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{{trope}}
{{quote|''So any belief that Nintendo will make a sequel to ''[[Zelda II:
Some video games, especially RPGs, do not have a strict sense of a linear [[Sequel]]. The game may -- ''may''
This is because video games, uniquely among media, have another dimension by which installments in a series can be interrelated, other than characters, [[The Verse|setting]], plot, or tone; that dimension being gameplay mechanics. Of course, this also means you might get an installment that [[Dolled-Up Installment|isn't really one at all]]. Plus, it has the benefit of helping to avoid [[Continuity Lock Out]]
This also avoids the logical conclusion of why the hero isn't [[Bag of Spilling|at Level 255+ when he starts the next game]].
Many series of this sort have [[Recurring Element
Compare and contrast to a [[Thematic Series]], which is a series that follows themes as opposed to specific characters or settings.
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== Action-Adventure Games ==
* ''[[
** The situation becomes even more complicated, as [[Word of God]] has a tendency to contradict itself on this matter. ''[[The Legend of Zelda:
** The series timeline has been recently revealed in the book "Hyrule Historia", turns out the timeline was split in 3 branches in OOT.
* The ''[[Legacy of Kain]]'' series plays around with the [[Timey-Wimey Ball]] and as a result only the first two, ''Blood Omen'' and ''Soul Reaver'', are in normal order. ''Soul Reaver 2'' picked up where ''Soul Reaver'' left off with the main characters travelling back in time to a couple decades before ''Blood Omen'', then they travel forward to several centuries after ''Blood Omen'', then back to centuries before ''Blood Omen''. The fourth game, ''Blood Omen 2'', takes place between ''Blood Omen'' and ''Soul Reaver'' in an altered timeline caused by the fifth game, ''Defiance''. Defiance picks up right where ''Soul Reaver 2'' left off and switches between the two heroes who are in different time periods, one is still in the time period centuries before ''Blood Omen'' and the other is exactly in the same timeframe as ''Blood Omen'', the events of that game occuring unseen at the same time as the events of ''Defiance''. If you followed all that, congratulations, you just mastered one of the most complex time travel plots ever known.
* ''[[Shadow of the Colossus]]'' and ''[[
** Or at least, [[Word of God]] says that that's his personal interpretation, and [[Death of the Author|everyone is free to come up with a different one if they want]].
* ''[[
* The sequel progression in ''[[Tomb Raider]]'' is linear (while each is self-contained, stuff like artifacts in Lara's mansion show the progression) until ''Chronicles'', which is based around events at various times in Lara's life, and the position of some scenarios in the overall timeline is very hard to work out (not helped by the way some events seem to violate previous canon). The Crystal reboot makes things much more complicated; while the changes to backstory and canon suggest a [[Continuity Reboot]] the majority of the previous games are referenced at points in the new games, suggesting that they DO still exist in the new timeline, which makes it difficult to work out where Legend and Underworld fit in.
** Of course, it is entirely possible that the Crystal Lara had several similar adventures to her Core counterpart. It can't be that hard to believe that the two Laras have followed similar paths in life; after all, they are both armed archeologists who hunt mystical treasures.
* The third ''[[Ninja Gaiden]]'' game for the NES, ''Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom'', is an interquel between the original NES ''Ninja Gaiden'' and ''Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos'' (since Ryu lost the Dragon Sword at the end of ''II'', but still has it in ''III''). ''Ninja Gaiden Shadow'' is a very distant prequel to the first NES game, while ''Ninja Gaiden'' for Xbox and its sequels (''Dragon Sword'' and ''2'') are set before the NES series (and presumably after ''Ninja Gaiden Shadow'').
* The ''[[Metroid]]'' series isn't a particularly confusing chronology, but the release order of the more recent games still doesn't necessarily match the order in which they take place, so it still qualifies. The order, as far as this troper knows it, is: Metroid/[[Enhanced Remake|Metroid Zero Mission]] > Metroid Prime > ...Prime Hunters > ...Prime 2: Echoes > ...Prime 3: Corruption > Metroid II: Return of Samus > Super Metroid > Metroid: Other M > Metroid Fusion, with [[Oddball in
* The games in [[Nihon Falcom]]'s ''[[
== Fighting Games ==
* Every 2D ''[[Samurai Shodown]]'' has been a non-linear sequel since ''Samurai Shodown II''. ''III'' and ''IV'' are set after the original game but before ''II'', ''V'' is a prequel to the first game, and ''VI'' is a "dream match" game with everyone from the previous numbered entries. Oddly enough, the 3D games are all set after ''Samurai Shodown II'', although the PS version of ''Warriors' Edge'' (which is a different game from the arcade version) takes place in the distant future of the other games.
* The ''[[
== First-Person Shooter ==
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== Hack and Slash ==
* In chronological order of the plotline, the ''[[
** It's worth noting that the chronology came out like that because ''Devil May Cry 2'' was such a mess the devs were jumping around to avoid mentioning anything about that game.
