History BagOfSpilling / VideoGames

* Exception: As each new game in the ''VideoGame/QuestForGlory'' series was the same hero on a new adventure, players are provided with a chance to save their hero at the end of one game, and import him into the next. Importing gives your new character the stats and spells he knew in the previous game, as well as some of his gear and all his money. The one time the series plays this trope straight, in the transition between games 3 and 4, it's [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] by the fact that the hero is the subject of a forced teleport spell which is interrupted partway, throwing him into an EldritchAbomination's final resting place. Also of note that even if you didn't import a character he would still start out more powerful than he did in the last game statwise; this all works because as the games progressed the actual stats went up, so an extremely high stat in the first game was mediocre in the second, by the fifth and final game, the minimum score you could have on a stat was the same as the cap in the first game. The fifth game features an aversion to this trope. Throughout the series, Thief characters have a SubPlot involving [[Film/TheMalteseFalcon a statue of a blackbird]] which is being sought after by everyone of the light-fingered persuasion. In ''[=QfG4=]'', you can find and steal a duplicate Blackbird from the evil monastery in town; if you then import your character into ''[=QfG5=]'', he'll have the Fake Blackbird in his inventory, which makes stealing the real thing a little easier by cutting out a few steps[[note]]If you don't have the Fake, you have to take the real statue to an artist in town to have a fake made for you[[/note]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}}'' had a bad case of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness in regards to the title heroine's genie magic, but the one thing that remains between the first game and ''Risky's Revenge'' - her [[VoluntaryShapeshifting belly-dancing transformations]] - is justified by Shantae having been slacking off in regards to her dance practice. From then on, the series goes out of its way to justify it: ''Risky's Revenge'' ends with [[spoiler:Shantae losing her genie half ''entire'']], thus setting the stage for a powerless Shantae at the start of the next game. ''Risky's Revenge'' then ends with [[spoiler:Shantae getting her genie magic ''back'', after an uncertain period of time without it (and thus having Shantae reasonably be a bit rusty)]] to set up ''Half-Genie Hero''.

** Justified in the first two games of the ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeTrilogy'', where an explosion disables Samus's equipment and the Ing steal it, respectively. You get [[ATasteOfPower about fifteen minutes to enjoy having mid-game abilities]] before they're gone. It's also done pre-emptively at the end of the first two games in the trilogy, with the Metroid Prime taking away Samus' Phazon Suit after its defeat in the first game, and the Light Suit apparently being returned to the Luminoth upon Samus' return to Aether at the end of the second game. It's subverted in ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'' as well, where both Samus and the Power Suit's organic components are infected by an alien organism and the suit must be surgically removed. All of Samus's weapons and abilities stay in the suit, but the parasite within it mutates into the main villain, who ends up using Samus's best weapons against her. ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption'' has Samus retain a few of the past game's items, such as Bombs and the Double Jump, but many of the upgrades are still gone with nary a word about them.

** This was downplayed in the TurboGrafxCD version of ''Ys Book I and II'' which threw you into the second game immediately after finishing the first with all your levels, experience intact. This was made to work simply by raising the level cap and continuing to offer more powerful equipment as you progressed. Your sword and armor still get left behind in Esteria, though you get them back at the end when Ys lands.

* ''[[NexusWar Nexus Clash]]'' has a rare MMORPG example in that characters are reset back to starting levels and equipment every Breath of Creation (every 2-3 real-life years in practice). This is a deliberate move to make it less likely to [[SuffersNewbiesPoorly suffer newbies poorly]] or become PerpetuallyStatic. Since the lore is based on an EternalRecurrence, the dev team also felt the need for that to be [[SlidingScaleOfGameplayAndStoryIntegration actually reflected]] in game terms from time to time.

** Averted for levels. Every character joins in the next game at roughly the level they would've been at the end of the last one. Estelle's level goes one further: it carries from FC to SC directly if you have an OldSaveBonus. SortingAlgoritmhOfEvil, though, means endgame levels of the previous game are the equivalent of starting levels in the sequel. Levels roughly range from 1-40 in the first game, 40-90 in the second, and 90-150 in the third. And just like ''Cold Steel'', characters keep all their Crafts.

