Cute Games with Excellent Stories

Most of the time, it can be difficult to find a good story in a video game; this is especially true in games with cute mascot characters, a fact that can be frustrating for anyone who appreciates the juxtaposition of a great, heavy-handed plot in a game where you normally wouldn't expect it.  As a fan of cute media of all shapes and sizes, it can get frustrating when the scenario for a game in a charismatic series like Sonic the Hedgehog amounts to "Oh no; there are shadows in the distress of the earth's core; we need to band together and get the life force of the planet to save the world, once and for all!" -- which is an approach that, even if your game is made for kids, doesn't give kids nearly enough credit. 
 
Included here is a list of family-friendly games which clearly put enough thought behind their scenario elements to warrant a look from game players of all ages.  To put it another way:  Kids, adults, it don't matter which; there be interesting stories all up in this bitch.  (Spoilers follow; be warned!)

List items

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  1. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue/Red Rescue Team

  Veteran Pokémon players know what to expect from their games: a nefarious team (always titled "TEAM [object/concept]") has taken it upon themselves to do evil things for their own twisted financial/idealistic purposes, and it's up to YOU, a random scrub from Pokétown X, to infiltrate their ranks (as though you had a choice) and stop them! It may have been an interesting concept back in 1995, but a billion sequels and bog-standard spin-offs have made the concept of taking down TEAM WHATCHAMACALLIT for the Nth time seem at least a little stale and unappealing.

  <p/>The Mystery Dungeon series takes it a few steps further: YOU ARE THE POKEMON, and the world itself is about to collapse into ruin; it's up to you to do your part to prevent the looming catastrophe from taking place and wiping out the town of charismatic critters with whom you interact on a daily basis. You have a partner (whose species you choose from a list), with whom your character forms an unbreakable bond of friendship via several smartly-written story scenes -- and, one day, after a Gengar convinces everyone that you're the catalyst of the constant earthquakes, the entire village (who you've trusted up until this point) forces you out and chases after you with a lynch mob of ravenous Pokèbeasts, in a sequence that lasts for several concurrent dungeons without access to basic facilities. It's only an element of the story (and it comes to a conclusion well before the main plot is over), but it's amazing while it lasts.

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  2. Pikmin 2

  The first Pikmin is a tale of survival, as the player character, intrepid explorer Captain Olimar, is forced to befriend a species of independently mobile alien plant in order to find components of his ship scattered all throughout the environment; this continues until he finds himself capable of leaving, fully appreciative of how the Pikmin's trust in him has allowed him to live. It's a simple, touching tale that warms the cockles of my heart even as I type this.

  <p/>The story of Pikmin 2 begins the day after. Upon returning to his home planet, it's revealed that Olimar's parent company is on the verge of bankruptcy. Olimar relays the exploits of Pikmin 1 to his boss, who sends him and an assistant back to the alien planet to find more artifacts to sell. Naturally, this can only be done with the aid of the Pikmin, which are slaughtered en masse throughout the course of normal play -- and this all only happens so Olimar, assistant Louie, and their boss can keep their jobs and get rich in the process by selling old globes, bottle caps, and Duracell batteries. This cynicism is evident in Olimar's synopses of each day's events, and adds a hint of cruelty to an otherwise adorable game.

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  3. Mega Man Legends 2

  The Mega Man Legends series began bright and cheerful, and maintained a fair amount of smiley-faced anime clichés in its first installment; it follows the story of a new Mega Man and his adoptive family as they go on dungeon-crawling excavation missions with third-person shooting elements, searching the ruins of an ancient civilization for an explanation as to why the world is the way it is (filled with endless water and powerful ancient technology).

  <p/>The sequel has a much darker tone than the original; gaudy, oversaturated colors give way to a muted, more modern theme. Noteworthy elements include a love triangle (between Mega Man, Roll, and fan-favorite Tron Bonne), the resurfacing of long-thought-dead loved ones (in Roll's parents), light swearing (Roll says 'ass' once -- DAMN), and Mega Man's slowly-diminishing concept of "self": on some level, he's known that he's a robot artifact from the distant past ever since it was revealed at the end of the first game, which conflicts in a significant way with his new role as caretaker and primary breadwinner of the Caskett family. This gives way to some interesting plot developments and puts the Mega Man Legends series in a larger world.

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  4. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness/Time

  The sequel to Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue/Red Rescue Team doesn't bare its teeth quite like the original, but it still maintains a somewhat heavy tone throughout, with sudden time-freezes taking the place of earthquakes as the game's primary natural disaster. Notable here is the sense of community; you're a member of an exploration academy alongside dozens of other adorable beasts, each of whom have their own distinct personalities which recur throughout the story (and even afterward, in the extensive post-campaign content).

  <p/>After a fair amount of exploration to solve a mystery and pursue a rightfully-accused suspect, your character, a stereotypical JRPG amnesiac, eventually learns that s/he sent her/himself from the future to prevent the entire world from being frozen in time forever. However, s/he learns that if s/he saves the world, it would doom her/himself to cease to exist, due to the time paradox that would take place immediately afterward. You have a partner, just like in the first game, who relies on you for companionship, encouragement, and emotional support; what happens to him when this essential friendship is suddenly taken away?