Summary
The debate of canon is one that constantly rages across gaming. How important it is for a sequel to acknowledge what happened in previous games, should things be retconned, a general over-examination of a world’s lore to dismiss certain aspects of gameplay. It’s complicated at times.
Some games take advantage of that very debate though by twisting the idea of what a sequel is in the first place. You can’t have your game painted with the same brush as the prior entry if people don’t know it’s a sequel in thet first place. It’s a hard trick to pull off, but here are some of the games that did it best.
While hindsight and the massive reaction to the game might make it obvious now, Control was the beginning of Remedy attempting to tie all of their games together into a shared universe. The Remedyverse, if you will. The seeds had been planted for years prior to this, Control just decided to make it obvious. Just not quite at first.
As Jesse explores the Bureau of Control, you obviously understand that the world she dwells in isn’t quite normal. AWEs are contained within The Oldest House, altered world events.Oh funny, that’s Bright Falls. Nice reference. Wait, what do you mean there’s literally an Alan Wake DLC? Yeah, it’s not exactly subtle.
Yoko Taro, at this point, is just as well known for his creations as his media personality. Donning the head of Emil in every public appearance, he’s become a personification of his own writing - obscenely odd and surprisingly hopeful and light-hearted while saying very heavy things. Part of that obscenity is also why Nier and Drakengard are related in the first place.
In Drakengard, there is one particular ending where you end up in actual real-world Japan with your dragon and magic. With armies being the way they are, they immediately shoot down this dragon, causing a disease to spread across the world. Skip forward a few millennia and you have the world of Nier, devoid of humans, filled with magic, and even featuring some familiar weapons.
Until Hitman Blood Money, the series had quite a strong run. Many would saythe games just kept getting better and better, with Blood Money as the pinnacle of the series. And then Absolution happened, putting a much heavier emphasis on story over replayability and for some reason ramping up the sexism and racism. Weird little game.
With Hitman 2016, it was assumed by many to be a reboot, and in many ways it is. Though there are, however brief, allusions to the past. The incident with Diana leaving the ICA, new marks picking up the business from targets of previous games. It is not a reboot at all but the latest in a single continuity.
People have been arguing over the Zelda timeline since the series' inception, with Nintendo eventually creating Skyward Sword to set a more definitive chronology for the series. With this firmer timeline came previous games suddenly connecting in ways people had only theorised on before.
Following Ocarina of Time, the timeline splits in two between Young and Adult Link. While the adult becomes a revered hero, the Young is left in a world with no knowledge or their alternate future deeds. And so they become the Hero’s Spirit by the time of Twilight Princess, teaching future generations to defeat Ganon. Including a new incarnation of himself.
While Hyrule Historia confirms this, you may hear Link’s Japanese voice actor in the original Twilight Princess as well as many of the animations matching Link from Ocarina of Time.
Prince of Persia has gone through a lot of changes over the years. From its beginnings as a 2D rotoscoped game by Jordan Mechner to the 3D adventures from Ubisoft, it has spawned a massive multimedia franchise, including amovie adaptation of The Sands of Time. The Forgotten Sands was in turn meant to be an adaptation of the film. Slightly meta, but not what actually happened.
With the Sands of Time film delayed, The Forgotten Sands had to be rebranded. Suddenly, it was a sequel to the actual Sands of Time game despite originally bearing no relation to it. It also had many different console versions which all had different stories, but were still somehow set between Sands of Time and Warrior Within.
While the mainline Final Fantasy series has been struggling to find its footing in an industry that takes close to a decade to create a single game, its spin-offs have had much more luck. Enter Stranger of Paradise, the one final fantasy game that didn’t get all the attention it deserved.
Stranger of Paradise is a celebration of the series, with you exploring altered versions of locales from the whole series. It is also a prequel to the original Final Fantasy, setting up the Origins of Chaos. It is also a sequel, visiting a future where Chaos won. It is also a reboot, revisiting itself in ways that take into account future Final Fantasy games. Incidentally, Jack Garland, self-described angry man, happens to be one of the best Final Fantasy protagonists.
Bandai Namco has a very powerful, very successful strategy. Take a very popular genre and apply a more conventional anime aesthetic to it. You have immediately gained an audience of people who like anime and that genre. From this, both God Eater and Code Vein were born.
God Eater, pulling heavily from aspects of Monster Hunter, features a post-apocalyptic world with monsters called Aragami. For the most part, Code Vein seems entirely disconnected until the red mist around the world lowers to reveal the Aragami here too. While it was clearly decided later, it would appear that God Eater takes place after the events of Code Vein.
Team Ico, as they were known at the time, made some of the most renowned games for the PS2 with Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. The games share obvious aesthetics, as does their later game, The Last Guardian. While it is nothing completely canon, it’s intentional enough to debate.
Throughout Shadow of the Colossus, you are hunting the eponymous Colossi, though for no clear reasons other than the revival of the woman you have left to rest in the central temple. As the game ends, Wander is overcome by the spirits of the Colossi and upon his defeat, seems to have reverted to a small, horned child. A horn that is remarkably similar to the one of Ico.
Arkane has a specific style, one that came to great prominence with the success of Dishonored. They are pulled from a similar vein with each of their games since, though Deathloop by far feels the most akin to the world and gameplay style of the Dishonored games.
Of course, that was an intentional act. Literal buildings from Dishonored are present in Deathloop, though the over-the-top nature of the game could have you believing this was simply an easter egg. While the game has plenty of extra hints, director Dinga Bakaba literally confirmed it. So there you have it.
