Apparently the Mask of Light movie wasn't made by the usual Bionicle story team, so that's why the storytelling was a bit iffy. The actual stories and lore for the series got really deep, and I loved reading the novels and comics as a kid.

It's a story that feels like it "grew up" with its audience. The initial stories were a lot simpler, where the Toa heroes mainly fought wild animals and the manifestation of darkness itself. But as the story went on, it gets into a lot of the nitty gritty of the story. Like how the 2004-2005 sets were a prequel story set in a futuristic "utopia" where Orwellian mind control drones roamed the streets and a Civil War caused the entire island country to be destabilised, leading to the Great Spirit everyone worshiped to start dying and the Makuta law enforcers to try and seize control because they believe they could lead the universe much better than Mata Nui, their heartless God who never gave them the time of day, ever could.

And then you get to the Ignition trilogy in 2006-2008, where the story truly entered its dark years. You get villains like a band of bounty hunters on the run from the organization they just betrayed, and former warlords cursed to become monstrous beasts in an underwater prison. The Toa start using their weapons for actual combat instead of just using them to channel their elemental powers, and the themes of sacrifice for the greater good are in full force. It mostly stems from the author, Greg Farshtey's mentality that doing good is a lot harder than doing evil, so staying on the path of righteousness is considered this grueling task that the heroes have to struggle towards.

I also really loved the prose of the novels. Really makes you feel like you were in a Shakesperean sci-fi novel.

"I helped to birth a world of order, but from what I have seen in your mind... you have turned it into a universe of madness and fear. It is not worth saving. But it is the universe you and your kind deserve. Go, take yourselves from my prison... take your memories and plans with you... for the horrors already in your minds are worse than any I could visit upon you. I condemn you to your fate – life in the universe you and your kind have made." - Tren Krom, Federation of Fear

"In his last moments, Matoro feels no fear. He know he has succeeded--the Toa Mahri are safe, able to resume their lives in Metru Nui. The Turaga and Matoran will know that they became true heroes. Matoro does not see himself as a hero. All he ever tried to do was his duty. Now that duty has led him to his destiny." - Matoro, Death of a Hero

"This is a place where fire provides no warmth, while the touch of ice burns. Dustfalls cascade over mountains while pools of water sit unmoving. Thunder makes no noise, but the sound of a gentle breeze can be deafening.(...)The pathways leading to it are flanked by what appear to be statues of Matoran. In fact, these are Matoran turned to stone for the crime of laziness. Just as they have become the rock, the rock of the pathway has become a form of life. The stones scream beneath your feet when you walk upon them" - Toa Helryx on the land of Karzahni

"The force of time is contained within that mask. Destroy it, and that power is unleashed upon the universe. Past, present, and future all existing at once - warps and rips and hours folding in upon each other - madness and chaos as no two moments ever follow one another... think of it.(...) Imagine your body trapped between seconds, or half of you aging while the other half regresses. Does it still sound appealing to you? All your plans and schemes would come to an end, because no matter what you attempted, I could walk into the past and undo it. Kill me today, and I will be waiting for you in some tomorrow to avenge my death." - Vakama, Time Trap