Some video game worlds make absolutely no sense at all. Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, for example, is wildly absurd to think that in the year 2025, pirate galleons would be sailing around Hawaii like it was the 1600s. Make no mistake, that game is fun, but it is a logical mess.
There are games with better world-building in the RPG genre, even if not everything makes total sense. There is logic in games like Final Fantasy 7 and Tom Clancy’s The Division, for example. So, let’s see how these two examples build their worlds along with several others.
Note
No spoilers will be discussed when describing these worlds.
Final Fantasy 7
The Planet’s Tears
Final Fantasy 7 sticks out among Final Fantasy games because of how much it relates to everyday life. The game starts in Midgar, the biggest city on the planet, which is run by an electric company called Shinra. To power the city, they siphon off the planet’s Mako Energy and distribute it to people for a fee, but in doing so, they have caused the planet to rot. Once players get outside of Midgar’s walls, they will see for themselves just how bleak the area around the city is.
What’s more, Shinra became too powerful as a corporation and turned its attention elsewhere to find other areas to create reactors in, and they even fought wars to procure land. The idea of a big corporation funding wars is not unlike the interests of real corporations, which is why Final Fantasy 7 is so relatable. Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth do a good job expanding Shinra's lore, too.
Fallout: New Vegas
All Hail The King
Fallout: New Vegastakes place mostly in the Vegas region of Nevada in a post-apocalyptic setting. Since the area was once the height of pop culture in terms of offering people a variety of entertainment, it makes sense that so many factions would branch out from the literal fallout of nuclear war. Some factions worship Elvis, the Romans, even the very idea of Vegas itself.
The entire Fallout universe is built on idol worship already: the currency is based on bottles collected from soda, as an example. It’s not that far off to worship the king of rock and roll, either, as there’s not much else to believe in without a real government in Fallout: New Vegas.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
The Age Gap
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a turn-based RPG, and it has one of the most diabolical setups for a game ever. The Paintress is a witch who kills entire generations of people based on their age, with the titular Expedition 33 on the chopping block next. Their goal to defeat her is noble, and as they progress through foreign and odd worlds, they will discover notes from those expeditions that came before, along with piles of dead bodies.
It’s grim, but it makes sense that there would be a trail of corpses leading up to The Paintress, as this has been going on for decades, and no one has succeeded in stopping her yet. Everything makes even more sense in the end because, as good as the narrative is to make the world seem fitting, the mid-game twist is the true eye-opener. It will make players go, “Oh, that’s why this game is the way it is.”
Chrono Trigger
Time Heals All Wounds
Chrono Trigger makes good use of its time-travel idea to tell its story logically. The game starts in the present, but then goes back to what is essentially the Middle Ages. There are several different eras, including an ice age at the height of civilization, the future, and even a prehistoric age. The map essentially changes each time, but the ways it does make sense given what happens in each era, and how those effects ripple through time. Also, there are stories and side quests that track across the ages, thus giving players a more effective example of how time can change things.
For example, one quest involves leaving the robot companion, Robo, in the past for hundreds of years to help grow a forest, and when players time-travel to the present, the forest is there, along with Robo, who can be repaired. Beyond words, Chrono Trigger is a classic, whether fans agree that it makes sense or not.
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This article originally appeared on GameRant and is republished here with permission.
