Ranking EVERY Zelda Game Based On Story

Sdílet
Vložit
  • čas přidán 3. 06. 2024
  • From D Tier to S Tier, let's rank every main series Legend of Zelda game based solely on its story and background lore. From Skyward Sword to Spirit Tracks, Oracle of Seasons to Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess to Tears of the Kingdom, which is the best story? Note that this video will contain spoilers for every game in the series!
    Huge thank you to @MonsterMaze for the 3D Storybook animation. Be sure to check his channel out for high quality Zelda content!
    ►Follow me on Twitter! / zeltik
    or Instagram: @zeltikinsta
    ► Music in this video:
    Nintendo
    Sources:
    Zeldawiki: zelda.fandom.com/
    Gameplay footage used:
    ZeldaMaster ( / zeldamasterluke , Archive64 ( / archive64 ) and ZorZelda ( / zorzelda )
    ► Discord Link: / discord
    ► Intro music by: bit.ly/RuvenWegner
    ► Outro music by Clangon: • Zeltik Outro Theme (Wi...
    0:00 Intro
    2:00 D Tier
    9:28 C Tier
    17:54 B Tier
    37:24 A Tier
    59:34 S Tier
    #Zelda #Nintendo #LegendofZelda
  • Hry

Komentáře • 2,5K

  • @sandwich1313
    @sandwich1313 Před 7 měsíci +1236

    S+ tier is obviously Link’s Crossbow Training. Best story by far

    • @kristopherwillis8075
      @kristopherwillis8075 Před 5 měsíci +11

      😂😂

    • @desertrat166
      @desertrat166 Před 5 měsíci +65

      Hard disagree how can we all be forgetting the true masterpieces of the cdi games

    • @PodoHelmer
      @PodoHelmer Před 5 měsíci +7

      Yeah obviously

    • @demonicdimentio2533
      @demonicdimentio2533 Před 5 měsíci +29

      ​@@desertrat166 I disagree though the gameplay is one of the finest in the industry the divide it puts between the perfectly rendered cutscenes makes it's story feel like a secondary factor but with links crossbow training you feel the story while you play in every action the weaves you a tapestry of elegance that can't be found anywhere else so I think the cdi games are just below this masterpiece

    • @desertrat166
      @desertrat166 Před 5 měsíci +9

      @@demonicdimentio2533 lol omfg that almost killed me you have officially made my day 😂

  • @JohnnyRapture.
    @JohnnyRapture. Před 7 měsíci +3257

    I need a sequel to Twilight Princess.

    • @MC11723
      @MC11723 Před 7 měsíci +78

      i need a sequel to the links ranked :(

    • @Zero_Levels
      @Zero_Levels Před 7 měsíci +26

      fr bro

    • @jeansnow1116
      @jeansnow1116 Před 7 měsíci +56

      It will not happen but I would love it too

    • @parkfever
      @parkfever Před 7 měsíci +129

      I wanna see midna again

    • @CbaDropDead
      @CbaDropDead Před 7 měsíci +20

      We need it

  • @kodykozak1326
    @kodykozak1326 Před 7 měsíci +668

    I don’t know why I cried a little bit when you talked about Twilight Princess, and how the kids idolized Link even before he proved them right.
    Great video, as always

    • @ZeldaSam1
      @ZeldaSam1 Před 6 měsíci +15

      The 1st time I played Twilight Princess, when Midna was on the brink of death; I was SEETHING & Crying @ the same time FUMING w/ MALICE towards that Twili CLOWN Zant!!! If the Devil doesn't make things bad for him, I hope I GET TO!!!!!

    • @LostInTheInternet93
      @LostInTheInternet93 Před 4 měsíci +3

      ​@@ZeldaSam1that's a mood.
      They do such a good job getting you attached to Midna up to that point, and then boom!
      I am now maximum motivated to put my sword through his face.

  • @domhyrule
    @domhyrule Před 7 měsíci +278

    Tears of the Kingdom is brought down by how much I hear them say Secret Stone. Call it a Spirit Gem or something

    • @aboutschween
      @aboutschween Před 4 měsíci +58

      call it a tear of the kingdom for fucks sake

    • @GarroshTV
      @GarroshTV Před 3 měsíci +28

      @@aboutschween It's called Tears of the Kingdom because of the Dragontears though.
      In German the Secret Stones are referred to as Mystery Stones.

    • @lanxreedalenlum3706
      @lanxreedalenlum3706 Před 3 měsíci +3

      they arent the mention tears though, the metons tears are the big huge tears we collect from the crying dragon @@aboutschween

    • @BB_Promoter
      @BB_Promoter Před 3 měsíci +1

      fe8 reference

    • @a_plastic_bag
      @a_plastic_bag Před 3 měsíci +12

      But then we wouldn’t have gotten to hear “Secret Stone? Demon King?” like thirty times…

  • @Sean.Vosler
    @Sean.Vosler Před 7 měsíci +866

    The beauty in OOT is how the story means one thing when you play it as a kid, and an entirely different thing when playing it as an adult… much like the time jump in the game itself

    • @ShadowSkyX
      @ShadowSkyX Před 7 měsíci +61

      I thought navi went outside the temple of time to wait for link, figuring he could handle himself for two minutes. I thought he'd be able to go back to the forest and live out the rest of his childhood.
      By 17 i realized my naivette and finally began to understand how sad the ending really is. I felt so bad for him. He had changed too much to go back and for years i thought navi died between oot and mm. Until i saw a comment comparing her to a spirit going into the light, and it all made too much sense not to be true.

    • @christianmaix7843
      @christianmaix7843 Před 6 měsíci +16

      that’s the funny thing about zelda games, you play the games when you’re younger and you never actually realise your purpose. upon revisiting them when you’re older you get to experience a whole new depth to the games

    • @MilestheDirtyMindedGoblin2099
      @MilestheDirtyMindedGoblin2099 Před 6 měsíci +3

      True

    • @inscription8099
      @inscription8099 Před 6 měsíci +25

      I think OoT is the quintessential zelda story. Without it the timeline falls apart and most of the other stories crumble apart.
      However, I do think Wind waker is a close second. Twilight Princess is a close third. They are all pretty close imo.
      I think if they remade it accordingly and updated it. The premise of Link to the Past, has the potential to be #1.

    • @Crichjo32
      @Crichjo32 Před 5 měsíci +2

      Agreed, that is the true genius of that game.

  • @aratherbritishdinosaur
    @aratherbritishdinosaur Před 7 měsíci +1043

    Zeltik managed to make Zelda II seem like one of the most banger stories ever.

    • @TrazynTheKleptomanichad
      @TrazynTheKleptomanichad Před 7 měsíci +38

      because it is.

    • @MedusaLegend
      @MedusaLegend Před 7 měsíci +48

      We need a Zelda II remake

    • @Evilgood1
      @Evilgood1 Před 7 měsíci +41

      It’s seriously underrated. Also closest Hyrule has ever felt to being a kingdom.

    • @AzumarillConGafasBv
      @AzumarillConGafasBv Před 6 měsíci

      'Cuz it is

    • @starfieldgames5976
      @starfieldgames5976 Před 5 měsíci +4

      @@MedusaLegendnormally i’m all for remakes remaining untouched from the original gameplay and story, but i think this one REALLY needs a nerf

  • @Arob4343
    @Arob4343 Před 7 měsíci +218

    For Link’s Awakening:
    The seagull and Marin make me think, what if everyone on the island was real, but they were actually just nearby creatures? The wind fish trapped Link in his dream, so why not others? Maybe they’re all just fish, bugs, birds, etc. And while they had a different life in the dream, their true lives were outside the dream

    • @badmeetsevil6163
      @badmeetsevil6163 Před 4 měsíci +1

      I think he ranked Link’s Awakening’s story way too high. #7 is crazy. I’m still in the midst of playing TOTK but ranking it above that story is crazy. I wouldn’t even put it above A Link to the Past or the Oracle games. Y’all are looking too much into its story. It’s just a dream/illusion, why do we feel guilty about making it disappear? It’s trapping you. The game never made me feel guilty.

    • @-Pleiades0
      @-Pleiades0 Před 4 měsíci +26

      ​@@badmeetsevil6163 It's subjective. I think it is deeper though. However I certainly would put it above ToTK. TOTK story was such a major let down

    • @badmeetsevil6163
      @badmeetsevil6163 Před 4 měsíci +1

      @@-Pleiades0 hmm I see a lot of ppl putting TOTK’s story above BOTW though. I haven’t finished so I can’t say so myself but surely TOTK’s story is a lot more detailed than Link’s Awakening? Like I’d also put A Link to the Past over Link’s Awakening in terms of story. Link’s Awakening is just another Super Mario Bros 2 imo.

