Sequels, prequels and even run by the side of the original titles time line- if you create a high grossing game, movie or book you will want to capitalise on its success with a follow up (or at least your studio or producer will want you to...).
Most game sequels follow on from the original narrative or at least take place in the same universe/reality as the source material that spawned them, such as final fantasy or the metal gear series that may stray wildly from the original but still keep themselves grounded to the overall concept or idea; however you sometimes get games that bare such little resemblance to the original that you have to read the box to know that there is any connection what so ever, here are a few that spring to mind.
Phantasmagoria 2: a puzzle of flesh.
The original Phantasmagoria came out in the mid 90’s, right in the middle of the P.C.s digitised point and click era where games like Gabriel knight ; the beast within and burn cycle were all the rage.
The plot focused on Adriana and her husband who buy a creepy gothic house in the middle of the woods, Adrian is a writer and her spouse is a professional photographer- all seems rosy with the couple going about their daily lives, that is until Adriane discovers a secret chapel hidden behind a panel and ends up releasing the spirit of an evil spirit stage magician who, after being taken over by a demon, killed his first 4 wives and ended up being killed live on stage by his assistant and his 5th wife.
And so begins a story of possession, rape and violent ghost related torture porn flash backs that beat the Saw movies to the punch by 15 years.
A puzzle of flesh was the sequel to this and has absolutely no link to the original save for a flyer for a book signing that Adrian from the first game is having in town- you don’t even get to go to it!
You play as Curtis, underling at a software firm that has a dark past, under the building is an abandoned lab where the companies MD used to throw “volunteers” through a hole in space time and into another dimension- your usual evil corporation type stuff.
The rest of the game has you flirting with co-workers, getting involved with German style S&M clubs and generally dickingaround while your friends and family are butchered, punctured by rogue electric cabling and fried in their own blood (I’m not kidding, this actually happens, sorry Tris).
The whole thing comes to head with zombified staff, evil twins and a final explosion that takes the the gate way to the alien world with it.
As you can tell this has absolutely nothing to do with the gothic supernatural plot of the first game. True, both have the same visual style with lots of FMV and digitised sprites and backgrounds, there is also allot of blood and an overall horror theme- but apart from these general similarities the two might as well be separate game series.
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