00:00Nintendo may tend to put gameplay first, but some of its franchises have a surprising amount of lore.
00:06Welcome to Mojo Plays, and today we're looking at Nintendo franchises with the deepest lore.
00:12Lead our champions, princess.
00:15And together, protect our kingdom from the threat of calamity ganon.
00:23But before we dive in, we publish new content all week long.
00:26So be sure to subscribe, and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos.
00:32Pikmin Series
00:40The cutesy world of Pikmin may seem fairly simple at first glance, but underneath is some surprisingly dark history.
00:48The main series is set on planet PNF-404, heavily implied to be a post-apocalyptic Earth.
00:54With humans gone, the globe became inhabited by all manner of strange creatures, including the titular Adorable Helpers.
01:02Every item that protagonist Alamar and his fellow explorers collect, no matter how mundane, tells part of a larger story.
01:09With its simple yet addictive hook bringing players in, the series has expanded on its lore over the years.
01:15Whether poring over detailed entries in the Piklopedia, or unearthing artifacts that expand your knowledge of the former world,
01:21there's more to Pikmin than meets the eye.
01:33Kirby Series
01:45Another series with a deceptively simple appearance.
01:48Anything that has run as long as Kirby has, receiving almost yearly releases since its debut, is bound to have
01:55some deep lore.
01:56In the background of the Kirby universe lies ancient cosmic conflicts featuring several godlike entities.
02:03Figures like Void Termina in Kirby Star Allies, a reincarnated god made of pure darkness and negative energy.
02:09Or even the Ancients, first mentioned in Return to Dreamland, a long-forgotten group of spacefarers who engineered incredible technology
02:17which plays important roles in multiple games.
02:20What makes Kirby's lore particularly interesting is how much of it is deliberately hidden behind pastel colors and bouncy music.
02:27It's only when you've reached certain points in a story when the curtain gets pulled back.
02:42Maybe it's weird to include Bayonetta since the first game wasn't published by Nintendo,
02:47but since every other game was, and since it has some absolutely wild lore, we felt the need to include
02:54it.
02:54The series is built on an elaborate mythology involving two warring factions,
02:59the Umber Witches and the Lumen Sages, who serve as the balance between darkness and light.
03:04The universe is also split into three realms.
03:07Inferno, the realm of demons that Umber Witches draw their power from,
03:11Paradiso, the realm of angels that gives the Lumen Sages their power,
03:14and the human world.
03:16And that is just the setup.
03:18That's before diving into the rich backstory of Bayonetta herself,
03:22the intricacies of each clan, and the multiversal angle of Bayonetta 3.
03:28Do you really think it would be that easy?
03:30Once I see something I want, it's mine.
03:35Splatoon series.
03:37Similar to Kirby and Pikmin, the Splatoon series seems pretty simple on paper.
03:42A multiplayer-focused paint brawl between two teams of squid children.
03:46Okay, maybe not simple, but not anything that would make you think it's as deep as it is.
03:50It takes place thousands of years after the fall of humanity and the extinction of most mammals,
03:56due to nuclear war and global warming.
03:59Not only that, but each game has peeled back another layer to its history,
04:03like Commander Tartar, an ancient mad AI introduced in Splatoon 2
04:07who was originally designed to pass down human knowledge.
04:10Or Alterna from Splatoon 3,
04:13a city built by humans in a vast cavern at their near-extinction that, tragically, inevitably, fell.
04:26Pokemon series.
04:28Pokemon series.
04:37When it began, the Pokemon franchise didn't put much stock into the backstory of the original generation.
04:43Mostly fun, but short entries in the Pokedex explaining either their behavior or biology.
04:49But as the franchise grew, and as more and more creatures were introduced,
04:53the overall lore began to go in some crazy directions.
04:56From ghost types whose backstory bordered on horrific,
04:59to psychic types who transcend time and space.
05:02However, it's the cosmology that offers the biggest rabbit hole to go down.
05:07Particularly the creation myth with Arceus birthing the universe,
05:11Dialga and Palkia governing time and space,
05:14and Giratina banished to another dimension due to its violence.
05:17Who knows what wild history the Pokemon company will reveal next.