    • @-Pleiades0
      @-Pleiades0 Před 4 měsíci +2

      @@badmeetsevil6163 yeah. It has to do with the depth of the story though. You're right, TOTK story is better than Link's awakening, but Link's awakening does have a deeper untold story.
      TOTK has a great story as well, it just seems sort of like a copy and paste of botw hoping to have the same impact on the gaming industry as botw, but instead becoming too disconnected through the open gameplay to the point where all linearity of the story telling is basically non-existent. I will say it has an amazing ending though so that does help boost its place on the list.
      So yeah, I suppose it should be placed higher than LA, but it's still a B- tier story for a game with S-tier gameplay. There's such thing as being too open though and I hope the Zelda team realizes that.
      I would still put botw over TOTK though due to it being such a game changer and creating a whole new way to tell the story through an amnesiac Link regaining memories. I wish the story was more prevalent in the gameplay though. TOTK tries to fix that but ultimately feels like an extension to botw and falls short due to the lack of an interesting cast. The story or characters for that matter for TOTk just seem lazy and like they were created last minute and the story was thrown together last minute

    • @temp1326
      @temp1326 Před 3 měsíci +1

      @@badmeetsevil6163Links awakening makes me feel things though. Totk doesn’t really.. I couldn’t even feel invested enough to beat it despite how much i enjoyed playing

  • @RGC_animation
    @RGC_animation Před 6 měsíci +74

    Myamoto: Let's create a parallel kingdom to Hyrule and let's have Link go through there.
    "But what should we call it?"
    Myamoto: Let's call it Lowrule.
    "You're a genius sir."

  • @pedrogarcia8706
    @pedrogarcia8706 Před 7 měsíci +513

    I'm gonna defend the old games by saying that in those days the game's manual IS part of the game. Reading them was considered part of the experience and it was assumed that everyone playing would read the manual fully before starting the game.

    • @benradical6179
      @benradical6179 Před 7 měsíci +56

      I used to have a big stack of various game manuals by my bed and would sometimes read one before going to sleep.

    • @PhoenicopterusR
      @PhoenicopterusR Před 7 měsíci +67

      There's a reason why reading the manual on the way home was an integral part of our game experience back then.

    • @mylesobrien7477
      @mylesobrien7477 Před 7 měsíci +12

      A lost art

    • @st.anselmsfire3547
      @st.anselmsfire3547 Před 7 měsíci +26

      True. People forget that those old cartridges had like less data than a single pixel has these days. Data storage is quantum leaps above what it was back then. All of the pixels in the first games could fit into Zelda's hair tie in Tears of The Kingdom.

    • @kitbct1444
      @kitbct1444 Před 6 měsíci +22

      Absolutely. The manual was the owner way for the creators to push their vision onto the gamer. Not only would they outline the story, they were usually packed with artwork to give the player a sense of the creator's vision. They were trying their best to fully pass their vision to the gamer using incredibly limited hardware compared to today.

  • @lilkorok
    @lilkorok Před 7 měsíci +984

    wind waker story is literally SO good, and it's actually pretty deep. i love how it's dark emotional story is masked behind the bright colorful cartoony graphics of the game. such a good game.

    • @javiervasquez625
      @javiervasquez625 Před 7 měsíci +38

      Yet it doesn't have much "pressence" over the course of the gameplay as we spent more than 80% of the game's lenght sailing from island to island and completing dungeons with very small stretches of cutscenes in between making the narrative barely memorable in turn.

    • @ResurgentRaven
      @ResurgentRaven Před 7 měsíci +31

      ​​@@javiervasquez625That's not limited to Wind Waker unfortunately. Almost all the Zelda games have this problem except for TP, OoT, Link to the Past (and its 3DS counterpart) and MM, since the story has a lot of physical elements in place to warn you of the consequences of fulfilling your quest.
      One of the things that does make Wind Waker much better though is that it's really two subplots meshed into one: Saving Aryll and annihilating Ganon. It may not directly impact the gameplay, but the first part doesn't take away from the story design, but rather enhances Links motives to take down Ganon.

    • @ShadowWizard224
      @ShadowWizard224 Před 7 měsíci +10

      @@javiervasquez625 The beginning intro gave a pretty clear image of how the story unfolds and it’s one of the greatest intros and cut scenes of all time. Explaining the great flood and how evil rose again in the land of Hyrule but the chosen hero never returned so the people had to put their faith in the Gods. The Gods giving them hope as they would have them climb the highest mountains and reach the highest peaks so that the evil that Ganon bestowed on the land can be washed away. Generations later evolution would take its place and species would turn into other species and the great kingdom of Hyrule lays hidden away at the bottom of the ocean which becomes a legend and a tale for future generations and it would only be recovered and found again by the hero of winds. The flood itself can be compared to the flood in biblical times and the hidden Kingdom of Hyrule can be compared to the lost city of Atlantis. It’s the overall symbolism for me that makes it such a deep game. The fact that it was unfinished as well and there were supposed to be two more dungeons is what makes it even more interesting and mysterious. If I could describe wind waker and this version of Ganondorf in just one word… it would be loneliness. This version of him shows the most human side of him and how he is basically a lonely man that has absolutely nothing left to lose.

    • @javiervasquez625
      @javiervasquez625 Před 7 měsíci +9

      @@ShadowWizard224 Okay... it's still a SINGLE CUTSCENE at the very *start* of the game before we proceed to ignore such a plotpoint for the following 5 or so hours collecting the pearls and doing the Tower of the Gods before we finally get to meet Ganondorf for like 5 minutes worth of cutscenes and then we waste ANOTHER 5 hours awakening the Sages so that at the very end of the game we get to see the main villain for the last time in this timeline. Very underwhelming after hours and hours of boat sailing and dungeon completing if you ask me.

    • @Fyre11
      @Fyre11 Před 7 měsíci +9

      @@javiervasquez625 Ganon isn't the story. He's just the villain behind things. The hidden presence. Just like he is in every Zelda game. But in Wind Waker, you have all the other characters and story along the way that's much more compelling than anything in the others. There's always more story and narrative to find throughout even the optional islands.

  • @silencedsymphony815
    @silencedsymphony815 Před 6 měsíci +196

    Finally revisited Skyward Sword and forced myself to really give it an honest shot. After more than 95 hours I've finally completed it and completely fallen in love ❤ Easily one of my favorites now!

    • @Vexx263
      @Vexx263 Před 5 měsíci +32

      Yes! It's my personal favorite main story wise. I just love how expressive and real Link is in it, and the genuine romance Link and Zelda have. And we of course have Groose! He deserves S rank all by himself!

    • @silencedsymphony815
      @silencedsymphony815 Před 5 měsíci +8

      Groose is my favorite glow up!! 🎉

    • @KildalSC
      @KildalSC Před 5 měsíci

      I skipped both gamecube and Wii so when I bought Wii U I played through Wind Waker HD and Twilight princess. but didn't get very far in Skyward Swrod. I think I would enjoy the Switch HD version more and might pick it up if Switch 2 is backwards compatible. It's just too bad with Nintendo you end up rebuying the same games multiple times and sales barely exist...

    • @Vexx263
      @Vexx263 Před 5 měsíci +1

      @@KildalSC ýeah, but if you do end up playing it, I highly recommend playing with motion controls, at least to start. They are really fun when they work.

    • @doofuscawt
      @doofuscawt Před 3 měsíci +3

      More than 95?????

  • @TheFantomMenace
    @TheFantomMenace Před 6 měsíci +112

    The entire time I was holding my breath, waiting for you to rank the wind waker in some low spot. When it got to the top three I was delighted, especially since you also put majora's mask and twilight princess at such a high ranking! Wonderful tier list

    • @dailthegoat799
      @dailthegoat799 Před 4 měsíci +3

      I feel sad for the original 3 games so underrated
      I do get why the second one is not recognized though 😂 it’s terrible
      But LOZ and ALTTP their story’s might not shine but the games are Amazing they fit together so well as well

    • @userisfree
      @userisfree Před 3 měsíci +1

      ​@@dailthegoat799True, those two games might as well be creator of LOZ series

    • @catdownthestreet
      @catdownthestreet Před 3 dny

      ​@@dailthegoat799 Well, think of it this way. The original three games aren't the best by modern standards, nor when they're compared to other Zelda games. But they are the founding fathers of the Zelda series, so to speak. They absolutely deserve remakes that will do their stories justice, but let's be honest, they still wouldn't be on the same level as the rest of the series. They deserve their own tier, though.

  • @TayoEXE
    @TayoEXE Před 7 měsíci +364

    You nailed why I love Majora's Mask. I felt compelled emotionally to save NPCs because they felt like real people. Real fears, hopes, and dreams. The game literally helped me learn how to empathize with people better. It's darker, but all the more rewarding if I can help NPCs I normally wouldn't care all that much about.

    • @nahor88
      @nahor88 Před 6 měsíci +7

      I agree that I loved the story, but the style of the game deters me from ever replaying it. The reason I love BoTW and ToTK is that they're HEAVILY rooted in exploration, and taking your time to immerse yourself in the game. MM is the exact opposite of that, giving you limited time to figure out where you need to be going, otherwise you need to reset the counter and lose numeric inventory.
      The game does help you out along the way with the backwards song of time and owl statues, but it's just not what I want out of Zelda. Honestly wish they had a mode where the timer was removed, and you could play the game at your leisure.

    • @abonny
      @abonny Před 6 měsíci +13

      It actually made me sad to know that you can not save the Deku Butler's son.

