This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Mister Six: Took out the Final Fantasy reference because none of the main FF games are set in the same universe, so linearity has nothing to do with it. Left in the bit about the Ivalice games though. For posterity:
- * The Final Fantasy series, with a few exceptions centered around Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy X.
Tanto: I thought that was part of the trope...?
Occasionally the only thing similar is the system of play or shared tropes and references.
That's the way I've been using it, anyway. Linearity is different for video games because there's another dimension, aside from characters, setting, and verse, by which installments in a series can be interrelated; that dimension being gameplay.
Mister Six: Sorry, I'm a big thicky. Restored. I still think, though, that the "sequel by name only" thing (ie. the Final Fantasy games, or the leap to a different universe for GTA 4) ought to be a separate but related trope, since it has nothing to do with linearity or chronology.
Radien: Heh, it's amusing how the Legend of Zelda continuity is referenced here. Some of my fellow Zelda fans might object, but as a reasonable person, I have to admit it's true. However, there is one thing I'd like to clear up: is this a reference to Nintendo of America's asspulling on their English site, which has apparently been removed (no doubt because it ended up conflicting with Twilight Princess)?
While continuity in the Zelda series is largely a pipe dream, I'd like to think that it's mostly caused by Shigeru Miyamoto's willingness to obfuscate and stray from the timeline in his head, just for the sake of maintaining fun gameplay.
Cosmetor: I don't think Legacy Of Kain is an example. It's abount time travel, and despite the travelers appearing in different areas, it's mostly linear from their perspective. If the viewpoint character jumps around to different moments in their life (as opposed to meeting themselves in third-person), it would be, but if not, it's not an example any more than Doctor Who, Chrono Trigger, or most other stories involving time travel.
Nano Moose: Fable II isn't a new world; the catastrophe that destroyed the Old Kingdom happened long before the first game, after the Court of Blades was overthrown by William Black. Long story short, he named himself the Archon (basically the King), ruled for a while, fathered a load of children, and then vanished. That started the line of Archons and the player characters' Heroic Bloodline; the Archons with their Will powers made many wonders but became corrupt; the last one built the Spire, made a wish, and kafwoosh...and then many centuries later the games start. There are mentions of the Old Kingdom in books in the first game, in fact.