05:21Metroid series.
05:29Although most of the story in each individual game is told silently,
05:33there's a deep history in Metroid.
05:36Through the ruins of lost civilizations,
05:38the fossilized remains of creatures that came before you,
05:41and the cold, hostile interiors of space pirate facilities,
05:45players piece together the larger picture.
05:47At the heart of its lore sits the Chozo,
05:50a race of bird-like beings whose knowledge and experiments
05:53led to wide impacts both positive and negative throughout the universe.
05:57And Samus, an orphan infused with their DNA,
06:00who has grown into a powerful bounty hunter.
06:03Whether digging into the multiple ancient histories of the Prime series,
06:06or uncovering the Chozo's dark secrets and dread,
06:10each game's history is a puzzle to be completed.
06:17Golden Sun series.
06:24It has fewer entries than any other series on this list,
06:28all originally on handheld devices.
06:30But Golden Sun is a series of JRPGs,
06:34so the lore definitely runs deep.
06:36The franchise takes place in the land of Wayward,
06:38where a powerful energy called alchemy was sealed away long ago.
06:42While the first game focuses on the magically adept heroes
06:45trying to stop alchemy from being released,
06:48the second follows the perspective of the villains,
06:51trying to do the exact opposite.
06:53Not only is this an engaging way to look at a conflict,
06:56but it brings up challenging questions about right and wrong.
06:59The games explore a rich world history and cosmology
07:02to create a universe that sadly has not been seen since 2010.
07:06The Legend of Zelda series.
07:16If a series has separate timelines,
07:19you know the lore is pretty deep.
07:20Or, at the very least, that there's a lot of it.
07:23Nintendo didn't have lore set in place
07:25when it began the Legend of Zelda series,
07:27and how each game is connected wasn't confirmed until 2011.
07:32Skyward Sword debuted as the chronological first entry,
07:35revealing how all other versions of Link in Zelda
07:37are reincarnations of those seen here.
07:40The book Hyrule Historia also unveiled the official timeline,
07:43which was split into three following Ocarina of Time,
07:46and has been updated by Nintendo several times since.
07:49It can be messy making these myths and legends fit together,
07:54and even individual games have their own lore to understand.
07:57But it's all part of the wider tapestry of Hyrule.
08:11Fire Emblem Series
08:22Instead of encompassing the legendary history of one kingdom or continent,
08:27Fire Emblem encompasses multiple,
08:29with several games or duologies featuring completely different stories and characters.
08:34Thankfully, that does mean you can jump into one of several games and not be lost.
08:38Still, most games have staggeringly vast lore.
08:43Tellius from Path of Radiance and its themes of social and racial injustice.
08:47Fodland from Three Houses with its multiple narrative paths
08:50that all unlock different facets of both the central conflict and the greater mythology.
08:55Or Awakening with its highly expansive look on the original game's world set 2,000 years later.
09:02No matter the game, you can be sure that Fire Emblem won't skimp on the details.
09:22Before we continue, check out this single from Sound Mojo's album Balance.
09:27Classical music reimagined as rock, hard rock, and metal.
09:30Check out the full track and album below.
09:34Born in the sunlight
09:36Born in the rain
09:39Life is a rhythm
09:40Running through veins
09:47Xenoblade Chronicles Series
09:49Man, what were you doing wandering off by yourself?
09:52Stay where I can keep an eye on you.
09:53The Xenoblade Chronicles Series is one of the most ambitious that Nintendo has under its belt.
09:59Much of its history and lore is far deeper and expansive than any other franchise we've talked about.
10:04It all stems from a single event, a scientific experiment using a powerful alien artifact to create a new world,
10:11which in fact created parallel realities.
10:14From there, each game has its own complex histories, events, and figures to flesh out their worlds.
10:19Xenoblade Chronicles 3 even showcases the consequences that can come from these two realities coexisting.
10:26No other Nintendo franchise asks bigger questions, builds its world with more internal consistency, or rewards player investment more generously
10:35with story and lore than Xenoblade Chronicles.
10:44Which Nintendo franchise's lore do you love digging into?
10:47Share your thoughts in the comments, and we will see you next time.
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