Bradford recently penned an article on MMO remasters or remakes and that got me thinking about sequels, not just MMO sequels, but sequels for games or series long dormant in general. The last couple of years have been kind of surreal in that most of the projects I’d dreamt of seeing revived but never expected to actually happen somehow did.
Star Wars: Squadrons, Final Fantasy VII Remake, Resident Evil 2 Remake, Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2, the list goes on. Heck, even City of Heroes came back…sort of. It’s been a wild couple of years on this front and while I’m mostly satisfied at this point, there are some games that still haven’t (and probably never will) see sequels. These are just a couple of sequels I’d still like to see.
Final Fantasy Tactics 2
Yes, we got Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and its sequel, but those games don’t really capture the more mature themes and setting of the original game. FFT made a huge impact on me when it originally released in 1998 and while there are a couple of games that have come close in recapturing that magic, such as Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together and perhaps Jeanne d’Arc, there still isn’t a proper sequel or even another game series that fully scratches the itch for me.
I’m replaying the original game with a mod right now and it’s been a great time so far, but I wish Square Enix would stop teasing me with all sorts of Ivalice content, from FF12, to FFT content in FFXIV or mobile games like Brave Exvius and War of the Visions, and just do a damn sequel at this point. You like Ivalice, we like Ivalice, make it happen.
No One Lives Forever 3
This one is 100% never happening. The IP is stuck in one of the most insane rights limbos I’ve ever seen and I don’t expect it to ever be resolved, which is a shame. No One Lives Forever and its sequel No One Lives Forever 2 were not only excellent shooters in their own right, but they were also exceptionally written comedy games. Some games are funny, sure, but how many games are actual comedies? Writing comedy is challenging enough outside of games, making games like NOLF a rare treat. Kirk Hamilton has written some excellent pieces on the series over at Kotaku over the years, and I highly recommend reading them to learn more about the series and its superspy protagonist, Cate Archer. I’d love to see a sequel, but alas, it’s never to be.
Sid Meier’s Pirates! 2
2004’s Pirates! is itself a remake of the original 1987 release on the Commodore 64, and is as far as I’m concerned the ultimate pirate game experience. Everything from sailing, trade, naval battles, fencing, sword fighting and even land warfare are accounted for in Pirates!. The closest game to the original that comes to mind is the indie game Windward, but these days we also have Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag and Sea of Thieves. Still, Pirates! was a unique game that truly captured the breadth of the pirate experience and Civilization 6’s upcoming new Pirates multiplayer mode looks to be a condensed version of the Pirates! experience and has me jonesing for a sequel even more. Thanks for the tease, Firaxis! New Pirates! game when?!
What are some game sequels you’d like to see? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
