Move Over Time Loops, 2022 Is The Year Of The Multiverse
thegamer.com2021 was a banner year for time loops. TheGamer's official Game of the Year was a time loop game: The Forgotten City. Yes, we are that cool and chic. This year it'll probably be Elden Ring, just like every other site's will be - how gauche and predictable. Alongside The Forgotten City, we had Returnal (which used bullet hell roguelike mechanics to explore the loop of defeat, victory, and self flagellation), Deathloop (which sets fascinating time traps but never fully explains itself), Lemnis Gate (Halo, but if it was time loop chess), and 12 Minutes (incest). In 2022, the time loop fad is out, baby. All I want in my life right now is multiverse. Multiple multiverses, all versing in multiple ways!
The biggest example of this is MultiVersus, so much of a multiverse game that's basically its name. It's essentially Smash Bros., but Warner Bros. characters. What's interesting is, while Smash just kinda shrugs and goes 'look, Bayonetta is fighting Pikachu!', MultiVersus has made greater attempts to explain why it exists within a multiverse. The Iron Giant, a bastion for peace in his own story (that is literally the entire point of the story), is no longer a pacifist. Because he's from a different multiverse and is therefore canonically different. I have no idea why the answer isn't just 'it's fun'. Velma as we know her from Scooby-Doo would never actually punch Jake the Dog, but in MultiVersus she runs him over with a car.
Related: All Hail Reindog, MultiVersus' Loveable Mascot
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin also played with this idea. It's a reboot of the first Final Fantasy - except it's not - which brings in iconic areas from other Final Fantasy games - except it doesn't - and takes place in the canon of Final
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