Summary
- Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles is set for release in September 2025 with new enhancements like voiceovers.
- Valkyria Chronicles, Vandal Hearts, and Metal Gear Acid all long overdue for sequels or remasters.
- Tear Ring Saga, a series by the creator of Fire Emblem, may be dead, but it deserves an official Western release for fans.
Final Fantasy Tactics, for the longest time, was an abandoned tactical RPG series. Square Enix released three main games, ported some of them, and then continued to expand the series beyond the DS. There were spiritual successors within Square Enix, like The DioField Chronicle and Triangle Strategy, but no new games until Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles was announced.
10 Best Discontinued JRPG Series That Deserve A Comeback, Ranked
These classic JRPG series had strong stories, gameplay, and worlds that would shine with modern remakes or sequels.
Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles is set to release in September 2025, featuring new enhancements like voiceover work. It’s not a new game in the series, but it’s a start. Can these other discontinued tactical RPG series earn themselves a comeback in 2025, 2026, or beyond? These will be ranked based on how long they’ve been gone as a series, and how deserving they are of a comeback.
Valkyria Chronicles
A New Evolution For Tactical JRPGs Shot Dead
Valkyria Chronicles
- Released
- October 31, 2008
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T For Teen Due To Animated Blood, Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Use of Tobacco, Violence
- Genre(s)
- RPG, Tactical, Third-Person Shooter
- Last Game: Valkyria Chronicles 4 (2021)
Valkyria Chronicles was initially released for the PS3 in 2008, but it has since been ported more than any other game in the franchise. Instead of moving characters on a grid, characters were free to roam wherever their energy meter could take them, and enemies could fire freely to emulate a real battlefield. When players stopped their character, enemy gunfire would also cease, and then players could aim their weapons manually at targets.
There were a good number of sequels and spinoffs in this series for a decade, with Valkyria Chronicles 4 being the final new game released in 2018. It’s been seven years since a new Valkyria Chronicles was released, although technically, Valkyria Chronicles 4 was re-released on Amazon Luna in 2021. A new game would please fans, but so would an official English language version of Valkyria Chronicles 3, which has remained trapped on the PSP since 2011.
Shining Force
Sega’s Once Popular Rival To Fire Emblem
Shining Force
- Released
- July 13, 1993
- ESRB
- E // Mild Animated Violence
- Publisher(s)
- Sega
- Genre(s)
- RPG, Tactical
- Last Game: Blade Arcus Rebellion from Shining (2019)
Sega’s Shining series started as a dungeon-crawler for the Sega Genesis in 1991, titled Shining in the Darkness, but after that, it mostly became a tactical RPG series. Shining Force made its debut on Western shores in 1993 on the Sega Genesis, serving as a strong rival to Fire Emblem, which was largely unknown in the West at the time. The last Shining game was Blade Arcus Rebellion from Shining, which was a 2019 Japan-only enhanced version of Blade Arcus from Shining, both of which are fighting games.
Discontinued
These Nintendo console features have all been discontinued, which is a shame as they were all excellent ideas.
It’s been a while since the last pure tactical episode in the series, which almost happened in 2022 with Shining Force: Heroes of Light and Darkness. It was a remake collection of Shining Force, Shining Force 2, and Shining Force CD, but it was canceled. Needless to say, when a game gets canceled, it isn't a good sign for the series as a whole.
Namco X Capcom
A Bizarre Crossover Hybrid
- Developer: Monolith Soft
- Publisher: Namco
- Released: May 26, 2005 (Japan)
- Platform: PS2
- Last Game: Project X Zone 2 (2016)
Namco x Capcom was released on the PS2 in 2005, and true to its name, the game crossed over Namco and Capcom characters, such as those from the Tekken and Mega Man franchises. Characters would move on traditional grid-based maps, but when they made contact with targets, gameplay would shift into almost an action game. The game never saw daylight in North America, but the two spiritual successors did.
