Sequels I Would Love To See

Sometimes you play the fuck the out of a game to the point that there’s literally nothing else, you’re left still wanting more. Sadly, if there was more, it probably wouldn’t be as good, maybe some tacked on at the last minute DLC or whatever, but what about a sequel? Ahhh, but only if it could be as good as the original, right? Well, how about…

Grand Theft Auto Series

GTA has been an interesting series that I’ve had a love/hate relationship with for many years. For many, when they say GTA, they’re referring to GTA3, 4, or possibly something along the line of San Andreas or Vice City. To avoid any confusion, I’m looking at the series as a whole and dishing out what I think, for better or worse.

RPG of the Year – 2011

I was hoping this year would be a little more eventful and tough to pick a top 5, but it really isn’t. Sure, the top 5 are EXCELLENT and there are a few good runner ups, but there are also a lot of terrible MMOs and poorly thought out mobile games. There are 81 games in total, but you probably already know what’s going on the top 5.

Playstation “Classics”

Hey there, Sony! What? Oh, don’t give me that face. Yes, I bashed you in my kinda sorta console wars article, but you’ve still got a great system! Hell, I’ve already invested over $150 in primarily PS1 classics! That’s something, innit? Ah, but of course, I have a problem with these that I feel a need to amend onto my previous statements AND a few suggestions to help you in the future.

The Tales Series

I was first introduced to the Tales series via Tales of Destiny for the PS1. Much like with the Star Ocean series, I never quite understood why we missed the original, but the series in general has always fascinated me. The best way to think about the Tales series is as though it’s Namco’s version of Final Fantasy…except that there’s quite a bit different and far more interesting about it.

For starters, ever since its inception, the Tales games have NOT been turned based. Far from it as combat is full action with only minor delays in certain attacks which allows for combos and all kinds of special techniques to be cast at a moment’s notice. Effectively the series started as an action RPG that allows for side view combat and is very, very fun.

Sadly, there are still a bunch of Tales games that have never surfaced in America…and some that are really terrible that have. All the same, let’s hit all of them, in order, just like I did with the Megami Tensei series.

Megami Tensei

Before I get started, this is something I’ve been wanting to do for a while, but I have to warn you of two things. One, I am NOT the most widely versed individual in SMT. I’m a huge fan and have been for over a decade, but that’s not saying much considering how long the series has been running. And two, while I will be providing as much information as possible, it’s possible I may miss a few titles here and there or otherwise get stuff wrong as I’m mostly going to be referencing Wikipedia.

That said, again, I am a huge fan of SMT, MegaTen, Persona, and whatever. SMT is ever-changing, but one concept that usually remains the same is that of the occult. In many games you may communicate with demons, form demon contracts, recruit demons, fuse demons together, and all kinds of crazy stuff. At times it feels like Pokemon, but with demons, and other times it can operate more like Eye of the Beholder, but with demons.

Naturally, the key word is demons, but sometimes they’re referred to as persona, shadows, monsters, and whatever else, sometimes to get around the censors and other times because they’re not really demons within the SMT universe. Again, this will ATTEMPT to be a giant, canonical listing of all SMT titles, but it’s possible I may skip a few, so I implore you to investigate on your own time as well.

Before we get started, I will try to be as chronologically correct as possible. However, I will also try to present the original North American release date when possible as well. This may get confusing as games like Innocent Sin, originally released in 1999 on the PS1, but never released until the remake on the PSP far later in North America are always a possibility.

According to Wikipedia, the MegaTen series is the third most popular RPG series in Japan, just barely being inched out by Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy. Read on to find out why.

The Simpsons Games

In 2007, the unthinkable happened: a genuinely GOOD Simpsons game was made. Yes, for a cartoon series that has been around for decades they sure did produce a lot of crappy games. And we’ll get to the good Simpsons game in a minute, but for right now, I wanted to highlight the cacophony crapshoot that was an endless series of failures in the Simpsons megaverse.

Mana Khemia – Alchemists of Al-Revis

General Overview

Alchemy goes magical in this magical academy outing from the makers of Atelier Iris. Quite an impressive array of new features are available, though many slow both the game and character development down. All the same, if you’re a fan of any of the Atelier games, it may still be worth checking out.

Manhunt 2

General Overview

Gore, violence, death, destruction, mayhem, murder, and plenty of other stuff you’d expect from just about any Rockstar game included all in one little package. Manhunt 2 gives us more, more, more…though it does end up a bit censored and kinda silly by the end of it. All the same, if you’re a fan of the original, it’s definitely worth checking out.

RPG of the Year – 2010

Same rules apply. I’ve cross referenced and double checked all the games on this list to confirm where and when they came out. North American release dates only and if I was unable to play the game, then I can’t count it. Again, I apologize if your favorite game didn’t make the top 5 and it could be because of what I just explained, but there are 43 games this year, so let’s hop to it!