I don't know about Fire Emblem (that's border line famous I guess, since they're featured in SSMB... BTW should I get that game for my Mom's Wii? I heard a lot of bitching from it by Nintendo fanboys), but Majora's Mask definetly had some awkward dialogue. I'm not sure about Wind Waker and Twilight Princess, because I don't have a gamecube (once I find a job, I'll definetly buy Twilight for my mom's Wii)

Translating from Japanese to English is pretty hard (to make it sound like natural English), especially when you have purely cultural issues like MGS (constantly repeating the topic). That's all I'm saying. And if 2 games, one a SRPG(?) for the DS that's not really considered a major icon like how Snake, Kratos, Master Chief, Marcus(?) are to the Xbox and PS3, and Zelda which up to Majora's mask, had awkward blocky dialogue then I don't think it was fair to say that Nintendo is a company well known for its concise dialogue. They don't have a lot of dialogue driven games in the first place.

The translations for MGS4 (never played before that) were fine too. The only parts I found weird were the voice acting, and the emphasis the voice actors put (Otacon's "Huhhh?"). The script I thought was fine for the most part, and only had a little bit of blockiness from what you'll expect from a translated script. The really awkward dialogue were usually for funny parts, and so I thought it didn't really ruin anything (Like the jab at 360 or a certain boss near the end of the game).

This is getting out of line and confusing. Can we just agree that Nintendo isn't well known for making dialogue driven games, while not excluding the fact that they do have some. And that Nintendo's earlier works, just like MGS's earlier works, suffered from translations errors (which only get worse with the increased length of a sentence, use of Japanese grammar, and cultural issues get involved)?

Didn't I say Nintendo was famed for their disinterest in complex narratives? And what does fame have to do with anything? If Nintendo games have quality writing, they have quality writing.

"Majora's Mask definetly had some awkward dialogue"

For example?

I didn't know there was so much hate for the mgs story line. I always liked its over the top nature and lengthily cut scenes. I guess the game is compared to a anime in terms of how its delivered. I think a lot of people hate the cut scenes and odd writing is because they are used to other styles of writing and story telling. When you look at the gaming industry stories belonged in rpg games mostly and games that had anything to do with a gun had a basic story framework that pushed the player through missions etc. So people who play mgs for the stealth action it provides they also expect it to be a little shallow on the story side because all they care about is the next checkpoint. People who are fans of kojima's work are living in the moment and taking in every tidbit of information and story development. I will agree that he may need to explore other ways of getting information across without huge cut scenes but give the guy a brake.

MGS-games have really deep and emotional storyline and Characters have personalities and own goals they're trying to achieve. I consider people who hate mgs-storyline to be really shallow who have been spoiled with action movies with oversimplistic stories. The cutscenes in mgs4 were pure gold for me and I play mgo online if I want to just mess around.

I'm a little afraid what they will do with rising since kojima won't be so heavily involved with it.

But Kojima need to try other methods of storytelling to get his point across.  Not that he should completely stop doing cutscenes since he is good when it comes to cinematic direction.  Kojima, however, should know that cutscenes are not the only way to tell a story.

Or at the very least, give a nice quick summary to those that do not want to watch the lengthy cutscenes.  For all the complaints of the dialogue and VA towards it, Star Ocean 4 did one thing right.

I don't own the game since I always played it at my friend's house, and I remember renting it for a week, all when I was little. I remember the mask guy saying some weird English in the beginning, and generally I remember feeling that the dialogue was blocky. It didn't matter for me since I didn't give a shit about awkward scripts from a Japanese game.

You should care. Any decent translation/localization team will do their best to eliminate such awkwardness from the script.

And frankly, I don't think you know what you are talking about with regards to Majora's Mask.

First of all, there are a great many people on this forum who are merely trying to point out that Kojima's writing is too heavy handed (which it is) and preachy (which it is).  Nobody here is downplaying Kojima's use of current issues or human emotion - just his DELIVERY. 

Second, why is it than anyone who disagrees with Kojima MUST be an X-bot.  Some people need to GROW UP and realize the different people have different tastes.  I don't begrudge you that you enjoy Kojima's writing, so you should act in kind.  The Metal Gear series hit its peak at MGS 1.  After that, it went of the deep end - and became very self congratulatory in the process.  I am not an X-box fan, I only own a PS3 (and a Wii), so the this argument is void....

Oh, and it's not about me not appreciating art or story.  Come to think of it, this post makes it sound as if Kojima has a monopoly on these stories well have I got news for you.  "Politics, eugenics and genetics, technological advancements and cyborgs," were all addressed (with better and SLIGHTLY less heavy handed writing by a little TV series you might have heard of.

It's called "Star Trek", and it came out in the 60's.

Bottom line, it is a game, it should be fun, people have fun in different ways, deal with it.  It's not a conspiricy, it's life.

To clarify:

I see problems with Kojima's narrative style, his thematic progression, his characterization (with exceptions), and his ability to plot out a story. Are you going to say, based on this, that I am really shallow and that I have been spoiled by action movies with simplistic stories?

It's a trap