10 JRPGs We Desperately Want Sequels For

Sometimes, getting invested in a JRPG can feel like a situationship that falls apart before becoming an actual relationship. You spend all this time getting invested in the story, its characters, and the wider world, yet, once the game ends, that's it. The next game in the franchise takes place in an entirely new location, with new characters who seemingly know nothing of the events of the prior game. After all that time, you'll never see those characters again in a new story.

Sometimes, that's a bittersweet feeling. Others, it can feel like a knife in the heart that'll have you swear off ever playing a JRPG again.

In saying that, it's this trope of re-inventing the wheel that has kept some of the genre's most popular franchises fresh and exciting to this day. Take Final Fantasy and Persona, for example. Each new game in their respective franchises almost never features a continuing storyline, opting for a fresh slate each time. In saying that, there are rare occasions where a sequel or spin-off will manifest itself as the studio recognizes that another story in these worlds with the characters we've fallen in love with is a surefire success.

That's why, for today, we're looking at 10 JRPG's we'd love direct sequels to. Not just another entry in the franchise, not an HD remaster, no, a sequel that looks to continue the story and see how our choices have impacted the world.

8 Final Fantasy X

Is It Too Much to Ask for a X-3?

Ever since Final Fantasy X-2 opened Pandora's box for Square Enix to develop sequels to its numbered titles, fans have heavily requested a third follow-up to the Spira-focused entry. It's not that there's no precedent for a sequel anyway. Final Fantasy X/X'2s remastered edition came with a short story teasing another entry in the series.

This audio drama would be divisive among fans, though, as it would feature Tidus and Yuna squabbling before our blonde-haired hero would kick a bomb, assuming it was a blitzball, and dying. Sin would also return at the end of this audio drama, leaving fans scratching their heads before promptly shelving it into "non-canon" territory.

Tetsuya Nomura and Motomu Toriyama have expressed an interest in returning to the world of Spira, although they shared that no game will go into development until the Final Fantasy 7 remakes are done and dusted. I'd say it's likely we'll get to see more of Spira sometime soon, whether it's as its own fully realized remake, or a third title in the franchise. It's just a matter of when.

7 Pokémon Black & White 2

A Third Time Around

At the time of its release, the Unova region was quite polarizing. For a majority of the game, you could only catch the new Pokémon from the region, and unlike previous entries, it was actually trying to tell a story. Which is why, when Generation Five released the inevitable follow-up, Pokémon Black and White 2, set two years after the events of the original game, it showed what an actual sequel could look like.

In previous generations, the third game was more or less an ultimate, refined version of the game. Here, we get to see Gym Leaders change, the Elite Four become even stronger, and see previous arcs finally have a payoff.

We're due for a Pokémon Black and White 2 remake at some point in the near future, although I'd like Nintendo to instead consider a 2D-HD sequel instead. A lot has been said about how Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl's art style was a blight on the eyes, and it'd be a shame to see Unova given a similar treatment.

There are also a few story threads they can pick up on, with N missing and Team Plasma fracturing amidst Unova rebuilding itself. A third entry has the potential to address these threads while also offering a clean slate to do more within the region.

6 Valkyria Chronicles

A New Perspective On War

It's been eight years since Valkryia Chronicles 4 released, and given that we're in a renaissance of Persona games, I think it's high time the franchise was brought back for a sequel.

This series was a great blend of tactical strategy, never letting you forget the consequences of war through its emotional, character-driven storytelling. The game's combat is also truly one of a kind and is like if XCOM let you control your character in combat, which makes you understand how your 97% chance of hitting can still miss.

Throughout the games, you'll play as regular soldiers navigating the frontlines of war while emotionally coming to terms with how the war is taking its toll on you. The game may have that pretty anime watercolor look, but this aesthetic makes its themes and story hit even harder. The series has also always been about nationalism and xenophobia, and how senseless wars break out in the name of them, which is all a bit relevant right now.

5 Skies of Arcadia

Reach For The Skies & Maybe The Moon

Skies of Arcadia remains an IP with missing potential. You've already got the most killer setup for a sequel that would involve sky pirates, lost civilizations, and getting to explore these new areas all on an airship. JRPGs have always been about discovery, stumbling onto new lands or islands to meet an eccentric culture you'll either befriend or battle.