    • @kellevichy
      @kellevichy Před 4 měsíci +7

      @@nahor88 I felt the opposite. I felt MM did exactly that. I explored freely in Majora's Mask - I was ENCOURAGED to explore. I was fully immersed in the game. I felt the opposite with BOTW. The people were frankly boring to me. The villages were small and shallow and lacking personality. The only thing to discover were shrines or the kokori. I quickly felt he world was empty and void.

    • @kellevichy
      @kellevichy Před 4 měsíci

      @@DenverShoemaker31234 Skill issue. People want their hands held these days so think as little as possible.

    • @SubduedRadical
      @SubduedRadical Před 4 měsíci

      Oddly, I think that's why I didn't like it and never finished it. The time element made me on edge the whole time, feeling up against a clock (HATE that in games; sets off some serious anxiety, even if I know the consequences are relatively minor), and that I wanted to save everyone and you literally can't. Even if you 100% the game, you only saved them in one timeline to...abandon them in the next as you try to save someone else. Something about that always hit me wrong, I guess.

  • @meganwilson5125
    @meganwilson5125 Před 7 měsíci +470

    I am glad that Spirit Tracks got good representation on the list. I think that game is very underrated.

    • @JarumaruKnox
      @JarumaruKnox Před 7 měsíci +22

      Unfortunately it is. For me, Spirit tracks is way better than Ocarina of time.

    • @annxminty
      @annxminty Před 7 měsíci +7

      Yes! Even after years, I looove to play it.

    • @GAMEandVLOG-gd
      @GAMEandVLOG-gd Před 7 měsíci +9

      @@JarumaruKnox spirit tracks has and always will be my favorite zelda game

    • @stefansunnick4690
      @stefansunnick4690 Před 7 měsíci +2

      Wow, thats surprising for me. I won't try to change your mind, but I really hated it and I played each and every zelda title. Being a train diver is so lame compared to other installments xD and I really hated how repetitive and annoying using the train was. Felt tedious after some tours for me. And sadly each temple just had thematic skins and not really thematic mechanics :-( No offense though, I know it is subjective. What did you like so much about it? Or was ist just released in some special time so you could play it a lot as kids?

    • @GAMEandVLOG-gd
      @GAMEandVLOG-gd Před 7 měsíci +11

      @@stefansunnick4690 spirit tracks was probably the first video game i ever played, so it will always have a special place in my heart

  • @BlueThunder1988
    @BlueThunder1988 Před 7 měsíci +16

    When TotK's theme kicked in, I couldn't stop from saying out loud "AW, YESSS"

  • @sambewolf4398
    @sambewolf4398 Před 7 měsíci +107

    My personal favorite is Twilight Princess, but I do agree with most of your opinions. Great video!! 😁
    I think that TP does a great job in making the player feel personally invested on its quest, specially on Midna's part of the story. So much, that on replay, when the title screen makes a little "spoiler" of the plot by playing Midna's Theme when the "Twilight Princess" words appear, I still get a strong bitter-sweet feeling every single time I play the game 💙

    • @Iisho
      @Iisho Před 6 měsíci +4

      I heard another youtuber mention how he felt her little motif at the end of the intro was just a hint to her immense importance and impact within the story

  • @blueshoals
    @blueshoals Před 7 měsíci +786

    I love seeing Majora's Mask getting the love it deserves.
    The depth of its narrative is simply unmatched.

    • @AquaQuokka
      @AquaQuokka Před 7 měsíci +19

      Yeah it keeps getting overshadowed by its big brother Ocarina of Time, and its little brother Tears of the Kingdom. It's the middle child of the series.

    • @matt6619
      @matt6619 Před 7 měsíci +16

      @@AquaQuokkaOcarina if Time was the peak gaming had looked like, and played by a landslide when oot came out. It is in every list of most influential games of all time. Anyone who grew up in the modern era, or old school gamers who can put rose tinted lens to the side, will tell you that Majoras Mask is the better game.

    • @AquaQuokka
      @AquaQuokka Před 7 měsíci +4

      @@matt6619 Oh by all means is it a different, impactful experience. Better gameplay, better sidequests, and a more impactful experience.

    • @senordivinebeast646
      @senordivinebeast646 Před 7 měsíci +10

      I grew up in the modern era and I’d say Ocarina is better than Majora. Better main story, better dungeons, more iconic. Both are great games still though.

    • @AquaQuokka
      @AquaQuokka Před 7 měsíci +1

      @@senordivinebeast646 Yeah both have their pros and cons. Neither is objectively better, but each has their merits.

  • @orealvinny
    @orealvinny Před 7 měsíci +301

    Ocarina of time and Majora's mask stories will be forever the best for me. Not only because of the amazing plot, the meaning of the adventure, little details and subjectiveness, but also because of the development of the best Link for me, the Hero of Time, the one who has the most characteristics of a hero.
    A hero, the concept of one who sacrifices himself, his life, dreams, pleasures, all in order to protect humanity. And to do so he gives up his own humanity. Truly an hero of Time, because he gave up his own time to save Hyrule, and don't even got recognized like a hero in the timeline he ended up staying. This Link shows that being a hero isn't always that bright, in fact, majority of the times it isn't. A hero can save everyone, but who will save the hero after?

    • @LinktheCommunistWaifu
      @LinktheCommunistWaifu Před 7 měsíci +17

      You couldn't have said it better. 100% agree

    • @Tazerboy_10
      @Tazerboy_10 Před 7 měsíci +9

      Dang, that hits deep for me!

    • @darkith52
      @darkith52 Před 7 měsíci +6

      This made me cry!

    • @javiervasquez625
      @javiervasquez625 Před 7 měsíci +15

      _"A hero can save everyone, but who will save the hero after?"_
      That's when _another_ Hero comes along to save the one in need as seen with the Hero of Twilight learning the ways of the sword from his ancestor and so "healing his regrets" in Life. Goes to show that even in death a Hero can be saved by another.

    • @dorianwiesner4477
      @dorianwiesner4477 Před 7 měsíci +3

      I highly disagree. Of all 3D Links - and that includes the one in Majoras Mask somehow - OoT Link has the least personality, character or even a proper motivation.
      Like why did he leave Kokiri Forest? Because the Deku Tree told him so. Most dialogue options are yes/no and he always keeps a stoic face. And last - thats just a personal opinion - he has a voice that makes me want to rip my ears off.
      So why is MM Link better? Because his motivation, which is getting his property back and doing a favor for the Happy Mask Salesman who will in return lift the deku curse, so he plays along. His body expression is also better. The relief he showed when the curse was lifted, the waving of his hand when he met a Great Fairy, for example.
      By no means am I implying that OoT is a bad game, as it has my absolute respect, but it comes short on some aspects, like a reasonable protagonist who in this case is bossed aroiund by others without hesitation and its too strong focus on dungeons.
      I feel like the overworld segments are a bit underdeveloped, which shows itself particulary intense in the first half of the adult section. There does not much happen betwen the Forest and Fire Temple except for a short interaction with Darunias son and the obligatory Sheik encounter, and not even an interaction between the Fire Temple and the Ice Cave.
      It would have been better if Link met Ruto somewere inbetween and they both work together to find a solution for freeing the Zora, instead we meet her already inside the Water Temple, which shouldn't even work as the door was shut ight until Link hookshot it.

  • @Cirnonono
    @Cirnonono Před 7 měsíci +120

    I honestly would push Twilight Princess to S tier as well, it's like Wind Waker in a sense that a hero is forged because you interact so much with the world around you. You're much more of a part of the world and the characters know you, they support you and they believe in you and even put their lives on the line for you when you least expect it.

  • @JustJulyo
    @JustJulyo Před 7 měsíci +19

    Although Link's Awakening is a short game and not the most complex story was the first Zelda game that made cry from joy/ sadness/ satisfaction
    That game does so much in such a small file size

  • @kyleharrison713
    @kyleharrison713 Před 7 měsíci +70

    I'm glad you said something about the doppelganger Zelda in TOK. Most of that game I spent talking to my screen like "Its not her, we know that, just tell them damn it".

    • @kiptheott5932
      @kiptheott5932 Před 7 měsíci +35

      Even before you discover exactly who it is, the fact that nobody ever entertains the notion that it might not really be Zelda when the Yiga Clan exist, an antagonistic faction whose whole deal is disguising themselves as other people and who disguise themselves as Zelda specifically multiple times throughout this very game. Realistically speaking when someone is acting weird, evil, and out-of-character, "it might be a Yiga impostor" would probably one of the first thoughts people would have. But no, they're just like "Wow, it sure is weird how Zelda attacked the Zora and keeps leading us into traps. Wonder what's up with that."

    • @CheeseOfString
      @CheeseOfString Před 5 měsíci +12

      They wrote themselves into a bit of a corner with the way they did the dragon tears. The fundamental design principle of the game is that you should be able to do anything at any time after you get off the Great Sky Island. If they wanted the story to have more impact, they probably shouldn't have unlocked the tears, or at least blocked some of them, until after the Hyrule Castle sequence. But that would break the rules, and it would really suck to either have the geoglyphs have no tears until later in the game, or have them appear in places the player had already been. I found all the tears in order by starting with impa's quest and then going to the ancient temple where you can see the map of them and the proper order. I consider that to be best case scenario when it comes to experiencing that part of the story with no outside input or guides. However, I did all that before storming Hyrule Castle and completing all the newspaper quests, so I still felt like it was dumb that nobody knew that Zelda was gone. (The newspaper quests are less of a problem since you do them for a reward, and it kinda makes sense that they would be grasping at straws like that) I told my friend to find the first 12, but skip them and watch them after Hyrule Castle, then find the 13th one, and that helped his experience a lot, but that's a lot of restriction for a game as open as totk

    • @lukebytes5366
      @lukebytes5366 Před 5 měsíci +7

      ​@@kiptheott5932 Yunobo of all people actually figures this out to my knowledge.

