chronologically confused

[R.Graves]

i think this video would make a good thread topic.



you'd think itd be pretty simple. just number the sequels.

i mean yeah okay but look at devil may cry. each sequel is numbered but the on the timeline they're all out of wack. the story order for the devil may cry series is 3, 1, 4, 2, 5. because fuck it why not. awkward but easy enough to figure out.

but look at the hitman franchise.
release order of the hitman franchise is as follows. all games are canon and there has been no reboot.

• Hitman: Codename 47
• Hitman 2: Silent Assassin
• Hitman: Contracts
• Hitman: Blood Money
• Hitman: Absolution
• HITMAN
• HITMAN 2

we have only two numbered entries and both are titles Hitman 2. again, there was no reboot this is all the same line of games in the same canon. that doesnt even begin to scratch the surface, though, because the first two missions in HITMAN are prequel missions to the entire series whereas everything else is set after absolution. conracts has a framing device of a wounded 47 having flashbacks to old and "new" missions. the framing device and subsequently the final mission of contracts takes place after the third mission in the fourth entry but before the fourth mission of blood money. oh and just you fucking try to to place contracts original missions on the timeline i fucking dare you.

then there's franchises that do wierd shit like reboot without telling you or really even acknowledging it in the story. Red Dead did it with redemption and GTA did it with GTA 3 and GTA4. but characters from the old continuity still appear in the new continuity in both cases.

what fucking gives?

 

[Octavian]

Numbering installments in a series is to create association with the previous games in the series. It tells fans "if you liked the last one, buy this one". Putting a different name behind a new installment in a series indicates that it will be a departure from the previous game in the series in a way (narrative, or gameplay), or at least that the devs do not want to associate it with the previous games because they want a new audience or the last game was a flop.

I'll give Cod as an example:
Call of Duty is numbered 1-3 for the first 3 titles, which are all consistent in story and gameplay. The next title is labeled both 4 and modern warfare. This is to show fans its still a call of duty game, with very similar gameplay, that CoD fans should buy but the tacked on name indicates a setting change for the series. This was followed by world at war, which dropped the number entirely in favor of a moniker, in order to distance itself from the dated old games, and seem "different" enough people that already bought 3 samey cod world war shooters might just take a look at another.

The CoD series followed up with MW2 and MW3 to continue this story and setting continuity, and direct fans of more realistic modern shooters to stick to the MW franchise. They concurrently ran the Black Ops 1-4 series, and the different name establishes it both as a separate narrative and separate setting, meant for fans of a more outlandish and less realistic shooter.

The ghosts, infinite warfare, and advanced warfare replaced the modern warfare name, as it was losing a degree of traction and feeling samey, so marketing/devs wanted to distance it from the MW games (and also from eachother because they all sucked).

Now lets look at fallout:
Fallout 1-2 are directly continuous in story, and very similar in gameplay. Tactics took on a new name instead of a number in order to show its shift in setting away from Cali, and shift in mechanics away from RPG elements and towards combat. Brotherhood of Steel also took a name instead of a number to indicate its mechanical difference. Fallout 3 was a reboot of a franchise, so it was labeled 3 to associate itself with the first two games, and encourage fans of the old games to give it a shot despite its differences. Fallout New Vegas did not take a number to show that it would be a different experience than fallout 3, and instill fans with hope it would be return to form for the series. Fallout 4 took a number to keep it in line with 3. Fallout 76 seems to be a number, but its really more of a name. It was used instead of fallout 5 to show it would be a departure from the rest of the series.

TLDR
Use #= this game is like the last one
Use new name= this game is not like the last one
Used name+#= this game is like the other installments with the same name