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00:00Welcome to Mojo Plays, and today we're ranking every Zelda game by their stories.
00:11We'll focus on mainline Zelda games and exclude spin-offs or non-canonical entries.
00:17And since we'll be looking at these plots in depth, expect spoilers for every one of
00:21these legendary adventures.
00:33Before we begin, we publish new content all week long, so be sure to subscribe and ring
00:37the bell to get notified about our latest videos.
00:41Number 19, The Legend of Zelda Four Swords.
00:53This one hardly counts as a Zelda game, originally released as bonus content for the GBA re-release
00:58of A Link to the Past.
01:00Rather than weaving a compelling narrative, Four Swords was meant to give an option for
01:04the first time for multiplayer play on a Zelda title, with up to four players using a link
01:09cable to connect.
01:16The game is perhaps most notable for introducing the recurring villain Vaati, although he lacked
01:21the backstory or much of a character at this point.
01:24The plot of the Four Sword, and sealing Vaati within it, exists mostly as an excuse to split
01:29Link into four versions of himself, each wearing a different colored tunic.
01:43Number 18, The Legend of Zelda.
01:52The very first Zelda was incredibly revolutionary in numerous ways, and containing any semblance
01:59of a story was revolutionary for the time.
02:02However, compared to the games it would inspire, both within and outside the Zelda series,
02:07there wasn't much there.
02:09Because of technical limitations, a single paragraph of questionably translated backstory,
02:14introducing Zelda, Ganon, and the Triforce on the title screen, was all the story in
02:18the actual game.
02:24There was a bit more context given in the game's manual, but even then, there wasn't
02:29much of a plot.
02:30Still, the basic formula of the Hero Link setting across the land of Hyrule, gaining
02:35treasure, entering dungeons, and defeating monsters was established here.
02:45Number 17, The Legend of Zelda Triforce Heroes.
02:58Another game that focused more on multiplayer functionality than a robust story, Triforce
03:03Heroes at least earns points for its unique approach.
03:07A follow-up to A Link Between Worlds, and featuring the same incarnation of Link, the
03:11game heads to the never-before-seen fashion-obsessed land of Hytopia.
03:16In Hytopia, Link must break a curse on Princess Styla, who can only wear an unappealing brown
03:20jumpsuit by defeating the one who cursed her, Lady Maud, ruler of the Drablands.
03:29All in all, the plot is silly and fun, but lacking depth and substance.
03:41Number 16, The Legend of Zelda Four Swords Adventures.
03:52Following up the original Four Swords, many of that game's mechanics are repeated.
03:56However, Adventures fleshes out its story mode beyond the rupee-collecting journey from
04:01the original.
04:02Of course, compared to many strictly single-player Zelda games, this one is a bit bare-bones
04:07in the story department.
04:15The game begins with Dark Link freeing Vaati from his prison within the titular Four Sword,
04:21and Link setting off on a rather by-the-number quest to defeat him.
04:24In a twist that had already appeared in a few Zelda games, Ganon was revealed to be
04:28the villain secretly pulling the strings all along.
04:39Number 15, Zelda II The Adventure of Link.
04:52As the name would imply, Zelda II is a direct sequel to the original Zelda.
04:57Released less than a year after the initial title, it had many of the same technical limitations.
05:02It also appeared on the NES, making a complex story once again impossible.
05:07The game, however, shifted to an RPG style and featured more complex and interesting
05:12NPCs for Link to interact with.
05:20Much of the plot was gleaned from the game's instruction manual, this time concerning a
05:24different Princess Zelda, who had been placed under a sleeping spell that must be awakened
05:29by Link.
05:30All the while, Ganon's minions seek to kill our hero to revive their master.
05:42Number 14, The Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass.
05:57A direct sequel to The Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass sees the return of the Great Sea
06:01setting that helped set that game apart.
06:04The Link from that game returns, as does the game's version of Zelda, the pirate captain
06:08Tetra.
06:15It also introduces other new characters and companions for Link, most notably the morally
06:20scrupulous sailor Linebeck and the malevolent monster Bellum.
06:24While these new characters and the mysterious ghost ship do add some variety to the story,
06:29many other beats are fairly formulaic.
06:32And the decision to make the formerly headstrong Tetra a largely absent damsel in distress
06:38keeps this one from being higher on the list.
06:45Number 13, The Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks.
06:56Picking up 100 years after the events of Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks swaps ships for trains
07:02featuring a new incarnation of Link, a conductor in New Hyrule.