    • @TheQuashingoftheTub
      @TheQuashingoftheTub Před 2 měsíci +6

      ​@@CheeseOfString Honestly, considering how much flavor text is implemented for the smallest of environmental changes, the simplest thing they could have done is have Link go, "Yo Zelda's safe but not at the phone. I think you can call off your troops." And then have each faction just go "All right, we'll just dedicated some manpower to figure out what's going on with this fake Zelda and spread the word thx k byeee"

    • @angelmendez-rivera351
      @angelmendez-rivera351 Před 26 dny

      I don't think this is a fair criticism. It strikes me as a textbook example of a nigh-omniscient reader not realizing that the characters can't possibly have access to some knowledge that the reader has. Besides, while we it's easy for us to see it coming, there isn't anything that actually confirms that the Saboteur isn't Zelda until, well, after the Crisis at Hyrule Castle quest takes place. At any point in the story before this, it's technically possible for the Zelda in question to really be Zelda, even if it seemd unlikely. After all, plot twists are things that exist.

  • @satsujin4027
    @satsujin4027 Před 7 měsíci +195

    As much as I adore BotW and Majora's, Twilight Princess is by far my favorite when it comes to story. Playing TP feels a lot more like reading a book or watching a movie than other Zelda games while still having an amazing jogability. I still want to play it again and again instead of just watching an YT stream for the story.

    • @Ren-rh1zv
      @Ren-rh1zv Před 3 měsíci +5

      Agreed, many zelda games, while I love their style and stories, make me feel like I dont need to replay it, and there isn't much of a point when I know everything that will happen. But Twilight Princess, even knowing the story and the outcome and the twists, will always feel much more, and I will always feel drawn to playing the game and experiencing the story over and over, rather than just reverting to watching someone else's play through or waiting to get to one point in the story i like. Twilight Princess' entire story is the part i like, and each small part of it gets me hyped for what comes next. The cozy feeling you have starting the game, talking to the village folk, playing the goat mini game, and then getting thrust into the dark twilight, and then actually venturing for yourself outside of Faron woods for the first time, it's all exciting and wonderful from each turn you take

  • @LegoReader12345hello
    @LegoReader12345hello Před 6 měsíci +30

    Ocarania of time was my first zelda game. It is considered the important one since from there, many games affect the timeline depending on what point they set off. For instance, Majora's mask takes place when Link returns to the past

  • @albericozapata4086
    @albericozapata4086 Před 7 měsíci +78

    Really liked the position that Link's awakening has. Till this day, the story has marked me in a way that i cannot hear the soundtrack and feel emotional.

    • @Houdini111
      @Houdini111 Před 6 měsíci +2

      When I started this video I said to myself "I'll be really disappointed if Link's Awakening isn't within the top third" and sure enough, that's basically exactly where he put it.

    • @beardalaxy
      @beardalaxy Před 6 měsíci +5

      I haven't played Link's Awakening, though I do know the story very well. Seeing the end cutscene with the seagull still manages to gut punch me.

    • @kreiskhaos8516
      @kreiskhaos8516 Před 6 měsíci

      Should've been a touch higher imo

    • @badmeetsevil6163
      @badmeetsevil6163 Před 4 měsíci

      Err I think you guys are looking too much into the story. It’s just a dream…nothing more. Why feel guilty about destroying an illusion that’s trapping you? Game never made me feel that way. I wouldn’t even put it above The Oracle games or A Link to the Past, yet alone TOTK! #7 is crazy.

    • @beardalaxy
      @beardalaxy Před 4 měsíci +2

      @@badmeetsevil6163 have you never been emotionally impacted by a dream?

  • @JJMomoida
    @JJMomoida Před 7 měsíci +234

    I would put Majora’s Mask up there at the top because it revolves around an idea I find very interesting in both fiction and reality: how people deal and cope with grief and conflict. I find that involving so many of the faces in Termina *really* helps build a connection to that world. Majora itself is just an evil mask, but how it affects the world and its characters is very interesting to me.

    • @TheEtherny
      @TheEtherny Před 7 měsíci +2

      TIL people don't know the difference between plot and story

    • @JJMomoida
      @JJMomoida Před 7 měsíci +1

      @@TheEtherny cool

    • @irgendeinanonymertyp638
      @irgendeinanonymertyp638 Před 7 měsíci +10

      ​@@TheEtherny🤓

    • @ShadowSkyX
      @ShadowSkyX Před 7 měsíci

      I like how the title "Majora's Mask" tells you (once you have context) the twist upfront. The mask by itself as part of the title also leans into it. Sure you learn early about the mask, but the other half of the truth?
      The mask of majora is another way to say the same thing.

    • @alfynthepro9078
      @alfynthepro9078 Před 6 měsíci

      There’s also just so much symbolism and details to unravel from the story it’s incredible

  • @gabrielmatos6308
    @gabrielmatos6308 Před 7 měsíci +212

    My favorite still Twilight Princess, it's the most epic Zelda story by far in my opinion. It's akin to something like the Lord of the Rings for me, a grand story about heroes who fight a great evil that is slowly taking the world for himself, and only by the acts of true good the evil is put at bay, through the collaboration of all species they can win this great war, and save their land. A story about friendship, bravery, duty, and redemption, that no other Zelda did. This truly felt like a epic legend about the adventures of a mythical hero, and that's what I love in Zelda the most. (Not to mention that the final battle is simply amazing)

    • @Azureblue25
      @Azureblue25 Před 7 měsíci +14

      Same, my favorite is Twilight Princess as well, although something I’ve noticed is that once something is your favorite not only can you acknowledge it’s greatest strengths, but you’re also bound to notice how it can be improved upon, for me the only ways I’d want Twilight Princess to be improved would be giving Princess Zelda more development and giving her a more fleshed out relationship with Link, and still giving Midna the same major role, something akin to what happened in Skyward Sword, also design wise I think Skyward Sword and the Link Between Worlds Smash Bros. Ultimate Princess Zelda designs are my favorites, so I wish she looked more like either of those designs, aside from that, it would’ve been cool if we got a dark link battle, especially since they even got featured in a cutscene in the game itself, and we never get to fight one of them, come to think of it a dark link battle would’ve been a great final challenge for the cave of ordeals in the Gerudo desert, as well as making the boss battles a bit more difficult to make it feel more rewarding to defeat them after an already epic battle with an epic soundtrack in the background, (the second phase of Morpheel in the Lakebed Temple doesn’t even attack you which is kinda lame) Also making the overworld feel less empty, especially with Hyrule field. I could probably think of other things, but I just thought I’d at least mention all of the above.

    • @tonyb4252
      @tonyb4252 Před 7 měsíci +4

      Love twilight princess

    • @corncob567
      @corncob567 Před 7 měsíci +3

      TP on top!!

    • @-.MidnasLament.-
      @-.MidnasLament.- Před 7 měsíci

      Same ❤

    • @padfootetprongs
      @padfootetprongs Před 7 měsíci

      Agree

  • @bethanyellico236
    @bethanyellico236 Před 6 měsíci +79

    A few thoughts about Tears of the Kingdom... I agree that the open-world, do things at your own pace, in any order, really harms the delivery of the story. However, for players who are paying attention, there are ways to find the memories in order. If you follow the "Impa and the Geoglyphs" questline, you find a hidden room in the Forgotten Temple that shows, from left to right, all of the geoglyphs in the order you should visit them. I used this on my first playthrough and was able to receive the complete story in order, and it really landed well. Additionally, once you finish the Zora's Domain questline, Muzu will be at Lookout Landing. He will tell you the location of one geoglyph at a time, again in chronological order. This doesn't completely solve the problem, but I do think it helps a lot.

    • @helion2018
      @helion2018 Před 6 měsíci +13

      I don't think it helps a lot, it doesn't help at all most of the time, but rarely it helps. Not fully tho.
      It doesn't fix the fact that you have to watch the almost same exact cutscene 4 times, doesn't help that it's painfully obvious that Zelda is 'fake' (especially if you have seen the corresponding geoglyph cutscene, which the correct order doesn't help you with except if you deliberately sleep on them on your FIRST playthrough, when you have literally no idea).
      For this story to work on a first playthrough the stars have ti allign in some borderline impossible way and even still, the cutscenes at the ends of the 4 (Not you, Mineru) dungeons suck.

