Franchises That Should Come Back

Image Credit: Nintendo, Xseed Games

If there’s one thing that every gamer looks forward to, it’s seeing their favorite series get a new entry. However, there are plenty of series that have remained dormant for one reason or another. And that’s what we’re here to talk about today! 

We’ll be looking at four different games and series that I’d like to either see get a new entry, or just have another chance at life. Some of these games have been gone longer than others. These are just a bunch of great games and series that I love, and would love to see get their second (or sometimes third) wind.

Soul Calibur

Image Credit: Bandai Namco

“Transcending history and the world, a tale of souls and swords, eternally retold.”

Out of all of the games on this list, this is probably the only one that will possibly happen in the future. Soul Calibur is one of the pioneers of the 3D fighter genre, along with Tekken (which everyone who plays it seems to hate), Virtua Fighter (which has a new game on the way), and Dead or Alive (which is an ironic name).

I’ll be honest, I don’t have much of a history with this series. Soul Calibur 6 came out when I was in college, and my friends would do a weekly game night where we kept this in the rotation. I also played Soul Calibur 2 on the Switch 2’s GCN Online app. I can safely say that if I had Soul Calibur 2 while I was growing up, I would’ve played that game every chance I had.

I think that a huge boon for Soul Calibur (6 especially) is that you don’t have to do a lot to start making cool stuff happen. This game is fun no matter what your skill level is. When you’re just starting out, it’s fun to push buttons and accidentally make an unblockable happen. And at a high level, it feels incredible to use the full tool kit of your character to get through your opponent’s defences.

And it also helps that every character is just plain fun to play as! While playing Soul Calibur 6 with my friends, I hopped between tons of different characters in this massive 28 character roster. There’s a character for every playstyle. Personally, I like bouncing between Amy, a more technical character who has to slowly unlock her moves during the fight with her Red and White Rose Perceptions, and Cassandra, who likes to hit things really really hard.

Another draw to the Soul Calibur games is the fact that they actually seem to care about single player content. The games usually feature any combination of map-based missions, following individual character stories, or making your own character and following another story in a pseudo-RPG mode. Most fighting games on the market nowadays almost exclusively focus on the online experience, which is important, but there should also be an option for the curious players who don’t want to go online. Or at very least, the game should prepare the player to go online at some point.

Also, could you imagine the guest characters that we could get for this game? Imagine any character in a game with a sword, and they could feasibly have a chance. Imagine getting Kratos. Eve from Stellar Blade. Gustave or Maelle from Expedition 33. Lloyd or Velvet from the Tales of series. Or even Ciri from the upcoming Witcher 4 to go along with Geralt being a guest in SC6. I’ve always observed Tekken from a distance just because I don’t like how it plays. When I see characters like Clive and Noctis from Final Fantasy getting added to those games, I just think how that could be Soul Calibur 7.

BamCo, please. We need more than just Tekken keeping 3D fighters alive. Give me Soul Calibur 7, and my life is yours! I will be this game’s strongest soldier. Or at least update Soul Calibur 6 with Rollback Netcode.

My friends and I have been keeping the flames of Soul Calibur burning over on my Twitch channel (check the VoDs here).

The Last Story

Image Credit: Nintendo, Xseed Games

It’s time for a history lesson. Back in 2011, a petition known as Operation Rainfall began going around the internet. The goal of this petition was to get 3 games on the Wii released in North America that otherwise wouldn’t have. These games are Xenoblade Chronicles, Pandoras Tower, and The Last Story. In the end, the campaign was a success, and the three games were released outside of Japan and Europe. 

Xenoblade Chronicles needs no introduction. Of the three games, this was the biggest one, and it has seen the most success of these three games, getting two sequels, and prequels to the sequels. The whole Xenoblade anthology is available to play on the Nintendo Switch. Pandoras Tower ended up getting re-released on the Wii U’s Virtual Console, so you could have potentially downloaded that while the service was still available. This just leaves The Last Story. This game has not received any kind of re-release at all.

You only need one look at the box of The Last Story to understand why it’s worthy of your time. “A Hironobu Sakaguchi Game” and “Music by Nobuo Uematsu”. These are two legendary names in the RPG genre, and the two of them together usually means something great is in your future.

The story of this game sees Zael and his group of mercenaries on a place called Lazulis Island looking for some work. After some plot shenanigans happen, Zael ends up getting branded with The Mark of the Outsider, signaling him as the one to save Lazulis Island.

Along the way, he also ends up meeting Calista, the heir to her family’s house. And from there, the story begins following their romance, as well as the larger plot at hand. I think that this game does a good job with making their relationship feel believable. It’s done very well, but it’s no Final Fantasy 8.