** And now there's ''[[
== Platformers ==
* The ''[[Castlevania]]'' series is the reigning king of bouncing around in the timeline, though the games all take place in the same continuity. Games have been set as far back as the year 1094 and as far forward as 2036. Konami didn't even wait till the series left the NES before starting this habit -- ''Castlevania III'' was set more than 200 years before the first game.
* Though the various ''[[Mega Man (
* [[Sonic the Hedgehog]] fans have had more than a few arguments trying to sort this one out.
** [[All There in the Manual|Depending which region's version]] you follow, ''Tails Adventure'' is the first game, then ''Sonic 1'', or Tails Adventure takes place in the same chronology it was released.
** ''Sonic CD'' was developed at the same time as ''Sonic 2''. A piece of bonus artwork (Tails with a caption saying "See you next game"), suggests to some of the fandom that this means Sonic CD is before Sonic 2
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** ''[[Sonic Chronicles]]'' then takes place two years after the last game of the series. However its ending {{spoiler|has Robotnik take over the world.}} This doesn't sit well with the next game in the series, ''[[Sonic Unleashed]]''.
*** Unless that's the reason Sonic is trashing an Eggman armada at the start of Unleashed.
** In ''[[Sonic Battle]]'', Shadow has his memory back, or at least remembers the events of ''Sonic Adventure 2''. ''[[
*** Are you sure? IIRC, he was pretty well-informed by the end of ''[[Shadow the Hedgehog]]''.
*** ''Battle'' occurs after ''Shadow'' (as Shadow clearly remembers his past) but was released slightly before ''Heroes''. Where it falls into the overall timeline is unknown, but it is referenced heavily in ''Chronicles''.
** Really, when it comes to the Sonic canon, everything is canon, though every game is in [[Negative Continuity]] unless another game feels like providing a sequel to a story.
* ''[[Super Mario World 2 Yoshis Island]]'', although numbered, is a prequel to the main ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' games.
** Though it could be argued that since it's simply called ''Super Mario: Yoshi's Island'' in Japan, it was never meant to be connected to Super Mario World.
* ''[[Wonder Boy III
** ''[[
== Role-Playing Games ==
* The ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' series, with a few exceptions centered around ''[[
** Square Enix's Ivalice realm is a consistent world visited by the player at various different point in history, each time centered on completely unrelated protagonists. The titles are non linear; the ''[[
*** That said, even Ivalice's continuity is a little haphazard. Back when they were new, the only indication of a connection between ''[[
** However, some games are now getting sequels, probably inspired by the success of the ''Compilation of [[
** And as of ''[[
*** ''[[
*** As did ''[[
*** A Japanese guide for ''[[
** ''[[
* Likewise, there are only two continuities in the ''[[Tales
* Due to an unusual twist of plot {{spoiler|involving Lezard time traveling from the end of the first game to the past of the sequel}}, ''Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria'' comes both before and after ''[[Valkyrie Profile]]''.
** And ''Covenant Of The Plume'' is a prequel. I suppose when the first game features the end of the world, there's nowhere to go but backward.
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** ''[[Breath of Fire]] I-III'' are canonically (per [[Word of God|Word Of Capcom]] and storyline) in the same universe but separated by millenia between games.
** ''[[Breath of Fire]] V'', aka ''Dragon Quarter'', is (per [[Word of God|Word Of Capcom]]) in its own [[Alternate Universe]] completely unrelated to other games in the series. The gameplay is also radically different, to the point it actually resulted in a [[Broken Base]] within that fandom.
** The real mess comes in sorting out where ''[[Breath of Fire]] IV'' fits, because there ''is'' no [[Word of God|Word Of Capcom]] where the game fits, the game was rushed to production to outrun [[Author Existence Failure]], and subsequent [[All There in the Manual|supplementary material]] (like the artbook, a [[Novelization]], a second ''[[Breath of Fire]]'' Complete Works artbook, no less than two side-stories that were released for [[No Export for You|Japanese smartphones]], and finally a [[Comic Book Adaptation|manga]] that relied ''heavily'' on info from the artbook and Capcom's production staff) have done ''absolutely nothing'' to clarify this. As a result, a ''lot'' of [[Fanon]] and occasional [[Fan Wank]] occurs as to whether ''IV'' is an [[Alternate Universe]] or a
* The first two ''[[Lufia]]'' games where placed in reverse order, with ''Lufia II'' happening before ''Lufia I''. The first game even ''started'' with [[A Taste of Power]] that eventually became the final conflict in the second game, creating a nice little loop of continuity.
* Konami also has another series that deals with this particular trope: ''[[Suikoden]]''. The games all take place in the same world (except for ''[[Suikoden Tierkreis|Tierkreis]]''), but all take place in different regions and, more importantly, different times. To be specific, the first game to occur chronologically was ''[[Suikoden IV]]''. One hundred and fifty years later, we experience the events of ''[[Suikoden V]]'', then we get the original ''[[Suikoden I]]'' five years later, with ''[[Suikoden II]]'' following it up with the shortest time span between games (a mere three years), then we get ''[[Suikoden III]]'' 15 years after that.
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**** That, and there are two different versions of Viki in ''[[Suikoden III|III]]''.
