It’s hard to imagine a world without Final Fantasy in it. That series has been going strong since 1987 in Japan with seemingly no end in sight. A good Western equivalent would be The Elder Scrolls series 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.

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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.

8 Alpha Protocol

Interrogating an NPC in Alpha Protocol

Alpha Protocol was a spy-based action RPG by 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 when Fallout New Vegas launched. Both games improved over time with patches, but unlike Fallout New Vegas, Alpha Protocol cannot be easily accessed on consoles as it is not backward compatible with Xbox consoles.

7 Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

Fighting enemies in Kingdoms of Amalur

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning was 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 an open-world action RPG which 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.

6 Pokemon Conquest

Promo art featuring characters in Pokemon Conquest

Pokemon Conquest was a crossover tactical RPG between the Pokemon franchise and Nobunaga’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.

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Pokemon Conquest had these historical generals wield Pokemon with gameplay resembling something more like Final 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.

5 Radiant Historia

Promo art featuring characters in Radiant Historia

Radiant Historia was a turn-based RPG with a time-based twist. Players could affect different points in history to solve puzzles akin to Chrono Trigger but 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.

4 Skies Of Arcadia

Aika and Vyse in Skies Of Arcadia

Skies of Arcadia is 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 the Valkyria Chronicles series. That’s a nice nod for fans but it’s not the same thing as getting a sequel.

3 Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood

Promo art featuring characters in Sonic Chronicles

Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood was 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 normal Sonic game.

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When an enemy approached, gameplay switched to a turn-based RPG. The battle system was similar to the Mario RPG games where timing was everything. It wasn’t as deep as some other BioWare games but it was a good first attempt.

2 Vagrant Story

Fighting a boss in Vagrant Story

Vagrant Story is technically part of the Final Fantasy series since it takes place in Ivalice. That’s the universe Final Fantasy Tactics is 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 to Parasite 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.

1 World Of Final Fantasy

A scene featuring characters in World Of Final Fantasy

World of Final Fantasy was like a celebration of the entire Final Fantasy series up to that point. It starred two teenagers lost in a world filled with classic characters. It was like Kingdom Hearts but if that series only cared about Final Fantasy.

It was also like the Pokemon games 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.

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