As I said, they are trying to push it hard. Though I never really considered even Doom 64 as part of the same continuity as the original games. What comes after Doom 2 to me is TNT and Plutonia. They were parts of official releases and in their story text screens, they refer to the same Doomguy from Doom 1 & 2. Also, No Rest for the Living could retroactively be added to that continuity as they set it directly after Doom 2.

That wouldn't be possible as Doom 64 directly contradicts that, with Doomguy getting "stuck in hell" or whatever. As it came a year later than Plutonia's official release, that initial contradiction is where the split between the original continuity and the reboots happens to me and why I will never consider them the same character. They can try to say otherwise, but my canon is set in stone:

Doomguy - the heroic marine that made his way all the way from Phobos back to Earth and thwarted Hell's invasion, continuing on to become a respected commander, and thwarting further attempts to conquer humanity.

Doomslayer - the PTSD ridden (Doom 64 story literally says that), trapped in hell tard-rager from Doom 64 that got reawakened for the reboots.

Not to mention I really disliked the "story" of Doom 2016 and from what I've seen of Eternal, they took the cringe to the next level.

But who shrieks in the comic book, "You have big muscles, that means you have big guts! RIP AND TEAR!"?

Bob Doom. He's a traveling shotgun salesman.

Does anyone actually play Doom for its story? I sure as hell don't.

* laughs*

The story sets the scene and you go from there. It would just be mindless shooting if not for the story ... that's my excuse anyway. I also have to find every secret, all part of becoming the Doomguy.

Even the original Doom had a story, seee attached screenshot , extract from the doom manual.
But once ingame, rip&tear , the old 1996 comics ( https://www.doomworld.com/10years/doomcomic/ ) explained it so well :D

Still waiting for Unreal

Exactly. You don't play game like Doom or Serious Sam for the story, but the setting and even the minimalistic lore mentioned in the games gives a sense of purpose to what you are doing in-game. It's a small thing but quite important, to me at least. If a game just said "Here's 32 random levels, go shoot things", I'm not sure my first playthrough of Doom 2 would have been nearly as enjoyable.

Yep, same here. I need a reason to go on a killing spree.