at least had memorable characters and events to keep you caring about your mission.
But PH? The only thing that could count as any kind of twist is when Oshus just magically shows up on the evil Ghost Ship with no explanation as to how he got there, and tells you that "yeah, I was just pulling your leg- those fairies were useless, what I actually need is some metal for a sword", which is an excuse to stick to the Rule of Three and prolong the bland game. Pretty much from start to finish, nobody gives a damn about anybody in the world, because when they're not being boring, they're being damn annoying, and if Tetra weren't conveniently kidnapped, nobody would care about the stupid, stupid squid.

[CZG]

Not TLoZ or TAoL! Definately not! There are no flaws in the first 4 games, Nintendo messed up later on.
It's actually way cool compared to many other games from back in those days. And on their own, the are awesome.
That was the whole fun, some mystery land, an enormous quest, nobody telling you what to do or how to do it.
Mysteries man!

Although enjoyable and epic and stuff, OoT was quite a safe bet from Nintendo and therefore quite lame?
It is almost A link to the Past in 3D... only the older one was more surprising.

Thank you Link, you are a hero... This time around it takes 15 minutes, but it's not that different really.

I can't choose, they are all pretty awesome! But if I have to, I'd say OoT.
PS most recommanded by myself to play = OoT! You just can't go without.