* Between ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel Cold Steel I]]'' and ''Cold Steel II'', Rean Schwarzer, the protagonist, loses at least 30 levels from the previous game. This is justified by him being in a coma for an entire month up at the mountains and any damage incurred to his [[HumongousMecha Divine Knight]] gets transferred to him. In fact, one of his victory quotes when he's all alone at the Eisengard Range is that he needs to come back in form. This however doesn't explain why his classmates almost have the same levels as he has when they join up with him again despite them being ''very active'' for quite awhile nor does it explain where their master quartz and quartz went nor the items that they had in the previous game.

** Downplayed in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'': if you transfer a character from ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', you retain all your powers from where you left off. This puts you at level 30 (the max level cap of 2), meaning you still have to level up to get all the new powers in 3, but this is justified as your character (and enemies) becoming more powerful. New characters start at an approximation of where they would be at the end of ''2''. You completely lose all your weapons and have to start with grunt gear, but this is justified as well as the Alliance stripped you of your weaponry when they court martialled you for the Bahak incident. Also, if you pre-ordered the Collector's Edition, they hand you several of the game's five best gun's (the N7 weapons) for you and your squadmates. So, while you do lose your weaponry, it's not like they're sending you in [[WithThisHerring with just the basic gear like in the first game.]]
** Similarly, your cabin is empty of all the collectables from the second game. However, all of the model ships are actually just stored in cargo bins around the ship and can easily be restored (though it becomes a minor collectables challenge to track them all down), and once you make it to the citadel, an old friend reveals she's been taking care of your fish and returns them (depending on decisions made in the previous game). As for your old dogtags Liara gives you in "Lair of the Shadow Broker", Anderson tosses them to you when he reinstates you, so Shepard is actually ''wearing'' them. The only things you don't keep are your old helmet and the Prothean sphere, which was sent to a lab.

* ''KingsBounty'': In "Crossworlds," there is a campaign with the protagonist from ''Armored Princess'', but of course she starts from scratch... well, almost. She got to keep her pet dragon (just deleveled like herself), if only because it would be impossible to get another one within the new setting.

** As for other games such as ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'' and ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'', they include new protagonists starting out at the beginning of their adventures, while ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsCoded'' takes place in the datascape, and the protagonist is only a digital representation of Sora, created out of data about him from the start of the first game, so he still has to grow. And even here, when it happens to [[spoiler:Roxas between ''358/2 Days'' and ''[=KHII=]'']], it's justified as [[spoiler:[=DiZ=] wiped his mind of his time in the Organization, so he forgot all the moves he learned. As for his strength, [=DiZ=] probably swiped all the power-up panels from his grid too.]]

* ''[[NexusWar Nexus Clash]]'' has a rare MMORPG example in that characters are reset back to starting levels and equipment every Breath of Creation (every 2-3 real-life years in practice). This is a deliberate move to make it less likely to [[SuffersNewbiesPoorly suffer newbies poorly]] or become PerpetuallyStatic. Since the lore is based on an EternalRecurrence, the dev team also felt the need for that to be [[SlidingScaleOfGameplayAndStorySegregation actually reflected]] in game terms from time to time.

* In ''BillyVsSnakeman'', looping to a new season will remove some quest items from your inventory, as well as certain other things (there's really no clear guideline for it), but most of your inventory will be untouched. Instead you'll be losing almost all of your ''allies'' and most quests are reset. Since looping is essentially rewinding time, this makes sense - they haven't met you yet.

** Justified in the first two games of the ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeTrilogy'', where an explosion disables Samus's equipment and the Ing steal it, respectively. You get [[ATasteOfPower about fifteen minutes to enjoy having mid-game abilities]] before they're gone. It's also done pre-emptively at the end of the first two games in the trilogy, with the Metroid Prime taking away Samus' Phazon Suit after its defeat in the first game, and the Light Suit... just sort of going away upon Samus' return to Aether at the end of the second game. It's subverted in ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'' as well, where both Samus and the Power Suit's organic components are infected by an alien organism and the suit must be surgically removed. All of Samus's weapons and abilities stay in the suit, but the parasite within it mutates into the main villain, who ends up using Samus's best weapons against her. ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption'' has Samus retain a few of the past game's items, such as Bombs and the Double Jump, but many of the upgrades are still gone with nary a word about them.

