Line #38 ContinuityLockOut/VideoGames


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4	* The ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' series goes out of its way to avoid this, to the point of characters avoiding references to other games even when it would make sense to do so. See: Miles Edgeworth in ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigations'' constantly mentioning that he no longer follows the Von Karma way without mentioning the fact that [[spoiler:Von Karma murdered his father and raised him that way as revenge for a small courtroom slight]]... at least until the second ''Investigations'' game, which features [[spoiler:Gregory Edgeworth]]'s last case as a playable segment, but that was only released in Japanese and many Western fans haven't played it. He also refuses to ever refer to Phoenix Wright (who doesn't appear in the spin-offs outside of two hidden cameos) by name, which gets pretty hilarious after a while.
5	* ''VideoGame/AquamanBattleForAtlantis'' assumes familiarity with Aquaman's lore and doesn't explain Black Manta's history with Arthur or who his wife Mera is until a little less than halfway through the game, making it difficult for newcomers to get invested.
6	* ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' generally avoids this for the main, in-Animus plot of each game. But with a dozen games in just the main series alone, the ongoing modern day plot is likely to confuse a new player.
7	* Unlike its predecessor (and most of the older ''VideoGame/AtelierSeries'' titles), ''VideoGame/AtelierRyza2LostLegendsAndTheSecretFairy'' is a terrible JumpingOnPoint. Returning characters are introduced with very little explanation of who they are and how they relate to each other, which might leave new players confused. At one point, the game drops the word "Philuscha" in a sentence without explaining what it means; those who have finished the previous game will undoubtedly understand what's being talked about, but new players won't get any kind of explanation until several hours and dungeons later. Overall, you'll probably have a much better experience if you've played the first ''Atelier Ryza'' beforehand.
8	* ''Franchise/BaldursGate'':
9	** Several background elements and lore references in the series suffer from this if you are not familiar with the already published ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' and ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' materials. For example, you can meet popular characters such as Drizzt, Volo, or Elminster, and either smile if you already know them from the novels, or shrug if you never heard of them before. While the first two are entirely optional and irrelevant to the story, Elminster acts as an external observer who watches and comments your progress, even giving you some hints. It is pretty much as if playing a game set in the universe of ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' and meeting Gandalf who gives you advice.
10	** ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'' by Larian can be this also compared to the original games by Creator/BioWare, considering it was released 25 years after (though only 10 years after the enhanced editions). [[DownplayedTrope However, it generally deals pretty well with the issue and doesn't require you to know the original titles to enjoy the new campaign by itself.]] The game even lampshades when returning characters talk between them and you can ask how is it possible that they know each other.
11	* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins'' suffers quite a bit from this, as there are a lot of references to old Batman stories (most notably, when Joker flashes back to his Red Hood costume from ''ComicBook/TheKillingJoke'') that are pure fanservice to old hands make no sense whatsoever to new players. Though The Killing Joke segment takes place [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness entirely in Joker's head]], so it doesn't have to make much sense.
12	* ''[[VideoGame/BioShockInfiniteBurialAtSea Burial at Sea]]'', Episode 1 will, right up to the ending, actually make ''more'' sense to someone who's only played ''VideoGame/BioShock1'' than it will to someone who's only played ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite''. Booker and Elizabeth's connection has no real importance until the end, and this is an alternate Booker, so the only real connection to ''Infinite'' is Elizabeth's ability to open Tears, and the basic gameplay controls. In a storyline sense, it's more like a DLC to the original ''[=BioShock=]'' series. [[spoiler:Which the ''second'' episode of ''Burial at Sea'' capitalizes on.]]
13	* ''VideoGame/{{Blaseball}}'' is a live-service game with a metaplot that occurs in real time. The Blaseball devs realized that this was a huge problem for trying to gain new audience members, so they got someone to make [[https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmNSJQLj5nNk7z2eEQGgaEJVZmDNma61c video recaps]] to make it possible to catch up on.
14	* ''Franchise/BlazBlue'' takes the cake. Let's try and break down the storyline: no matter which character you play through the arcade mode with, each of them all end up having the same ending in which they just simply cannot stop the BigBad from unleashing his ultimate creation and getting one step closer to destroying all existence. But the thing is, each of these character endings all happened at the same time, because the BigBad is manipulating the laws of space and time to reset time over and over again, each time creating a new dimension in which he hopes the parameters will be just right where he can carry out his ultimate goal. Confused yet? It gets worse. On top of all those endings all happening at the same time, an overarching storyline continues to unfold in which each character has their own goals that they want to achieve. Some characters are just trying to live peaceful lives, some have become bounty hunters while trying to hunt down the most notorious criminal in the world, while he himself is just looking for someone's ass to kick, namely the BigBad. One girl is trying to figure out who she is, and eventually finds herself as the very center of all the crap that is happening. Meanwhile, the bad guy is trolling each and every last one of them, manipulating many of them and corrupting their ideals, making friends distrust each other, betray each other, and pull everyone's strings to the extent that everyone is about to just go straight up crazy. Somehow the main characters figure out the plot, band together, and defeat the big bad, but this was all part of his plan to make what is a computer equivalent of GOD overlooking the entire universe to divert its attention long enough for the big bad to take it over and advance his plan yet again.\
15	All of that was the outcome of just [[VideoGame/BlazBlueCalamityTrigger the first]] [[VideoGame/BlazBlueContinuumShift two games]] '''alone'''. Read the character pages for the game and just see how many spoilers there are. It'll take a long while before you can start to make sense of it. It's not like playing the first game will help better explain anything either. You'll be just as confused if you just bypass the first game altogether and start with the second. This isn't even counting the numerous spin-off games for multiple portable platforms like the PSP and DS, assuming that the game even gets exported over from Japan in the first place!\
