Highlights
- Breath of the Wild revolutionized the Legend of Zelda franchise with its dark and lore-filled storytelling, but its storytelling ambitions didn't quite make it one of the top games in the franchise's history.
- Skyward Sword's bold and cinematic storytelling, along with its exploration of Zelda and Link's relationship, made it a memorable entry in the franchise for many fans.
- The Minish Cap stood out for its unique setting and storyline, deviating from the traditional Zelda formula and including intriguing lore about the ancient Picori.
Across the long history of the Legend of Zelda franchise, there has been a large variety of games that cross into different genres, different dimensions, and across time itself, making it feel as if anything could happen in this legendary franchise that has helped define the video game industry.
However, some of the Legend of Zelda games manage to focus on their storylines within that universe with a particular level of success. From the beginning when Link was simply running around a 2D dungeon to the most recent explosive adventures in grand open-world settings, the Legend of Zelda franchise has always put a high emphasis on quality storytelling.
7 Breath Of The Wild
One of the great things about the Legend of Zelda franchise is that almost every game could be a great jumping-on point for new fans. With decades worth of history throughout the adventures of Hyrule and the various Links, the idea of forming it all into a cohesive history of canon seemed like too abstract an idea for all but the most die-hard Zelda fans.
However, that all changed when the grand open-world adventure Breath of the Wild was released. Hugely divisive among fans of the franchise for the storytelling, which is particularly dark and filled with lore and references to the other games in the franchise, Breath of the Wild is a beloved game still. The world-building is excellent, and it does a reasonable job of tying much of the franchise together, but it isn’t one of the very top in the franchise’s history despite the ambition it held.
6 Skyward Sword
While Skyward Sword is another title that remains extremely divided among the Legend of Zelda fandom, the story is one aspect that most can agree upon. Besides the two newest entries and their open worlds, Skyward Sword is the most far-reaching, ambitious, and cinematic game the franchise has had, and it is a great Zelda game for beginners.
Making bold moves and delving deeper into Zelda and Link as an actual couple, somewhere many entries barely dare to hint at, Skyward Sword told a grand, sweeping story in a bold new fashion that stuck with many Legend of Zelda fans long after they finished playing. Many complain about other aspects of the gameplay and visuals, but there are few fans who don’t love Skyward Sword’s version of the hero’s tale.
5 The Minish Cap
The Minish Cap is an unusual game in the Legend of Zelda franchise. Released as a portable entry, though a mainline one in the history of the franchise, The Minish Cap took bold steps in setting itself before almost any other Zelda game in the overarching timeline of the franchise. It also ignored several major elements that appear in most other games within the franchise, such as Ganondorf as the primary antagonist.
The story, instead, of the ancient Picori and their myths about a great Hero of Man, whom Link must emulate by shrinking down in size to stop the evil sorcerer Vaati, is a great backdrop for a grand story. The Minish Cap, besides mixing the best features of Four Swords and earlier non-handheld games in the franchise, has achieved cult status among Zelda fans as one of the most beautifully built versions of Hyrule with a lot of intriguing lore added to the franchise’s history.
4 Link’s Awakening
One of the boldest early entries in the franchise, Link’s Awakening was originally intended as a port for A Link To The Past, but it developed over time into an original adventure set after the events of that game. Link’s Awakening was the first handheld title in the franchise’s history, and it took place entirely inside a dream, not even setting itself in Hyrule.
Link’s Awakeningdeserves praise for the boldness of the story, which involved Link washing ashore on an island he doesn’t recognize. Link is tasked with finding eight magical instruments, so he can awaken the Wind Fish, a great sleeping creature that controls the dream world where Link has found himself. Link’s Awakening tells a beautiful tale, and it has been well-remembered for such a dated entry in the franchise.
3 Majora’s Mask
Another bold story told within the greater franchise of The Legend of Zelda, Majora’s Mask is considered by many fans to have some of the very best lore and world-building in a narrative sense of any game in history. Majora’s Mask had a whole world of NPCs feeling truly terrified about the dark times and events they were living in, making for a much more realistic and heart-breaking adventure that felt high-stakes throughout.
Not to mention that it tackled the idea of a time loop in a way that is tricky to pull off successfully. Majora’s Mask remains a standard-bearer for Zelda games in both storytelling and bold narrative stroke terms.
2 The Wind Waker
Though it features some of the more adorable and colorful art styles seen in any Zelda entry, which inspired many other games, The Wind Waker has remained a favorite of many Zelda fans over the years for other reasons. One of these is the narrative style, providing a stark contrast to the art with some shockingly dark ideas and characters that appear throughout the flooded world.
The connections to Ocarina of Time, the beautiful setting that worked from both a narrative and gameplay perspective, and the simplicity of the story made for a wonderful tale in The Wind Waker. With updated graphical versions having been released since the original, more and more Zelda fans have rediscovered a true love for the complexities of this wonderful entry.
1 Ocarina Of Time
Ocarina of Time is one of the oldest entries in the main Zelda franchise, but it remains one of the very best. Many gamers still love returning to these older Zelda games, in particular Ocarina, because it is quite simply one of the best games of all time. While other Zelda games needed to set themselves apart from the tropes of the franchise to tell a fantastical and original story, Ocarina of Time manages to tell something complex and original while feeling familiar and championing the very tropes that make the franchise so special and beloved.
Zelda fans of all ages and calibers can find something to truly love about Ocarina of Time. The story itself, about Link going after the Triforce and being trapped in time for seven years while Ganon takes over Hyrule, was excellent, even if it didn’t help with forming a full Zelda game timeline. But the real charm is in the deeper lore told by other characters in the game, which made it feel so much more real, and changed how Zelda games, and video games in general, were handled forever narratively.