History ContinuitySnarl / VideoGames

** ''VideoGame/PokemonLetsGoPikachuAndLetsGoEevee'' is an odd one as they're remakes of ''Pokémon Yellow'' but instead of Red and Blue appearing as the player character and rival, they're separate characters that are already accomplished Trainers, meaning that they've gone through Kanto without encountering Team Rocket. [[spoiler:And Green/Leaf finally makes her appearance in a game as a full-fledged character.]] There's also an appearance of Mina from ''Sun and Moon'', but she appears to be about 13 to 15 according to an official character artwork, meaning that the ''Lets Go'' games take place only 3 or 4 years before ''Sun and Moon''/''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon''. [[note]]Mina is a Trial Captain in the later games, but they are forced to retire when they turn 20.[[/note]]

** In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil1'', the official canon is that both of the protagonists, Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine, and both of the secondary characters, Barry Burton and Rebecca Chambers, survived the events of the Arklay Mansion. There's just two problems. The first is that nobody knows just which character was actually exploring the mansion; the game itself (at least in its 2002 remake) tries to alleviate the problem somewhat by claiming that only one protagonist was exploring the mansion, and the other spent the time imprisoned in the final hidden lab. Which then becomes problematic because there's no official word as to which protagonist was free and which was imprisoned. The second problem is that the player only encounters one secondary character in-game, depending on their chosen protagonist. So that leaves players struggling to figure out how the Arklay Mansion incident really "went down" to explain how all four characters survived.

* The ''[[Franchise/ShinMegamiTenseiPersona Persona]]'' titles have generally been implied to take place in the same universe, despite great differences between the first three games (actually two, but one is a two-parter) and subsequent ''Persona'' games. This is because both games in the aforementioned two-parter, ''VideoGame/{{Persona 2}}'', end with a massive CosmicRetcon, the second of which may have reset everything from [[VideoGame/{{Persona}} the first game]] as well. This is made even more confusing by the fact that the later games make several [[ShoutOut Shout-Outs]] to the original two/three in the forms of former playable characters being mentioned on TV or by other characters. In addition, the nature of the standard enemies do not remain consistent; P1 and P2 have them manifesting as sapient demons, ''VideoGame/Persona3'' and ''VideoGame/Persona4'' have them manifesting as feral "Shadows", and ''VideoGame/Persona5'' splits the difference, with the enemies taking the form of sapient demons but being referred to as Shadows.

*** While P1 and P2 indicate that you have to first perform a certain ritual before you have the power to summon a Persona, P3 implies that most Persona users are simply born with it, P4 has its characters obtain them by simply accepting their Shadows, and P5 shows them as being obtainable by anyone who visits the Metaverse.
*** While P2 indicated that all Persona users can summon their Personas in the physical world without any technological assistance, subsequent games portray most Persona users as needing an Evoker to summon their Personas when they're not inside the collective unconsciousness.
** ''VideoGame/Persona4Arena'' directly contradicts ''Persona 3'' and ''Persona 4'' with the characters' choices of Personas. All of the ''Persona 4'' characters are stuck with their Initial Personas, despite the game referencing Chie and Yosuke’s completed Social Links (meaning they should have their Ultimate Personas instead), and too little time has passed for them to have regressed. Teddie is the most glaring example as his Star Social Link is one of three that levels up automatically in ''Persona 4'' and must be completed in order to reach the True Ending (which ''Arena'' explicitly follows). Even more confusing is Aigis, who has Pallas Athena even though in P3's "The Answer" [[spoiler:Aigis inherits the P3 protagonist's Wild Card and Pallas Athena is changed into Orpheus. "The Answer" is clearly canon because Erebus appears in Elizabeth's story and Aigis is stated to possesses the Wild Card. It is unlikely that Aigis was able to re-fuse Pallas Athena since Igor tells Aigis that she has the access to the same number of Personas through the Wild Card as her predecessor did]].
** Adding to the confusion, while this surprisingly obscure [[http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=1&cId=3172364 interview]] with ''Persona 4'''s staff indicates that the games ''do'' all take place in the same verse, ''[[AllThereInTheManual Persona Magazine]]'' (which began publishing sometime after the 1UP interview) often ignores ''P1''/''P2'' continuity and referred to the current Persona-verse as "the ''P3''/''P4'' world".