    • @endless_del
      @endless_del Před 3 měsíci +9

      i do agree the dungeon cutscenes are repetitive, but as for the tears quest, i did them in no particular order and got "spoiled" abt halfway through them, and i still found the story to be very compelling and emotional. zelda hasn't made me cry since twilight princess, but the final tear leading into the master sword pull had me ugly crying. up until this point, skyward sword had my favorite story because it finally felt like zelda was more than an afterthought despite her being the titular character. totk (and botw before this, although i think botw's story is only good bc of what comes after) blew that out of the water for me, because zelda wasn't just a key component to the story-- she WAS the story. link is just an observer to it, and the person who stays by her side to support her through it.
      i personally don't mind disjointed story telling (im pretty used to it, being a comic book reader) but i understand why it throws people off. but if you look at what the story is and what it's doing, i think it's hard to argue that there's been a game in the series that lives up to the name "the legend of zelda" more than the wild duology. an argument could be made for SS and some days i might agree with it, but ultimately i feel that since SS does a lot of telling instead of showing when it comes to zelda's story, it falls flat in that aspect.

    • @mehface
      @mehface Před 3 měsíci +11

      I still dont understand why the tears didn't just unlock the memories in order, regardless of which tear you found. It made sense for the memories in BotW, as the location was relevant to the memory itself, but in the sequel this wasn't the case. Seems like a really easy fix.

    • @ninkstheultimate3376
      @ninkstheultimate3376 Před 3 měsíci +2

      So, have linearity in order to tell a linear story. Which Totk lacked completely.

    • @TheQuashingoftheTub
      @TheQuashingoftheTub Před 2 měsíci

      ​@@mehfaceI guess it's because each geoglyph represents the memory, and that's a cool visual detail, but honestly they could have found another way.

  • @beewhiched
    @beewhiched Před 5 měsíci +18

    I'm glad that most people agree that Twilight Princess at LEAST should have been S tier

  • @alexanderwilliams644
    @alexanderwilliams644 Před 7 měsíci +171

    You can’t ignore how much love goes into the Zelda games as a whole when they create such good stories even though they aren’t even the devs main priority.

    • @Tazerboy_10
      @Tazerboy_10 Před 7 měsíci +1

      Yup

    • @javiervasquez625
      @javiervasquez625 Před 7 měsíci +16

      Not much in recent years considering their lattest 2 titles.

    • @Tazerboy_10
      @Tazerboy_10 Před 7 měsíci +1

      @@javiervasquez625 - You're not wrong!

    • @alexanderwilliams644
      @alexanderwilliams644 Před 7 měsíci +11

      @@javiervasquez625 the stories of both games are stellar along with the stories that side quests have to tell, with even better gameplay. You’re gonna have to explain what about them you’re claiming to be bad.

    • @javiervasquez625
      @javiervasquez625 Před 7 měsíci +1

      @@alexanderwilliams644 Zeltik's video and the many comments here pretty much share my personal opinion regarding the narrative of Tears of the Kingdom. Read some of them and you'll know what my stance regarding the story is.

  • @mitwhitgaming7722
    @mitwhitgaming7722 Před 7 měsíci +77

    Ocarina of Time will always be my favorite because it has the classic structure of a fantasy Hero's Journey, but with the twist of time travel. (Then again, I suppose you could say the same of Chrono Trigger.

    • @93tilinfinity4life
      @93tilinfinity4life Před 7 měsíci +8

      Agree! But Chrono trigger was more of a team up rpg where orcarina was our solo journey as link so it was more personable.

  • @GE0RGECREWS
    @GE0RGECREWS Před 7 měsíci +49

    Link's awakening story is so underrated in the dark department. I heard the manga is even darker like link having an anxiety attack from finding out about koholint island not being real at the southern face shrine.

    • @darthpaul99
      @darthpaul99 Před 6 měsíci +8

      I was telling my son this the other day. It’s my favorite Zelda game, and my favorite game period. In the surface it looks simple, but there’s such deep dark undertones. It’s fantastic with the juxtaposition.

  • @TetraTheThief
    @TetraTheThief Před 6 měsíci +11

    Finally someone gives Wind Waker the love it deserves for the story. God it's so fucking good.

  • @boo1_gaming927
    @boo1_gaming927 Před 7 měsíci +153

    I still think Skyward Sword has the best story. I feel like whichever game is your favorite is going to be the number one story anyway, and SS is my favorite game ever. It draws you in from beginning to end, and I felt like it had the most impactful story. Is the game perfect? No, but for what I want from a Zelda game, it's there. Give us these styles of dungeons back!

    • @clonetrooper2003
      @clonetrooper2003 Před 7 měsíci +14

      Hmmm. groose’s character arc in that game is kinda lit

    • @dmrjr132
      @dmrjr132 Před 7 měsíci +9

      Skyward Sword is definitely my favorite story in a zelda game but it's not my favorite Zelda game. I absolutely hated the motion controls and to this day, it is the only game where I ever raged at the controls so much I broke a controller. Even with the abhorrent controls, the story was so good that SS is my 3rd favorite Zelda game

    • @pippapup7644
      @pippapup7644 Před 7 měsíci +8

      ​@@dmrjr132the remake on switch has non motion control options if your willing to try it. If it's already your 3rd favorite it may be worth getting

    • @FancyNaeser53
      @FancyNaeser53 Před 7 měsíci +3

      Skyward sword and Twilight princess are my Favorite too

    • @ZzKevZz
      @ZzKevZz Před 6 měsíci +7

      I love Skyward Sword, too. It's actually a real Zelda game.

  • @nickk3077
    @nickk3077 Před 7 měsíci +147

    I think Zelda 1 and 2 had great stories for the time! Like, when Zelda came out, it was revolutionary because open worlds like this with secrets and mysteries and such were seldom made.

    • @gregd6611
      @gregd6611 Před 7 měsíci

      I agree. As it was more technology based why the story was more minimal within the games, the manual added a lot of context. But apparently I'm one of the few kids that read the manual to get that information, which is why those 2 have more nostalgia for me personally. Just like how it added more context for the Mario series, with Toads being transformed into the blocks, and Bowser needing to appear on Peach & Bowser +8 (JK!). When Bowser had 7 kids originally, and then seemingly an 8th in Bowser Junior.

    • @hedwigon6951
      @hedwigon6951 Před 7 měsíci +4

      For the time, yes. With modern Zelda, no.

    • @hist150project5
      @hist150project5 Před 7 měsíci +2

      Eh, Final Fantasy 1 only came out one year later and it has much more story than Zelda 1. Zelda 1 literally has as much story as Super Mario Bros.

    • @gregd6611
      @gregd6611 Před 7 měsíci

      @@hist150project5 Probably, but Zelda (especially in the eyes of all the various developers over the series) was never about the story. So they could have put more story in - but for all we know there was a limitation to not overwhelm the adventure. It could be hardware based as perhaps they wanted to do it a certain way, but then scrapped it. What I'm saying what was there was still a good story. It didn't help that there were numerous translation issues and more NOA inventing parts of the story.
      I liked what was there, could there have been more? Probably. But it wasn't the primary focus and more about the adventure, as it's been the case with many of the Zelda games.

  • @KyleMacBean
    @KyleMacBean Před 7 měsíci +8

    I know it's not a main series entry but I really liked the story in Age of Calamity. I'd probably put it B or A tier if including it on this list. Def don't sleep on it folks! Great work Zeltik!

  • @Adam-ds1ik
    @Adam-ds1ik Před 6 měsíci +12

    The art direction they took for the remake of Link's Awakening was absolutely perfect and I adore it

  • @gatst7680
    @gatst7680 Před 7 měsíci +241

    TOTK could have had the best story in the franchise imo if they just... added more story events. Give us 4 more dungeons after Ganondorf powers up to portray him as more of a threat, give us more character moments with everybody aside from the memories, give us more context into the Zonai rather than just their vague existence in the actual game. There's definitely the potential there, but they just don't freaking utilize it...

    • @clonetrooper2003
      @clonetrooper2003 Před 7 měsíci +52

      Actually it had the worst story. Worst plotholes, characters, and ending

    • @roxlife8173
      @roxlife8173 Před 7 měsíci +39

      @@clonetrooper2003 Good for you.

    • @clonetrooper2003
      @clonetrooper2003 Před 7 měsíci +18

      @@roxlife8173 what

    • @yelsahblah3270
      @yelsahblah3270 Před 7 měsíci +37

      Yeah, ToTK had bare bones that was in much need of some meat.

    • @roxlife8173
      @roxlife8173 Před 7 měsíci +8

      @@clonetrooper2003 You heard me.

  • @James-zw7by
    @James-zw7by Před 7 měsíci +388

    I loved BOTW so much, and it’s environmental story telling is amazing, but it would definitely have benefited from a deeper present story.

    • @clonetrooper2003
      @clonetrooper2003 Před 7 měsíci +23

      Yeah BOTW's story was lit. A nice risk
      Unlike its sequel

    • @sylinmino
      @sylinmino Před 7 měsíci +23

      ​@@clonetrooper2003TotK's story is also awesome. It's got a ton of great highlights too. BotW's is much more consistent though.

