Author Topic: What would you call the best story Nintendo's ever told?  (Read 14749 times)

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Offline NWR_insanolord

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What would you call the best story Nintendo's ever told?
« on: August 16, 2013, 08:21:52 AM »
Nintendo as a company has not really ever been known for storytelling. Quite the opposite, as we've heard tales of Miyamoto taking active steps to prevent story from being introduced to games. But still, Nintendo has produced a few real gems over the years.


What do you think is the best story in a Nintendo-made game, and what stood out about it to you?






I personally would go with Super Metroid. It doesn't include much in the way of overt storytelling, but I don't think I've ever seen a game do so much with so little. The arc of the baby Metroid tells a subtle but powerful tale that makes a great game even better.
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Offline Adrock

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Re: What would you call the best story Nintendo's ever told?
« Reply #1 on: August 16, 2013, 08:27:47 AM »
Super Metroid is a good choice. I'd have to give it to Link's Awakening. It was just so offbeat and bizarre; it really fit into the whole dreamworld motif. Ballad of the Wind Fish is also one of the best music pieces in the series.

Rosalina's backstory in Super Mario Galaxy deserves mention due to paying homage to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince.
« Last Edit: August 16, 2013, 08:29:23 AM by Adrock »

Offline EasyCure

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Re: What would you call the best story Nintendo's ever told?
« Reply #2 on: August 16, 2013, 11:12:38 AM »
I misread the thread title and thought this would be about our best personal stories involving Nintendo in some way.
With that said, I would of mentioned how I recently scared my 27 year old cousin to death with the Majoras Mask BEN DROWNED creepy pasta. I had only heard about it recently but I told my cousin a few nights ago when he was high on expletive. He asked to sleep over that night. I told him the couch would be fine but he insisted my bedroom floor would be safer. If I wasn't so tired I would of fucked with hood head more lol..

But back on topic.. Good question when you consider they try the most minimum story telling. If I had to go with best overall story I'd go with Earthbound but I feel like that's not really a Nintendo game.. It's just earthbound.

What I like most about Nintendo's games is that they can add really small touches to a story that have great impact. At the start of the wind waker you learn about the great flood and you can imagine your own story behind it since they don't go into great detail. It ads so much to the legend of the Zelda series. Then there was that one part of Mario RPG, when you come across Luigi's star wish. Touching to this day. I think it's those small story bits that make a lasting impression and elevate the game story telling.
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Offline Ceric

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Re: What would you call the best story Nintendo's ever told?
« Reply #3 on: August 16, 2013, 11:24:27 AM »
Twilight Princess up to Baddy was Castle trapped and not bugging anyone.
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Offline toddra

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Re: What would you call the best story Nintendo's ever told?
« Reply #4 on: August 16, 2013, 12:20:03 PM »
I personally always loved the Zelda II story, for some reason that one stands out plus the original Super Mario Bros. it read more like a fantasy than it's current form.

Offline Ian Sane

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Re: What would you call the best story Nintendo's ever told?
« Reply #5 on: August 16, 2013, 01:26:49 PM »
I'll agree with Super Metroid.  It tells it's story very much as the player plays.  It's not all full of cutscenes and breaks in the action.  It has a cinematic at the beginning and occasionally removes the players' control to do some stuff on screen.  Other than that, you live it.  Of course if you took it's narrative and put it in a book it wouldn't have much to it.

In the 16 bit era Super Metroid would have stood out as having a good story for a videogame.  It was during the N64 years that the rest of the industry moved forward while Nintendo stood put.  Nintendo's minimalist approach to videogames didn't seem out of place or archaic in the 2D era because there wasn't much you could do.

I find that Nintendo seems to find their comfort zone and doesn't budge even if everyone else goes beyond it.  So they come across as very cutting edge until they hit that comfort zone.  They were perfectly competent storytellers until the 32/64 bit era but that was the furthest they wanted to go so they haven't gone beyond it since.  Other M actually is a rare example that seems more modern.  Though it's like PS1 storytelling two generations late.  It was like Nintendo was trying to modernize their storytelling but couldn't just jump to where we are now.

I don't like games that spend too much time popping out of the game to make you watch a little movie.  In theory I would like Nintendo's story approach but they keep the stupid cutscenes and interruptions and fill it with their minimal stories.  We get the worst of both worlds as Nintendo games are as shitty at getting to the damn point as any other modern game.  Look at how long it takes every Zelda game to get going as proof of this.