16	Worse still, there is an exorbitant amount of [[AllThereInTheManual side materials]] which all manage to tie into the main plot. Whereas you could largely get by in ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'', ''[=BlazBlue=]''[='s=] predecessor, without these, they are ''crucial'' to understanding the ''[=BlazBlue=]'' universe. For starters, if you want to know why Hakumen is the man he is today and how [[spoiler:Hazama is able to prey on Tsubaki's jealousy of Noel]], that's where ''The Wheel of Fortune'' [[AudioAdaptation drama CD]] comes in. The ''[[Literature/BlazBluePhaseShift Phase Shift]]'' light novels build up the underlying story of the Six Heroes and details the exploits of the Dark War's unsung hero, [[spoiler:a time-displaced Ragna the]] Bloodedge, not to mention that the fifth novel throws in [[SequelHook a hook]] for [[VideoGame/BlazBlueChronoPhantasma the third game]] (namely that [[spoiler:the Celica playable in ''Chronophantasma'' is a time-displaced clone of the original brought to the present by her niece Kokonoe, created when Celica touched the Cauldron in Ishana]]). Even the overly {{fanservice}}y ''[[Manga/BlazBlueRemixHeart Remix Heart]]'' manga might end up influencing things down the road given the main character's friendship with three of the games' more prominent females, her status as [[spoiler:one of the Duodecim (the twelve families Jin, Tsubaki, and ''CP'' newcomer Kagura belong to)]], [[spoiler:some rather MindScrew-laden visions of the future]] in later chapters, and Mai's eventual connection to [[spoiler:a powerful grimoire created by Nine of the Six Heroes]]. Luckily, members of the fandom have managed to translate and give synopses of these works, but if you don't bother doing your homework, you're going to have a hard time making sense of some of the more cryptic allusions.\
17	''[[VideoGame/BlazBlueCentralFiction Central Fiction]]'' adds Naoto Kurogane, who was in the ''Bloodedge Experience'' light novels, Es from the ''VisualNovel/XBlaze'' games, and Mai Natsume from the aforementioned ''Remix Heart'' manga (with her appearance based on the then-concurrent ''[[Manga/BlazBlueVariableHeart Variable Heart]]'' manga, which is a midquel set between ''Remix Heart'' and ''Calamity Trigger''). If you haven't read Naoto or Mai's stories (most likely not, as they were Japan-only) or played both of the ''[=XBlaze=]'' light novel games, you won't realize why they're in the game, or even realize that Naoto and Es hail from separate {{Alternate Universe}}s -- connected to the main ''[=BlazBlue=]'' world via [[EldritchLocation the Boundary]] -- yet have direct ties to other members of the main roster (as [[AlternateSelf versions]]/analogues of certain characters existed in their realities) and/or the [[spoiler:''[[HiddenVillain real]]'']] BigBad's plot.
18	* ''VideoGame/BoxxyQuestTheGatheringStorm'' largely manages to avert this, thanks to the three-page summary of the prequel's story that comes bundled in the download folder. However, there are still a few gaps here and there -- for example, the summary neglects to mention why Catie is able to magically unlock prison bars, despite that skill being a fairly major plot point in the first game. Still, it's a helpful resource to have, given that the prequel itself [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes has long since been taken down]].
19	* Several books from ''VisualNovel/ChoicesStoriesYouPlay'' have references to other books, so anyone playing the books not in chronological order of release or setting will miss out on them. The game now encourages players not to play the books in chronological order by giving limited-time book passes which allow players to play a specific book without spending [[FreemiumTimer keys]].
20	** The characters from ''VisualNovel/MostWanted'', one of the first books released, appear in many other books, so it's highly recommended to play it before any of the books which take place on contemporary times.
21	** ''VisualNovel/TheCrownAndTheFlame'', ''VisualNovel/TheRoyalMasquerade'', ''VisualNovel/RulesOfEngagement'' and ''VisualNovel/TheRoyalRomance'' all feature the Ryses and the Nevrakises. The characters in TRR will sometimes mention the events of TC&TF, and TRR Book 1 tells the player there's a spoiler from [=RoE=]. Olivia is also a main character in ''VisualNovel/CrimesOfPassion''.
22	* ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'' more or less takes this to its logical conclusion, making it absolutely a necessity to have played ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' first. Not only are you expected to recognize the characters, since most of the demo's "hook" comes from seeing familiar characters [[{{Elseworlds}} in a very different setting]], but the fact that you, personally, have played ''Undertale'' '''is a plot point'''; you can make references to the previous game that the character you're controlling has no reason to know about, and this is even noticed in-universe. Further, the final scene of the first chapter, while startling enough on its own, is ''truly'' disturbing to players who recognize just what's going on.
23	* ''VideoGame/DeusExMankindDivided'' has a significant amount of CallBack and CallForward moments that presume the player has played most of (if not ''all'') the other installments, as well as seen tie-in works that were written between the release of ''MD'' and ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'':
24	** The reason why Adam Jensen is working with the Juggernaut Collective, why he's familiar and on good terms with Alexandra Vega and why he's investigating [[DeepCoverAgent double agents]] within Task Force 29 is explained by a number of works that take place between games, including ''Literature/DeusExBlackLight'', the ''Dawning Darkness'' and ''Children's Crusade'' comic series and a DLC from ''Human Revolution'' that introduced the Juggernaut Collective, to begin with.
25	** In fact, the sudden introduction of Alexandra Vega and her prominence in the plot appears to have been a way to restore her character after she was featured in ''VideoGame/DeusExTheFall'' (an installment that was only released on mobile, and later, PC) and the novella detailing her actions between the games.
26	** Conversely, the player's enjoyment of the "System Rift" DLC relies on their understanding of Jensen's dealings with Frank Pritchard (former MissionControl in the previous game) during the ''Black Light'' novel, as well as the presence of a key character from the original game.
27	* Continuity in ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' games works in a similar way to avert lockout. For example, you don't ''need'' to know about the [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIDaggerfall Warp in the West]] to play and enjoy ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'' -- but if you'd ''like'' to know how the previous game's multiple endings were resolved, just read the in-game book about it! Business and technical challenges sometimes force some bizarre contortions of continuity, but those are [[{{Retcon}} covered]] [[CosmicRetcon by]] [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness other]] [[CharacterizationMarchesOn tropes]].
