History BagOfSpilling / VideoGames

** 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, weighed 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. Some gadgets you apparently have the entire time, but are prevented from using until the main story progresses to a certain point.
** ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins'', which chronologically takes place first, retroactively makes the first two games into a case of this, by introducing new items that weren't in them. When asked about what happened to these new items, the creators simply [[HandWave responded by saying he just chose not to bring them with him.]] In the ''Cold Cold Heart'' DLC, set one week after ''Origins'', Alfred tells Batman that the glue grenade formula was unstable, apparently justifying not being able to use them anymore.

** It turns out to be downplayed in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'', while Sora, Donald and Goofy do indeed start at level 1, with just their default equipment, the Kingdom Key's built in abilities give Sora access to his signature attacks like Ragnarok, Sonic Blade and Ars Arcanum right away. Likewise, Donald starts with a full arsenal of spells and Goofy starts with all his attacks. The other playable protagonist of ''Dream Drop Distance'', Riku, averts this trope entirely and consequently serves as a TasteOfPower after the first world, where he faces off against a Demon Tower with Thundaga, Curaga, Dark Barrier, Counter Blast, Dark Roll, and Aerial Recovery.
** While Sora has the excuse of having his heart tampered with in Dream Drop Distance, Donald and Goofy have no such excuse for why they are back to level 1 in Kingdom Hearts 3. One of the loading screens for Kingdom Hearts 3 lampshades this, but no explanation is ever given.

** The new ''VideoGame/{{Hitman|2016}}'' downgrades 47's arsenal considerably due to the emphasis on stealth rather than gunplay. For one, the Silverballers went from two pistols to a single silenced pistol, though things like the garrote and syringe remain untouched. He can unlock more guns by completing challenges that he can bring into missions.

** ''[[VideoGame/SuperRobotWars4 Super Robot Wars Final]]'' allows you to carry everything over to the sequel, ''F Final''. If you don't use that, instead you're given a lump sum of cash to use, and you don't get any of your upgraded units. The same happens in ''VideoGame/{{Super Robot Wars Z}}2.2'' to a certain degree.

** In ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaChroniclesOfSorrow'', Soma Cruz, who has the power to absorb the souls of the monsters he slays, starts ''Dawn of Sorrow'' with none of the powers he gained from ''Aria''. Genya Arikado [[HandWave handwaves]] it, explaining that since he wasn't in danger, Soma subconsciously released his acquired powers, though this doesn't explain what happened to the InfinityPlusOneSword. However, if you have the original GBA game in a Nintendo DS when the game starts, you are given an expensive item that increases rare drops. He did still retain the drop kick and backdash at least, and he clearly is more skilled with weapons this time around with their special abilities, managing to subvert and partially INVERT the trope.

** In ''Videogame/GodOfWarRagnarok'', it's stated that [[EndlessWinter Fimbulwinter]] has caused most of the magical gear and upgrades obtained in the previous game to degrade, and that Kratos and Atreus keeping a low profile is why their stats are back at their base statistics. However, Kratos quickly retrieves the Blades of Chaos when the game actually opens up and he keeps most of the artifacts used to progress. The Huldra Brothers even lampshades this, asking whatever happened to all the stuff they made for Kratos (to which he answers "I used it") and telling them to try and keep them in decent condition this time around (to which he answers "I will not").

** In ''Videogame/GodOfWarRagnarok'', it's stated that [[EndlessWinter Fimbulwinter]] has caused most of the magical gear and upgrades obtained in the previous game to degrade, and that Kratos and Atreus keeping a low profile is why their stats are back at their base statistics. However, Kratos quickly retrieves the Blades of Chaos when the game actually opens up and he keeps most of the artifacts used to progress. Sindri even lampshades this, asking whatever happened to all the stuff he and his brother made for Kratos and telling them to try and keep them this time around.

* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' series is notable for this trope, as joked about in the ''Webcomic/ZeldaComic'' [[http://www.zeldacomic.net/episode-166-enlightening-would-be-an-apt-pun/ strip]] on the main page. However, it's actually {{Justified}} in most games, since each installment is usually [[LegacyCharacter a different Link]], who shouldn't be expected to have anything more than a sword and a shield starting out. And most direct sequels tend to have him stranded in a different land or unceremoniously thrown into a new situation -- it's not unreasonable to suppose your swag from the previous game got lost after Link [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass is cast adrift at sea]] or is suddenly teleported to [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask another]] [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames realm]].

** In ''Videogame/GodOfWarRagnarok'', it's stated that [[EndlessWinter Fimbulwinter]] has caused most of the magical gear and upgrades obtained in the previous game to degrade, and that Kratos and Atreus keeping a low profile is why their stats are back at their base statistics. However, Kratos quickly retrieves the Blades of Chaos when the game actually opens up and he keeps most of the artifacts used to progress.

** While that Agent 47 of the games can amass a literal armory of weapons in just one game, and though he is a master assassin who requires more exotic weapons like sniper rifles and poison, by the start of the next game, the only weapons he has are his trademark AKA47 [[RareGuns Silverballers]], a silenced variant, his garrote, and a syringe. He then (although it's always optional) proceeds to either buy his weapons in the black market, or takes them with him when he exits a level. What makes it an even sillier problem is the fact that the games are not chronological, and therefore, parts of one game can happen in between the levels of another game in the series, but 47 still has to acquire the same weapon multiple times in a row. Justified in [[VideoGame/Hitman2SilentAssassin the second game]], as 47 had quit the life and was living with Father Vittorio, and he could really only realistically store his Silverballers and a couple other things in the closet he had there, presumably having sold off the rest (going off a mention in the intro of large donations he's made to the church).

** 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. ''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.
** It's justified 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/MetroidOtherM'' goes with [[MisaimedRealism a particularly disliked]] justification: Samus still has all the upgrades and weapons from ''Super Metroid'', [[HonorBeforeReason but chooses not to use them without permission from Adam]]. Logically this is should only apply to her weapons, as Adam is concerned about her accidentally using a Power Bomb or something that can cause ridiculous levels of damage and kill everyone on the ship, but it strangely also includes abilities that are purely for transveral and defense as well. The go-to example many fans point to is the "Hell Run", where Samus must spend a prolonged amount of time running through in a superheated area without the upgrade that lets her stay in such locations without taking damage - the exact sort of situation ''every other game in the series'' avoids by using superheated areas as the BrokenBridge they are.

* ''VideoGame/Persona4Arena'' takes place a few months after the end of ''VideoGame/Persona4'', but for some odd reason, the Investigation Team can only use their base level personas.[[note]]Save for [[TheHero Narukami]], whose Insta-Kill makes use of his Ultimate Persona[[/note]] However, in both this game and its sequel ''VideoGame/Persona4ArenaUltimax'', this is averted for the [[VideoGame/Persona3 SEES alumni]], who all retain their Ultimate Personas.

** At the beginning of ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheTwoThrones'', as he is about to make port, the Prince throws the Medallion of Time overboard, thinking he doesn't need it anymore. Cue his ship being sunk by a catapult while the Water and Light Swords you worked so hard for in ''Warrior Within'' are below decks. Fortunately, he retains all of his melee combat abilities.

** This trope is largely in effect in regards to the PC's companions, however. For instance, Anders, who may have been a level 35 god of magic in ''Awakening'', returns in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' as a single-digit level slum doctor. Varric, who fought alongside Hawke in the many Battles of Kirkwall in ''[=DA2=]'', comes back in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' at level 1. Cassandra, who soloed high dragons in ''Anime/DawnOfTheSeeker'', also starts off at level 1 in ''Inquisition'' with no explanation (although she later implies that "soloing high dragons" was an [[ShroudedInMyth in-universe exaggeration of what really occurred]]). The only cases where this is explicitly justified is [[spoiler:Solas, a.k.a. the Dread Wolf Fen'Harel, who lost almost all of his power during his millenia-long slumber and has to start over as a lowly hedge mage.]]