Offline toddra

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Re: What would you call the best story Nintendo's ever told?
« Reply #6 on: August 16, 2013, 01:30:07 PM »
but I also agree Super Metroid is up there but I did actually read the instruction books and novels based on these games back in the day and those two I mentioned above really had great novelizations. Their cartoons sucked though.

Offline azeke

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Re: What would you call the best story Nintendo's ever told?
« Reply #7 on: August 16, 2013, 01:35:16 PM »
Kid Icarus: Uprising not a deep story, but definitely a fun ride
Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door also had a great story from what i can tell from watching Let's Play for an hour or so...
Majora's Mask had great character mini stories in those quests
That storybook thingy from Super Mario Galaxy

But in general, stories in videogames are pure ****.

It's just so much more easier for everyone really, when a game just stops pretending to be anything but a videogame.

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Offline toddra

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Re: What would you call the best story Nintendo's ever told?
« Reply #8 on: August 16, 2013, 01:39:06 PM »
I didn't see the in general part so oops.


Offline TJ Spyke

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Re: What would you call the best story Nintendo's ever told?
« Reply #9 on: August 16, 2013, 01:41:33 PM »
A game can not stay alive on story alone. in 10 years or more, a game that has only good story but mediocre gameplay will be looked back on with negative reviews and age terribly.
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Offline toddra

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Re: What would you call the best story Nintendo's ever told?
« Reply #10 on: August 16, 2013, 01:46:30 PM »
For most games yes but there are exceptions. I guess I come from a time when you had to read the manuals to get the story and even simple games like Centipede still had characters in them with a story. But it is different lately were it becomes so important in some games that the gameplay can get lost.

Offline broodwars

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Re: What would you call the best story Nintendo's ever told?
« Reply #11 on: August 16, 2013, 01:53:04 PM »
Well, for me it comes down to two Monolithsoft games: Baten Kaitos Origins and Xenoblade. The former tells a fairly small (but emotional) story focused on a handful of characters; and the latter is a huge, sprawling Epic with tons of characters and some really well-storyboarded story sequences.  If I had to pick between the two (mind you, I haven't finished Xenoblade), I think I'd go with Baten Kaitos Origins.

On the subject of huge, sprawling Epics, Ogre Battle 64's story is pretty damn good, too, but it's not quite up there with the other two.
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Offline Adrock

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Re: What would you call the best story Nintendo's ever told?
« Reply #12 on: August 16, 2013, 02:10:58 PM »
****, I forgot about Earthbound. There are no words to describe this shame.

Offline toddra

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Re: What would you call the best story Nintendo's ever told?
« Reply #13 on: August 16, 2013, 02:13:39 PM »
I never played Earthbound, is it really good or just good because of nostalgia? If I played it now having never played it before will it still be good?

Offline Adrock

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Re: What would you call the best story Nintendo's ever told?
« Reply #14 on: August 16, 2013, 02:27:03 PM »
I don't know if you'll like it because I'm not you. I liked it and it wasn't quite the cult darling when I played it. I saw an ad in an old EGM I had and decided to look for it. I wasn't too far removed from its original release when I first played it so it may have been easier to appreciate. Some games age poorly though I think Earthbound still holds up today. I'll have to plug in the old SNES and play it again.

Additionally, I think what sets it apart is how it didn't really follow RPG tropes of the day. That helped it stand out and is probably what makes it so revered even in 2013. I remember it for its charm and humor.
« Last Edit: August 16, 2013, 02:35:14 PM by Adrock »

Offline Stogi

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Re: What would you call the best story Nintendo's ever told?
« Reply #15 on: August 16, 2013, 03:46:34 PM »
Eternal Darkeness hands down.
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Offline Pixelated Pixies

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Re: What would you call the best story Nintendo's ever told?
« Reply #16 on: August 16, 2013, 03:48:36 PM »
Metroid: Other M.
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Offline lolmonade

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Re: What would you call the best story Nintendo's ever told?
« Reply #17 on: August 16, 2013, 04:05:37 PM »
I have to say, I actually really enjoyed the Skyward Sword story.  Especially the first 1/3 of the game when you're actively in pursuit to rescue zelda.

Offline ShyGuy

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Re: What would you call the best story Nintendo's ever told?
« Reply #18 on: August 16, 2013, 04:10:36 PM »
Galaxy's picture book has already been mentioned so let's see...

If we count second parties, I would say Hotel Dusk for the DS.

