It’s hard to imagine a world withoutFinal Fantasyin it. That series has been going strong since 1987 in Japan with seemingly no end in sight. A good Western equivalent would beThe Elder Scrollsseries which began in 1994 for MS-DOS systems. Both of those franchises have tons of mainline games and spinoffs in them with sequels to those spinoffs too.
RELATED:Best Turn-Based RPGs On The Nintendo Switch
Then there are the RPGs that weren’t so lucky. It’s hard to say why these examples never got any sequels as most were reviewed well. There is still hope for these one-off RPGs yet, but for now, all that can be done is to remember them fondly. They include some spinoffs from bigger series too.
8Alpha Protocol
Alpha Protocolwas aspy-based action RPGby Obsidian Entertainment from 2010 for a variety of platforms like the Xbox 360. It was one of the few RPGs at this time that was an original concept from them. It featured many of their standard mechanics such as deep dialogue choices that could change the course of the story.
Unfortunately, the bugs behind the scenes made it hard to enjoy, just like whenFallout New Vegaslaunched. Both games improved over time with patches, but unlikeFallout New Vegas,Alpha Protocolcannot be easily accessed on consoles as it is not backward compatible with Xbox consoles.
7Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoningwas released in 2012 for various platforms such as the PS3. It had lofty ambitions to create a franchise from the gate. The first step was creating anopen-world action RPGwhich would then lead to an MMO.
The MMO never happened and the studio, 38 Studios, closed in 2012 soon after the game launched despite decent reviews. In 2018 THQ Nordic bought the rights and subsequently re-released the game in 2020 seemingly in the hopes that it would drum up support for a sequel. As of now, no sequel has been announced and it may not happen at all.
6Pokemon Conquest
Pokemon Conquestwas a crossover tactical RPG betweenthePokemonfranchiseandNobunaga’s Ambition. The latter of the two series is probably more foreign to Western players as most games were exclusive to Japan. They are a series of strategy simulation games featuring historical figures such as Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
RELATED:JRPGs To Play If You Loved The World Ends With You
Pokemon Conquesthad these historical generals wield Pokemon with gameplay resembling something more likeFinal Fantasy Tactics. It was a weird 2012 spinoff for the DS but it was also great, making it sad there were never any follow-ups.
5Radiant Historia
Radiant Historiawasa turn-based RPG with a time-based twist. Players could affect different points in history to solve puzzles akin toChrono Triggerbut on a smaller scale. It was released in 2011 in North America on the DS toward the end of the handheld’s life cycle. It was later ported with some additional content in 2018 for the 3DS. It still never got the opportunity to continue past that port though despite good reviews with both versions.
4Skies Of Arcadia
Skies of Arcadiais an RPG fans have been itching to get a sequel to since 2000. This sky pirate adventure began on the Dreamcast before getting a GameCube port in 2003 in North America. That was the last time it was ported, joining the ranks of so many GameCube games trapped on the system.
Characters from the game, such as the main character Vyse, have made it into theValkyria Chroniclesseries. That’s a nice nod for fans but it’s not the same thing as getting a sequel.
3Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhoodwas a DS spinoff in 2008 that was made in collaboration with BioWare. Players could explore the world with a top-down viewpoint as if they were playing a normalSonicgame.
RELATED:Best RPG Games Based On Anime
When an enemy approached, gameplay switched to a turn-based RPG. The battle system was similar to theMario RPGgames where timing was everything. It wasn’t as deep as some other BioWare games but it was a good first attempt.
2Vagrant Story
Vagrant Storyis technically part of theFinal Fantasyseries since it takesplace in Ivalice. That’s the universeFinal Fantasy Tacticsis set in, but the connection is never strictly said in the game. It was an action game with horror elements and a targeting system close toParasite Eve.
It was released in 2000 for the PS1 and has remained playable thanks to backward compatibility on PS3 along with the digital ports to play on PSP and PS Vita. This game never went away for hardcore fans, but it hasn’t been in the spotlight for decades.
1World Of Final Fantasy
World of Final Fantasywas like a celebration of theentireFinal Fantasyseriesup to that point. It starred two teenagers lost in a world filled with classic characters. It was likeKingdom Heartsbut if that series only cared about Final Fantasy.
It was also like thePokemongames because players could befriend monsters and add them to the team. It was released in 2016 for the PS4 and PS Vita. In 2018 it was ported to other consoles and that’s the last time Square Enix has brought it up.
