History Main / ArbitrarilySerializedSimultaneousAdventures

* ''VideoGame/LittleSamson'' introduces each of the four player characters in a solo stage. These can be played in any order, but from then on progression is strictly linear.

A continuity-specific subtrope of BranchAndBottleneckPlotStructure. Contrast SynchronousEpisodes, where the order you play the parallel adventures in is predetermined, and MultipleGameOpenings, where you only play through one of the parallel intros while the others remain unseen.

** In ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'', you have six playable characters whose individual stories you have to complete before unlocking the final story that connects all six. Only Sonic is unlocked at first; other characters' stories are unlocked when you meet them. The [[{{Rashomon}} English translation adds to this by having each of the characters' stories differ in recollections and cutscenes]] based on their specific characters, adding an UnreliableNarrator element to each story.

** In ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'', you have six playable characters whose individual stories you have to complete before unlocking the final story that connects all six. Only Sonic is unlocked at first; other characters' stories are unlocked when you meet them.

** In ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'', you have six playable characters whose individual stories you have to complete before unlocking the final story that connects all six.

* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'':

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' includes multiple instances of the [[LetsSplitUpGang party splitting up]] and going off on separate adventures before joining forces again. In almost every case, you get to pick the order you tackle said adventures in, and their difficulty and length vary greatly.

** One of the main points of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIVTheAfterYears'' (though slightly averted, as the game forces the order of some chapters - for example, Ceodore's Tale has to be played first, while [[spoiler:Lunarians']] Tale just before taking on the Final Chapter). Also, it manages to do this ''in a single chapter''. At the beginning of Edge's Tale, the Eblan Four splits up and you have to play through a few short dungeons with each one of the ninjas. Interesting part is that they can actually [[FinalDeath die permanently]] and be [[PermanentlyMissableContent lost forever]].

* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':

Contrast SynchronousEpisodes, where the order you play the parallel adventures in is predetermined, and MultipleGameOpenings, where you only play through one of the parallel intros while the others remain unseen.

* {{VideoGame/Resonance}} introduces the four main characters in this way.

* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog''

* ''VideoGame/LittleSamson'' introduces each of the four player characters in a solo stage. These can be played in any order, but from then on progression is strictly linear.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' includes multiple instances of the [[LetsSplitUpGang party splitting up]] and going off on separate adventures before joining forces again. In almost every case, you get to pick the order you tackle said adventures in, and their difficulty and length vary greatly.
* One of the main points of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIVTheAfterYears'' (though slightly averted, as the game forces the order of some chapters - for example, Ceodore's Tale has to be played first, while [[spoiler:Lunarians']] Tale just before taking on the Final Chapter). Also, it manages to do this ''in a single chapter''. At the beginning of Edge's Tale, the Eblan Four splits up and you have to play through a few short dungeons with each one of the ninjas. Interesting part is that they can actually [[FinalDeath die permamently]] and be [[PermanentlyMissableContent lost forever]].
* In ''VideoGame/TreasureOfTheRudra'', you have to play through the simultaneous scenarios of three main characters (Sion, Surlent and Riza) before they all converge into Dune's scenario that completes the game. Unusually, you could switch between their stories at any time from the loading screen.
* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'' lets you play each of the 3 characters in any order.
* ''VideoGame/SuikodenIII'' features three main protagonists and three smaller, side-scenarios that can be unlocked. The player need only tackle the main storylines, and must complete three chapters of each hero's story in order to unlock the fourth chapter, where the threads come together.
* In the second half of ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'', i.e. after playing through [[AnotherSideAnotherStory 2B and 9S' routes A and B]], respectively, you play as A2 and 9S instead. However, you can now switch between their routes after each major story mission, with the implication being that these occur simultaneously, but the circumstances [[spoiler:and their Pods]] conspire to ensure they are never in the same place at the same time until the ending, where their narratives finally come together.

* One of the main points of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIVTheAfterYears'' (though slightly averted, as the game forces the order of some chapters - for example, Ceodore's Tale has to be played first, while [[spoiler:Lunarians']] Tale just before taking on the Final Chapter). Also, it manages to do this ''in a single chapter''. At the beginning of Edge's Tale, the Eblan Four splits up and you have to play through a few short dungeons with each one of the ninjas. Interesting part is that they can actually [[FinalDeath die permamently]] and be [[LostForever Lost Forever]].

In most games, you steer a single character through a continuous adventure. This is about when a game allows you to sequentially take control of multiple characters on chronologically simultaneous adventures in any order you desire. This can happen at the beginning (overlapping with MultipleGameOpenings) or in the middle of the game (possibly after LetsSplitUpGang moment), but you always have to complete all of them before proceeding to the next stage. The key component here is that the player can choose the order to complete the individual story branches (especially relevant if they have varying difficulty) and, occasionally, may even switch between them at any time.

* Although each character's arc in ''TheBlackHeart'' has a chronological order, the order they can be played in is entirely up to the player.

* In ''SonicAdventure'', you have six playable characters whose individual stories you have to complete before unlocking the final story that connects all six.
* Likewise, in ''SonicAdventure2'', you play through two stories, which all take place simultaneously, each with three characters, and a final story that connects the two.
* Ditto in ''SonicHeroes'', with four stories, each with three characters, and a final story that connects all four.

* In ''WildArms1'', you have a choice of three possible player characters but actually have to play through all of their origins, which all converge at the initial Castle.
* Likewise, ''WildArms3'' has four main characters and you have to play all of their starting stories before they all meet during the Train Robbery.

* ''KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'' lets you play each of the 3 characters in any order.

* In ''RudraNoHihou'', you have to play through the simultaneous scenarios of three main characters (Sion, Surlent and Riza) before they all converge into Dune's scenario that completes the game. Unusually, you could switch between their stories at any time from the loading screen.