Majora's Mask's stories go deeper in many different ways than any other game I've ever played.

Most of the games have extremely predictable plots, but who cares? Not all games build themselves up around having an amazing story.

This.

Zelda doesn't need a complex story to be enjoyable, but that's my opinion of course.

There's a world of difference between "scenario" and "story." Zelda's scenarios have always been rather trite, but the story fills itself out through the captivating and colorful worlds and individual creatures

Most game story lines (even the ones that try very hard) tend to fall into clichés and other traps. Take Bioshock for example, a great game with a great storyline that becomes hampered by the old "use all your weapons to beat the final boss and watch a 30 second ending" routine. But I digress...

Zelda games tend to have fairly simplistic story lines (Battle between good and evil. Evil guy stealing princess etc) ... not that there's anything wrong with that, but great contemporary, critical literature it ain't.

That said, I think both Majora's Mask, Wind Waker, and to a lesser extent even Twilight Princess have done a lot with the basic Zelda game Template, in order to create story lines that go beyond the basic good-vs-evil premise.

Wind Waker uses the Deluge myth found in many mythologies and religions to give an added depth and gravity to the story. (Spoiler) The fact that you are traversing an ocean that covers the original Hyrule is pretty special. Not to mention the fact that the king seems to choose to drown in his flooding kingdom, acknowledging that a "New Hyrule" still wouldn't be Hyrule ... pretty moving stuff. The fact that Wind Waker also builds on Ocarina of Time's storyline rather than simply rebooting everything is also quite noteable.

Majora's Mask is another beast entirely. This game has nothing to do with Good-vs-Evil, and everything to do with much more complex themes of isolation, loneliness, dreams, and the human experience. Pretty deep stuff for a Zelda game.

I guess what I'm saying is, it depends on what you mean by "bad or cliched stories". From a purely storywriting standpoint, Zelda games are pretty decent. They tell basic stories in simple but interesting ways, and occassionally build on that simpleness to subtly investigate more complex themes. But in terms of contemporary art/literature, Zelda games are nothing amazing ... though I really don't think that's the intent of the games.

its basically a hero/villain story.  that is what Zelda is.  but the game itself has a more epic/twits in it

Sometimes repetitive, but that's the worst of it. They should branch out more like they did with Majora's Mask.

Nintendo does tend to do gameplay first, story last on Zelda games. Which is why the whole timeline is a mess. lol. But I do have to say, Majora's Mask seemed to have the best storyline. Every single character had meaning. The game had so much depth. But that was the gimmick of the game. "Everyone is depressed and your goal is to make they happy by healing their soul." It was a great concept.

The only Zelda I've bought, played and ended up loving was The Wind Waker, even though that endless ocean pissed me off when I wanted to travel somewhere.

Gameplay wise, it was fun (except for the aforementioned). Presentation wise, it was a high quality cartoon in real time. Story wise... what? There was one?

The Legend of Zelda doesn't need a complex story to be great, infact. I'm often wondering why Legend of Zelda is so amazing, it just is. I suppose its the entire package, You've got puzzles, story, action, Boss Fights, and Dungeons. All mixed into one neat package.

Heck, the Story even allows link to get away without uttering a single word. That's pretty amazing right there.

Is the Legend of Zelda's Story Cliche? Yes. But it's also amazing. That's my take on this.