When you think about video game narratives, it’s a bit challenging to find many that contain single, perpetual narratives. To test that assumption, we’ve compiled a list of titles featuring lengthy plotlines and abundant canon entries. Each of these series will also have new installments arriving either this year or in 2016.
To assemble our list, we established these guidelines: the series has one continuous, overarching narrative; most entries in the series must contribute to the overall plot; and the story hasn’t been rebooted yet. Due to these rules, series more anthological in nature, such as Final Fantasy or Silent Hill, don’t make the cut. By no means is this meant to be a definitive list, so please share your picks in the comments below.
Warning: The following article features some minor spoilers to the franchises listed below.
Resident Evil (15 Canonical Entries)
After nearly 20 years, multiple protagonists, and a boatload of zombie strains, the world continues to suffer the effects of the Umbrella Corporation’s dastardly bioweapon research. Resident Evil’s story begins with an isolated incident in a mansion before rapidly evolving into a worldwide struggle where seemingly anyone of ill-intent possesses a new flavor of virus. Even the children of Barry Burton and Albert Wesker (Moira Burton and Jake Muller, respectively) have been ushered into the madness. With how convoluted the series has become, some would argue Resident Evil is one of the franchises most in need of a reboot–something that’s been rumored in the past.
Assassin’s Creed (12 Canonical Entries)
Ubisoft’s juggernaut is the youngest franchise listed here, but you’d never guess it by looking at the long list of released titles. Assassin’s Creed I and II alone have handheld spin-offs, but the floodgates burst when the series became annualized beginning with AC: Brotherhood in 2010. The fiction was once sewn together by Desmond Miles, a modern-day descendant of several Assassins who used the Animus machine to experience their lives and prevent the apocalypse. Once that unifying thread finished in Assassin’s Creed III, the contemporary glue weakened. Today, it barely exists, focusing on multi-generational sages and computer hacking mini-games. Can we have the Truth back?
Metal Gear (11 Canonical Entries)
Hideo Kojima’s espionage epic has kept fans engaged fans since 1987, and we’ve only now nearly closed the narrative loop on the saga. Multiple Snakes, three cyborg ninjas, two scientists named Emmerich, and one Ocelot (who’s one of the few constants in the franchise) have aided or prevented nuclear war caused by the titular weapons. With Kojima’s relationship with Konami up in the air, it’s unclear if the publisher will continue the series in any meaningful, non-Pachinko machine way – unless Metal Gear Rising 2 actually winds up being a thing.
On the next page, we look at one of the fabled fighting franchises, one of the biggest shooters of all time, and more.