North America got Project X Zone in 2013 and Project X Zone 2 in 2016, both for the 3DS. This time, Sega was added to the mix, so characters from Valkyria Chronicles showed up, for example. It might be better to say that there hasn’t been a Project X Zone game since 2016, since the two series are slightly different, but altogether, these crossover RPGs are begging for remasters or a sequel.
Vandal Hearts
Konami’s Short-Lived Tactical Series
Vandal Hearts
- Released
- March 27, 1997
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Animated Blood and Gore, Animated Violence
- Genre(s)
- Tactical, JRPG
- Last Game: Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment (2010)
Vandal Hearts was released on the PS1 in 1997, a year after Japan received its tactical graces. Compared to many grid-based tactical RPGs, the amount of blood was significant back then, which is laughable now in all of its pixel glory. In 1999, another gamein the series arrived on the PS1, and after that, Konami quietly retired the series for the first time. Vandal Hearts reemerged in 2010 on the Xbox 360 and PS3 with the digital-only release of Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment.
Fans weren’t thrilled about it back then, but it’s not a bad game in any way. Development was handed over to an outside party, Hijinx Studios, who also made Silent Hill HD Collection and Frogger Returns for Konami. Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment is the only game in the series that is easily accessible nowadays, thanks to backwards compatibility on modern Xbox consoles. There were attempts before this to make a game on the DS around 2004, but plans fell through.
Metal Gear Acid
Snake Gets Into Card Collecting
Metal Gear Acid
- Released
- March 22, 2005
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- Mature 17+
- Genre(s)
- Stealth, Digital Card Game
- Last Game: Metal Gear Acid (2008)
Metal Gear Acid was released in 2005, a year after Japan, for the PSP. It was a launch game for the system in both Japan and North America, which is notable for the Metal Gear franchise, despite it being a weird spinoff. Stealth was still incorporated into the gameplay, but Snake and his partner, Teliko, could only be moved or take actions on the grid-based map by using the right cards.
5 Discontinued Action Games That Almost Changed The Genre (& 5 That Are In Development)
Some action games never manage to see the light of day, even if they could have changed everything about the genre.
It was a tactical card RPG, which may sound strange, but it worked well enough to greenlight a sequel. Metal Gear Acid 2 was released in 2006 in North America and sported a new cel-shaded look, plus Snake got a replacement partner, Venus. Both games were ported to European mobile services in 2008, and then that was it. Despite a remake coming soon, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, the future of the Metal Gear franchise seems grim, especially regarding Metal Gear Acid.
Tear Ring Saga: Chronicles Of War Hero Yutona
The Creator Of Fire Emblem Starts Anew
Tear Ring Saga: Chronicles of War Hero Yutona
- Released
- May 24, 2001
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- nr
- Genre(s)
- Tactical, JRPG
- Last Game: Tear Ring Saga: Berwick Saga (2005)
Shouzou Kaga helped create the Fire Emblem series in 1990 for Nintendo and Intelligent Systems in Japan. His last game was Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 in 1999 for the Super Famicom, SNES in the West, and then Kaga left to start his own company, Tirnanog. After some hard work, a spiritual successor to Fire Emblem was released in 2001 on the PS1 in Japan called Tear Ring Saga: Chronicles of War Hero Yutona.
The battle system, artwork, grid-based maps, and everything in between looked identical to Fire Emblem. Many Wiki sites tend to list Kaga’s games under Fire Emblem, no matter what title they bear. There was one sequel to this series on the PS2 in 2005, which was also exclusive to Japan. Kaga took a break from development but then re-emerged with a second spiritual successor series, Vestaria Saga, in 2016. Since Kaga has moved on, Tear Ring Saga: Chronicles of War Hero Yutona is probably long dead, but it would behoove somebody to officially re-release these games in the West, given that fan translations already exist.
8 Best Square Enix Games That Get Better As You Play
These Square Enix games may start out slowly, but the more time you invest, the better they become, with some turning into absolute classics.