Game Series with the Most Confusing Lore
The franchises that will leave you scratching your head when trying to keep up with their wild, complex, and sometimes convoluted plots. Listed by their first entry. These are just the ones I've thought of so recommendations are welcome! Bonus points if you tell me why.
17 Games
On top of a lot of the individual stories themselves being confusing to follow, it’s not also clear what all is canon or not and Kojima has rarely given a straight answer on that.
Scott Cawthon literally just made all of this up as he was going along and as a result it makes no freaking sense.
Multiple timeline insanity to the utmost extreme. Then there’s all the reincarnation stuff and the constant alternations between sequels and prequels.
Not only is it just an oddly told and convoluted story right out of the gate, but playing every little spin-off and sequel is actually NECESSARY to understand just what the heck is going on in this strange merging of the Disney and Final Fantasy worlds.
A new virus for every letter of the alphabet, characters undergoing complete personality changes between entries, sidekicks regularly disappearing from the games for years until Capcom randomly shoehorns them into a spin-off, regular remakes that change details in the older titles making it unclear what exactly is canon or not, and COUNTLESS spin-offs of dubious canonicity. Oh, and apparently it’s supernatural now or something?
A relatively simple concept centered around a bunch of fighters competing in a fantasy martial arts tournament where most battles end in death that rapidly grew out of control by including multiple timelines, time travel, reboots, multiple dimensions, and characters inexplicably returning in sequels despite supposedly having died in a prior entry. I get we’re all just here for the bloody action, but the overall plot can be tough to follow.
Does anyone even know what’s going on here? They gave the protagonist amnesia just so none of this had to make any sense! Then afterwards said “screw it, let’s go full multiverse on them.”
Not quite as incomprehensible, intricate, difficult to decipher, or complex as the other entries on this list. It’s just a LOT to keep track of. Reboots, multiple timelines, and new generations of Belmonts and villains introduced with each passing installment. Oy vey!
A bunch of sci-fi MacGuffin mumbo jumbo where the resolution to the cliffhangers some games end on are only found in obscure EU books, leaving you completely lost should you try to jump right into the next sequel without reading them.
It all started going downhill after III. Ever since killing off Desmond, the series has struggled with knowing what to do with the overarching plot running in the background that serves to connect all of these forays back into various prior eras in history together. They're just adding another nonsense mythological, sci-fi artifact to serve as a plot device for each passing installment, and it just keeps getting more muddled and confusing along the way. Especially with the increased amount of fantasy elements being introduced. What's worst of all though? It's getting hard to care.
Suggested by @jtduckman
“ace combat is confusing because the world that the games take place in is essentially an alternate earth with its own history that's just as deep. If you don't memorize a bunch of fictional nations, their historic relations with other fictional nations, and the conflicts that have happened between them, the plots in-game can be difficult to follow.“
“ace combat is confusing because the world that the games take place in is essentially an alternate earth with its own history that's just as deep. If you don't memorize a bunch of fictional nations, their historic relations with other fictional nations, and the conflicts that have happened between them, the plots in-game can be difficult to follow.“
Suggested by @jtduckman
Suggestion by @tarnkappe
Suggested by @tarnkappe
Suggested by @Orion
Suggested by Detectivefail
“The series has been rebooted several times, corporations usually at fault, pilots(called Ravens) fighting other Ravens(allied with a different corporate faction) to super colossal enemies called MT's or Arms Forts to the scale of Shadow of the Colossus bosses. And if you want to dive deeper into the potential endings Last Raven and For Answer will result in various outcomes.”
“The series has been rebooted several times, corporations usually at fault, pilots(called Ravens) fighting other Ravens(allied with a different corporate faction) to super colossal enemies called MT's or Arms Forts to the scale of Shadow of the Colossus bosses. And if you want to dive deeper into the potential endings Last Raven and For Answer will result in various outcomes.”
17 Comments
@FallenGrace The saddest part is they probably could have done that and STILL milked the franchise afterwards. Why they chose to handicap themselves narratively and drag around the rotting corpse of that part of the series rather than allowing it to reach its logical conclusion and cast it off entirely to focus on the exclusively on the portion people actually buy the games for is something I’ll never understand. I guess taking a second to stop and think about what they were doing might have gotten in the way of producing the next yearly sequel like they were doing there for a while.
i would definitely suggest the ace combat and blazblue series for having confusing lore
halo is confusing?
also, add e.y.e divine cybermancy and black ops 3
also, add e.y.e divine cybermancy and black ops 3
How the hell ace combat's lore is confusing?
IT'S NOT
IT'S NOT
You should add Sin and Punishment here.
@jtduckman could you explain for @Mctavisherd why you suggested Ace Combat? I’ve never played one so I am not sure why its lore may or may not be confusing.
@tarnkappe Yes, especially post-343 taking the reigns. I’m playing Infinite right now and it’s a freaking mess because of how many significant plot developments have apparently occurred offscreen since 5.
@tarnkappe Yes, especially post-343 taking the reigns. I’m playing Infinite right now and it’s a freaking mess because of how many significant plot developments have apparently occurred offscreen since 5.
@TheQuietGamer more like bloated honestly, 343 took the reins and ruined some plot points dearly beloved by the fans (rookie's off-screen death in the comics, cortana being the big bad guy) then tried giving her a half-ass redemption arc when their schmuck didn't work, they probably have no idea where to go after infinite, considering we literally had no sign of the "promised dlc and support" after launch, lmao
safe to call this Treyarch zombies lore tier, where it doesn't make sense for the sake of it, or they literally didn't care at all
safe to call this Treyarch zombies lore tier, where it doesn't make sense for the sake of it, or they literally didn't care at all
games should have ended after reach, or halo 3
ace combat is confusing because the world that the games take place in is essentially an alternate earth with its own history that's just as deep. If you don't memorize a bunch of fictional nations, their historic relations with other fictional nations, and the conflicts that have happened between them, the plots in-game can be difficult to follow.
@tarnkappe Agreed. Or at least they could have rebooted it or followed a new cast of characters to not make a mess of the original storyline people loved. Gutted to hear about Rookie getting killed off like that. Had no idea.
@jtduckman Thanks! Hopefully that will clear it up for them. Adding it to the notes.
@jtduckman Thanks! Hopefully that will clear it up for them. Adding it to the notes.
Great list! I think maybe Armored Core could be included, The series has been rebooted several times, corporations usually at fault, pilots(called Ravens) fighting other Ravens(allied with a different corporate faction) to super colossal enemies called MT's or Arms Forts to the scale of Shadow of the Colossus bosses. And if you want to dive deeper into the potential endings Last Raven and For Answer will result in various outcomes.
@Detectivefail Thanks!
Killer7? Not sure if it counts since it's a single game
@Sibus Well, it’s believed to be set in a shared universe (“Sudaverse”) with other Grasshopper Manufacturer titles so I’ll include it.
Lmao, genius idea, though as an AC fan I will have to slightly disagree with you there :)
@RedBackLoggd Lol, no problem. It happens.
FallenGrace
1 year ago