** Played straight with Quartz, but justified in both SC and The Third. In SC, a new model of [[MagicFromTechnology Orbment]] has been developed that allows for the casting of stronger Arts, but is incompatible with previously-made Quartz. Estelle decides that the new Arts are worth giving up her old Quartz for. In The Third, Kevin keeps endgame-tier Quartz for the Prologue, and new character Ries starts with similarly strong Quartz, but both their Quartz are destroyed when they enter Phantasma, forcing them to start from scratch.

*** Harry learns Flipendo, Alohomora, and Lumos in his first year and retains them all at the start of his second year. However, he does lose Wingardium Leviosa and Incendio, and ends up learning Diffindo to replace the latter, in the exact same class as before (Herbology).
*** Likewise, he learns Rictusempra and Spongify in his second year and keeps them both (along with Alohomora and Lumos) at the beginning of his third year. Flipendo, oddly enough, is suddenly gone, with Depulso replacing it and the characters acting as though they'd always been using Depulso to move objects.

* The ''VideoGame/HalfLife'' series has reasons why Gordon Freeman doesn't start with all his weapons and items from the previous game: removed by the G-Man at the end of ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'', destroyed by a security system during the penultimate level of ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'', and scattered by an explosion and train wreck at the end of ''Half-Life 2: Episode One''. Gordon still has his weapons at the end of ''Half-Life 2: Episode Two'', however, and shows no indication of possibly losing them.

* ''VideoGame/FrontlinesFuelOfWar'' has the missions divided into segments for each objective, separated by a short loading screen. The player often picks up many nifty toys to ensure that he's covered for all situations, such as carrying an assault rifle, grenade launcher, rocket launcher, pistol, sniper rifle, grenades, several UCAV drones with rocket launchers, and a pair of binoculars that drop airstrikes wherever he points them. This massive arsenal is lost in between loading screens, even if the next segment takes place mere minutes after and it would make no logical sense for him to take all of his equipment that could make the next mission a total breeze and toss them off a cliff, forcing him to find replacements.
** Seeing as how the player is fully-versed in every weapon and equipment classification in the entire war, it's a surprise they don't give him a full arsenal of whatever he requests at the beginning of each mission, because the commanders know he'll find and use them anyway.
** Apart from the black ops mission (where you paradrop in) it's pretty obvious that you are basically [[FacelessGoons just another soldier]]; the story follows the reporter and the squad, not an individual soldier. Speaking of said black ops mission, you get some of those TooAwesomeToUse chaingun mini-tank drones as the black ops guy, who conveniently vanishes before the next phase of the mission, when having one or two of those little things would ''really'' help with the upcoming fights...

** Between ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' and ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'', Sonic lost his Light Speed Shoes and Light Speed Attack. Knuckles lost his Shovel Claws. All of them are replaced in the second game -- however, there are also the missing Crystal Ring (Sonic), Jet Anklet, Rhythm Badge (Tails), and Fighting Gloves (Knuckles). Tails' lost items are slightly justified, due to the UnexpectedGameplayChange, but...
*** Partially justified in Sonic's case as he was breaking in a fresh pair of SOAP Shoes at the time he was arrested and explicitly needed the Light Speed Shoes at least to perform the Light Speed Dash and Attack. He's able to largely restore his old abilities to better than new after finding Light Speed boosters for his new shoes and a new Ancient Light source on Prison Island.

* Every single ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'' game after the first one - all 10 of them (to date, seeing that the latest one, ''Mega Man 11'', was released in October 2018). In each game, the player must [[PowerCopying acquire weapons]] from (usually) 8 adversary robots by traversing each one's stage and defeating him/[[VideoGame/MegaMan9 her]] in a [[BossBattle 1 vs. 1 combat]], thus accumulating a rather [[WalkingArsenal formidable arsenal]] to take on the final stages of [[EvilTowerOfOminousness Dr. Wily's castle]] - only to start the next game with nothing but the [[LittleUselessGun basic pea shooter]], and if the game designers at Capcom were so inclined, the [[VideoGameDashing Down+Jump slide move]] and/or the ability to [[ChargedAttack "charge"]] said pea shooter by holding down the Fire button for a few seconds to fire a [[WaveMotionGun bigger]], more powerful projectile.
** Averted in the Wily Tower level of ''The Wily Wars'' (a.k.a. ''Rockman Megaworld''). While the first three games naturally play this straight, once you've beaten them all and unlocked Wily Tower, you can select any 8 of their 22 available weapons and 3 out of 7 items to equip for it.
** {{Exaggerated|Trope}} in ''VideoGame/MegaMan9'': Granted, a world at peace would have no need of a chargeable buster, but that doesn't explain why old Rock's no longer able to ''slide'' as well.