If Final Fantasy 12 taught me anything, it's that Sky Pirates are also the coolest thing ever, and Skies of Arcadia live up to that promise. In the original game, you play as the globe-trotting adventurers Vyse, AIka, and Fina who travel to different floating islands to prevent an empire from awakening ancient destructive powers.

While it's unrealistic to imagine Sega picking up on the many loose threads the game leaves at the end, there's plenty of potential for a time skip to allow for enough time that traveling to the moons is now a viable act, with us being among the first to venture out and chart these strange new lands.

4 Shin Megami Tensei III

A Return To Interrogate Our Choices 20 Years Later

The Persona series often overshadows Atlus' other series Shin Megami Tensei, which is quite sad, as both have some serious high points. And if you ask me, the series was at its finest with its third iteration, Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne.

This game follows a Tokyo school group, whose trip ends up caught in the middle of a cataclysm which transforms the world into a post-apocalyptic realm called "The Vortex World." Here, reality is remade based on competing philosophies, and it's up to us to shape the new world, strengthen our bonds with friends, and kill a god or two along the way.

Fans already speculate that Shin Megami Tensei 5 is a very loose sequel to the third entry in the series, making the tease of an actual sequel all the more painful knowing a more fleshed out, direct sequel has potential. It wouldn't be unprecedented for the series either, as Shin Megami Tensei 4 would get a spin-off sequel with Apocalypse, giving fans one more chance to revisit its setting.

Of course, needing to settle on a canon ending could split fans. But I think it'd be worth it just to further revisit the ideologies presented within the game and interrogate them 20 years later.

3 Lost Odyssey

A Lengthy Time Jump Ripe For A Series Reboot

Lost Odyssey remains one of gamings saddest missed opportunities. To this day, this underrated gem of a JRPG has stayed trapped on the Xbox 360, and has yet to even receive a PC port. But as Xbox circles the drains trying to get JRPGs onto its platform, there's a prime opportunity here for the taking.

In this delightful JRPG, you play as Kaim, an immortal man who awakens with memory loss. Throughout the game, you recover the character's memories throughout his long life amidst the backdrop of a world facing a major political upheaval and magical catastrophe.

The potential for a sequel is already there, with the opportunity to set the game a few hundred years in the future once more. You could easily have some fun fan service-y moments, where Kaim remembers his adventures from before. As a double whammy, these could also serve as a neat recap to onboard new fans to the series, and hint at its wider spiritual mythology.

2 Bravely Second: End Layer

Get The Series Back On Track

Bravely Second was a fantastic follow-up to Bravely Default, which took turn-based combat's usual mechanics and added new complexity to it. Despite its new name, Bravely Second was a direct continuation to its predecessor, taking place only a few years after the events of the game. Returning characters also pop up in the game to help the connection between the titles, and to keep invested fans happy.

Which is why it was such a bizarre twist for the sequel, Bravely Default 2, would introduce an entirely new cast and world instead of continuing on the foundation they already had. More disappointingly, the narrative was less memorable, which makes its naming convention such a headache to explain.

This hurts even more, as Bravely Second doesn't close the book on some of its broader political and worldbuilding aspects. There are also a few character relationships we still wanted closure on, and are still sad we haven't gotten it yet.

1 The Legend of Dragoon

A Sequel to One of The Most Legendary JRPGs Ever

Legend of Dragoon is one of the most beloved JRPG games of all time. Which is why it's such a head-scratcher that we've never seen a sequel or a remaster in recent years.

What hurts so much about this is that the original game, as amazing as it is, feels like a prologue to something greater. There are several loose plot threads, such as the true nature of the Dragoons and the threat of larger cosmic forces, that hint at so much future potential.

To drive the knife deeper, there apparently was an official Legend of Dragoon 2 sequel in the making. The game's original executive producer, Shuhei Yoshida, confirmed that a sequel had entered a pre-production cycle after the game's breakout success in North America. Ultimately, the sequel would be canceled for reasons unknown, and the team would be split up to tackle other projects, leaving us hanging to this day.

If Final Fantasy XIV has proven anything, it's that gamers still love the concept and aesthetic of Dragoon's, and I see no reason why a game solely dedicated to this power fantasy couldn't succeed in this day and age. Here's hoping that, as major publishers look at their older IPs gathering dust, Sony will look to the franchise for a fresh reboot along with more stories to tell.