07:07While Zelda is also captured early on in the game, Spirit Tracks subverts things by having
07:11her accompany Link in spirit form.
07:14With her by Link's side throughout the game, a strong bond is formed between them, and
07:18she is much more well-defined as a character than perhaps any other game.
07:27A spectacular finale to the game that pays off both Link and Zelda's arcs, while implies
07:32a romantic future for them, is one of the best endings for a game in the franchise.
07:43Number 12, The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap.
07:55In his final appearance to date, we finally got a backstory for the mysterious wind demon
08:00Vaati.
08:01Here it's revealed that before he was the fearsome demon, Vaati was a dark sorcerer
08:06of the thumb-sized race known as the Minish.
08:09The Minish helped to make the game one of the more light-hearted entries in the franchise,
08:13with Link's companion being Ezlo, a talking magical hat that can shrink Link to Minish
08:18size.
08:26In the course of the adventure, we learn that Ezlo was once a member of the tiny race as
08:30well, and Vaati was his traitorous apprentice.
08:34We also finally get an explanation for the foursword, known then as the Picori Blade,
08:39sharing the name the Hylians have given to the Minish themselves.
08:51Number 11, The Legend of Zelda A Link Between Worlds.
09:03Designed with an eye on being the spiritual successor to A Link to the Past, Between Worlds
09:08evokes the events of that game.
09:10In the game's present, Link begins as a humble blacksmith's apprentice, who gets swept
09:14up in a grand adventure to save two kingdoms, Hyrule and its counterpart, Lorule.
09:26The princess of Lorule, Hilda, summons Link on his quest to destroy the Lorulean sorcerer
09:31Yuga, who eventually fuses with a revived Ganon.
09:35However, the game features a last-minute twist where Hilda betrays Link in an attempt to
09:40save her own kingdom.
09:42The surprising final revelation and more complicated moral questions serve the story
09:47well.
09:53Number 10, The Legend of Zelda Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons.
10:09Arriving at the height of Pokemania, Zelda sought to cash in on the paired versions that
10:13had helped another Nintendo franchise become a phenomenon.
10:16Unlike Pokemon, these weren't two versions of the same game, but two separate games with
10:21their own storylines, game mechanics, and even regions.
10:32On their own, they might rank lower on this list, with Ages having a slightly more interesting
10:36story than Seasons.
10:38What really made the story great for those games was their interconnectivity.
10:42They had a secret ending featuring Zelda and a confrontation with Ganon that could only
10:47be reached by getting through the plot of both individual games.
10:58Number 9, The Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past.
11:11Truly the first Zelda game to have a real substantial storyline, A Link to the Past,
11:16as its name would imply, was set hundreds of years before the first two games.
11:21The beefed up plot was in no small part thanks to the technical advancements of the Super
11:25Nintendo allowing for more text and dialogue.
11:28It involved visual storytelling and a much richer plot with a parallel dark world.
11:40While it was still far off from the complex plots that would be available in later generations,
11:45the storyline where Link must retrieve the Master Sword and save seven sages to save
11:49Zelda and slay Ganon became the template for future Zelda games.
11:58Number 8, The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.
12:13The open world of the Switch Zelda games put a huge emphasis on exploration and how the
12:18story is doled out is no exception.
12:21It begins when Zelda and Link stumble upon the mummified corpse of Ganondorf, with Zelda
12:26thrown into the distant past of Hyrule's founding.
12:29As Link explores Hyrule, finding the titular tears, Zelda's time in the past causes the
12:34mysteries in the game to be slowly brought to light as well.
12:48As Link grows closer to reuniting with Zelda, he also grows closer to a final confrontation
12:53with Ganondorf, all culminating in a spectacular final moment when the princess and the hero
12:59are reunited across time.
13:06Number 7, The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild.
13:18Breath of the Wild begins, like the very first Zelda, by dropping Link into a desolate but
13:23beautiful world with only an old man to immediately talk to.
13:27It also begins with a mystery, Link awakes from a long slumber possessing no memories.
13:43Like its successor, Tears of the Kingdom, the story is given in chunks when Link arrives
13:47at special areas.
13:49Throughout the game, Link learns of the calamity that caused the apocalypse, and of his ultimately
13:54unsuccessful attempt to prevent it, leading to his century-long rejuvenating coma.
14:00Beyond just the cutscenes though, even the world itself does some truly spectacular environmental
14:06storytelling.