* In ''VideoGame/MegaManUnlimited'', Mega Man will lose all of his weapons if [[FinalBoss Zero]] can drop the Blue Bomber's health to 0. Not even the Mega Buster is safe, which renders the Charge Shot useless!
* Downplayed in the Flash game ''VideoGame/{{KOLM}} 2''. Robbie retains most of his movement abilities from the first game (dashing, triple jumping, swimming, crouching), but loses all of his defensive abilities (invulnerability to spikes, damage reduction).
* It's implied in the ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' games that X voluntarily disposes of his new armor and weapons after every game, in order to avoid the temptation to abuse his newfound power... or maybe because he [[IJustWantToBeNormal simply doesn't like fighting in the first place, really]].
** Surprisingly, the dash ability (gained from the Boots Armor upgrade in X) is a starting ability in the all of the later X games. Then again, the opening to VideoGame/MegaManX1 stated the dash upgrade was optional from the start, so the implication is that this was meant to be available to X in his base form.

** Speaking of which the trope is actually justified in ''Zero 2'' where Zero has his Buster, Saber, and Shield Boomerang damaged and his Triple Rod totaled due to fighting constantly against Neo Arcadian forces in the desert for over a year without any R&R. It even goes so far as to show the Pause menu looking rusty and a portrait of a damaged Zero. Which is awesome, by the way; especially since the pause menu changes to an entirely different format once Zero returns to the Base and gets fixed up (in the third and fourth games the menu changes right from the beginning). Zero also holds his arm while stationary throughout that entire level, which usually only happens when he's low on health.

*** But, you will lose all your gold. Justified by the game because you did put offscreen the money in a safety lock beneath the Ducal Palace. Except, the keeper in charge informs you that he lost everything... (he will try to get the gold back but without much fortune).

* 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. It's averted for Crafts though, as everyone still retains all the Crafts they learned in the previous game. Instead of having to re-learn them, they learn stronger versions of their old Crafts, as well as some new Crafts.
** In the 3rd game for once there is no carryover, as the game engine is totally different so Rean is de leveled. On the other hand it's implied that he's simply holding back for most of the early game to not make it too easy on the students he's teaching and "leveling up" is simply trying harder, and as it is he starts 7 levels higher than his students. At one point he abruptly relearns the "Gale" craft when needed for a boss and the implication is he could always still use it and just chose to now. The rest of Class 7 rejoins at the level average for their point in the story but they retain most of their crafts from 2 only losing their most basic ones and having their S Crafts replaced with a stronger single one, the implication being they've just gotten so much stronger the older crafts aren't worth using anymore. As for Quartz, the Arcus's have been upgraded to Arcus-2's so the originals are outdated and no longer in use. Averted with Valimar who still has all his crafts and still retains the sword Rean spent much of the 2nd half of the previous game making. The fourth game has Juna, Kurt, and Altina losing at least 30-40 levels at the start of the game as [[spoiler:they have been asleep for two weeks. They regain their levels in an in-game week's worth of training and start their journey at level 50. However, they lose all of their quartz and Master Quartz and must reacquire it. Averted with Rean in terms of levels as he starts out at level 90 compared to his peers who are hovering between 82-87 despite the fact that he's been chained to a wall for a month, his Arcus-2 has been improved, and while he doesn't have any game breaking quartz equipped, he has a mid tier starting quartz setup.]]

** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' begins with Snake entering a combat zone alongside underequipped guerrila's so he has to make do with what he finds before meeting up with the mk.2. Thankfully the new octocamo suit's stealth mechanics and handguns it provides are pretty much all he really needs to sneak around.

* ''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. Fortunately, by the time ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryTropicalFreeze'' rolled around, they apparently took some swimming classes, [[OxygenMeter but never got to the lesson about how to avoid drowning]].

