When the Worst Outcome Becomes Official in Follow-up Games

I’ve been thinking about how some video game sequels make the darkest endings from previous games the official story. Here are examples I found:

Diablo Series - In the first game, you defeat Diablo, and the hero pierces his own head with the soulstone to trap the demon. However, Diablo 2 reveals this was all part of Diablo’s scheme. He corrupts Prince Aidan, the hero, and ultimately takes over his body. The other characters from the first game also face grim fates - the Rogue becomes Blood Raven, and the Sorcerer transforms into the Summoner, both bosses in the sequel.

XCOM 2 - This game sets the stage where the alien invasion was a success in the first installment. Earth has fallen under alien control, and two decades later, you awaken from captivity. XCOM now operates as rebels aiming to reclaim the planet from its alien overlords.

Legacy of Kain Series - In Blood Omen, you can choose between two endings: sacrifice Kain to save the world or allow him to dominate a dying realm. The sequel, Soul Reaver, adopts the darker ending as canon. A millennium later, the world is a desolate wasteland ruled by vampire lords, with Kain as the primary antagonist.

Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance - The heroes attempt to thwart evil sorcerers, but the follow-up game, Deception, shows their failure. All heroes perish except Raiden, who ultimately falls too. The sorcerers then turn on one another, only to be interrupted by a greater threat.

Warcraft Series - The sequel Tides of Darkness discloses that the Orcs triumphed in the original game, leading to the destruction of Stormwind. The remaining humans escaped to form an alliance with elves and dwarves to prepare for the upcoming conflict.

Can anyone share other titles that follow this trend? It’s quite daring when developers decide to make the negative conclusion the official storyline.

Shadow of the Colossus and The Last Guardian pull this off too. You’re killing these beautiful, majestic creatures throughout the first game, only to find out you’re actually the villain - you’ve been unleashing some ancient evil the whole time. Then the sequel just rolls with that dark timeline.

Mass Effect 3 does this in the Arrival DLC - Shepard straight up commits genocide by blowing up the relay.

Red Dead Redemption 2 nails this perfectly. We already know from the first game that the gang’s doomed and most everyone dies. Playing through with that knowledge makes every moment feel tragic.

Chrono Trigger nails this with Chrono Cross. The sequel drops the bomb that saving the world actually created a timeline split that screwed over an alternate reality. Your big heroic win becomes this cosmic tragedy - millions of people in the other timeline just got wiped out. Totally messed with my head on my first playthrough because you think you’re the hero the whole time in the first game.

Dead Space 3 does this - the moon convergence ending is canon for whatever comes next

Metro 2033 does this too. The good ending where you spare the Dark Ones isn’t canon - Last Light follows the bad ending where you nuke them. Always felt weird since getting the good ending requires you to be observant and moral throughout the game, then the sequel just tosses it out. I get why they did it story-wise but it stings when your careful playthrough gets ignored.