PlayStation Franchises That Were Killed Off Too Quickly

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.

8 The Legend Of Dragoon

Ace In The Hole

As one of the earliest examples of Sony attempting to generate new RPG franchises, The Legend of Dragoon is 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, especially since the recent availability on PS5 has proved the incredible popular of the franchise.

7 ModNation Racers

After the stunning success of LittleBigPlanet, 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 where ModNation Racers came in as a potential competitor to the Mario Kart games.

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.

6 Tokyo Jungle

The Wilds Of The Big City

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 than Tokyo 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.

5 Wild Arms 3

Sling A Six-Shooter

The Wild Arms franchise has always been an underdog, and the 2002 entry Wild Arms 3 is often seen as the very pinnacle of the franchise, even if it would prove to be the last Wild Arms game 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 3 let players tackle the story in whatever they chose, cultivating a massive and dedicated fanbase that still hope for a revival sometime in the near future even as new games come out that are clearly inspired by what Wild Arms pioneered.

4 PaRappa The Rapper

Spit Some Rhymes

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 with Parappa the Rapper, which is 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.

3 The Order: 1886

Steampunk Supernatural Cover Shooter

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, with The Order: 1886 being 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 rediscovering The Order: 1886 as an underappreciated ugly duckling of the Sony stable, and one that could have definitely ironed out the kinks with a sequel.

2 Ape Escape 2

Monkeying Around Needs A Comeback

Despite only having three entries, the most recent being in 2005, the Ape Escape franchise 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 whether Ape Escape 2 or Ape Escape 3 is 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.

1 Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale

The Greatest Royal Rumble

The Smash 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 brilliant PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale that celebrated the strange but compelling cast of Sony characters.

The game both meaningfully innovated on the Smash Bros formula 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 that Astro Bot is doing these days), so it’s a shame that it petered out before it ever got a chance to build its bonafides.