Game Rant #4: Character Continuity

Sometimes when a game is allowed a sequel they pull it off masterfully and you feel like there was never a gap between the last installment and the one you're playing, but other times you find that you just cannot enjoy yourself because the game just isn't the same. I'm not talking about engine changes, or when a new villain is introduced from out of nowhere, I mean when the character who you've followed just seems to have completely changed over night.

A little example to illustrate this is Final Fantasy X. You go through the game following and guarding Yuna on her pilgrimage. She is effectively a nun sent to sacrifice herself to save the world, and you grow can understand why she is quiet and humble, and you can completely immerse yourself in that atmosphere. Come Final Fantasy X-2 you pretty much se    e her running round in short shorts duel wielding pistols and chatting willy nilly to everyone under the sun like some sort of Lara Croft chat show wannabe! This is the sort of things that seem to spoil the continuity and make me ask myself "why didn't they just name this game something other than Final Fantasy X-2?"

Another gripe I have is when a character is for some reason omitted from a game and replaced by an utter carbon copy. After progressing further into Soul Calibur V you encounter a group of four fighters; Maxi, Natsu,  Xiba and Yan Leixia. Maxi is the only character in this group to make a return to the game, but the others are carbon copies of Taki, Kilik and Xianghua (respectively), and upon further reading Yan Leixia is the daughter of Xianghua. This seems peculiar to remove known characters and replace them, but to retain Maxi and have him stay the same age and make no real reference to the original characters is bizarre. Also, though I have yet to encounter him in the story, Cervantes doesn't seem to be a super powered immortal zombie badass any more, just a regular pirate - which sort of makes me question the continuity of the series.

I know in some cases, such as Soul Calibur, it doesn't matter as much as the story telling is merely a device to link one fight to the next, but in a game like Final Fantasy where the story is the most integral part of the game it pushes my suspension of disbelief. Yes I believe that that naked can transform into two different giant monsters. Yes I can believe that that character can throw a volley ball at someone and inflict 1,500,000 damage. Yes, I can even believe that that giant evil whale is the father of  the main protagonist. No, I cannot believe that nun is now a stripper adventurer.