*** The biggest difference is the appearance of the Ultra Recon Squad, a group of [[spoiler: {{Human Like Alien}}s]] who come from Ultra Space. [[spoiler: Necrozma, who is a Pokémon that comes from Ultra Space (or their part of Ultra Space) is threatening to consume all the light in the universe. Necrozma eventually takes over as the main antagonistic force in these games rather then Lusamine.]]
*** The postgame features a different side story: Episode Rainbow Rocket. [[spoiler: Using Ultra Wormholes, Team Rainbow Rocket is comprised of all the Team Leaders from the past main games who come from universes where they won, all lead by Giovanni. This includes Maxie and Archie, who have their original ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'' designs as opposed to the "Mega Timeline" versions.]]

** ''VideoGame/PokemonLetsGoPikachuAndLetsGoEevee'' is an odd one as they're remakes of ''Pokémon Yellow'' but instead of Red and Blue appearing as the player character and rival, they're separate characters that are already accomplished trainers, meaning that they've gone through Kanto without encountering Team Rocket [[spoiler: Also, Green/Leaf finally makes an appearance in a game.]]. There's also an appearance of Mina from ''Sun and Moon'', but she appears to be about 13 to 15 according to an official character artwork, meaning that the ''Lets Go'' games take place only 3 or 4 years before ''Sun and Moon''/''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon''[[note]]Mina is a Trial Captain in the later games, but they are forced to retire when they turn 20[[/note]]
* Given the series' overarching reliance on strange conspiracies and convoluted plots, it's actually surprising how infrequently this trope pops up in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil''. But, there are a few areas where the continuity gets tangles...

** The ''Chronicles'' games are rather bad about this, adding new events and filling in holes in the established canon (most notably between ''Code Veronica'' and ''[=RE4=]''), while at the same time also contradicting quite a bit of it. Really, figuring out the true continuity of ''Resident Evil'' is only slightly easier than ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda''. This is, however, debated, since there are fans who argue that the "retellings" chapters aren't intended to be canon, whilst the ''Chronicles''-unique stories don't actually contradict anything.

** In ''Fallout 3'', the Vertibird was said to be in the prototype stage before the war, and was almost ten years away from entering service when the bombs dropped. Though they appeared in the Anchorage Reclamation simulation, WordOfGod explicitly stated that the simulation was altered by an UnreliableNarrator. However, ''Fallout 4'' shows that Vertibirds were already used by the US military in the days before the war.

** In ''Fallout 3'', Vertibirds were said to be in the prototype stage before the war, and was almost ten years away from entering service when the bombs dropped. Though they appeared in the Anchorage Reclamation simulation, WordOfGod explicitly stated that the simulation was altered by an UnreliableNarrator. However, ''Fallout 4'' shows that Vertibirds were already used by the US military in the days before the war.

** A pre-war science lab in the game boasts in their pre-recorded orientation about having helped the US government create the giant robot Liberty Prime, which they say was used to Liberate Anchorage, Alaska during the early stages of the war with China. Yet ''[[VideoGame/Fallout3 3]]'' explained that, while the US planned to use Liberty Prime to take back Anchorage, the development of power armor made that unnecessary, and in fact, Liberty Prime's existence was never public knowledge.

* The Blaze/Silver/Eggman Nega issue in the ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' series. In ''VideoGame/{{Sonic Rush|Series}}'', Blaze is from an alternate dimension. In ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006 Sonic '06]]'' she is from the future (and seems out of character). And the events of ''Sonic '06'' were erased from the timeline in that game's ending, making things more confusing. Additionally, due to that fact she was from the future, she could be REAL version of Blaze, who isn't born until later. The other one DID come from an alternate universe...

** ''VideoGame/PokemonLetsGoPikachuAndLetsGoEevee'' is an odd one as they're remakes of ''Pokémon Yellow'' but instead of Red and Blue appearing as the player character and rival, they're separate characters that are already accomplished trainers, meaning that they've gone through Kanto without encountering Team Rocket [[spoiler: Also, Blue/Green finally makes an appearance in a game.]]. There's also an appearance of Mina from ''Sun and Moon'', but she appears to be about 13 to 15 according to an official character artwork, meaning that the ''Lets Go'' games take place only 3 or 4 years before ''Sun and Moon''/''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon''[[note]]Mina is a Trial Captain in the later games, but they are forced to retire when they turn 20[[/note]]

