The odd thing about Zelda...

[Forlorn Drifter]

... is how deep it always is. The classic knight saving the princess story, right? Generally, yes. But, there is so much more to it. Look OOT. Not my favorite Zelda, but deffinitely one with something to say. The bottom of the well. The great Deku Tree. Then, of course, there's Majora's Mask. The deepest of all the Zelda's. Everything has meaning. Nothing is to be taken for granted. Three days is all you have, what will you do with them? Help lovers? Save the world? Stare at the creepy as hell moon?

Zelda is just one of those games that always makes me think. Everytime I play, and I find some little detail, and how it hooks up with the other games, it makes me amazed and wonder. One thing I've always been interested in is Majora's Mask. Where'd the tribe that created it come from? Why the hell is it so twisted? What's up with the freaking mask salesman?

And, just to add this, I've always wanted to see a game where Gannondorf and the Mask come together, in a demonic and unholy marriage of evil.

[garrett123]

why cant link talk?
why isnt princess zelda a princess in skyward sword
why doesnt gandorf join up with the wizard again
why did they put the master sword in a forest
how does the fairy get out of the bottle when you die
do bees have feelings
why doesnt link tell anyone about the minish people.
whats with the train?

I could go on, but Im done

[Ziggy]

why cant link talk?
why doesnt link tell anyone about the minish people.

[Opa Opa]

Deep? Deep is such a shallow, meaningless descriptor.

Do you mean the Zelda games have complex narratives? They don't (save Majora's Mask).

Or are you talking about atmosphere?

[Forlorn Drifter]

Deep? Deep is such a shallow, meaningless descriptor.

Do you mean the Zelda games have complex narratives? They don't (save Majora's Mask).

Or are you talking about atmosphere?

Atmosphere, and the many some odd ways it makes you think. I noticed it playing Twilight Princess today.

But my point is hard to make.

[Xeogred]

Yeah. I mean I agree in a sense, but I had no idea what you were trying to get at with your first post... lol.

I'd say the Metroid games are probably deeper in the "mysterious" sense and scope of the world, especially with the Prime trilogy.

[Flake]

I'd say the Metroid games are probably deeper in the "mysterious" sense and scope of the world, especially with the Prime trilogy.

This. Metroid effortlessly conveys greater depth than Zelda games do. Not that I am knocking Zelda - fantastic series. But it's also a series that takes no risks whatsoever. Every Zelda game from Zelda 3 on has had the exact same story:

Youth stumbles upon evil
youth gets a sword
youth finds out he is chosen one
youth gets a magic sword
youth defeats great evil
youth saves princess and seals said great evil

The window dressing changes sometimes, but inside the package it is always the same.

[BoringSupreez]

The window dressing changes sometimes, but inside the package it is always the same.

And some Zelda games have better curtains than others.

I have to disagree with Zelda being deep. OoT and Majora's Mask have great atmosphere, but that's not depth. Games like Deus Ex or MGS2 are much better fits for the descriptor. Zelda's just about a mute elf who goes on the same quest over and over, sort of like Mario but in a fantasy setting.

[Xeogred]

Eh, there's a lot more to it than Mario...

@Flake: I'm so tired and can't figure out how to write this out well, but I'm not sure if it was someone here or elsewhere that said this... but they basically compared the Zelda series to the the flood story that's been told in the Bible and many other countries with alterations and things like that. So the Zelda series is indeed mostly the same exact story almost everytime, but it's like a retelling of a legendary tale each time with different interpretations, ideas, changes, etc.

Again I can't say it as well as that comment I saw once, but yeah I thought that was a cool way to look at it.

But yeah, just thought I'd bring up Metroid as a good counter point being another big Nintendo franchise. That series will bury you with its atmosphere.

[Menegrothx]

Try Planescape: Torment, Silent Hill 2 or Ultima IV-VI