By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Gaming - The chaotic timeline in videogame franchises

Leynos on 30 December 2025

The best thing about BoTW in this area is it throws all that shit out the window. Oh I know people are wracking their brains trying to fit it one of the three but be honest it fits in nothing. Nintendo used to kinda care but they never really had it laid out. Shig said OoT eas the earliest game in the series back in the 90s. Wind Waker outright says 100 years after the Hero of Time and TP had OoT Link as a skeleton teaching new link his moves. But I think that was as much as they thought about it. Fans forced Nintendo's hand to come up with the three branches. SS said it's a prequel to everything. BoTW just said..fuck it. Throw it out the window. It doesn't matter because it doesn't. Metroid is a little messy. While it was mostly straightforward. Prime put a wrinkle in it saying between M1-M2. Ok. Now Prime 4 might take place after SM but before Fusion. At least with Metroid Samus is the same person in every game.



Bite my shiny metal cockpit!

Around the Network
Chrkeller on 31 December 2025
160rmf said:
Chrkeller said:

The entire Zelda time line makes me laugh because it makes no sense. It magically splits into 3 paths from Ocarina. I still maintain there isn't a continuous story across all games but Nintendo just tried to force it.

Well, when it envolves time travelling, theres no way to not get messy. I am always open to the theory that you cant erase a catastrophic present by going back in time an fixing what got wrong before, youll just branch out in alternative timelines.

However I agree that it was just an afterthought to them after making so many Zelda games, despite blending so well, specially the part of the many process of specification among Ritos and Zoras and many others cameos or references 

Agreed but with ocarina, link doesn't travel back, he travels forward.  And some how when he travels back, after securing the future it splits.  That doesn't make sense to me.  

But it doesn't matter, still the best franchise in gaming and we seem to all agree Nintendo forced a fit when there isn't one.

Metal Gear doesn't have a messed up time line, just a completely jacked story that never made sense to me.  But that technically isn't on topic.



“Consoles are great… if you like paying extra for features PCs had in 2005.”
mZuzek on 31 December 2025
Chrkeller said:
160rmf said:

Well, when it envolves time travelling, theres no way to not get messy. I am always open to the theory that you cant erase a catastrophic present by going back in time an fixing what got wrong before, youll just branch out in alternative timelines.

However I agree that it was just an afterthought to them after making so many Zelda games, despite blending so well, specially the part of the many process of specification among Ritos and Zoras and many others cameos or references 

Agreed but with ocarina, link doesn't travel back, he travels forward.  And some how when he travels back, after securing the future it splits.  That doesn't make sense to me.  

When Link travels back in time at the end of Ocarina, he goes back to the beginning of the game and stops Ganon from taking over Hyrule because he knows what leads to those events. So he saves Hyrule without having to put it through the events of OoT itself, and goes off on his own journey in Majora's Mask.

However, the future he just left by time travelling is the one where the events of the game did happen, where he and Zelda sealed Ganon away, but because Link isn't in that timeline anymore, Ganon takes over when he breaks the seal - which leads to the events of Wind Waker.

It took me a while to get it, it is confusing.



My top 50 games as of 2025!

Chrkeller on 31 December 2025
mZuzek said:
Chrkeller said:

Agreed but with ocarina, link doesn't travel back, he travels forward.  And some how when he travels back, after securing the future it splits.  That doesn't make sense to me.  

When Link travels back in time at the end of Ocarina, he goes back to the beginning of the game and stops Ganon from taking over Hyrule because he knows what leads to those events. So he saves Hyrule without having to put it through the events of OoT itself, and goes off on his own journey in Majora's Mask.

However, the future he just left by time travelling is the one where the events of the game did happen, where he and Zelda sealed Ganon away, but because Link isn't in that timeline anymore, Ganon takes over when he breaks the seal - which leads to the events of Wind Waker.

It took me a while to get it, it is confusing.

If he could stop ganon in the present, why bother traveling to the future to begin with?  And if he changes his actions in the present than the future would be changed.

I mean it splits in three, lol.  Just silly, imo.  Still my favorite franchise in gaming.



“Consoles are great… if you like paying extra for features PCs had in 2005.”