** ''VideoGame/PokemonLetsGoPikachuAndLetsGoEevee'' is an odd one as they're remakes of ''Pokémon Yellow'' but instead of Red and Green/Blue appearing as the player character and rival, they're separate characters that are already accomplished trainers, meaning that they've gone through Kanto without encountering Team Rocket [[spoiler: Also, Blue/Green finally makes an appearance in a game.]]. There's also an appearance of Mina from ''Sun and Moon'', but she appears to be about 13 to 15 according to an official character artwork, meaning that the ''Lets Go'' games take place only 3 or 4 years before ''Sun and Moon''/''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon''[[note]]Mina is a Trial Captain in the later games, but they are forced to retire when they turn 20[[/note]]

* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' suffers immensely from this. In the very first game, Riku tells Sora that there can't be two Keyblademasters and takes the Keyblade from him. The letter that King Mickey sends to Donald and Goofy also implies that Sora is THE Keyblademaster by telling them to find the one person with the key, but what happens at the end? We see [[spoiler:King Mickey]] with a keyblade of his own just like Sora's. It doesn't help that while possessed, Riku wields another type of Keyblade and that now virtually everyone in the series has one. One could easily say that he just made a mistake, but that isn't even hinted to be the case.

** In contrast to the original, the ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2Remake'' has become infamous for its continuity snarls, which result in a wide array of {{Adaptation Induced Plot Hole}}s. Whereas each linked A/B scenario pairing in the 1998 original game produced a distinct story, the Leon and Claire campaigns in the 2019 remake are virtually identical -- worse, the story of each characters remains fundamentally unchanged, barring the removal of the interactions with Marvin, in the 2nd Run game mode. Which is suppose to display the "what the other character was doing when you didn't see them" tale, just like the B scenarios in the original game. This results in the character who is supposed to come along chronologically afterwards having to solve the exact same puzzles and having the exact same boss-fights as the character who chronologically came along first. Specific problems:
*** The 1st Run character has to find three medallions held by three statues to unlock a secret passageway under the plinth in the main hall of the R.P.D.S. The 2nd Run character then comes along and finds a note from the 1st Runner saying where they went... and has to retrieve the three medallions from the same three statues again.
*** Both characters need to find a pair of electronic circuit board components for a different puzzle. Each finds one piece in a unique area... and then the second piece for both characters is in the clock tower, needing them to shake the clock bell out of its housing to retrieve it. That means that the 1st Run character comes along and shakes the bell free... and then the 2nd run character comes along and has to do it again!
*** In Claire's story, [[spoiler:Mr. X]] is killed by Birkin in the tunnels under the orphanage. In Leon's story, he shows up alive and unharmed to harass Leon in the greenhouse, and serves as Leon's penultimate boss.
*** The most infamous aspect of all is the way that [[spoiler:Annette gets mortally wounded and dies... twice... at completely different regions of the underground lab, and canonically within ''minutes'' of meeting the 1st Run character.]]

** Blizzard introduced a new one with their whole "There must always be a Lich King" thing, although they still have time to justify it. The idea is that if no one takes over the job as Lich King, then the Scourge will overrun the world and destroy everything. There's two problems with that. One: There can't be that many Scourge left, since we've fought and destroyed them all the way to the Lich King's very doorstep. Two: We've already seen what happened when the Lich King loses power without a successor, it was the ''entire plot'' of the Warcraft III expansion, the Frozen Throne. The Lich King was dying due to a spell that Illidan cast, but he was interrupted before he could finish. As Arthas rushed over to Northrend to take over, the Scourge did ''not'' overrun the world. In fact, they started to become the Forsaken, who are supposed to have their minds back. Thus, if we assume that the new revelation is true, it not only makes Illidan look like a big fool (even bigger than the heroes who trusted Maiev), it implies that the Forsaken are an evil more dangerous than the Scourge. Although the Wrathgate event and subsequent invasion of Undercity make this a very good possibility, the Forsaken are a playable race and it seems doubtful that the game will ever truly confront or resolve this problem. Even so, not all Forsaken are evil, and the evil ones are not unstoppable (just a playable race, and full of plot armor).
*** The leading fan theory is that it might actually have to do with the Elder/Old Gods, which the Nerubians used basically live over, and the Lich King might technically be accidentally keeping it sealed. Scourge boosted by the power of Eldritch Abominations might be... bad. Very Bad. Considering that Yogg-Saron, god of death, very loudly screams about how the Lich King is trying to usurp his throne, this seems like the most likely explanation. Note that Yoggy was still sealed when the Forsaken were freed, which explains why they kept their minds instead of being re-enslaved by him.
*** However, WordOfGod during an Ask Creative Development Q&A says that the "There must always be a Lich King" statements should be taken at face value. No Old Gods, no Ner'zhul speaking through trusted ghosts... just a need for a new Lich King, with the added bonus that Arthas or Ner'zhul could have unleashed the Scourge and ravages Azeroth without the undead being feral. Arthas likely held them back to corrupt people to maintain his pride (to show that his failings were normal). Why not Ner'zhul? No idea. Probably to buy time to escape the Legion's control.