28	* ''Franchise/{{Fallout}}'':
29	** A comparatively minor example in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', but the Courier will have a hard time answering the questions to prove you're an NCR citizen without having played ''VideoGame/Fallout1'' and ''VideoGame/Fallout2''. The only question you can answer based on what's in ''New Vegas'' is the one that asks what's on the NCR's flag. The answers to the other two questions, which ask what the NCR's original capital city and its most popular president are, are not found in game.
30	** The villainous nature of the Enclave in ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' can seem odd without having played the previous game, ''Fallout 2''. To a new player, the Enclave is simply the remnants of the American government who provides patriotic music and occasional radio broadcasts on their radio station (at least until they [[spoiler:kill your father and take control of Project Purity]]). However, ''Fallout 2'' revealed that the Enclave is the descendants of an elite billionaire class secretly running the American government, incredibly human-supremacist, and wants to eradicate all radioactively mutated beings from the Wasteland, which in ''Fallout 2'' includes most of the people living in the Wastes, but is relegated to just Super Mutants and Ghouls in ''Fallout 3''. (Knowing this also explains the psychopathic experiments of the Vaults -- Vault-Tec was run by members of the Enclave, and was intended as a proof of concept that humans could survive under various, often torturous conditions (including isolation, radiation, artificially created caste systems, and so on) to later be used for space flight. Without this knowledge, however, most Vaults and their experiments will seem more like mad science run rampant than for an actual, if not completely justified, cause.) However, this backfires, as it's never really explained how the Enclave could exist in D.C. if they'd all been evacuated to an oil rig off the coast of California soon before the bombs fell.
31	** The sudden appearance of the Prydwen and the Brotherhood of Steel in ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' can appear as a DeusExMachina without having played ''Fallout 3''. They're only mentioned in the game before this if you manage to listen to the easy-to-miss military signal and rescue Danse and his squadron at the Cambridge Police Station, and the Power Armor helmet on the front is implied to be the player's Power Armor, not belonging to the Brotherhood like on the covers of ''Fallout'' and ''Fallout 3''. Then, after completing Act 1's boss battle, the Sole Survivor emerges from Fort Hagen to see a giant airship and several Vertibirds flying around, announcing the Brotherhood of Steel's presence to the Commonwealth. While most companions are at least familiar with the Brotherhood (Danse and [=MacCready=] the most), Codsworth, the Sole Survivor, and any new player will be thoroughly confused.
32	*** Similarly, Madison Li's sidequest to rejoin the Brotherhood of Steel is rather nonsensical without playing ''Fallout 3''. In ''Fallout 3'', she works with the Brotherhood of Steel to finish Project Purity. However, in the 10 years between games, she makes her way to the Commonwealth and eventually joins the Institute, which is where the Sole Survivor finds her. The Brotherhood's motivations for wanting her back hinges on the player's knowledge of this -- otherwise, it seems like they threw a dart at a board of Institute scientists and chose her.
33	* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'' broadly assumes that the player has familiarity with the ''Franchise/CompilationOfFinalFantasyVII'', the collective name for a number of tie-in works associated with [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII the original game]]. This includes ''Before Crisis'' (a mobile game that never got a release outside Japan), ''The Kids Are Alright'' (a novella released in the runup to ''Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren'') and other associated tie-in games. Moments and characters from the aforementioned titles and others are mentioned liberally in the remake, with a scene in the final chapter that is contingent on the player being aware of the protagonist and climactic final fight from ''VideoGame/CrisisCore''. And that's not even getting into the main antagonist, [[spoiler:Sephiroth, who is implied to be from an AlternateUniverse, post-''Advent Children'' timeline, who manipulates the main characters by showing visions of a BadFuture that are actually some of the key story moments from the original game]].
34	* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' largely doesn't have this problem, provided you don't skip cutscenes or pay money to bypass large swathes of the story. What does is the collaborative ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'' themed series of raids, co-written by ''VideoGame/{{NieR}}'' series creator Creator/YokoTaro, which provides very little context for any of the content presented to the player. Fans of ''XIV'' unfamiliar with the ''entirety'' of the ''[=NieR=]'' universe, including predecessor series ''VideoGame/{{Drakengard}}'', will be completely lost. Appropriately, an in-game NPC involved with the raids is equally confused and simply told not to question anything going on around them.
35	* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes'' is an AlternateTimeline spin-off of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' that elaborates upon many plot points brought up in the latter. Unfortunately, the story's pacing doesn't allow for proper re-introduction of those, so the game fully relies on the player being familiar with its source material. This is further complicated by the fact that both games have multiple routes and plenty of optional content, so even if one ''has'' played ''Three Houses'' before, there's a chance they haven't seen the specific piece of information being referenced.
36	* This inevitably happens with ''VideoGame/GuildWars2'', a game whose story has spanned over a decade since its 2012 release. This is aggravated by multiple things:
37	** To access expansion related content? All you must do is own it, then click on it in your story journal. While considered by many to be a very good [[AntiFrustrationFeatures quality of life]] feature since players don't have to go through an ArchivePanic, it ''does'' lead to this since the "Living World" seasons must be purchased separately unless the player logs on during a time when chapter(s) are given away for free.
38	** In particular, "Living World" Season 1 was a big offender since much of it was actually ''unavailable'' until it was remade during ''End of Dragons''. Unfortunately, ''End of Dragons'''s storyline begins with a big ''big'' CallBack to the first season -- and the remake didn't begin until ''after'' the expansion was already released. This resulted in many a newcomer and even veterans being confused -- as many people had no way other than out-of-game resources to get themselves caught up on just who these SkyPirates are, who this first mate they mention is, who Scarlet Briar was, and why an achievment is "For Lion's Arch". The last time they featured in the story was as much as ''nine years'' before ''End of Dragons''.
39	* The ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' series requires not only playing the preceding games to understand where the story has gone (which only gets more complicated in ''VideoGame/Halo4'' due to a TimeSkip after the end of the war), the games often require the player to read the books as well. In particular, the first game ends with the Master Chief and Cortana as the only survivors of Installation 04's destruction with seemingly no way back to Earth. ''VideoGame/Halo2'' picks up with him not only already back on Earth for an award ceremony, but with Sgt. Johnson back from the dead with no explanation! It's necessary to read the ''First Contact'' novel, which explains exactly how the Chief got back to Earth and how Johnson and several others survived.
