No matter how much game developers try to pass themselves off as being ‘For the gamers’ and how great they seemingly are in their interactions with players, the video game is still an industry. And just like other industries, money has an extremely great voice. If a video game sells well or seems to have positive impacts on the gaming community, chances are, it would find itself having a sequel. Otherwise, it would be abandoned and left to the dust of time and vintage game collectors.
There are also plenty of other reasons for developers to keep on dragging a game series on and on. But we probably would never know the true reasons behind them. However, one thing that we do know is that there are games out there we have been waiting for quite some time to finish off their trilogies. Some have slipped off the radar for just a couple years, and some have gone dark for nearly decades.
If the idea interests you, here are 10 trilogies for you to sift through.
Of course, there will be spoilers, so beware.
The Conduit (Wii)
The Wii was quite a phenomenon back in the late 2000s, and The Conduit was one of the more titles made for the motion-based gaming console.
Technically, it is quite an ambitious first-person shooter game based on the premise of aliens invading and capturing the White House. The first game launched to the public in 2009 and a sequel, The Conduit 2, emerged in 2011.
But the thing that makes people still waiting with bated breath for the third installment of the game is the ending of The Conduit 2. It turns out that Abraham Lincoln and George Washington were still alive for some reasons and far from the historical pictures in your AP U.S. History textbook, they looked like they just walked out of a sci-fi conference.
It’s one of the most mind-blowing and possibly even some of the weirdest cliffhangers in the history of gaming and it is such a shame that we might never see how everything concludes.
Bushido Blade (PS1)
It might be a little bit of an exaggeration to say that Bushido Blade is an “unfinished trilogy”. But considering the fact that the developers said that the series has a storyline and there are two games … oh well. The first Bushido Blade launched on the original PS1 console in 1997, with the second game being released just a year later in 1998. There’s a connected storyline through both of the games but that’s far from the thing that we’re looking for: We just want to enjoy the classic fighting mechanics for one more time.
Mega Man Legends (PS1, PC)
The story first began in North America, 1998 when Mega Man Legends hit the store for PS1. Two years later in 2000, the sequel was released and ended with Mega Man Trigger stuck on the Moon while Roll and Tron got on a rocket with the hope of saving him.
That’s the ultimate cliffhanger for fans and unfortunately, we have been waiting for almost two decades to get a sequel to no avail. Capcom came really close to resolving all of that with Mega Man Legends 3 to be released on the 3DS … up until the game was canceled only a year after it was announced. We don’t have a lot of hope that the trilogy will be concluded any time soon.
But one can always hope.
Chrono Trigger (SNES, PS1, PC)
Just like Bushido Blade, it’s an exaggeration to say that Chrono Trigger is an unfinished trilogy. Still, the first game its sequel Chrono Cross has some ties in-between their storylines so we’ll take the plunge. A second reason is that Chrono Trigger might be one of the best - if not the best - RPGs of all times. Though it is quite a title to give an RPG released in 1995 on the SNES and the sequel Chrono Cross released in 2000 on the PS1, for those who had played the game before you would know that it fully deserves the honorific title.
Square Enix may have had plans for a third game when they filed for a trademark of the name Chrono Break but unfortunately, nothing ever came out of it.
Dark Cloud (PS2)
Dark Cloud was first published for the PS2 in 2001 in North America and a sequel for the PS2 also got out into the wider market two years later in 2003. However, in spite of the fact that the storylines of either game weren’t really inter-connected (Much like most of the games on this list), they share too many certain themes and the world-building with one another for us to consider them separate games.
To describe it, Dark Cloud is like a mix of SimCity with the world building but with roguelike RPG gameplay added in. It’s a strange mixture, but somehow, it worked very well.
Half-Life (PC)
The legendary series with an unrivaled reputation in the video game industry. Ask any gamer worth their salt and they would tell you all about Half-Life. But the game’s reputation in the modern day is one part the game itself and the other part surrounding the memes about the mystical Half-Life 3.
The first game, Half-Life, came onto the PC scene in 1998. In 2007 the game was expanded with episodic releases for Half-Life 2. And up until now … nothing. People still have a vivid memory of the ending when Alyx’s father was murdered and Valve is still quite stubborn on keeping the lid closed tight on the third game.
Just like every other famous franchise of the studio like Left 4 Dead and Portal, in spite of their great critical acclaims, there never have been the third game to them and a lot of people fears that there never will.
We just have to wait and pop from time to time the Internet’s tagline of: “Half-Life 3 Confirmed” up until the studio actually did.
Prototype (PC, PS3, XBOX360)
Prototype is yet another beloved trilogy with excellent plot-line and gameplay: One of the rarer breed of games that can find a balance between these contrasting but still very much integrated elements. The first game launched on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 in 2009 and Prototype 2 followed the momentum of the first game with a 2012 release on the very same platforms the first game was designed upon.
The first game followed the footstep of one Alex Mercer - a mutant and fortunate victim of the Blacklight virus that did not kill him but instead granting him immeasurable power, transforming his body quite literally into a living weapon. In the second game, the previous protagonist now turned into the primary antagonist. You play the role of James Heller in the second game after he was infected with the virus by Mercer himself, giving you a new perspective on the entire situation.
What would the third game be?
Nobody really knows, unfortunately.
Zone of the Enders (PS2)
Just like Mega Man Legends, the fate that befell Zone of the Enders was a rather cruel one. The first game was launched on the PS2 in 2001 and the sequel hit the market on the PS2 also in 2003. But the financial situation behind the game was becoming bleak enough that the copy of the second game was shipped with a demo of the famous Metal Gear Solid 2 to make it financially feasible.
In 2012, a third game was announced to the series. But after Hideo Kojima left Konami after the Silent Hills: PT drama, the game turned completely cold.
Deus Ex Reboot (PC, PS, XBOX)
After so many delays, Deus Ex: Human Revolution hit the market as an essential reboot to the popular franchise in 2011. The sequel also faced its own setbacks and found itself being delayed multiple times until it was finally released in 2016. At this rate, we might have the next game in two more years in 2021. But when the financial data on Mankind Divided came back lower than expected along with the fact that the majority of the developers at Square Enix are focusing on developing Marvel’s Avenger game, the studio announced that Deus Ex is being put on hold.
We don’t know if it’s a permanent hold or just for a short while but for the sake of the franchise… let it lives.
Resident Evil: Revelations (PC, PS, XBOX)
Last but not least, we have to mention Resident Evil: Revelations. It felt like yesterday when the second game Resident Evil: Revelations 2 came out in 2015 with the first game being a 3DS exclusive released three years earlier in 2012. Just like the other franchises, the two games don’t exactly have a lot to do with one another but there are interconnecting themes between them. Revelations series was made with the hope of re-igniting the horror-centric nature of the series. The games are still filled with actions but they had resurrected the horror vibes tantamount to the first games perfectly.
Since 2015 Capcom has had two more Resident Evil games under its belt, first with Resident Evil VII and a remastered version for Resident Evil 2. They might have already abandoned this sub-series considering these two games are on a much bigger scale than this one is. Still, we can’t deny that Revelations are very great members of the respected franchise.
Interested in more of our Top 10 lists? Check out this list for the top 10 best Resident Evil games, ranked.
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