Do you like continuity in your games?

[BogusMeatFactory]

I love continuity in games and I am not talking about direct continuity. Sure, Space Marine A, needs to destroy, Alien B and does so through games 1, 2 and 3, but I am talking more about indirect continuity. For instance, Shining the Holy Ark takes place in the same universe as Shining Force III and even has one of the main protagonists from III in it as a young boy.

I crave more of this in my games as a huge incentive to play a game franchise as it provides a change of pace from the norm. Characters you knew and loved in a previous game have passed away, but the story and actions of those characters remain in this new game and have become motivation for others.

With that in mind, what other games provide an indirect continuity within the franchise? Does that improve your experience or no? Do you feel that it is underutilized in the gaming industry? Do you feel that this is limited to only RPGs? If so why? If not, provide some examples.

I would love to hear everyone's thoughts on this.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I like the loose continuity best. The kind of thing you see in the Final Fantasy games. They all happen in a similar "universe" and share some themes, minor characters and (of course) gameplay style. But you don't have to play them in order and you can jump right in at part II or IX or XIII (okay maybe not XIII) without skipping a beat. I vastly prefer this to the "you must play part 1 to understand part 2" types of game series.

That said, I generally always play games of a given series in order anyway. I like to see how they evolve and develop over time.

[BogusMeatFactory]

I like the loose continuity best. The kind of thing you see in the Final Fantasy games. They all happen in a similar "universe" and share some themes, minor characters and (of course) gameplay style. But you don't have to play them in order and you can jump right in at part II or IX or XIII (okay maybe not XIII) without skipping a beat. I vastly prefer this to the "you must play part 1 to understand part 2" types of game series.

That said, I generally always play games of a given series in order anyway. I like to see how they evolve and develop over time.

I was going to say, you are a huge Ys fan and was curious to know how the series goes. Is it a strict continuity with the same main character? How do the numerous remakes and remasters compare to the originals. Do they keep the same storytelling pacing and themes, or do they change things up?

[Blu]

Great topic BMF!

I think there's room for debate in how a franchise continues to build on the canon/lore of the existing universe. For some series, those elements of continuity are stronger than others. I think series like Metal Gear Solid draw very well from its previous games, though the setting seems to be closer to reality than most fantasy RPG's. An example of wavering indirect continuity is the Legend of Zelda series. I for one loved the indirect continuity of Zelda and its split timelines. It's a topic that has been talked about frequently, but I like that Nintendo considers using later releases in the series to be prequels and offer explanations to Hyrule's history. I'd say a weak example of indirect continuity is the early Phantasy Star RPG's. Yeah you continue to fight Dark Force/Falz and are in the same universe, but there's not much to explore, probably given the technical capabilities of the system and storage.

The Halo series provides a direct continuity but some of its expanded universe is worth exploring if you're a fan of the series.

I like continuity in my games and the little easter eggs you find here and there. I'm guessing there's a large increase of continuity once we moved to larger storage capabilities and developers were responsive to fans about wanting to learn more of the game's universe.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I'd say Ys I and II are the only ones that should be played in order... which is simple as they're generally bundled together. The other games may technically "follow" in a certain order, but they are all separate adventures so jumping around is okay. There are, of course, the three Ys IV's but I think only Celceta is considered canon now. There's also Ys Origin, which is something of a prequel that's supposed to happen 700 years before the first game or some shit. But since it's so detached chronologically-speaking it has completely different playable characters.

My Japanese is far from perfect, but the dialogue and stories in the remakes stay fairly true to the originals.

[Gunstar Green]

I think it's entertaining when unrelated games are part of the same universe. It's cool to see them reference stuff and it tends to have the side-effect of making me interested to try the other game even if it's an entirely different genre.

[BogusMeatFactory]

There's also Ys Origin, which is something of a prequel that's supposed to happen 700 years before the first game or some shit. But since it's so detached chronologically-speaking it has completely different playable characters.

Now, when you talk about a prequel, does anything in the originals call back to what is done in that prequel? I would love to see a game that has a history and world laid out and can call back to in other iterations. We see that in a lot of great novels, but we hardly ever see that in video games and I feel that it is one of the biggest problems that they face when trying to be story-oriented. It always seems like they are making it up as they go along.

@Blu

The Zelda franchise is a great example of a world where you have these parallels and timelines, but they are so far in the future and past that you can't quite make a direct connection, but you still feel like they are. Wind Waker really hit me hard with this as I just knew it was directly related to Ocarina of Time, yet it never outright said it. When that game first came out, it really stuck out to me in that way.

With Phantasy Star, you had III being the odd one out, but I and IV had some strong parallels considering Alis' history and actions. Also the parallels of Alis and Alys?

I also feel like that is one of the things that Sega drew me in with at a young age. You had the Shining series that all seemed to be similar, as was Phantasy Star.

@gunstar that is exactly it. There are little nods to the previous games and sometimes they can even be huge plot points that, even if you hadn't experienced the previous game, can catch on to and still seem impactful.

[Cronozilla]

I love subtle continuity between a lot of things. I do like it in games, but I can't actually think of an example :S

[BogusMeatFactory]

I love subtle continuity between a lot of things. I do like it in games, but I can't actually think of an example :S

I know right? In my head, I think to myself, "It would be cool if a game does this and this and this!" and then I just assume a game has done that...Nope!

[BoneSnapDeez]

There's also Ys Origin, which is something of a prequel that's supposed to happen 700 years before the first game or some shit. But since it's so detached chronologically-speaking it has completely different playable characters.

Now, when you talk about a prequel, does anything in the originals call back to what is done in that prequel?

I think the prequel itself is used to tie up loose ends that exist amongst several of the games and to give some more fleshed-out explanations about the origins and motivations of certain characters.

With Phantasy Star, you had III being the odd one out, but I and IV had some strong parallels considering Alis' history and actions. Also the parallels of Alis and Alys?

Phantasy Star III is referenced in part IV.

I consider III an essential game, I never saw it as the black sheep that many did.

Is the "Alisa" (I'm using the unofficial English translation here) in Phantasy Star Gaiden supposed to be the same person as Alis from the first game? I have no idea. I should play it again.