Games with Lengthy Timelines
What are the best games with lengthy timelines? From ancient civilizations to futuristic worlds, we’ve got 10 games that take place over thousands and even millions of years.
Looking for the longest game timeline in history? You’ve come to the right place. A lot of us wonder how long the games we play have been in development, but what about the worlds they take place in? There are a lot of games with expansive timelines out there, from ancient civilizations to futuristic worlds.
While we can’t time travel to the past or future, we can still get a glimpse into the vastness of time and imagination. These games might have had the benefit of being in development for years on end, but we’re still going to judge them by the same standards as any other game. A truly great game is a truly great game, no matter how old the idea for it is. So, to the games that span the ages, with the help of the best PC games, of course.
Bayonetta
Bayonetta takes place on a lengthy timeline full of history between Umbra Witches and Lumen Sages. There is also the Bayonetta Multiverse, which we won’t go into here in case you want to discover it yourself. Time could be relative in the series, but we do know that Bayonetta 2 takes place 14 years after the first game and Bayonetta 3 is set centuries after the second game.
There are also characters that are referenced in Bayonetta that existed in the past, but we don’t know how far in the past. We do know that Bayonetta existed in the 17th century and Jeanne was around in the Middle Ages. It’s also possible that Rodin and The Masked Lumen existed in the Middle Ages as well.
While Bayonetta 2 is set 14 years after the first game, it also takes place after the events of the first game, so Bayonetta technically existed for 28 years before the second game took place. Oh, and time is also relative to your combat skills, so the older Bayonetta gets in the second game, the better she is at fighting demons.
So, by the end of Bayonetta 2, Bayonetta is technically in her 30s or 40s, but she looks like a 20-something or 30-something. The first game was inked and designed during the Wii era, so we’re guessing Bayonetta is around 40 years old at the start of the first game.
Warframe
Warframe’s story is set 1,000 years after the Tenno War, but the world itself might be older. Considering the Orokin Empire’s ability to terraform other planets, the world might be much, much older. The official lore is that the war between the Orokin and the nascent Tenno raged for decades before the warframe’s ultimately won and dismantled the Orokin Empire.
However, the world of Warframe is still populated by Orokin technology, and there is even an Orokin Void also named The Conclave that is filled with Orokin Artifacts, so Orokin technology and architecture is still very much in use.
Horizon: Zero Dawn
Horizon: Zero Dawn’s world is more than 1,000 years old, even if you take the official timeline into account. Even if you consider the official lore, the world of Horizon: Zero Dawn is much older than 1,000 years. The Faro Plague happened during 2064, placing the game more than 3,000 years into the future.
Civilization 6
Civilization 6 allows you to manipulate events and build civilizations beyond what real life has seen. And what better way to do that than to control the course of history itself? You can play from Year 2 up to Year 9999 with the Extended Timeline modification. And that’s not even getting into the many fan-made Civilization 6 mods to play with.
Genshin Impact
Genshin Impact features a millenniums-old god and a story that occurs 500 years after The Cataclysm. Oro, the god of war, is a being that has existed for 1000 years before the story of Genshin Impact. Oro is also a long-life species, as Orokin are Oro’s offspring, and Orokin can live for up to 500 years.
Aether and Lumine might be older than any of the gods and long-life species in Teyvat, but their true age remains unknown. Teyvat is a world where gods and goddesses once existed, but all of them were slain by the ancient Orokin Emperor. Aether and Lumine are two of the five godly weapons, and they have the power to bring back the dead.
Europa Universalis
Europa Universalis can be played from Year 2 up to Year 9999 with the Extended Timeline modification. The Europa Universalis 4 wiki describes the extended timeline mod as follows: “While it is not possible to play after AD 9999 due to the limitations of the Europa Universalis 4 engine, you can play until this date in multiplayer and in single player using the Extended Timeline Mod.”
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is set in the year 40,000, where interstellar chaos has become the norm. Humans in the Warhammer universe have not changed much despite thousands of years of existence. Space Marines are basically immortal and the entire universe is littered with references to Chaos and the Horus Heresy.
While Warhammer 40,000 has a rich backstory, the game itself takes place in the 41st millennium. If you’re looking for something a little closer to home, Space Hulk: Tactics is set during the 40th millennium, pitting two Space Marine Terminators against the Genestealers.
