Summary
- The Wii U was a testing ground for the successful Switch, showcasing unique ideas and exclusives.
- Earth Seeker, Opoona, and Fragile Dreams are lost Wii RPG treasures with unique storylines and gameplay mechanics.
- Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, Spectrobes: Origins, and The Last Story offer challenging gameplay and engaging narratives on the Wii.
The Wii U seemingly came and went with not a lot of attention being paid to it, but it ultimately served as a testing ground for the Switch which took off like a soaring eagle. The system did have some unique ideas and exclusives though, which helped its predecessor, the Wii, out tremendously.
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For example, players could buy Wii games digitally to emulate them on the Wii U. RPG classics like Super Paper Mario, Pandora’s Tower, and Muramasa: The Demon Blade were made available in select regions. Then some RPGs made it off of the Wii like Xenoblade Chronicles on the 3DS and Switch. What about the RPGs that never made it out of the Wii library in any form? Let’s celebrate these lost treasures today and rank their quality.
6
Earth Seeker
Post-Apoclytpic Pikmin
- Developers: Crafts & Meister and Kadokawa Shoten
- Publisher: Enterbrain
- Released: June 23, 2011
- Platform: Wii
Earth Seeker was a game only released in Japan for the Wii. It was mainly developed by Crafts & Meister which is a company formed by previous Capcom employees. Fans of the Gundam Breaker series may know their work from that. Developer history aside, Earth Seeker takes place in a universe where the Earth was destroyed but humanity collected the best bits of history on spaceships.
On their journey, they crash land on a planet and scatter these Earthly treasures, and now it’s up to explorers to find these relics again and rebuild society. While exploring, monsters will appear, and accompanying the hero is a series of Pikmin-sized creatures who will do most of the heavy lifting in battle. The world is vast, and while it’s a bit more empty than Xenoblade Chronicles, it would have been great to see it released on the Wii in North America like the Project Rainfall Wii games were. Earth Seeker does have an English fan patch out there though for those curious.
5
Opoona
A Family Affair
Opoona
- Released
-
November 1, 2007
- Developer(s)
-
ArtePiazza
- Publisher(s)
-
Koei
Opoona shares its name with the hero of this little adventure. It, also, is about a crash landing on a foreign planet, and Opoona kind of has an adorable Pikmin-like design as well. Opoona must find his family by completing quests in the giant city that they crashed near.
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The further players get, the more family members they can add to their party in this turn-based adventure. Battles were randomized, which was a little behind the times, but it wasn’t too challenging altogether, so there was a good balance. While there was never a sequel and Opoona was never released on another system, the character did make it into Warriors All-Stars, a Musou game that crossed over several Koei Tecmo properties.
4
Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins Of The Moon
An Underrated Horror RPG
Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon
- Released
-
March 16, 2010
- Developer(s)
-
Namco Bandai
- Publisher(s)
-
Namco Bandai
Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon has a great pedigree behind its development as Namco and tri-Crescendo worked on it. They’ve worked on many Namco, and later Bandai Namco, games, with one of their bigger series highlights being the card-based RPGs, Baten Kaitos, which released for the GameCube. The gameplay in Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon is not card-based though, and instead resembles something more akin to Silent Hill but with RPG elements.
As the young hero Seto, players will go through the ruins of Japan fighting ghosts and demons as he searches for lost pockets of humanity. It’s not the scariest game on the Wii, but the vibes are there and the character/monster designs help it stick out, even with some finicky controls. It may have its flaws, but there’s simply nothing else like it on the Wii.
3
Spectrobes: Origins
Phantasy Star + Pokemon
Spectrobes: Origins
Spectrobes: Origins is the last game in the series which began on the DS. Jupiter handled the main parts of development for the two DS games, who most may know from working with Square Enix on standouts like The World Ends With You. Genki took over the development of the Wii game, who some may know from the PlayStation-exclusive Jade Cocoon games, and all three titles were in collaboration with Disney when they were still trying to produce more games.
The DS games and the Wii game share a lot in common, as players are basically young space rangers who can take the titular Spectrobe monsters to aid them in battle. It’s like a cross between the Phantasy Star and Pokemon franchises. It may be aimed more at kids with laughably cheesy dialogue, but the gameplay is fun and responsive for a Wii RPG.
2
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
Difficult But Rewarding Tactics
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
- Released
-
November 11, 2007
- Publisher(s)
-
Nintendo
Most of the recent Fire Emblem games are not tied to the others, but a lot of the first series entries were. Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn was like an homage to the old days as it was a direct continuation of the GameCube entry, Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. Players could get by with jumping into the tactical action without knowledge of the GameCube game, but it certainly helped to have played both.
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There was nothing radically new in this game that made it stick out from the others in the series, but given it’s a Fire Emblem game, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Players would go through linear battles with death always looming above them. Maps were grid-based and players could move all sorts of units across the battlefield to engage with their enemies. Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn was a tough game that demanded patience, but it was rewarding too.
1
The Last Story
The Wii’s Fantasy Swan Song
The Last Story was a finale in many ways. It was the last console-based project from Mistwalker for quite some time and one could argue that The Last Story was the last great RPG to be released on the Wii. It was non-traditional too, as most of the game was played in dungeons without a world map and little to do in the main hub town. Players belonged to a gang of mercenaries, with Zael being the player-controlled character.
There was never a set party size as each dungeon brought new allies along for the ride with adjusted context. Combat was in real-time, making things more dynamic, along with the ability to use the environment as a weapon, from exploding barrels to crumbling columns. It even had multiplayer in a separate mode, which was not necessary but still fun to tinker with. The Last Story did not have a vibrant amount of color, which was the only real downside, but it did a good job of conveying that sense of adventure that RPGs sometimes struggle to achieve.
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