40	* The ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' series is a standout example of this trope.
41	** Starting from any game from ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories Chain of Memories]]'' and onward will get confusing. And no, despite what the marketing says, the series is a devout adherent of OddlyNamedSequel2ElectricBoogaloo. ''No'' game in the series is unimportant, as the player is supposed to play the games in chronological order; playing just the [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI three]] [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII numbered]] [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII games]] will [[NonIndicativeName get them absolutely]] ''[[NonIndicativeName nowhere]]''. For example, ''Chain of Memories'' despite the radically different gameplay, is actually a direct sequel of ''I'' and serves as the stepping stone between it and ''II''; without it, the player will not catch even 10% of the latter game's plot (case in point: ''II'' opens with a set of characters the player doesn't know about, living in a place they don't know about and talking about things they don't know about but are probably related to ''I'' because there are flashbacks...or something). ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep Birth by Sleep]]'', by virtue of being a {{prequel}}, is probably the only sequel that newbies can pick up relatively mindfuck-free, but it contains many CallForward references that will fly over their collective heads unless they have played the preceding games. Thankfully, by the release of ''Kingdom Hearts III'', every relevant game had been remade for various {{Compilation Rerelease}}s, or at least had an abridged film version of its events in its place. Which is good, since by then, the series had been spread out over eight different home and handheld consoles, plus mobile phones and browser games.
42	** To be exact, Creator/SquareEnix released ''[[CompilationRerelease I.5 ReMIX]]'' for the [=PS3=], containing ''KHI Final Mix'', ''Re:Chain of Memories'', and an abridged, cutscene-only version of ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2 358/2 Days]]''. Then they released ''II.5 [=ReMIX=]'', containing ''KHII Final Mix'', ''Birth by Sleep Final Mix'', and an abridged version of ''Re:coded''. Eventually, they released [=PS4=] versions of both collections, after a third collection, ''II.8 Final Chapter Prologue'', containing ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'' along with the new ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts02BirthBySleepAFragmentaryPassage'' and an original movie covering the major lore of the mobile game ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsX'', before the release of ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'' on [=PS4=], ensuring that the entire series, absent playable versions of the DS games, is playable on one console.
43	** ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'' had a recap-like [[http://kh13.com/forum/topic/30377-memoirs-feature-in-kingdom-hearts-3d-explained/ "Memoirs" feature]]. The generally bare-bones entries and hyper-complicated plot make the memoirs more useful for fans needing a refresher, though.
44	** While many of the Disney worlds tend to retell the events of their respective movie(s), they're easy to follow-up for players that had not watched the original film(s). However, in ''III'' where [[WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}} Corona]], [[WesternAnimation/Frozen2013 Arendelle]], and [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd The Caribbean]] were featured, Sora, Donald and Goofy instead end up being dropped midway into the plot and interact with the cast before being sidelined, leaving them to experience the moments in the background which often leaves several plot points unexplained for those who did not watch the source material. Arendelle in particular got it the worst, most notably cutting out Hans' role yet having it so that [[spoiler:his Heartless still attacks you at the end]] for no apparent reason.
45	* ''Franchise/TheKingOfFighters'':
46	** Although ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFightersXIV'' is intended to be a JumpingOnPoint for the franchise at large, and therefore is a SoftReboot with [[ExcusePlot a rather simple premise]], quite a few tidbits surrounding it will be completely Byzantine to anyone who isn't a diehard fan of Creator/{{SNK}}, such as the FinalBoss being said to have been foretold by the Jin Scrolls that were most prominent in the plot of 1995's ''VideoGame/FatalFury 3''. For the record, ''KOF XIV'' released in 2016, over two ''decades'' after ''[=FF3=]'', never mind how ''KOF'' exists in an AlternateTimeline where the events of ''Fatal Fury'' (and ''VideoGame/ArtOfFighting'' by proxy) are indicated to have happened in BroadStrokes.
47	** Its immediate successor ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFightersXV XV]]'' is also prone to requiring knowledge of SNK history to understand fully. For instance, [[CanonCharacterAllAlong the big revelation concerning newcomer Krohnen in his ending]] won't be as impactful to a player who either hasn't played ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters2001 2001]]'' and/or vanilla ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters2002 2002]]'', or hadn't heard from other sources about [[BuryYourArt the debacle surrounding K9999]].
48	** In a double whammy, aspects of ''XIV'' and ''XV'' are directly connected to Ash Crimson, the previous lead of the "Tales of Ash" StoryArc that spanned from ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters2003 2003]]'' to ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFightersXIII XIII]]''. In particular, [[spoiler:Ash ends up causing a CosmicRetcon that [[RetGone erases himself from existence]] in the process at the end of ''XIII'' in order to defeat the ArcVillain (who happens to be his time-traveling ancestor), and the ensuing TemporalParadox is responsible for both the creation of Verse (the aforementioned FinalBoss of ''XIV'') and introducing TheMultiverse to the ''KOF'' mythos]]. Then, [[spoiler:Ash himself mysteriously returns in ''XV'']], meaning new players won't quite understand how shocking a development this is unless they manage to go back and explore a part of the series that started nearly ''twenty'' years earlier.
49	* The ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKain'' series is hard enough to follow even if you play them all. If you missed one, you have no chance. Well, you'll probably be all right if you miss ''Blood Omen 2'': it gives some back story for the Hylden, but nothing terribly important that can't be gleaned from ''Soul Reaver 2''.
50	* Playing a VideoGame/LEGOAdaptationGame, apart from the ''Lego Batman'' games (which are original stories) and the ''Lego Marvel Super Heroes'' game (also original), make very little sense if you haven't seen/read the source material they are based on, [[http://archive.li/nXSGG as this blog demonstrates.]]
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54	* Those who are not familiar with the in-jokes in the WebVideo/{{Vinesauce}} community, some stretching as far back as its founding in 2010, would be totally confused by the references in ''VideoGame/MariosMysteryMeat''.
