Interesting conversation. Zelda has some story and plot, but it’s often not very elaborate. Little interactions become more of the received storyline than the overarching save Hyrule plotline. Which I like just fine, because the rest of the game is pure enjoyment of playing. However, when I think upon the sum of the Hylian mythology and its symbols, and even features of the landscape, it seems that, as barebones as the story is, the surrounding world enriches it more.

I absolutely feel that Majora’s Mask is the strongest case for it, but would continue to argue that it is the rule rather than the exception. But your counterpoint is necessary, helpful, and appreciated!

Where I think we are disagreeing with one another is that [I think] you are wanting to take the environments traversed and enemies encountered from A to B and say “here is the story”, whereas I am a little more conservative with respect to what I am prepared to consider environmental storytelling.

Probably my one exception to this might be Majora’s Mask. I’m not personally familiar with the game, but have seen enough Youtube dissections of it to know that it features a number of powerful environmental cues which serve to engender a sense of hopelessness in the player, which obviously feeds back into the game’s core premise.

At any rate, I would argue that you are taking the way that the Zelda games make you feel as a whole and then projecting them back onto what you consider to be the plot. Zelda creates evocative worlds and emotive tropes, but I don’t really see any of that as being overly connected to the Zelda narratives, which tend to be quite unambitious [though still quite competent].

Zelda games will often use a premise of multiple worlds because it is a very effective way to move away from home (literally, and from the initial comforts of what the gamer expects), in order to bring meaning to home in the first place. Majora’s Mask is not ignorant to how fucked up the gameplay mechanic of resetting a three day time loop will begin to feel to both Link and the player.

I believe that games like Resident Evil 4 construct a plot and develop their gameplay separately. The elements talk to each other so that scenes take place in the appropriate location or so that characters can get separated, but they do not continually inform each other as they do in games that I feel have more effective storytelling that are more aware of their medium. Effective aesthetic design can absolutely create a distinctive atmosphere, but I believe there is evidence in the Zelda series that suggests the development team’s awareness of how many gamers will feel while playing the actual gameplay such that the atmosphere and narrative are focused on the same themes and arc. The narrative or plot is absolutely anemic when isolated, but I do not feel is it meant to be isolated like it is in so many other titles, regardless of their atmospheric prowess.

I think it’s a very interesting conversation in any case. I’ve been trying my hardest to separate my preferences from my growing interest in taking a more serious analytical stance on video games as an unique art form (I can finally admit that while I prefer Flower, Journey is the stronger title), but I’m aware that it’s never fully possible to remove projection or confirmation bias. I certainly have criticisms of Zelda as well and think that despite its strong and thorough themes and ability to harness video games as a medium, it could – like most games – still greatly benefit from stronger writing.

(Although, I am discovering, this distinction is at odds with E.M. Forster’s almost completely contradictory assertion. Semantics.)

@SN – I have no doubt at all that that is the case for you. I agree with your final claim with one important modification. I find that modern Zeldas evoke emotion through visual and audio as an enhancement to the story-telling.

Zelda is a series that I feel has learned how to use gaming itself as a unique story-telling medium. If the text were parsed out, it would make for a lacklaster book to say the least, and if the cutscenes were compiled into a movie, it would be a joke. But I argue that Zelda isn’t interested in imitation (although written text obviously cannot ignore the existence of literature nor can a visual/audio medium such as gaming ignore the existence of film). At its best, Zelda uses not just the cutscenes, but the world itself, its layout, progression and the gameplay used to interact with it, to all serve the characters and themes that support the overarching story. It is one of the reasons I find Zelda games so satisfying. Because it provides a storytelling experience that only gaming can provide. Very similar to what Shadow of the Colossus accomplishes. What occurs in the gameplay is part of the story.

While it makes complete sense to me why a plethora of reasons might not line up with – or could even offend – one’s sensibilities in such a way that it might make them not give two shits about any Zelda game even with multiple attempts, I have found with study that Zelda holds up as a great example of how to harness gaming as a storytelling medium. Especially in recent years when I revisit my favourite games with a more critical eye, very ready to deem it just that: “favourite” instead of best.

It is important to note that while I believe that modern Zelda games are extremely successful in their storytelling, I hardly think that that is the only way to tell a story in a game. Limbo and Bioshock and Etrian Odyssey and even Link Between Worlds are all examples of very different and very effective ways of using gaming to tell an effective story.

Just how I feel nothing when playing Chrono Trigger but can understand that is mostly a result of my sensibilities when I take a moment to more objectively critique the substance of the game, I hope you can understand that your (understandable) lack of connection to the style of storytelling in Zelda isn’t necessarily an indication that the series is not ultimately successful.

This isn’t to say that the newer Zeldas cannot evoke emotion, but I find that they do so through visual and audio cues rather than storytelling.

Back to music, though. Both games are standout examples of how to handle orchestral arrangements. More instruments can actually enhance a score if not used lazily! Who knew?

Pity it will be a long time ere something else worth playing comes out on the Wii or the 3DS.