Square Enixis a company that needs no introduction. Their two biggest franchises dominate the JRPG realm viaDragon QuestandFinal Fantasy. They are both over thirty years old and the hits keep on coming. The company has had a lot of successful franchises beyond those two juggernauts though.
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Then there are some games they developed or published that they seemingly were not happy with enough to continue making sequels. Some of these games are good and others are just plain dreadful. WhetherSquare Enixtouches them again or not is a mystery.
8Babylon’s Fall
Babylon’s Fallwas acollaboration between PlatinumGamesand Square Enix. This sounded enticing at first because their work together onNieR: Automatawas outstanding. Unfortunately, something did not go right with the development of this game.
The reviews were not kind due to the game’s basic action, poor online connectivity, and bad graphics. It was released in March 2022 and just got shut down in February 2023, making it impossible to play now as it was an online-only game.
7Dungeon Siege 3
Dungeon Siege 3was the first and only game that Square Enix helped produce once they acquired the license. The ad campaign was so infectious too because it boasted that couch co-op was back. The game certainly received its fair share of criticisms, but generally, it was well-received.
It was not a mind-blowing new experience in thelooter RPG genrebut it was a good time, especially with friends. It wasn’t popular enough to gain support within Square Enix to keep things going, which is a sad state of affairs for this once-bright PC franchise.
6Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier
Square Enix has learned that if they slapFinal Fantasy 7on anything, it will sell no matter if it is legitimately good or not.Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldierwas a promising spinoff that took place well before any of the other prequels that came before it. It was a Battle Royale game wherein players assumed the role of random SOLDIER candidates who were competing for Shinra’s top spot.
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It made sense for a spinoff, but it was only on mobile platforms. This, along with a crowded Battle Royale market, may be why it didn’t get that popular and was thus shut down in January 2023 just after launching in November 2021.
5Final Fantasy Explorers
Square Enix has produced too many games within this franchise to just list one example.Final Fantasy Explorerswas their answer to Monster Hunter on 3DS. It had everything fans of both franchises could want.
There were Job classes for players to test out and master along with plenty of weapons. There was multiplayer to get friends onboard too. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t enough to rivalMonster Hunterand barely got the attention it deserved even from that niche crowd of players.
4Left Alive
This is a complicated entry because it includes two examples wherein Square Enix tried their hardest to get one of their longest franchises rebooted.Front Missionbeganon the SNES and the main entries have all been strategy RPGs.Front Mission Evolvedcame out during the first HD era of consoles and it was an action game that was met with middling reviews. Years later, they tried again withLeft Alive, which was a survival game.
The genre was not a good match-up for this franchise but beyond that, the game was released in an incomplete state. It is one of the worst-reviewed games of all time. Square Enix tried to patch it and make things right, but it didn’t take long before it was completely abandoned.
3Marvel’s Avengers
Marvel’s Avengersis another example of an online-only experience that simply didn’t have a good road map. It didn’t match up to the MCU levels of storytelling but there were compelling moments in the campaign. Its depictionof Kamala Khan, for example, is arguably better than the MCU version.
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The campaign was short and there weren’t a lot of things for players to do after all was said and done, which meant players drifted away quickly to other online experiences. It took a long time for the developers to create new DLC and those packs had fleeting moments of fun. The game launched in 2020 and all support for it will end this September in 2023.
2The 3rd Birthday
This selection is a sad tale of two failed products from Square Enix. First,The 3rd Birthdaywas the third game in theParasite Evefranchise. Square Enix lost the rights to the name, as the series was based on a Japanese book, which is why it got rebranded. That name certainly didn’t help with sales along with it being a PSP exclusive, which was a portable console that also struggled.
In the game, the main character could take over different enemies like a body swap. Square Enix also used this mechanic inMindjack, which came out a month after the Japanese release ofThe 3rd Birthday. Both games were not reviewed well for varying reasons.
1The Quiet Man
The Quiet Manhas to be one of the oddest projects that Square Enix ever helped back. It is part FMV adventure gameand part brawler. Players control a deaf character, which is a demographic that was great to see in a video game at the time.
However, the gameplay was not fun and it made bizarre audio choices, probably to immerse players more in the role. It was a confusing experience from top to bottom and another game that was reviewed poorly.