** ZigZagged in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity''. Once Bruce Wayne manages to gear up as Batman, he starts with most of the gadgets he acquired in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum''. The only major piece of equipment he doesn't carry over (the Line Launcher) is given to him roughly halfway through the game. It's even [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Alfred when Batman calls in the Line Launcher. He asks Batman if he's ever considered taking up a bigger UtilityBelt. Batman's response? Tried it, too heavy, weighted him down (no doubt a reference to the No Man's Land comic run where, as he was out in costume roughly 20 hours a day, he built a larger belt to handle a larger variety of crime fighting gear). However, Some upgrades that he had in Asylum do need to be purchased again, even though they would be massively useful in every-day Bat-manning (Critical Strikes and Combo boost come into mind). Additionally, the triple batclaw is also lost between games.

** In ''VideoGame/TalesOfMonkeyIsland'', an EpisodicGame, Guybrush loses some items between chapters while keeping others, sometimes with no explanation, but the justification can be that those items aren't useful anymore so he just discards them, at one point a lost item could be very helpful and Guybrush says that he lost it.

* ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryReturns'' has the Kongs, despite [[SuperNotDrowningSkills being able to swim endlessly underwater in all three ''Donkey Kong Country'' games]], suddenly unable to swim. They [[SuperDrowningSkills WILL die if they fall into the water]], as if it were a BottomlessPit.

** ''VideoGame/MegaManX4'' - ''[[VideoGame/MegaManX8 X8]]'' play with this in so many ways. X starts ''[[VideoGame/MegaManX5 X5]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/MegaManX6 X6]] with the Fourth/Force Armour and Falcon Armour from their respective preceding games. The only problem is that the armors are severely weakened compared to their original versions, with the implication that X did trash them, but Alia went and salvaged them as best she could. Whereas in the first three games, X started with a 16 unit life meter, and built it up to 32. From X4 onward until X8 redesigned the meters, X ''started'' with a 32 unit meter, and could build up to 48 (X4), 64 (X5-6), and 80 ([[VideoGame/MegaManX7 X7]]). Also, X7 and [[VideoGame/MegaManX8 X8]] made the airdash and charging his X-buster an extra level available in base form. Respectively. Also, in regards to heart tanks, in X1, X is obviously significantly weaker than Zero. By the time we actually ''see'' Zero's life bar, X is only eight heart tanks away from being equal to it, and then it's just a case of them being equal. However, Zero has no such qualms, which doesn't explain why he forgets ''learned techniques'' (i.e. ''not'' weapons), such as his Ice Stab maneuver in X4. It's not like he dies in that particular chapter, unlike X5. Interestingly, in the X vs. Zero fight, they both pull out weapons from X4, giving the suggestion that they keep them for emergencies.

* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'':
** Every new game in the series gives legitimate excuses for the main characters losing all their abilities time and time again.

* ''VideoGame/DeadRising2: Off the Record'' justifies this trope with Frank West: a combination of age and living a cushy life during his FifteenMinutesOfFame have made him soft by the time the game starts five years after the first game.

* ''VideoGame/KidDracula'' for the GameBoy is the sequel to ''Boku Dracula-kun'' for the UsefulNotes/{{NES}}. In the first cutscene, the son of Dracula admits to Death that he already forgot the techniques he learned in the first game.

* A lengthy password given to you at the end of of the first ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' allows you to carry your weapons, armor, etc. to ''Golden Sun: The Lost Age'' when you get your original party back, averting the trope. Doing so is required to get into the BonusDungeon and get the final two summons. Alternately, if you had another GameBoyAdvance (or a Gamecube with a Game Boy Player) and a link cable, you could transfer the data over without resorting to the lengthy passwords.

* The game series ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei: Devil Children'' explained this in the Fire and Ice entries for GameBoyAdvance by having the powerful characters depowered at the beginning through a minor but plausible plot device.

* ''VideoGame/KidDracula'' for the GameBoy is the sequel to ''Boku Dracula-kun'' for the {{NES}}. In the first cutscene, the son of Dracula admits to Death that he already forgot the techniques he learned in the first game.

