Simple topic. Fire off a game or two that was just a single title that you have always wished would have become a franchise.
I'll start. The most obvious one that many people will likely repeat is Legend of Dragoon. However, one that I liked even more and will always hold out hope for is Skies of Arcadia.
For anyone that doesn't know, Skies is a one hit wonder RPG from the Dreamcast that sports a sky pirate theme and had some nice battle mechanics that involved changing your group's weapon element with Moonstones. It also featured epic sky pirate airship battles that were a lot of fun and a system of recruiting people to live in your town, plying their particular trade to help in the town's growth. This recruitment also served as a way to build up a big attack that the crewmen would join in on, attacking the enemy or healing and/or buffing your party.
Skies received an updated release for the GameCube, but no sequel ever happened, much to many fans' disappointment. One fan even wrote a letter to Sega about the game has achieved cult status. The fan actually received a replay directly from Sega's president with his excuse as to why they never made a sequel. Odd that Skies was big with fans long before the reasons in his reply even existed.
http://www.p4rgaming.com/sega-ceo-we-cant-make-a-skies-of-arcadia-sequel-because-wed-probably-let-you-down/
Quote:
Thank you for taking the time to write to us. Unfortunately, there are currently no plans to release a sequel for Eternal Arcadia (Japanese name for Skies of Arcadia). To be honest, I’m not sure if we even deserve to be in the games business.
Our reputation has taken quite a dive in recent years. We’re still reeling from the repercussions of releasing the 15th Anniversary Sonic the Hedgehog game (commonly known as Sonic 2006). That is forever a mark on our formerly good name.
As a publisher, we can not seem to get our act in order. A release in the United States known as Aliens: Colonial Marines was completely botched by its developer Gearbox and was critically panned. We did absolutely nothing in response. We were just taken advantage of.
Even if we did release an Eternal Arcadia sequel, we can not ensure that the quality would be to your liking. The long-awaited sequel to NiGHTS was also met with negative reviews. How many more people can we afford to let down? I say, none.
There is a reason we are not making Valkyria of the Battlefield 4 (Japanese name for Valkyria Chronicles), we would just mess it up. I was honestly surprised that we could still make a new series that was actually good. Today, I still use this series as justification for keeping our games division alive which is why I can not afford a series decline like Sonic the Hedgehog.
We are running on nostalgia at this point. Sonic Generations used up all the nostalgia we could possibly wring out of the Sonic series and now we are creatively bankrupt. The Sonic & Sega Racing series uses a similar tactic by using characters like Vyse and Alex Kidd to foster nostalgic thoughts.
Please do not get your hopes up for an Eternal Arcadia sequel. Just play the Valkyria of the Battlefield series as Vyse appears in it as a playable character. It may not be the same, but at least you will be playing a good game.
Sincerely,
Satomi Hajime