55	* ''Franchise/MassEffect'':
56	** Happened with ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' when it was ported to the [=PlayStation=] 3. Because of licensing issues, the first game couldn't come to that console, until the ''[[CompilationRerelease Mass Effect Trilogy]]'' arrived five years after the first game's release. People were worried that new players wouldn't get the whole story, so Creator/{{BioWare}} created an interactive comic that, admittedly, tells the story from a somewhat awkward perspective. It glosses over Feros completely, leaving some players in the dark about Shiala, the Feros colony, et. al. Even worse, as Admiral Hackett doesn't appear in the sequel outside of passing mentions and a letter, his significance in the ''Arrival'' DLC is completely lost on players who didn't experience the first game.
57	** Averted in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' with the DLC plots from ''Mass Effect 2'', as the game has alternate scenarios in place if the player didn't do the DLC missions. For example, Shepard is incarcerated at the start of the game for working with Cerberus rather than [[spoiler:causing hundreds of thousands of batarian deaths]], as the situation in ''Arrival'' is handled instead by Alliance soldiers and Liara defeats the Shadow Broker with a ton of hired mercenaries.
58	** There are two small cases in the second and third games. Unless you've played ''Mass Effect: Galaxy'', you won't know how Jacob knows Ish on Omega. People who haven't read the novels also won't know where [[TheDragon Kai Leng]] came from.
59	* ''VideoGame/MeltyBlood'' assumes you already know all the characters and their relationships to each other. If you're completely unfamiliar with ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'', it feels like a massive InJoke. This was taken further with 2021's ''Type Lumina'', a ContinuityReboot set during a WhatIf [[StoryBranching route]] from the ''Tsukihime'' remake, meaning you still might be a bit out of the loop even if you're familiar with the original VN.
60	* ''VideoGame/MetalGear'':
61	** The series slowly rose from [[VideoGame/MetalGear1 humble]] [[VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake origins]], into the self-sequels ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' and ''VideoGame/{{Metal Gear Solid 2\|SonsOfLiberty}}'', had a brief blip for the standalone ''VideoGame/{{Metal Gear Solid 3\|SnakeEater}}'', and then gunned the canon wholeheartedly into the massive {{continuity snarl}}-ups of ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPortableOps Portable Ops]]'' and ''VideoGame/{{Metal Gear Solid 4\|GunsOfThePatriots}}'', both of which only a very serious and dedicated fan would be able to [[ContinuityPorn understand]].
62	** As a sort of alternative, the ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearAcid Ac!d]]'' games happened in an {{alternate universe}}, but they still expected a familiarity with the main phase series with its {{spoiler}}rific character cards. In the first game's story, a lot of hints about Snake's identity and motivations require some knowledge of his main phase {{canon}} {{backstory}}, such as his sterility.
63	** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' is an interesting exception in that while the story can be completely enjoyed and understood on its own, it's packed with {{Continuity Nod}}s and backstory for characters in the other games.
64	** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVGroundZeroes'' (and consequently also ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain The Phantom Pain]]'') is not only based on the PSP game (with a [=PS3=]/[=X360=] HD rerelease) ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'', but on a PlayableEpilogue ending that many people missed.
65	* ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'':
66	** ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'' is frequently accused of this as part of its litany of story issues. While most of the references make sense to a casual fan, the use of this trope single-handedly turned the Ridley scene into one of the most despised scenes in series history. To wit, much of protagonist Samus Aran's backstory is a case of AllThereInTheManual, relegated to supplementary material; the idea that Samus is scared of Ridley comes from a BroadStrokes [[Manga/MetroidManga canon manga]] that explains the space dragon traumatized her as a toddler by [[YouKilledMyFather eating her mother right in front of her]] and leading a massacre of [[DoomedHometown her home planet K2L]]. Her freeze response also requires the player to understand that the majority (if not all) of the Space Pirates, including Ridley, were KilledOffForReal in ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'', meaning Samus had zero reason to mentally prepare herself to see him again. Without any of this knowledge, a scene with an already contentious depiction of PTSD becomes one where causal fans have no idea why Samus would even be terrified of someone she's fought and defeated multiple times by this point in the timeline. This also led to said fans directly comparing the scene to that of Samus's more confident reaction to Kraid in ''Dread'' several years later, despite Kraid being the only Space Pirate commander for which things ''aren't'' [[ItsPersonal personal for Samus]].
67	** ''VideoGame/MetroidDread'' has two instances. The first being another case of it requiring knowledge of Samus Aran's backstory, and the second requiring the player to have completed ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion''. The former surrounds the twist that [[spoiler:Raven Beak is one of her Chozo DNA donors, and thus considers himself her father]]. Except to a casual fan, that Samus even has Chozo DNA was a reveal on its own. Combined with the fact that [[spoiler:her ''actual'' adoptive fathers, Old Bird and Grey Voice -- the latter being the other blood donor -- are hidden in the shadows during the scene in question]], and you have [[NewbieBoom many newcomers]] to the franchise that take Raven Beak's statement at face value. The latter involves the game's final cutscene, which loses some of its meaning if the player didn't know that [[spoiler:the sacrificial actions of Quiet Robe-X directly contradicts our heroine's own stated beliefs about the X being nothing but soulless killing machines]].
68	* [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-zagged]] with the ''VideoGame/{{Neptunia}}'' series. The canon games (the ones that further the storyline) open with both a narrator explaining how TheVerse works, and one of the main characters BreakingTheFourthWall to explain who the main characters are and their relationships with each other, important plot points from previous games, etc. The non-canon spin-off games, on the other hand, seem to expect you to have played the canon games and know who the characters are, since they liberally use concepts and terminology from The 'Verse with little explanation.