* At the start of ''VideoGame/Sly2BandOfThieves'', Bently begins to tell Sly how to do the [[IHaveTheHighGround ninja spire jump]], and Sly chides him for assuming that he would forget one of his most important skills. True enough, Sly retains the spire jump and rail-walk techniques that he learned in [[VideoGame/SlyCooperAndTheThieviusRaccoonus the first game]] for the rest of the trilogy, but he still forgot a host of other skills from that game, such as the power to turn invisible, alter time, and how to not [[SuperDrowningSkills take damage from falling in water]].

* Both ''VideoGame/{{Patapon}}'' sequels fall under this trope. In ''Patapon 2'' the player's army is obliterated by a sea monster at sea. Hatapon and a few others wash up on the shores of Tochiri beach and forced to fend for themselves. [[OldSaveBonus If the player linked their]] ''[[OldSaveBonus Patapon 1]]'' [[OldSaveBonus Data]], then the equipment that they had previously will rarely wash up on shore from time to time. For ''Patapon 3'' the player's army is [[TakenForGranite turned to stone]] after they unleash the 7 Archfiends from the Vessel. Hatapon, Ton, Chin, Tan, and the Hero are the only survivors. There's no transfering all equipment from the previous game, so the army has to start from scratch.

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' has Link awaken in the Shrine of Resurrection naked as the day he was born, save for a pair of decency shorts, with only a top and pants in the nearby chests and no weapons whatsoever. Over the course of the game, he regains his memories, revealing that he was already hero-ing before the events of the game (and ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriorsAgeOfCalamity'' is slated to explore his actions inso doing). The last two memories explain why this is: [[spoiler:Link fought so far beyond his body's own abilities with so little rest that he was just as ruined as the Master Sword he was carrying at the time, and he only stayed conscious long enough to see Zelda unleash her divine power for the first time; relocating him to the Shrine and sealing him inside for a century was the only way to save his life. After that, Zelda entrusted the Master Sword to the Deku Tree, to reclaim the power that Link so thoroughly exhausted, and even when he gets it back, he can only use that power in short bursts at a time instead of as a functionally immortal weapon.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}}'' has a case of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness in regards to the title heroine's genie magic, but the one thing that remains between [[VideoGame/Shantae2002 the first game]] and ''VideoGame/ShantaeRiskysRevenge'' -- 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 ''entirely'']], thus setting the stage for a powerless Shantae at the start of the next game. ''VideoGame/ShantaeAndThePiratesCurse'' 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 ''VideoGame/ShantaeHalfGenieHero''. ''Seven Sirens'' explains it as Shantae being on vacation. Her old transformations are mentioned as if she still has them, but she doesn't actually use them in favor of the new transformations she gets in the game.

-->'''Durandal:''' I know you have a lot of questions. [...] And most importantly, where's your rocket launcher and the fusion gun?

* ''VideoGame/HorizonForbiddenWest'': When Varl catches up to Aloy in the game's beginning, he notes that she's 'traveling light' and she states that she ran into [[NoodleIncident some trouble along the way]], having lost most of her gear and high-quality weapons, reducing her weaponry to just a basic hunting bow and spear. She's also so banged up that she only has about 200 Health points after she fixes some scrapes and bruises she got. She does still have the [[ArmorOfInvincibility Shield Weaver armour]] on, but its Hard Light shield abilities aren't working. She also didn't retrieve Sylen's spear from when she'd killed HADES, and it crumbles to dust when she finds it.

* ''VideoGame/SouthParkTheFracturedButWhole'' has the kids switching from a [[VideoGame/SouthParkTheStickOfTruth fantasy genre]] to a superhero genre, which means the New Kid's identity as King Douchebag is meaningless, taking its powers and prestige with it, as the New Kid comes up with a new identity the others call "Butthole" or a derivative of such.

* Zig-zagged in ''Videogame/Psychonauts2'', where Raz is reintroduced to Telekinesis, Psy-Blasts, Levitation, Pyrokinesis and Clairvoyance during the tutorial but loses Psi-Shield, Confusion and Invisibility to make place for the new powers of the game.