The music for this game is also top class. It’s Uematsu. This dude is a legend. He’s had a hand in creating tunes for some of the biggest RPGs ever made. The voice acting can be hit or miss. Much like Xenoblade, it features a European voice cast. And while I think that characters like Zael, Calista, and Dagran do a good job, some of the supporting cast could’ve been better. Not Syrenne though. Syrenne is a gem. More games need a loud Scottish woman.

Like I said, this game has never received any kind of re-release, and that’s honestly such a shame. This is a rare Wii game to find nowadays, and if you’re looking to play this officially, you’re looking at anywhere from $120 or more, and that might only get you a disc. This is a hidden gem that is worthy of your time if you’re an RPG enjoyer, or a fan of niche games. We already worked hard to get this game once. It can’t be forgotten a second time.

Sin and Punishment

Image Credit: Nintendo, Treasure

Have you ever found something that feels like it’s uniquely yours? Like it’s your own personal piece of media that no one else knows about? For me, that’s a little series called Sin and Punishment! 

I was first exposed to this series thanks to the release on the Wii (Sin and Punishment Star Successor). Back in the early 2010s this was a game that you could find in all of the bargain bins at stores like Walmart and Target, usually going for $10. And let me just say that it’s the best $10 I’ve ever spent!

For the uninitiated, Sin and Punishment is an on-rails bullet-hell shoot-em-up where your character is equipped with a gun that doubles as a laser sword. Each stage will have you go through a short section where you dispatch enemies before fighting a boss to go to the next section. 

I feel like if this game were to come back it would have to move away from its roots. Unfortunately, I just don’t think that there’s much demand for an on-rails shooter. That genre is a product of the arcade era, which isn’t exactly thriving these days.

So what would I do? I think that turning it into an action game would be the best transition. Give you access to both your gun and laser sword that you could upgrade and buy new moves for. Design stages to have platforming challenges, as well as waves of enemies to clear out. And of course, some cool bosses with variable ways to take them out.

I think that there’s a ton of potential with this series, and if it ever did come back, I’m excited to see who would take up the helm on the project.

The Legend of Dragoon

Image Credit: Sony

Among the slew of RPGs released on the PS1, I think that it’s pretty easy for certain ones to get lost amidst Squaresoft’s stranglehold on the genre, especially those released near the end of the console’s life. One of my favorites being The Legend of Dragoon, originally released on the PS1 in the year 2000.

One thing that drew me to keep playing the game was the combat. This game is a turn-based RPG, but it isn’t just select an attack and move on. This game has a unique combat system with its Addition mechanic. These Additions are moves that you equip before going into a fight, and act like a combo system, having you time button presses when you attack an enemy. 

This “DDR Combat” as it often gets referred to is a ton of fun. I love the process of learning how to do these attacks, and when enemies will counterattack. You’re also only allowed to have one Addition equipped at a time, so it will come down to player preference whether they want long combos for more damage, or a short and simple Addition that can’t be countered.

Honestly, it should be a no brainer for Sony to remake this game. They don’t have a true RPG in their lineup of first party games. They have games with RPG elements, but no real RPG franchise. Legend of Dragoon is their IP, and they’ve done (almost) nothing with it in 25 years! The game did recently get brought to the PlayStation Store, and Dart got a bot in Astro Bot, so they’ve at least acknowledged it, but besides that it’s been totally dormant.

Personally, I’d love to see this game come back as an Action RPG, akin to something like Xenoblade 3 or the Mana games where you can swap control between your party members at any time. Or they could go down the action game route and turn the different Additions into combos for your character to use. There are tons of different ways to modernize this game, and much like with Sin and Punishment, I want to see what creative minds can do with this cool IP!

The Legend of Dragoon is another entry in the ever-expanding list of first party IPs that Sony does nothing with, and that’s such a shame. I think that the fact that Sony is sitting on a potential RPG franchise with such a cool concept is just a waste. Hell, Sony doesn’t even have to remake it. They could do another game under the Dragoon umbrella with all new characters. I just want to see more from this IP, because there’s so much cool stuff that would look amazing on modern hardware.

Closing

And there you have it. Four games that I’d like to see return. Like I said, of all the games on this list, Soul Calibur 7 is the most likely to come back. In a perfect world, I’d like all of them to return eventually. Maybe if the Switch 2 adds some kind of Wii Virtual Console, games like Sin and Punishment 2 and The Last Story can return. And for the love of all that is holy, Sony, please do anything with Legend of Dragoon! It’s way too cool to keep locked to PS1-era designs.

Come back next month where we’ll be taking a look at one of my favorite games that you can’t play any more.