69	* ''VideoGame/Persona5Strikers'' is a direct sequel to the original ''VideoGame/Persona5''[[note]]With some hints that it is specifically a sequel to the UpdatedRerelease ''Persona 5 Royal'', but not enough to keep people who have only played the original version from jumping into this game without losing any important context[[/note]], and generally assumes you have beaten that game or watched a full LetsPlay of it before playing it. The plot only briefly touches upon the major developments and twists of the original and how they influence the character's present actions (including new party member Zenkichi, since [[spoiler:he was directly screwed over by TheConspiracy who were the main villainous force in the original game]]), and Lavenza, whose existence was a major twist in the original, [[LateArrivalSpoiler is the Velvet Room attendant from the start]] in this game. This is in stark contrast with other ''[[VideoGame/DynastyWarriors Musou]]'' crossovers which can mostly be enjoyed by people who are otherwise not to familiar with the original franchise and whose plots are non-canon to those franchises.
70	* ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'' suffers big time in the west in regards to its characters. The last game Americans and Europeans got before the series underwent "localization hiatus" was ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyoFever'' (renamed ''Puyo'' '''''Pop''''' ''Fever'') back in ''2003'', with the United States version in particular getting an extremely limited release for Gamecube and the Nintendo DS only despite being PortOverdosed across multiple systems and handhelds. The next game to be localized? ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyoTetris'', which was originally released in Japan in 2014 [[LateExportForYou but wouldn't get an international release until]] '''2017''' thanks to The Tetris Company's policies that prevented it from congruently releasing with Ubisoft's ''Tetris Ultimate''. The biggest problem is that Sega's localization team didn't decide it was worth the effort introducing and re-introducing the Puyo cast, with many interactions running under the assumption that the players are already familiar with the characters, Ringo in particular directly alluding to the events of the unlocalized ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo20thAnniversary'' in the opening cutscene. Keep in mind that Ringo and the rest of the Suzuran characters fall into this trope as their main introduction game ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo7'' was also denied a worldwide release.
71	* ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankRiftApart'' is a sequel to and the ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank Future'' trilogy (''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankFutureToolsOfDestruction Tools of Destruction]]'', ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankFutureQuestForBooty Quest for Booty]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankFutureACrackInTime A Crack in Time]]'', plus ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankIntoTheNexus Into the Nexus]]''), which are themselves follow-ups to the Platform/PlayStation2 games. Up until 2022, the only way to play the ''Future'' Saga was on the original Platform/PlayStation3 platform, which was two console generations before ''Rift Apart'' and so long ago by that point (''twelve years'' between ''A Crack in Time'' and ''Rift Apart'') that most casual ''Ratchet'' fans won't even remember the specifics of their plots. Fortunately, ''Rift Apart'' is written as a JumpingOnPoint, as it's been a long time for the characters as well, so any existing story elements are usually given a brief explainer, but that still leaves a fair amount of nuance and meaning on the table. It wasn't until 2022 that all the [=PS3=] ''Ratchet'' games were made available to stream on the Platform/PlayStation5, finally averting this trope ([[HistoryRepeats until the next console comes out, of course]]).
72	* ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'' has many missions and jokes that refer back to the previous games, especially ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2''. If you haven't played those earlier games, the significance of certain events is decidedly lost (especially since ''VideoGame/SaintsRow1'' was exclusive to the Platform/Xbox360, meaning a large section of the fanbase hasn't played it). Amusingly, ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird'' was supposed to be an aversion, barely bringing up the Stilwater adventures so as to not alienate new players.
73	* ''VideoGame/SilentHill3'' is an unusual case. The story and central plot twist make far more sense if you've played [[VideoGame/SilentHill1 the first game]] (which this is a direct sequel to), but playing this game first helps to better make sense of the original, because it also back-fills a lot of [[CluelessMystery vague and insufficiently explained details]] from the first game's plot.
74	* ''VideoGame/SouthParkTheStickOfTruth'' generally averts this; despite being full of ContinuityPorn, most references to the show are more or less used as one-off gags that don't impact the plot to a significant degree. ''VideoGame/SouthParkTheFracturedButWhole'', on the other hand, has its plot so closely integrated with the show (''especially'' Seasons 19-21, the most recent three at the time of the game's release) that the vast majority of the jokes and references that the plot relies on will end up completely lost on those who haven't been following the show religiously.
75	* ''VideoGame/StarCraft'':
76	** ''VideoGame/StarCraftII'' is a slight example of this. There are summaries on the website and the installiation process shows off a recap of what went down in the original games, but otherwise you have to read the novels to know anything about Valerian, Tychus, Matt Horner.
77	** Plot advances going unexplained in-game during the 4-year TimeSkip between ''[[VideoGame/StarCraftBroodWar Brood War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/StarCraftIIWingsOfLiberty Wings of Liberty]]'' caused a disconnect for people as well. If you were hoping for a continuation of where ''Brood War'' left loose ends off, prepare to be extremely disappointed.
78	** You'd have to dig into the franchise's ExpandedUniverse to understand why Raynor is all of a sudden longing to be with Kerrigan again at the start of ''Wings of Liberty'' despite his last appearance in ''Brood War'' having his classic character defining moment of vowing to kill Kerrigan someday. We're suppose to believe that he got over his ploy for revenge during the four-year intermission, but how he got over it went completely unexplained in the game; leaving many players confused as to why Raynor's suddenly in a different emotional state.
79	** You'd have to read the ExpandedUniverse to understand how the Dominion are all-of-a-sudden the top dogs again despite being on the receiving end of many [[CurbStompBattle Curb-Stomp Battles]] in ''Brood War''. The player's WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief really comes to question here as to how the Dominion achieved such a miraculous recovery; including how Korhal instantly turns into a planetwide megapolis come ''Wings of Liberty'' despite being a desert wasteland four years prior in ''Brood War''.
80	* It is possible to understand and enjoy the plot of ''VideoGame/SuikodenIII'' without playing [[VideoGame/SuikodenI the first]] [[VideoGame/SuikodenII two games]] in [[VideoGame/{{Suikoden}} the series]], but the reveal of the Masked Bishop's identity (a pivotal moment in the story) will not make any sense.
81	* ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'':
82	** Anyone playing ''[[VideoGame/EndlessFrontier Super Robot Wars OG Saga: Endless Frontier EXCEED]]'' would be left confused if they didn't first play ''[[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration Super Robot Wars Original Generation Gaiden]]'', as two characters in the roster who were supposedly KilledOffForReal in [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration the main series]] wind up in [[VideoGame/EndlessFrontier the spin-off]]. In fact, the developers made it a point that players ''must'' play the previous games occurring in the main {{continuity}} to know what's remotely going on if they decide to start somewhere in the middle.
