Once the underdog in the gaming space, Sony has become well known for developing weird and innovative new franchises and cultivating a dedicated fanbase. However, some of those franchises never got the time to fully develop into what they could have been.
Whether they be grand RPGs that didn’t get the sequel they needed or bold, smaller projects that could have developed into something iconic, these games represent franchises that were on the cusp of possibly being something greater.
As one of the earliest examples of Sony attempting to generate new RPG franchises,The Legend of Dragoonis a now underplayed but brilliant game with a dedicated fanbase to this day, desperately hoping for a sequel that might one day arrive.
The game is well-loved for its incredible story, its combat system that integrated button timings into a traditional JRPG combat system, and an incredible soundtrack by Dennis Martin and Takeo Miratsu that has far outlived the game itself. It’s hard not to wonder what sequels could have been, especiallysince the recent availability on PS5 has proved the incredible popular of the franchise.
After the stunning success ofLittleBigPlanet, it was easy to see Sony was looking to flesh out their first party efforts with more games that took advantage of community-created content, which is exactly whereModNation Racerscame in as a potential competitor totheMario Kartgames.
Featuring advanced customization options that allow custom karts, characters, and racetracks, the game had a small but dedicated community that still fondly remembers the game to this day. Sequels fleshing out the promising premise would be hugely welcomed by the PlayStation community and kart-racing enthusiasts.
The early 2010s were something of an indie game revolution with unprecedented amounts of gamers trying weird and wonderful small-scale titles, with few embodying the sheer creativity and weirdness of the time more thanTokyo Jungle.
Players assumed the role of various animals wandering through the abandoned ruins of Tokyo, investigating the mystery of the now absent humans. Featuring a notably adorable Pomeranian as the game’s protagonist, it grew a delighted audience that never got to see the weird and wonderful ways the franchise could have developed further,so it absolutely deserves a sequel.
TheWild Armsfranchise has always been an underdog, and the 2002 entryWild Arms 3is often seen as the very pinnacle of the franchise, even if it would prove to be the lastWild Armsgame ever made.
Taking the brilliance of old-school JRPG combat mechanics and placing it in the unique context of the Wild West and Western-inspired locales,Wild Arms 3let players tackle the story in whatever they chose, cultivating a massive and dedicated fanbase that still hope for a revival sometime in the near futureeven as new games come out that are clearly inspired by whatWild Armspioneered.
There are some games in the Sony catalog that didn’t just die too soon, instead dying for seemingly no good reason. Such is the case withParappa the Rapper, whichis a firm fan favorite, long exceeding its short life on consoles well into the modern day, with the titular character being considered a PlayStation icon.
Taken on an absurd and funny adventure through the 2D world of the Rapper, the actual game was a fairly simple rhythm game, but it was infused with clear infectious joy for the art of rapping. It’s a genuine puzzle why Sony has never tried to recapture this old piece of PS1 magic.
When the PS4 released, there was a lot of excitement about the clear graphical leap and the incredible cinematic texture many of its games may be able to achieve, withThe Order: 1886being the standard-bearer for all things that symbolized the future.
Unfortunately, the game critically and commercially bombed on release — despite its incredibly compelling setting — due to justified concerns about its gameplay. Yet, in recent years, fans have been rediscoveringThe Order: 1886as an underappreciated ugly duckling of the Sony stable,and one that could have definitely ironed out the kinks with a sequel.
Despite only having three entries, the most recent being in 2005, theApe Escapefranchise is a well-beloved series of games with a wicked sense of humor that fused absurdish fun with genuinely addictive gameplay, all in pursuit of those darn monkeys.
Though fans are generally split between whetherApe Escape 2orApe Escape 3is best, 2 feels to be the strongest evocation of the game’s central charm, and it remains a constant comfort to go back to now that it has made their way to the Classics Catalogue.
TheSmash Bros.franchise is so dominant in the world of 2D character brawlers that it’s seen as near lunacy to try and compete, but compete Sony did with the underloved but genuinely brilliantPlayStation All-Stars Battle Royalethat celebrated the strange but compelling cast of Sony characters.
The game both meaningfully innovated on theSmash Brosformula while paying homage to both the big Sony characters and some niche classics. It felt like a brilliant platform to celebrate the company’s history (something thatAstro Botis doing these days),so it’s a shame that it petered out before it ever got a chance to build its bonafides.