* The ''[[Grandia]]'' series developed by Game Arts is similar to ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' in that the games share little except for the battle system.
* ''[[
* Each ''[[MOTHER]]'' game is set in a different time period, with mostly new characters and locations. In fact, the only connection between the first two is the name of the [[Big Bad]], [[Spell My Name
* The ''[[Wild
** If that's the case, the games take place at least multiple millennia apart with [[Fridge Logic]] mass-reconfiguration of the planet's continental crust fragments. But hey, if the planet's center is filled with supernatural blue mud, you can [[Hand Wave]] just about anything.
** Actually, it was set in the same "universe" but not the same planet.
* ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'' series all take place in the same world and are roughly chronological, but have different locations and, for the most part, characters.
** Except for the spin-offs. Battlespire takes place just before and during the first game, while Redguard takes place roughly 300 years before the first game.
** The up-coming ''[[The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
* ''[[
** The [[Dragon Quest IV
** To date, only ''[[
* The continuity between the ''[[World of Mana]]'' games is rather loose. At least one game, ''[[Legend of Mana]]'', has been declared non-canon by [[Word of God]], and the mobile phone game ''Friends of Mana'' takes place in a totally different world.
* ''[[Pokémon]]'' does this. Not counting ''Gold and Silver'', which were direct sequels to the first games, ''Red and Blue'', every iteration since has been part of a jumbled up timeline that can only be explained by in-game functions.
** It goes like this: ''[[
** Until now, when [[Pokémon Black 2 and White 2]] are coming out.
* [[Dark Souls]], despite being a [[Spiritual Sequel]], is this to [[
* Most of the ''[[
== Shoot Em Ups ==
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== Simulation Games ==
* ''[[Wing Commander (
== Stealth-Based Games ==
* All the numbered ''[[
== Survival Horror ==
* The ''[[Resident Evil]]'' games release order mostly matches the chronology of the series, except for the prequel ''[[Resident Evil
** The spin-offs are a bit looser with
** The 3DS game, ''[[Resident Evil
== Third-Person Shooter ==
* ''[[Dead to Rights]]'' was released in 2002 and follows Jack Slate, a cop in Grant City. ''Dead to Rights 2'' was released in 2005, and despite it being a numbered actually takes place before the original game. A third game ''Dead to Rights: Reckoning'' was released for the PSP shortly after #2. It actually precedes 2. There is a fourth game announced for release in 2010. With luck, it will feature Jack as a fetus.
** Judging from the Wikipedia page (and change this if I'm wrong) it seems to be a remake with a slightly different storyline of the first game. So, Yeah, four "sequels" and we haven't even got past the first storyline. Whoopie...
* The ''[[
** There's also the [[Gaiden Game]] ''Formula Front'', which uses elements from the ''Armored Core 3'' universe, but it clearly not set in it. It's really just a [[Fighting Game]] [[Humongous Mecha|with Robots]]... [[Virtual On|No, not that one]].
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* ''[[Chaos Fighters]] II'' has nothing to do with Chaos Fighters except with the magic and weaponry system.
* ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia]]'' was written with each story assumed to be the last (as admitted by the author) so as such several of the later ones answer questions rather then continuing the story. As such The Magician's Nephew was written and published 6th but takes place first. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe which was first is second. A horse and His Boy was written fourth, published fifth, and set during a timeskip in LW&W. Though with those three sorted out the rest follow order of publication: Prince Caspian (Which is set centuries after LW&W), Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Silver Chair, and Last Battle. Plus in world the time shifts because Narnia is a parallel world not perfectly synced with ours.
* ''[[The Scorpion King]]'' is a prequel to ''[[
* The "[[Road To|Road Pictures]]" of [[Bob Hope]] and [[Bing Crosby]]. Hope, Crosby and [[Dorothy Lamour]] play different characters with different names in each, and at least one is set in a wildly different time period, but they all have
* ''[[Kamen Rider Agito]]'' explicitly takes place in the same universe as ''[[Kamen Rider Kuuga]]''; the only on-screen references to this are a couple of off-hand mentions of the Grongi (Kuuga's enemies) and the G3 suit being built by the police based off of data taken on "Unidentified Lifeform #4" (the Tokyo Police's callname for Kuuga). There was also said to be a [[Great Ofscreen War]] where the Grongi were killed off by the Lords, Agito's enemies.
** This all gets referenced in ''[[Kamen Rider Decade]]'', where the [[Alternate Universe]] Agito World they visit is also an alternate Kuuga World, with the [[Great Offscreen War]] actively happening and an alternate version of Decade!Kuuga's [[Cool Big Sis]] mentor showing up as the head scientist behind the G3 Project.
** ''[[Kamen Rider]]'' does this a lot, but more recently it's intensified. ''[[Kamen Rider Double]]'' makes an off-hand reference to [[Kamen Rider OOO]]'s [[Transformation Trinket]] in one of the later episodes, and two of [[Kamen Rider Fourze]]'s friends make a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo in the final episode of ''OOO''. And on top of that, the [[Early
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[[Category:Derivative Works]]
[[Category:Videogame Culture]]
[[Category:Sequel]]
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