    • @clonetrooper2003
      @clonetrooper2003 Před 7 měsíci +36

      @@sylinmino i disagree. Totk’s story is a plot hole ridden, tonally offensive, character ruined, lore breaking disaster. I am willing to hewr you out tho

    • @sylinmino
      @sylinmino Před 7 měsíci +25

      @@clonetrooper2003 I just don't think it's any of those. It has ambiguities and things left open but those aren't the same as plot holes. I wholly disagree it's totally inconsistent, to me it's got one of the most consistent in tone in the series. And I can't really think of a single character that it didn't improve even further from Breath of the Wild. Lore is also easily explained by it being a timeline reboot or a new kingdom far in the future (like Spirit Tracks).
      Is it perfect? No, it's got inconsistent delivery and I don't think the nonlinear telling was as clean as in BotW. But I think people are way too inclined to focus on the few flawed moments rather than the incredible moments outnumbering them. Example: people seem to fixate too much on the one minute "Demon King? Secret Stone?" , compared to the hours long epic arcs that come before them. Especially when the Gerudo and Rito Arcs are two of the best composed questlines and masterclasses in environmental storytelling in the series history.

    • @clonetrooper2003
      @clonetrooper2003 Před 7 měsíci +22

      @@sylinmino I can think of multiple characters they ruined. Zelda is a mindless drone, Yunobo is an idiot who fell for a puppet, and they shafted teba. And yes i do agree that sidon and tulins stories are goated but are ruined by the lazy ending cutscenes. The ending also breaks the games own lore in favor of unearned crap.
      Yes i do have better argumentation but unless you wanna read it it is pretty long

  • @cw5948
    @cw5948 Před 6 měsíci +68

    Twilight princess has the best story. The twist at the end when you find out zant was just ganondorf’s puppet is incredible. Also midna is by far the best companion character for link.

    • @ZeldaSam1
      @ZeldaSam1 Před 6 měsíci

      What I would do to Zant would make what Midna did ta him look like NOTHING MORE than a slap on the wrist!!! I'd make sure he'd be BEGGING ME for death's sweet release!!!!!

    • @fatgum4343
      @fatgum4343 Před 4 měsíci +2

      that "twist" is arguably the worst part of the game

  • @sledgen.
    @sledgen. Před 7 měsíci +4

    incredible video - I love your deep dives into the design of zelda games like this. Your storytelling was so immersive!

  • @TheCosmicCloud
    @TheCosmicCloud Před 7 měsíci +77

    As someone who played TP after Botw, I was struck by how expressive the characters were in cutscenes (and just how many scenes there were in the game with bespoke animation). While major story moments still have great presentation in Botw and Totk, I think those games suffer from their large scope when it comes to small details and character interactions that helped make the other games feel so alive

    • @erenyeeagah204
      @erenyeeagah204 Před 6 měsíci +8

      agreed, thats why i like ww cus the characters felt like they had much more personality even tho they didnt even have voice acting, tetra is more memorable to me than most other zeldas

    • @Cajun_Seasoning
      @Cajun_Seasoning Před 4 měsíci +2

      This is why the Skyward Sword (never played WW) characters are some of my favourites, they are all so full of personality and expression.

    • @c.nk.01
      @c.nk.01 Před 2 měsíci

      as someone who is also a sucker for art and design, seeing how unique and meticulously designed each character in games like ww and especially tp is is so refreshing - it gives us insight into their personality, what they do, where they're from, etc. - which is sadly missing in botw/totk with the mii generated characters as stable filler :/

  • @apfelkuchn506
    @apfelkuchn506 Před 7 měsíci +52

    Great Tierlist! Only I would've put Twilight Princess into S-Tier

  • @Zelevi
    @Zelevi Před 7 měsíci +11

    I agree with your ranking, with that many games in the series this is a big task. I also love how magically you describe them! However, I would switch TotK with BotW, just because of the massive emotions I felt with the ending of the „Tears-Mission“. I would have loved it, if the snippets the tears gave us, came chronlogically, no matter which one you find first (I hope you know what I mean, English is not my First language 😅)
    I am very very curious what Story the next Zelda will bring us! Hoping for a more linear one tho, as it shows in your Video, are more effective!

  • @exilegreatwielder6476
    @exilegreatwielder6476 Před 7 měsíci +10

    You’re content is awesome and you can tell how much love and attention goes into every video. Keep up the hard work it goes much appreciated by every one of your viewers. God bless.

  • @dylanrutherford4425
    @dylanrutherford4425 Před 7 měsíci +43

    As someone that grew up with OOT, in my opinion, even though OOT is my favorite, I think wind waker and twilight princess have to be my favorites and some of the best stories. Finding Hyrule underneath the ocean, having hyrule covered in twilight and following Midna's story. For me those stick to me.

  • @jpsevil
    @jpsevil Před 7 měsíci +34

    This is really thoughtful. I’d personally put TOTK in the A tier, but really enjoyed the analysis. Thank you!

    • @ihatepie5937
      @ihatepie5937 Před 7 měsíci +6

      Its problems are too severe to be put in A tier imo.

    • @santiagopomares6287
      @santiagopomares6287 Před 7 měsíci +19

      @@ihatepie5937 These aren't objective lists, and even then if someone feels the good outweighs the bad then it's their perspective

    • @giofilipov9169
      @giofilipov9169 Před 6 měsíci +3

      Tier A for me too

    • @Hellowifi
      @Hellowifi Před 6 měsíci +1

      Although the story wasn’t perfect it would have benefited so much if the geoglyphs simply presented the memories in the correct order, regardless of which geoglyph the player finds. That alone would have elevated the story

    • @Fiucha8893
      @Fiucha8893 Před 5 měsíci +2

      Tears of the Kingdom's story is A tier for me, too.

  • @patriciaheredia5123
    @patriciaheredia5123 Před 7 měsíci +1

    This is the best freaking video you’ve ever posted. I’ve been watching you for a couple of months but WOW, did I thoroughly enjoy this. Bravo, Zeltik.

  • @potatoqueen5248
    @potatoqueen5248 Před 7 měsíci +11

    Gonna be honest, didn't expect TotK to be below BotW, but I feel like what order you put the 3D games in depends both on the person and the day.

    • @c.nk.01
      @c.nk.01 Před 2 měsíci +1

      imo i think the storytelling method also affects the ranking - they both use the same open-ended storytelling method but it works better in botw's context bc we already know the outcome of the story at the start and the memories just add little extra context and fluff, as opposed to totk where we're actively trying to solve a mystery and the open-ended way of uncovering it could inadvertently spoil the whole game at the start.

  • @ptolover7
    @ptolover7 Před 7 měsíci +17

    Wind Waker is 100% my #1. I used to play it multiple times a year and I don't think I ever didn't tear up at that last sequence with the king's whole speech. My second though is Skyward Sword. I also can't not cry at its ending sequence (between Impa's and Fi's farewells, I mean really), but a big part of why I love it is that it has my favorite Zelda and my favorite Link and Zelda relationship. From the start, you can tell how well they know each other and how much they care, but also how playful they are and how much fun they have. Story and music are the most important things to me so it shouldn't be surprising that my 1 and 2 in both those categories are also my #1 and #2 favorite Zelda games.

    • @joannetrueman6838
      @joannetrueman6838 Před 4 měsíci

      thier is something about The Wind Wakers opening That made me uncomfortable. is the people of Hyrule Worshipping the hero of time infront of the triforce seemd to be very cult like.

  • @silentjoe1062
    @silentjoe1062 Před 7 měsíci +51

    I couldn’t agree more with how you described that the ambiguity of many Zelda stories makes the world all more magical.
    The storytelling across the series feels so much different then what other games have to offer, and give the series such a distinct and charming atmosphere.

  • @nikolasseger1445
    @nikolasseger1445 Před 7 měsíci +14

    Great video! I largely agree with most of your placements; I’m mostly just happy to see you view the Wild Era stories as I do. Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are both great games with lots of fun elements but I don’t think their stories compare to those games you listed above them in your tiers.

  • @hylian_gamer0142
    @hylian_gamer0142 Před 7 měsíci +7

    I love Link Between Worlds soooo much! There's twist after twist after twist, along with a revolutionary game mechanic as well.

  • @ZachAdams926
    @ZachAdams926 Před 7 měsíci +39

    An over hour long review of the lore and story of every Zelda game.
    After watching for the first time, I can tell I’ll be putting this video on to fall asleep to at least once a week.
    Amazing video, Zeltik! I’d say it’s your best to date.

  • @parkfever
    @parkfever Před 7 měsíci +49

    Twilight princess is my favorite zelda game of all time, next to breath of the wild.❤️ though the gameplay was hard because my wii remotes are crappy, it was totally worth t because the story is just so dark and emotional. Even the manga was amazing. I know how to play a couple of the songs on piano.

    • @quintonconoly
      @quintonconoly Před 7 měsíci +2

      :)

    • @yinja3406
      @yinja3406 Před 7 měsíci

      can you play midna's lament and post a video i would love to hear it

  • @Vindrag
    @Vindrag Před 5 měsíci +4

    38:49 OMG! The Link's Awakening part touched me... beuatifully put! 😢

  • @LauraVlrs
    @LauraVlrs Před 7 měsíci +1

    The quality of this video is unbelievable. Amazing job!

  • @itsLantik
    @itsLantik Před 7 měsíci +49

    Another hour long Zeltik vid? Come on man you didnt have to make my day like that! 😂 Hyped up to watch.