** ''Literature/HaloTheFallOfReach'' established a very precise timeline for the titular battle. And then ''VideoGame/HaloReach'' came along and ruthlessly snarled it up, so much so that the timeline issues ''still'' haven't fully resolved despite ThreeFourThreeIndustries' best efforts.

*** A bonus conversation in ''Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire'' will have Steven refer in vague language that one time he fought alongside Alain and his Mega Charizard — as he did in the ''Mega Evolution Specials'' from the anime canon. You need to be quite an impressive contortionist to reconcile those canons.

*** The appearance of [[spoiler: Anabel]] in the post-game. During the Ultra Beast sidequest, it is revealed that [[spoiler: she's the same Salon Maiden Anabel from the ''Emerald'' exclusive Battle Frontier... The one that was never built in ''Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire''. This Anabel somehow appeared from an Ultra Wormhole and ended up in Alola in the "Mega Timeline" with few memories of her former life]]. This raises a few questions on where 3rd versions (Japanese Blue, Yellow, Crystal, Emerald and Platinum) lie in the continuity.

** After ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' was released, the developers determined that it was the last game in the timeline... but gave a ShrugOfGod as to ''which'' timeline, believing it was better for players to choose for themselves.

* There's a rather telling one between ''VideoGame/DeadSpace'' and ''VideoGame/DeadSpace2''; in the first game, the Red Marker is basically portrayed as benign and the key to stopping the Necromorphs, but in the second one, it's the active ''source'' of the Necromorph outbreak. Actually unsnarled (though partially through clue-fuelled deductions) in ''VideoGame/DeadSpace3'': [[spoiler: the Markers broadcast a signal that ''creates'' Necromorphs and, when their numbers reach a critical mass, causes them to amalgamate into a gargantuan alien lifeform called a "Brethren Moon". The constant rephrase of "Make Us Whole" from both of the Markers is them trying to compel enough people to die and become Necromorphs to create a new Brethren Moon. Isaac misinterpreted the Red Marker's pleas in the first game and inadvertently placed it upon a signal dampening device that had been constructed when it was placed there two centuries earlier]].

** It is said that the Ancients are the spirits of the Nephalem, the Ancient Ones. But the Arreat Summit (the official ''[[VideoGame/DiabloII DII]]'' webpage) says that they were barbarians chosen by the Ancients.

** The ''Diablo 1'' manual says that after their exile the Three Brothers ravaged the lands of the Far East for countless centuries, but in the game it is stated that they did so for decades. In the current timeline 50 years pass between their exile and capture.
** Before he came to Khanduras Leoric was originally a northern lord, this has been changed to an eastern lord.
** In the ''Sin War'' [[ExpandedUniverse trilogy of novels]] the robes of the order of Dialon are azure, they should be crimson. While the robes of the order of Mephis should be azure instead of black. (To match the color of their Soulstone)

** In ''Scales of the Serpent'', the high priest of Dialon is named Arihan and is said to have had his title for a long time, but in ''Birthright'' all the high priests are named (Malic, Herodius and Balthazar) and Arihan isn't part of them.

** There's even something of a continuity snarl between Diablo II Classic and Lord of Destruction. The cinematics of Diablo II Classic say that Diablo was defeated for a while (long enough for the news to reach Marius, at least) before Baal found Marius, took his Soulstone back, and burned the asylum down. But in Lord of Destruction, Tyrael says that while the hero was fighting in hell, i.e. ''before'' Diablo was defeated, Baal had been rallying his army and launching his assault on Mount Arreat, and had already taken over all but one of the barbarian strongholds; and Baal had already recovered his Soulstone by the time he had taken over Sescheron in the opening cinematic in Lord of Destruction. So... did Baal get his Soulstone back before or after Diablo was defeated? [[spoiler: The [[http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline official timeline]] rectifies this snarl: Diablo was defeated in late 1264, and Baal began his assault on Mount Arreat in early 1265, retconning Tyrael's statement and undoing the retcon on Marius' story.]]