83	** ''Original Generation'' as a whole has this problem going forward so long as {{sequel}}s are rolled out: the ongoing narrative expects players to know of what has already occurred, since pre-existing characters don't bother giving {{exposition}} to newcomers InUniverse (if there ''are'' any, chances are it's downplayed to avoid the plot going off-rails). While ''The Moon Dwellers'' attempted to mitigate this for the audience with an "Archives" section detailing major events that happened, it doesn't fully explain the entire picture when there exists tie-ins to overall continuity, such as obscure Creator/{{Banpresto}} video games like ''Hero Senki: Project Olympus'' and ''The Great Battle'' series, some of which are crucial when it comes to knowing the overall MythArc. That ''Original Generation'' has become an UltimateUniverse of Creator/{{Banpresto}} (and, [[Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment later]], B.B. Studio) video games by attempting to tie in their narrative elements is a reason why this trope exists only for this series (unlike the licensed ''SRW'' installments that are mostly self-contained).
84	* ''VideoGame/TalesOfBerseria'', while not being overt about it, seems to assume the player has played ''VideoGame/TalesOfZestiria'', the game that came out before it, and one that ''Berseria'' is a prequel to. Some of the plot points, characters, and areas are setup for stuff in ''Zestiria'', such as who Eizen's sister is that he references, the significance of the title of Shepard and Lord of Calamity, and why some specific name reveals are so important. For example: Magilou's last name, Mayvin, is a major deal for those who played ''Zestiria'', but in ''Berseria'', the name isn't super important, and anyone only playing ''Berseria'' wouldn't understand why.
85	* In ''Franchise/TouhouProject'', this wasn't much of a problem during the PC-98 era and the first few games of the Windows era, since the plots of those games were largely self-contained. However, after ''Mountain of Faith'' the ContinuityCreep starts to take place, and now it's much more difficult for newcomers to understand what's going on since each game builds upon the previous one. Comments by ZUN suggest that [[TrollingCreator he feels a certain level of inaccessibility]] is core to the ''Touhou'' experience. The various manga and {{Universe Compendium}}s don't really help either, since all the manga series assume that one is already familiar with the games and their lore and the {{Universe Compendium}}s have some {{Unreliable Narrat\|or}}ion at work. That said, since ''Touhou'' is at its core a ShootEmUp series and the shmup genre is known for its heavy focus on gameplay over lore, if you just want a series of BulletHell games, [[PlayTheGameSkipTheStory you don't need to understand the plots to have a good time]].
86	* The ''VideoGame/TrailsSeries'' can easily fall into this trope.
87	** While each series has a more or less self-contained plot taking place in different countries across Zemuria, there are many, many side characters from other parts of the franchise that make extensive cameos and references to other events. Each of these games is a 60-100 hour RPG with ''tons'' of dialogue, making catching up a daunting task. The games set in [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsFromZeroAndTrailsToAzure Crossbell]] were an enforced example thanks to them [[LateExportForYou taking over a decade to get localized]]; it didn't help that several characters from ''Zero''/''Azure'' are referenced, the protagonist from those games is briefly playable in ''Cold Steel II'', and other members of the Crossbell cast making their overseas debuts in ''Cold Steel III'', making several players wonder who the hell these people were supposed to be. As of March 2023, this isn't quite the issue that it once was, thanks to the games finally being released in the English language, though it still doesn't change the fact that most fans of the series already played the ''Cold Steel'' games without the benefit of reference to them.
88	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsIntoReverie'' takes this trope to the extreme with one of its doors: You actually need to have played ''VideoGame/TokyoXanadu [[UpdatedRerelease eX+]]'' to fully understand one of the doors' story -- namely [[spoiler:the ''Magical Alisa LS'' door, as the story picks up where the original ''Magical Alisa'' story in ''Tokyo Xanadu'' left off]]. Not playing ''Tokyo Xanadu eX+'' beforehand raises the questions of "[[spoiler:Why is Rean a demon prince?]]" and "[[spoiler:He's had a HeelFaceTurn before? And he's turned back evil now?]]"
89	* An interesting case of this pops up in ''VideoGame/TheTrickyMod'' for ''VideoGame/FridayNightFunkin''. Surprisingly, despite having an insanely large amount of {{Mythology Gag}}s referencing its [[WebAnimation/MadnessCombat source material]] that only fans of it can easily get. People who haven't heard of ''WebAnimation/MadnessCombat'' still enjoy the mod due to how polished it is and its great music, although they are still confused by the characters and the allusions made in the mod. Despite that, this has caused a ColbertBump and NewbieBoom for ''Madness Combat'', as many players were curious to know more about the characters that were featured in said mod and want to see more.
90	* ''VideoGame/UltimaIX'', being the ninth game in the main series and all, attempted to avert this... "Attempted" being the key word here. As the game was rushed to hell and back, it was simply opted to have the Avatar be able to ask about pretty much every single detail about the world, as well as a museum dedicated to the Avatar's adventures in the first town which references past games. Which would be fine if not for A: the way they went about it (hint: not the AsYouKnow way) and B: the fact they got so many longstanding details wrong anyway. So newer players were ''still'' lost... and older players were '''infuriated''' at how the Avatar had turned into a complete ditz that forgot stuff that was not only basic knowledge but also deeply personal to him. Say it with us, folks; "What's a Paladin?"
91	* ''VideoGame/TheWarriors'' tries to avoid this -- and mostly succeeds -- both by recreating the opening scenes of the [[Film/TheWarriors 1979 film]] at the very beginning (although some crucial dialogue is edited out) and by making the game a prequel of sorts, beginning about a year (1978) before the events of the film and firmly establishing the personalities of the nine major characters long before the actual content of the movie becomes playable. The numerous cutscenes, heavy chunks of dialogue and constant updates on the radio (the gang has one in their training studio) by the famous lady DJ about what's happening throughout the city help a great deal.