  • @HyruleGamer
    @HyruleGamer Před 7 měsíci +41

    The ultimate Zelda video mate!
    For me, I think Twilight Princess and Wind Waker are my absolute top stories. The dark edgy-ness and sad tone of TP just captures me every time. Wind Waker is an incredible adventure that really FEELS like an adventure and sailing the sea is so unreal.

    • @gingy1799
      @gingy1799 Před 7 měsíci

      It’s awesome to see you here. Love your videos!

    • @LordMalice6d9
      @LordMalice6d9 Před 4 měsíci

      Twilight Princess, Wind Waker, and Majora's Mask have the best stories in the Zelda series.

  • @opel669
    @opel669 Před 7 měsíci +1

    The quality of your videos is amazing! Everytime a pleasure. Thank you very much!!

  • @OracleTruth24
    @OracleTruth24 Před 6 měsíci +4

    I think what's great about the Zelda fandom is that we can have completely different opinions on the most compelling narratives, dungeons, etc, yet we can all come together to enjoy the lore, gameplay, and themes. I mostly agree with Zeltik's tier list, though I would put Majora's Mask on a tier all on its own. The blending of supporting cast, narrative, themes, and gameplay all coalescing together to form a player experience that puts them through the full spectrum of emotions. The feelings it got out of me can only be rivaled by Link's Awakening, but that game also happens to be the first Zelda I played (I had watched my brother play A Link to the Past and Ocarina).

  • @MonsterMaze
    @MonsterMaze Před 7 měsíci +53

    The video turned out absolutely amazing mate! Cheers!

    • @SevoraLF
      @SevoraLF Před 7 měsíci +4

      Top notch work on this man, really elevated the video. Two of my favorite creators.

  • @Valor6
    @Valor6 Před 7 měsíci +16

    If people describe Ocarina of Time Link as a wonderful example of the chosen hero, Wind Waker Link is a wonderful example of the everyman hero. He's not some chosen hero, he isn't born with the Triforce of Courage. He's just a kid on an island who musters the courage to go and save his little sister from a monster, and eventually ends up BECOMING a hero worthy of legend. Windwaker is my favorite 3D Zelda game, for certain, and the story is so wonderful - able to balance dark and light in a wonderful way. That Link is my favorite, too - so expressive thanks to the graphical style!

  • @BradleySaniga
    @BradleySaniga Před 7 měsíci +2

    Great list! I enjoyed every second of your video. Zelda is everything to me and I'm so glad my top two Zelda games made the top two of this list. I feel so justified.

  • @andyq524
    @andyq524 Před 6 měsíci

    Only about 10 minutes in, but I'm loving the transitions between games. Really looks like you put a lot of work into this video. Appreciate you. 👍

  • @loganboettcher8314
    @loganboettcher8314 Před 7 měsíci +6

    What sets Majora's Mask apart is that the "villain" is not doing villainous things for villainous ends. The mask has its own capricious malevolence apart from any material goals, so we don't have to ask ourselves "does the villain's evil means or ends make any sense" because we know the skull kid is just a vessel for an unknown yet powerful evil force. We just have to deal with the consequences of the mask itself being a manifestation of evil and chaos, which is told through the stories of the lives being affected.

  • @thecoldmage_
    @thecoldmage_ Před 7 měsíci +22

    I feel vindicated that Link's Awakening is placed so highly in the list. It's probably my favorite Zelda game. It was truly a marvel of it's time; placing a deep, compelling, and comparatively sprawling world inside of a small Gameboy cartridge. I remember playing the game as a child and the big story twist was so surprising. It creates some interesting dissonance in the player, I want to finish the game of course, there's still more to explore, but in doing so I doom this world? What an incredible story and gameplay loop. As a self-contained narrative it's one of the strongest in the series for sure.

  • @noahburton2729
    @noahburton2729 Před 7 měsíci

    Very good ranking, and good reasoning behind it. I think my list would be a touch different, but thank you for such a thorough video that reexplored the stories!!

  • @jtmajor
    @jtmajor Před 5 měsíci +1

    Just found your channel, love it. You got me to purchase skyward sword and links awakening for XMAS for myself. Excited to play them. Keep up with the videos.

  • @a.jthomas6132
    @a.jthomas6132 Před 7 měsíci +41

    I wish we could explore more of the Ancient Hyrule in Tears of the Kingdom through Zelda’s own point of view , learning more about the Zonai, and dive deep into Ganondorf’s backstory. I mean, wouldn’t it be could to have a playable Princess Zelda since Skyward Sword fails to deliver us the Second Quest? It would make sense since the story felt like it’s divided into two from the perspectives or two main characters: Link and Princess Zelda.

    • @itzriotplayz2377
      @itzriotplayz2377 Před 7 měsíci +3

      i also wish we can explore the lands and kingdoms outside beyond hyrule.

    • @Christopher-md7tf
      @Christopher-md7tf Před 7 měsíci +6

      But what would the actual gameplay be? Just going around, talking to people? Idk about you, but that sounds like an absolute snoozefest to me. I would be asking myself why they made me play through all of that instead of simply making it a cutscene lol. It gives off the same vibes as the sections in the recent Spider-Man games where you don't play as Spider-Man, ultimately, nobody wants that shit.

    • @SoggyCereal09
      @SoggyCereal09 Před 7 měsíci +3

      That’s what we need in a dlc

    • @itzriotplayz2377
      @itzriotplayz2377 Před 7 měsíci +6

      @@SoggyCereal09 but they"re not making any dlc for totk and they said they had no plans for it.

    • @javiervasquez625
      @javiervasquez625 Před 7 měsíci +3

      ​@@itzriotplayz2377 I'm still hoping Aonuma and Fujibayashi lied due to NDA as there's a LOT that needs fixing in TotK regarding it's story and narrative.

  • @Rivalrvn
    @Rivalrvn Před 7 měsíci +6

    I watched this from start to finish in one sitting, and other than my favorite title coming second, I have scarce negative feedback.
    This video was incredible. I loved the production value; the book transition and tier list was super satisfying and fulfilled their purpose perfectly and appropriately.
    The scripting and segmentation were also extremely good, every part just long enough to include everything necessary while still holding the attention of the viewer.
    And a lot of viewers probably don’t recognise how much of a skill it is to physically speak and read a script for so long but still maintain energy and interest with good enunciation and inflection.
    Absolutely brilliant, well done.

  • @moopoo8841
    @moopoo8841 Před 5 měsíci +31

    Twilight princess being excluded from S tier is criminal

  • @andrewraebig9271
    @andrewraebig9271 Před 7 měsíci

    This is one of the best videos I’ve seen from you in a while, cheers!
    While I don’t agree with some of your placements, I do think you did a nice analysis of each game to cover its story and impact on/in gameplay.
    Thank you, and keep up the good work!

  • @TwilightHero21
    @TwilightHero21 Před 7 měsíci +21

    I agree with your list I but think that Twilight Princess ranks just above Wind Waker because it has the perfect balance of known and unknown as well as taking a tried and true format and twisting it in unexpected ways

  • @magicgadget
    @magicgadget Před 7 měsíci +2

    Zeltik and monster maze are both s tier content producers

  • @conorgillingham2564
    @conorgillingham2564 Před 6 měsíci +2

    I mostly agree. I think that the only placement is I would put TOTK slightly above BOTW. I think both stories are very similar and very good. Even if my personal favorite story is SS, I LOVE your telling of WW. Wind Waker is unironically the coolest story. It fits the most like a hero's journey. And probably has the most badass incarnation of Link in all of Zelda alongside the best villian.

    • @Fiucha8893
      @Fiucha8893 Před 5 měsíci

      I think Tears of the Kingdom is tied with Breath of the Wild. I find the story to be as good. Not better, not worse. But with this in mind, I'd put Breath of the Wild slightly above Tears of the Kingdom just because it's the OG game.

  • @alysupersmashshow
    @alysupersmashshow Před 7 měsíci +8

    Adventure of Link apparently also started the canonically tradition in which the Prince felt so bad about what he did, that in her memory, decided to name every princess afterwards zelda

    • @javiervasquez625
      @javiervasquez625 Před 7 měsíci +3

      Yet prior to that it was _already_ tradition to name the princesses Zelda in honor of the previous incarnations in past games all the way into the first ever Zelda who kickstarted the Royal Family's bloodline back in Skyward Sword.

    • @alysupersmashshow
      @alysupersmashshow Před 7 měsíci +1

      @@javiervasquez625idek man zelda is confusing sometimes.

  • @wolflinkanddogfan
    @wolflinkanddogfan Před 7 měsíci +8

    Twilight princess has a much better story than wind water.

  • @leopoldmaximus145
    @leopoldmaximus145 Před 7 měsíci

    I am so glad you revived the Ranking Series zeltik. You are my favorite Zelda CZcamsr, you make great videos, and I hope you can one day update the strength ranking of Ganondorf and Link now that TOTK is out.

  • @ryaniwanowski
    @ryaniwanowski Před 6 měsíci +4

    Zelda II Adventures of Link was the first Zelda game I played as a kid and just loved the lore and dark fantasy style of the game. Even the music of the game created a sense of tension and you knew the stakes were high as it was probably the most difficult Zelda game made. I'd love to see that game get an HD 3D remake one day.