14:16Number 6, The Legend of Zelda The Wind Waker.
14:28As we've seen, Zelda is a series that has utilized its traditions and familiar beats
14:33to great effect, which is why the story of The Wind Waker was such a bold one.
14:37The narrative is one about not clinging to the past, with Ganondorf seeking a return
14:41to the status quo.
14:50While the game honored many of the conventions of past Zelda games, even featuring callbacks
14:55and easter eggs, it still put forth the message that preserving the past should never be an
15:00excuse for destroying the future.
15:02Ganondorf himself is transformed in this game from a megalomaniac to a poetic and almost
15:07tragic figure, while Zelda became the bold and cunning pirate captain, Tetra.
15:19Number 5, The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time.
15:30If a Link to the past crystallized Zelda conventions, and Wind Waker reinvented them, then Ocarina
15:36of Time perfected the formula.
15:39Considered by many to be the greatest video game of all time, its story is a huge part
15:43of the reason.
15:44Ocarina is a true fantasy epic in every sense of the word.
15:53A young boy without a fairy is given a noble quest by a dying magical tree.
15:58He must literally and figuratively grow up quickly to vanish the forces of darkness that
16:03threaten his world.
16:04He meets, and must eventually leave behind, friends, fight dastardly enemies, and travel
16:10across a land full of history and lore.
16:25Number 4, The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword.
16:37Some might complain that aspects of Skyward Sword's gameplay were hurt by the more linear
16:42style than some open world games.
16:44The plot, however, was helped significantly by this decision, setting Link on a more definite
16:50trajectory.
16:51Rather than having important story beats play out only as backstory, the story unfolds largely
16:56in the game's present.
17:06This is helped by the game taking place before any others chronologically, meaning that we
17:10get to experience events like the forging of the Master Sword.
17:14It details the beginning of the struggle between good and evil, with the original Link and
17:18Zelda facing off against evil incarnate in Demise.
17:22If that wasn't enough, Rival turned ally Groose's character arc is just fantastic.
17:41Number 3, The Legend of Zelda Link's Awakening.
17:52Beginning as an after hours unsanctioned side project, Link's Awakening was strange and
17:57unshackled from conventions from the start.
18:00The game removed familiar elements like Hyrule, the Triforce, and even the series namesake,
18:05Zelda.
18:06Instead, it was set on the dreamlike island of Koholint, filled with colorful and fascinating
18:11NPCs like Marin that brimmed with interiority and their own unique quirks.
18:26Link gets to know many of the strange islanders as he discovers that they and the island itself
18:31are a dream of the Wind Fish, which Link must wake from its slumber in a giant egg on a
18:36mountain if he is to leave.
18:38The result is a truly existential and unique tale.
18:47Number 2, The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess.
19:03There's something hauntingly beautiful about the somber tale told in Twilight Princess.
19:08The game concerns itself with themes of light and darkness, and the twilight that exists
19:12between them.
19:13This gives it a truly epic feel that places it alongside the greatest pieces of fantasy
19:18fiction ever made.
19:28The characters in Twilight Princess stand out as well.
19:30With the bizarre and frightening Zant, the townsfolk of Ordon, including Link's childhood
19:35friend Illya, and of course, Midna.
19:38She, the titular Twilight Princess, is Link's greatest companion, serving not just to tell
19:44the player what buttons to press, but to take them on an emotionally thrilling odyssey.
19:55Number 1, The Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask.
20:08Following the events of Ocarina of Time, Link is mugged and cursed by the Skull Kid, then
20:13trapped in a three day cycle attempting to save the land of Termina from destruction.
20:18The main story is spectacular, as Link visits the four corners of Termina and its people,
20:24dealing with the anger, despair, and depression as imminent death hangs above.
20:38However even more important are the intertwined side stories.
20:42Link interacts with the land's many colorful inhabitants, getting to know them intimately
20:46as time repeats itself.
20:48Whether it's reuniting star-crossed lovers, or defending a ranch from aliens, Majora's
20:53Mask is overflowing with incredible characters, with their own heartbreaking and wonderful
20:58stories to encounter.
21:08Which Zelda storyline kept you up for days playing till the end?
21:12Let us know in the comments below, and be sure to subscribe to Mojo Plays for more great
21:15gaming videos every day.
21:23Oh Link, I'm home.
21:26Thanks for watching.
21:27If you enjoyed the video, there's more where that came from.