** In general, canon and continuity [[UnreliableCanon are almost meaningless concepts]]. Bethesda refuses to invalidate your choices about [[FeaturelessProtagonist who your character is]] and [[WideOpenSandbox what he/she does]]. Therefore, there is no definitive version of the Nerevarine/Champion/Dragonborn, etc. and very few canonized events (the main quest line usually being an exception.)[[note]]According to the developers, "all the quest chains present in the game happen, but not all are necessarily done by the [Player Character]."[[/note]] Additionally, all in-game information, books, and historical records are [[UnreliableNarrator biased]] or otherwise unreliable or contradictory, with the implication that AllMythsAreTrue and everyone is right in spite of the contradictions. From a meta-perspective, canon is complicated by the fact that the majority of the lore that elucidates the nature of the world of Tamriel [[LooseCanon comes from the work of an ex-dev and were written in an unofficial capacity]] after he left the studio. Many lore-scholars within the fandom actually consider his work ''more'' canon than the published games themselves, and the fact that the games [[CanonImmigrant reference and quote these works]] adds to the confusion. Rather than become frustrated, fans tend to ''embrace'' this ambiguity as one of the more fascinating elements of the series.

** A pre-war science lab in the game boasts in their pre-recorded orientation about having helped the US government create the giant robot Liberty Prime, which they say was used to Liberate Anchorage, Alaska during the early stages of the war with China. Yet ''[[Videogame/Fallout3 3]]'' explained that, while the US planned to use Liberty Prime to take back Anchorage, the development of power armor made that unnecessary, and in fact, Liberty Prime's existence was never public knowledge.

** The Nibelheim incident in the ''Compilation of VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''. The original game alone provides about three different versions of the event because of the poeple involved [[spoiler:Cloud's memories are messed up, Sephiroth deliberately manipulates him and Tifa doesn't know all the details]]. While at some point we DO get what seems to be what actually happened, when the other parts compilation retell the events each version is different and multiple details don't match up. For example in ''[[Anime/LastOrderFinalFantasyVII Last Order]]'' [[spoiler:Sephiroth deliberately jumped into the Mako shaft]] while every other version has [[spoiler:him thrown into it by Cloud]], while ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' has Genesis present during the events, something that doesn't happen in any other version.

* ''VideoGame/JakIIRenegade'' establishes that Baron Praxis's rule has been going on for a while - Ashelin mentions looking down from the palace and dreaming of a better way when she was a little girl, and since she's in her early twenties at the time, that indicates that Praxis's dystopia lasted at least fifteen years. The heir to the throne, aged somewhere between five and seven, had presumably been raised in secret. Makes sense? No, because ''VideoGame/JakIIIWastelander'' establishes that the city's rightful ruler, Damas, was overthrown by Praxis after his son, the heir, had been born, instantly shaving a decade off Praxis's actual rule and making Ashelin's definition of "little girl" look very questionable.
* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' suffers immensely from this. In the very first game, Riku tells Sora that there can't be two Keyblademasters and takes the Keyblade from him. The letter that King Mickey sends to Donald and Goofy also implies that Sora is THE Keyblademaster by telling them to find the one person with the key, but what happens at the end? We see [[spoiler:King Mickey]] with a keyblade of his own Just like Sora's. It doesn't help that while possessed, Riku wields another type of Keyblade and that now virtually everyone in the series has one. One could easily say that he just made a mistake, but that isn't even hinted at.

** These even happen in-universe, with TimeCrash events known as "Dragon Breaks." Essentially, the Dragon God of Time (Akatosh) is tampered with in some way, causing [[CosmicRetcon the reality of the world to change]] in some way. (Mortal beings ascending to godhood or otherwise tapping into some sort of divine power are the most frequent cause.) The "Warp in the West" which [[MergingTheBranches merged]] ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIDaggerfall Daggerfall]]'''s MultipleEndings is one of the most famous Dragon Breaks.

** The game introduces Vault 95, whose purpose was to hold hundreds of drug addicts, cut them off completely when the war begins, then give them a huge stash of drugs 5 years later. One of the terminals inside mentions [[FantasticDrug Jet]] as one of the drugs shipped into the vault, yet [[Videogame/Fallout2 ''2'']] introduced Jet as one of the few drugs made after the war (from mutated cow dung).
** A pre-war science lab in the game boasts in their pre-recorded orientation about having helped the US government create the giant robot Liberty Prime, which they say was used to Liberate Anchorage, Alaska during the early stages of the war with China. Yet [[Videogame/Fallout3 ''3'']] explained that, while the US planned to use Liberty Prime to take back Anchorage, the development of power armor made that unnecessary, and in fact, Liberty Prime's existence was never public knowledge.