92	* ''Franchise/TheWitcher'' games zig-zag this trope on account of serving as a continuation for a series of books that were virtually unknown outside of Poland for the longest time. The first game manages to avert through the process of making Geralt an amnesiac who doesn't remember what happened in the books. This has the effect of turning him into an AudienceSurrogate who's as familiar with the world, characters, and backstory as the player is. The sequels, however, play it more straight. On top of building upon the games' ever-growing narrative, characters and story elements from the books become even more prominent, making it all the more imposing for newcomers to jump in.
93	* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' is like this at times. Events happen outside the game's continuity that still affect the game. Why is the king of Stormwind back for Wrath of the Lich King, and where was he? Why is [[spoiler:Cairne]] dead in ''Cataclysm''? Op, better [[AllThereInTheManual read the expanded universe material]] to find out! To be fair, the games never leave you completely out of the loop, but you might have to dig for those tidbits. It's just the basics, not the complete story.
94	** Blackwing Descent, one of the Tier 11 raids, is home to Deathwing's son Nefarian, who is running experiments on different kinds of dragons. Except Nefarian was already killed several years prior to the ''Cataclysm'' expansion. Playing through the game alone, you'll never find out how Nefarian came BackFromTheDead, what the purpose of his experiments was, or how they tied into Deathwing's plan since the raid doesn't address it and neither Nefarian nor his experiments ever appear or are mentioned outside of Blackwing Descent. Were it not for the [[Franchise/WarcraftExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe]], the entire raid would be a BigLippedAlligatorMoment.
95	** Nozdormu, Aspect of Time and leader of the Bronze Dragonflight, was missing in action during classic ''[=WoW=]'' and the first two {{expansion\|Pack}}s. It was a bit of a plot point that the rest of his flight didn't know where he was or what he was doing. Then, in Patch 4.2, he shows up during the Elemental Bonds questline. No mention of him having been gone, where he was, or when he got back was made, and everyone just acts like there's no reason he wouldn't be there. Turns out his return was covered in the ExpandedUniverse novel ''Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects''... Which, when 4.2 first launched, ''wasn't even out yet''
96	* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles'': While the base game of ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'' explains anything relevant from the [[VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1 prior]] [[VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2 games]] and so can be enjoyed without having played them first, [[VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3FutureRedeemed its DLC]] seems to fully expect players to be intimately familiar with the rest of the series. Matthew ends up serving as an AudienceSurrogate to those who haven't played the earlier games, having no idea what's going on before getting two games' worth of backstory dumped on him over five minutes and not really caring about it beyond the ways in which it directly affects him and his sister. [[spoiler:The climax takes this even further with [[CoincidentalBroadcast a radio broadcast]] that retroactively recontextualises the entire trilogy, but in a way that would be completely inscrutable to those who aren't also familiar with ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}'', developer Creator/MonolithSoft's previous series. If that wasn't enough, ''Future Redeemed'' additionally appears to link back to not only the seemingly standalone ''VideoGame/XenobladeChroniclesX'' but also ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'', itself the spiritual predecessor of all the other ''Xeno'' games. In short, what appeared to be a ThematicSeries actually isn't, and -- thanks to [[TheMultiverse multiverse]] shenanigans -- spans a whopping ''five'' console generations, including a brand hop from Creator/{{Sony}}'s [[Platform/PlayStation Play]][[Platform/PlayStation2 Station]] line to Creator/{{Nintendo}} starting with the Platform/{{Wii}}.]]
97	* ''VideoGame/YakuzaLikeADragon'': Downplayed. While you can definitely play and enjoy the game without knowing a thing about [[VideoGame/LikeADragon the series]], you will be left very confused about why certain characters, such as [[spoiler:Goro Majima, Taiga Saejima, Kazuma Kiryu, Daigo Dojima and the bartender at "Survive" (who is all but stated to be Osamu Kashiwagi)]] are such a big deal.
98	* ''VideoGame/YokaiWatch'': Starting with ''VideoGame/YokaiWatch2'', the games began [[RetCanon following anime canon]] more and more. You're required to watch the [[Anime/YokaiWatch films]] if you want to follow the plot. This became a problem with the English release because ''VideoGame/YokaiWatch4'' uses a lot from the films, but only the first film was translated into English (and it's only an adaptation of ''2''). Akihiro Hino has acknowledged this, and plans to localize the films alongside the upcoming localization of the game so as not to confuse audiences who haven't seen them.
99	* [[ZigZaggedTrope Zig-zagged]] with the ''VideoGame/{{Ys}}'' franchise: Players don't need to have experienced most of its installments to enjoy other titles and can play the games in any order they see fit, even though some like ''VideoGame/YsIAncientYsVanishedOmen'' and ''VideoGame/YsIIAncientYsVanishedTheFinalChapter'' should be played side-by-side when the latter is an ImmediateSequel, while ''VideoGame/YsOrigin'' is a distant {{prequel}} to ''Ys I'' and makes references to the first two titles, but other than that, {{Continuity}} is never a real issue. However, a major PlotPoint in ''VideoGame/YsIXMonstrumNox'' regarding [[spoiler:alchemy]] relies on knowledge from ''VideoGame/YsVLostKefinKingdomOfSand'' since it used this element first. Furthermore, the climactic scene in ''Ys IX'' [[spoiler:of the souls of Feena, Reah, Dark Fact, Eldeel, Tia and Dana Iclucia from the series protagonist's memories]] will make no sense to newcomers playing the franchise for the first time in ''Ys IX'', [[spoiler:as the souls are unnamed in the narrative -- only through WordOfGod were these souls identified as pre-existing characters from the franchise]].
100	* The ''VisualNovel/ZeroEscape'' franchise has an up-and-down relationship with this. The first sequel, ''VisualNovel/VirtuesLastReward'', more or less tells its own coherent story, although a couple of characters will only be fully understandable with having played the first game, ''VisualNovel/NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors''. The final game, ''VisualNovel/ZeroTimeDilemma'', instead commands fairly intimate knowledge of '''both''' previous games in order to make any sense of what's going on.
101	[[/folder]]

Context ContinuityLockOut / VideoGames