  • @DaWoWzer
    @DaWoWzer Před 7 měsíci +7

    Majora's Mask is a master class at world building. no zelda game has ever felt as homey yet alien at the same time.

  • @spyrofrost9158
    @spyrofrost9158 Před 7 měsíci +12

    I think Twilight Princess is my favorite in terms of story, favorite overall tied with Ocarina. Everything about TP is just so grand in feel and scale, story, combat, etc. BOTW and TOTK are intriguing but the story definitely feels more in the background. To be honest I was fairly disappointed with TOTK's story, but I did love every moment of the gameplay!

    • @Link-rz2ve
      @Link-rz2ve Před 7 měsíci

      What I think happened with TOTK is that most of there time went in developing the gameplay and making it work on switch that's why they barely gave anytime to story and world building which is kinda proved by some recent interview of the director of the game where he literally says that the sheikah tech just disappeared one day I was more happy in thinking that it went back underground 🥲

    • @netweed09
      @netweed09 Před 7 měsíci +1

      @@Link-rz2ve ? Why, what did the 'Sheikah' tech do for Us - except rob Us of lively, themed Dungeons & replace them with boring, samey automatons?? Who _all_ got possessed, had their 'Champions' killed in them and,, well just generally failed and posed more harm to the Kingdom than Good?! 🤷‍♂ That's why the Sequel is called _Tears_ - because , the 1st game's 'story' was so thin, and literally a washout.

  • @Flaris
    @Flaris Před 7 měsíci +3

    For me I'll probably keep Twilight Princess at the top. The journey for Link and the story surrounding Midna was fantastic. One of the more emotional games for me in the franchise.
    But honestly, a solid tier list here.

  • @AndreasVNesje
    @AndreasVNesje Před 4 měsíci +2

    A link to the past was such a groundbreaking game, a gigantic leap in storytelling compared to its predecessors. It's the first game with dual worlds, a recipe that many games copied. In my eyes, A tier.

    • @tomvanderlinden5564
      @tomvanderlinden5564 Před 3 měsíci +1

      Agreed. Also, in my opinion, none of the Zeldas after it got close of nailing the unique atmosphere in the game, especially the first time of entering the dark world. Maybe Majora’s Mask, with its gloomy tone.
      I am very biased, as this my first Zelda (and the one I finished). And the look of link in the manual is still my fav and would be a perfect fit for a Ghibli adaptation.

  • @AceWolf456
    @AceWolf456 Před 7 měsíci +7

    I'll give on that, yeah. Totk I think has one of the best storys, but the way it's told to us hurts it. Being open world and making your story into collectables is not the best way to tell that story. But I will stand firm on the story being S tier. It's like letting a student in an introductory cooking class cook a5 wagyu beef. Just because it's handled wrong doesn't mean the materials are bad.

  • @brendontallman1460
    @brendontallman1460 Před 7 měsíci +12

    We need a sequel to majoras mask and twilight princess…. Could you imagine what those two games could do for the lore?!

  • @octolingo1892
    @octolingo1892 Před 7 měsíci +1

    43:35 I'm sure this wasn't intentional, but the Master Sword lighting up synced up PERFECTLY with the little "whoosh" in the backtrack music

  • @DoruWuWei
    @DoruWuWei Před 7 měsíci

    Your videos are always amazing, but specially (!) You write the best introductions for them.

  • @Robburgos328
    @Robburgos328 Před 7 měsíci +6

    OOT will always be my personal favorite story based purely off nostalgia. Congrats on a hell of a video!!!!

  • @plebausaurusrex
    @plebausaurusrex Před 7 měsíci +5

    The irony behind Wind Waker being a disappointment too many when released to now being louded as possibly the best game of the series still amazes me. The early 2000’s were misunderstood in many aspects, but now seeing the influence and obsession with it if, it truly was a special time to be alive!

  • @danielholmqvist2713
    @danielholmqvist2713 Před 7 měsíci +1

    Great video! Seeing your arguments about Wind Waker and Majora's Mask just made me unsure if we were valuing the main story or just "story elements" generally

    • @Speakhardly
      @Speakhardly Před 6 měsíci

      Same! I feel like Zeltik appreciates the concepts a whole lot and not necessarily their plotting. That’s fine of course but it’s worth talking about what actually constitutes the story in Zelda games.

  • @BruceBoyde
    @BruceBoyde Před 7 měsíci +1

    I loved this tier list. I pretty much entirely agree, but you did an excellent job explaining your opinions too. The actual gameplay of WW left me slightly wanting and I never did care for the art style, but what an excellent story. I am in awe at how well they handled Ganondorf and the emotional poignancy of that final act. And I think that only the fight with Demise can compete with WW Ganondorf for aesthetic excellence.
    I could absolutely see anyone picking OoT, TP, MM, or SS as their favorite too though. They were all brilliant in their ways.

  • @Wraggle3000
    @Wraggle3000 Před 7 měsíci +17

    Ive never been more invested in a games story than totk, after pulling the sword out my entire playthrough was spent slowly piecing together what happened to zelda, only to find out she immortaled herself and ive already been on her back. I was pissed and it made the game probably my new favorite of the series.

    • @prettyoriginalnameprettyor7506
      @prettyoriginalnameprettyor7506 Před 7 měsíci +5

      it was super obvious that she was the dragon and I feel like the game spoiled itself too early

    • @RNGuice
      @RNGuice Před 7 měsíci +3

      Bro the story in TOTK was so ass💀

    • @Wraggle3000
      @Wraggle3000 Před 7 měsíci +1

      @@RNGuice Why is that

    • @RNGuice
      @RNGuice Před 7 měsíci +1

      @@Wraggle3000 Cause the medium they used to tell it was very confused and nonsensical for starters.

  • @carcerharlson9767
    @carcerharlson9767 Před 7 měsíci +20

    I recently completed the 3D Link's Awakening. Having played the original as a tyke, the overpowering nostalgia of revisiting Koholint was like seeing your childhood home with everything as you remember it, but with a fresh coat of paint making it even better. After completing it, that final post-credits scene was the most emotionally crushing thing I've seen in a long time.

  • @forehead3k
    @forehead3k Před 7 měsíci +2

    So much I want to say, but I'll limit myself.
    Your two S-tiers are are spot on. They are 2 of my top 3 favorite Zelda games. Tears gets my #3, not because of story but because of Ultrahand. I have a neuromuscular condition that makes timing sensitive gameplay difficult (things like parry and flurry rushes boil down to random chance for me). Zonai devices (and the relative difficulty of acquiring parts until the late game) turn combat into a more of a thought and planning exercise. What to avoid, what device to make, how can I reuse the device so I don't waste parts.
    Your comments on Majora were really appreciated. I'm old enough to have played the original when it was first released, and have played the vast majority of the main console and hand-held entries. Majora is hands down my favorite. It all boils down to the believability of the world. I wish Breath and Tears invested half as much time into giving NPCs a real schedule that Link could observe and interact with. It injects a breath of life into the game. Gives you a chance to get to know NPCs beyond a bit of quest-related dialog.

  • @tabletopnephilim4633
    @tabletopnephilim4633 Před 7 měsíci +2

    Zeltik: "Midna is one of the series' best companions."
    Me: ONE of? I think you mean THE!

  • @LinktheCommunistWaifu
    @LinktheCommunistWaifu Před 7 měsíci +8

    Majora's Mask is my favorite story, just the overall feel that the world is going to end gives me the feel of the Lamentis scene from Loki. Glad it was S tier. Ill have to tell Cdotkom that his favorite story was ranked first in the newest Zeltik video

  • @gingy1799
    @gingy1799 Před 7 měsíci +5

    I think you captured the remarkable story of Wind Waker perfectly! Always love your videos Zeltik and this one is no different. Thank you!

  • @aceofblades1677
    @aceofblades1677 Před 7 měsíci +8

    Awesome video! Tierlist spoilers below.
    Was NOT expecting Wind Waker to take first place, but I'm certainly not mad about it. I love everything about that world, and especially its Triforce Trio, each of whom are my favorite iteration in the series.
    I think TotK lands a bit higher on my list, but that's because I was lucky enough to experience the story in--in my opinion--what's gotta be one of the best ways possible. I do agree with your issues with its storytelling, I just never personally ran into said issues.

    • @40gamer90
      @40gamer90 Před 6 měsíci

      was obvious that he would put WW First, i knew it even before i pressed play lol

    • @Iisho
      @Iisho Před 6 měsíci

      TotK is also higher on my list, honestly I enjoyed it more than BotW. Though, that's personal opinion of course. Both games are exccelent, I just think they suffer ever-so-slightly from growing pains - being the first open world Zelda games.

    • @kahp1072
      @kahp1072 Před 5 měsíci +2

      The games puts very clear the linear way you should find the memories and that's what I did. I knew from my experience in BOTW that finding the memories out of order would hurt my experience.

  • @jenb7780
    @jenb7780 Před 6 měsíci +1

    This is such a wonderful, in depth review and ranking of every game by story. I really like how well you analyzed each one and why you ranked it where you did.
    I think for me Majora's Mask is the best story because there is so much to explore with the characters in those three days.

  • @ItsNamekian
    @ItsNamekian Před 7 měsíci +5

    All I want is a twilight princess reboot for the switch 😩 I love TP so much man.