** The game introduces Vault 95, whose purpose was to hold hundreds of drug addicts, cut them off completely when the war begins, then give them a huge stash of drugs 5 years later. One of the terminals inside mentions [[FantasticDrug Jet]] as one of the drugs shipped into the vault, yet [[Videogame/Fallout2]] introduced Jet as one of the few drugs made after the war (from mutated cow dung).
** A pre-war science lab in the game boasts in their pre-recorded orientation about having helped the US government create the giant robot Liberty Prime, which they say was used to Liberate Anchorage, Alaska during the early stages of the war with China. Yet [[Videogame/Fallout3]] explained that, while the US planned to use Liberty Prime to take back Anchorage, the development of power armor made that unnecessary, and in fact, Liberty Prime's existence was never public knowledge.

* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' continuity is very confusing for the simple reason that until ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword Skyward Sword]]'', we didn't have the whole picture, and, of the bits and pieces gotten, weren't told how they fit together[[note]]Before the official timeline was revealed, it was generally accepted that certain games could be grouped together (''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap The Minish Cap]]'' leading into the ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaFourSwords Four]] [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaFourSwordsAdventures Swords]]'' games, or ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast A Link to the Past]]'' leading into ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening Link's Awakening]]'', for example); the problem for fans was sorting these groups into a viable chronology[[/note]], leading to two decades of debate as to how to organize anything. The use of a TimeyWimeyBall in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'' opened up the possibility that {{Alternate Timeline}}s were in play, and WordOfGod itself was contradictory. Franchise creator Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto, not all that concerned about the timeline due to feeling that stories in video games should be peripheral to the experience, [[ExcusePlot if existent at all]], seemed to endorse that the various games may be corrupted retellings of each other. Eiji Aonuma, who joined the Zelda team starting with ''Ocarina of Time'' and became series director shortly after, preferred there be a concrete timeline. Things were finally sorted out in late 2011 when the two laid down an official timeline in the ''Literature/HyruleHistoria'' artbook,[[note]]which, among other things, showed that things split into THREE timelines, not two as was previously thought, explaining why it was so darn difficult to figure out what went where[[/note]] but the confusion ''will'' return anew each and every time a new game is nearing release.

* The Nibelheim incident in the ''Compilation of VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''. The original game alone provides about three different versions of the event because of the poeple involved [[spoiler:Cloud's memories are messed up, Sephiroth deliberately manipulates him and Tifa doesn't know all the details]]. While at some point we DO get what seems to be what actually happened, when the other parts compilation retell the events each version is different and multiple details don't match up. For example in ''[[Anime/LastOrderFinalFantasyVII Last Order]]'' [[spoiler:Sephiroth deliberately jumped into the Mako shaft]] while every other version has [[spoiler:him thrown into it by Cloud]], while ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' has Genesis present during the events, something that doesn't happen in any other version.

** In contrast to the original, the ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2Remake'' has become infamous for its continuity snarls, which result in a wide array of {{Adaptation Induced Plot Hole}}s. Whereas each linked A/B scenario pairing in the 1998 original game produced a distinct story, the Leon and Claire campaigns in the 2019 remake are virtually identical -- worse, the story of each characters remains fundamentally unchanged, barring the removal of the interactions with Marvin, in the 2nd Run game mode. Which is suppose to display the "what the other character was doing when you didn't see them" tale, just like the B scenarios in the original game. This results in the character who is supposed to come along chronologically afterwards having to solve the exact same puzzles and having the exact same boss-fights as the character who chronologically came along first.

* ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys4'' has two. First this is the game that shows [[spoiler: the Bite of '87]] and so should take place in 1987, but there are also hints that it takes place in 1983 instead. The second revolves around The Puppet - an animatronic responsible for most of the other animatronics in the series been haunted. The fourth game implies that the ghost that haunts The Puppet is [[spoiler: the victim of the Bite of '87]] but The Puppet is active in ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys2'' which seems to take place just before [[spoiler: the Bite]]. Then again, see the first point about when the fourth game is set.