** Averted beautifully in the move between ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and its sequel ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'', by having each character able to gain an additional 20 levels (going from two Class tiers to three). So only a handful of characters really lost any level, stats, or experience. The only notable loss was that the main character Ike gave the legendary weapon Ragnell to the Kingdom of Begnion as its rightful owner.
*** Any A supports from ''[=PoR=]'' even become bonds in ''RD''. As well as any capped stat in 9 becoming +2 (regular stats) or +5 (HP) to the base stats in ''RD''.
*** The only loss of cast between the two titles is Largo, because ''RD'' has no Berserker class in it. This is explained because Largo lost an arm between the end of ''[=PoR=]'' and the start of ''RD''.

* In Nippon Ichi's ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}''-verse, this is averted by always having a new (albeit similar) protagonist take up the mantle of Main Character. This allows the previous heroes (and apparently future ones) to maintain their insane power levels, but they all generally seem more concerned with losing their title as the Main Character (it's beginning to become their sole motivation for making cameos lately). In ''Disgaea'', your title is SeriousBusiness.

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'' avoids this beautifully in the move between ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTellius Path of Radiance]]'' and its sequel ''Radiant Dawn'', by having each character able to gain an additional 20 levels (going from two Class tiers to three). So only a handful of characters really lost any level, stats, or experience. The only notable loss was that the main character Ike gave his Legendary weapon Ragnell to the Kingdom of Begnion as its rightful owner.
** Any A supports from 9 even become bonds in 10. As well as any capped stat in 9 becoming +2 (regular stats) or +5 (HP) to the base stats in 10.
** The only loss of cast between the two titles is Largo, because 10 has no Berserker class in it. This is explained because Largo [[spoiler: lost an arm between the end of 9 and the start of 10.]]
** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAkaneia Mystery of the Emblem]]'') starts with a remake of the original game, so there isn't anything lost between the stories (except things cut for cartridge space reasons.) In the remakes (the 11th and 12th games in the series) this isn't really touched on at all, even if 12 (remake of 3 Book 2) doesn't include Book 1 (3's remake of 1). Characters that were in 1/11 but weren't in 3 are in 12 (with some in different classes if their class no longer exists in 3/12).
** Not to mention ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemElibe Blazing Sword]]'': Should the player play through Lyn's story, set one year before the main events of the game, any characters you used will retain their levels and stats when you continue on to Eliwood's or Hector's path.
** There's a straighter example in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemElibe Sword of Seals]]'': Most of the returning characters (like Erik and Marcus) are at lower levels or have lower stats/growths than they did back in ''Blazing Sword''. However, it's also a justified example; since twenty years pass between the two games, they could be weaker due to age or simply got out of shape in the interim.

* Averted in ''Banjo-Tooie'', where the main characters are able to use ''every'' power they acquired in the previous game, ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'', on top of all the new ones they learn over the course of ''this'' game (though they do lose a lot of HP and carrying capacity). The sole exceptions are the basic standing and running attacks. In ''Kazooie'', Banjo would perform these by himself, but in ''Tooie'', they were altered to incorporate Kazooie, seemingly for the sole purpose of making Banjo utterly defenceless once the pair finally learns how to split up, requiring a new move to be learned before he can attack by himself. Played straight in ''Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts'', as Banjo and Kazooie lose their abilities due to years of being fat and lazy. Their lack of their abilities is often lampshaded.

* Some series went so far as to allow the players to import characters from entirely different, unrelated games (ie. the ''[[VideoGame/TheBardsTaleTrilogy Bard's Tale]]'' series let the player import characters from the ''Franchise/{{Ultima}}'' games, not even by the same company).

* ''[[LegoAdaptationGame Lego Star Wars II]]'' has an "extra" that allows the user to import characters from a ''Lego Star Wars'' save file for use in the "Free Play" mode.

* In ''[[VideoGame/LegoAdaptationGame Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7]]'', all the Defense Against the Dark Arts spells that Harry and co. learned in Years 1-4 (except for Harry's Expecto Patronum) are banned by Professor Umbridge at the start of the game, and must be relearned or unlocked.

* Downplayed in ''SwordOfTheStars II: Lords of Winter''. While you won't be starting it with antimatter-powered dreadnoughts and all the endgame goodness of the first title, you will still get cruisers and fusion to start.

* Despite ''VideoGame/PersonaQ'' taking place in the middle of the game's timeline for both ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'', the characters from whichever game you picked the protagonist from all start at level 1 with starting equipment, while the characters from the other game all start at the level you were at when you beat the first boss.