Also, Wind Waker, Skyward Sword have great elements.

Offline ShyGuy

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Re: What would you call the best story Nintendo's ever told?
« Reply #19 on: August 16, 2013, 04:11:06 PM »
I have to say, I actually really enjoyed the Skyward Sword story.  Especially the first 1/3 of the game when you're actively in pursuit to rescue zelda.

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Offline Ian Sane

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Re: What would you call the best story Nintendo's ever told?
« Reply #20 on: August 16, 2013, 04:53:03 PM »
I have to say, I actually really enjoyed the Skyward Sword story.  Especially the first 1/3 of the game when you're actively in pursuit to rescue zelda.

Yeah I liked the first 1/3 a lot but after that it became like most Nintendo stories where some flimsy excuse is created to go to the different levels.  Before that, though, I got a Playstation vibe off the story.  Like it felt like the sort of storyline elements that impressed us all in PS1 games.  It was like a Square-patented teenage love story circa 1998.

Games that really focus on story end up feeling like interactive movies (and often if the game director was a good movie director he would be working in Hollywood instead of making videogames).  I don't think story is that important for games but rather setting.  We don't want all games to be like Pong or Tetris.  If story truly didn't matter at all, why have Mario?  Why not just have stickman jumping on different coloured shapes?  You want places to see, characters to meet, enemies to fight.  Great games have exciting worlds to explore and experience.  Games are more exciting when you put in a setting that the player can discover and develop some emotional connection with.  The emotional connection is something devs strive for but too often they fall into the trap of taking the player's hand through a lousy movie.  Create the world, create the backstory for it, and throw the player in and everyone will take something different away from it.

A big part of Metroid is that you're thown into this hostile alien world and you're on your own to figure out it's secrets.  That more than anything is what they fucked up with Other M.  The series at its core is one of the best examples of a game that creates a setting and throws the player in and lets their own experience craft the bulk of the story.  Other M is Sakamoto grabbing your hand and walking you through world he created.  It's like if Walt Disney himself took you on a tour of Disneyland and only let you go on the rides he wanted you to go on when he wanted you to go on them.

Offline magicpixie

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Re: What would you call the best story Nintendo's ever told?
« Reply #21 on: August 16, 2013, 05:41:06 PM »
I'm having trouble articulating my thoughts, but my vote is with Wind Waker.  Maybe not strictly as their best story, but for me, definitely Nintendo's best storytelling.  Or something to that effect.  And I think that's just as important.

When I first played the game, Nintendo managed to fill me with a sense of adventure and whimsy that I'd never before experienced.  The game's component pieces all come together to really fill out the world they built.  The characters were full of personality and charm.  The dialog was excellent.  The artstyle, while at the time was largely chided for being too childish, was spectacular.  And I know Nintendo gets a lot of flak for not stepping into the voice acting age, but I really enjoy the personality miming adds to their characters.  I think it's an approach that is very hard to change, since it affects the tone of the delivery so much.  I think Square-Enix and the FF series are experiencing those growing pains, as I believe that a lot of what people hate so much about their games now, were prevalent in their earlier games.  I think shifting to full voice acting requires a shift in how dialog is written and how characters are animated.

Anyway, that was a tangent.  I really enjoyed how Nintendo humanized Ganondorf, even just a little bit.  That ending sequence was so well done, as to be unforgettable for me.

Offline alegoicoe

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Re: What would you call the best story Nintendo's ever told?
« Reply #22 on: August 16, 2013, 06:23:49 PM »
I really like the story and concept behind Wind Waker, and the myth and mystery behind the Prime games.
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Offline pokepal148

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Re: What would you call the best story Nintendo's ever told?
« Reply #23 on: August 16, 2013, 07:23:50 PM »
Super Mario Bros. who can forget the tale of the mushroom kingdom. of the fair Princess trapped in King Koopas clutches, of her kingdom, lost and hopeless, of the one man who finally took a stand and said "enough" as he fought his way through entire armys to finally free the princess? his devotion to finish his task even in the hopeless depths of 2-2 but most of all, who can forget the frustration he felt when he heard the words

'Our Princess is in Another Castle'?

Offline TJ Spyke

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Re: What would you call the best story Nintendo's ever told?
« Reply #24 on: August 16, 2013, 07:58:04 PM »
Or that Mario didn't care about murdering hundreds of citizens to rescue her (read the manual again, those "bricks" you destroy were citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom turned into bricks by Bowser).
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