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Top 5 Canceled Games We Still Want BAD!

Top 5 Canceled Games We Still Want BAD!

It’s fun getting excited about a game announcement, whether it be a sequel to a game you already love, a project by a trusted developer, or just something that looks super cool. Often, when the announcement comes, the countdown starts and the anticipation rises.

Unfortunately, not all announced games come to fruition. Sometimes, studios get closed. Other times, the project costs more than initially expected. It sucks!

So, here’s a list of all the games either canceled or stuck in development hell that we still want to play.

Legacy of Kain: Dead Sun

Legacy of Kain: Dead Sun

Legacy of Kain: Dead Sun was meant to be the sixth entry in the popular Legacy of Kain series. It shares this honor with Legacy of Kain: The Dark Prophecy, which was another canceled game meant to continue the, well, titular legacy. It was also developed alongside Nosgoth , a free-to-play multiplayer game set in the same world… which was also canceled.

Not much is known about the development of the game, or even what it was meant to be. Allegedly, Square Enix required that the project have both a single player and a multiplayer component when they hired Climax Studios. Anonymous Climax Studios employees have stated that the game would be within the Legacy of Kain continuity, was not a reboot, would be feature cinematic, violent combat, and its large bosses would incorporate puzzle-solving mechanics.

Even with a scarcity of details, I want to play this game. Or, at the very least, I want another game in the series to be released. It seems, though, that Legacy of Kain projects are mysteriously doomed to fail.

Mega Man Legends 3

Mega Man Legends 3

On July 18, 2011, not even a year after its announcement, Capcom canceled development on the 3DS title Mega Man Legends 3 . The game was meant to be a continuation of the Mega Man Legends series and would feature two new characters. Capcom even planned on featuring designs contributed by fans of the series.

Once again, not much is known about this entry. What is certain, though, is that fans were profoundly upset at the cancelation. The game’s programming director, Yoshiyuki Fujikawa, wanted to continue working on the game and asked fans to continue supporting the title. Capcom, however, insisted that a lack of support was why the game was canceled in the first place.

Since the cancelation, Mega Man has been seen in Smash Bros. as well as in various collections. Keij Inafune, Mega Man’s creator, also launched a kickstarter to develop a spiritual successor to Mega Man called Mighty No. 9. While the game was lackluster, the crowdfunding support proves that people want a Mega Man game. Fortunately, Mega Man 11 is on the way!

Mother 3/Earthbound 64

Mother 3/Earthbound 64

You may be more familiar with the game if I say it was an entry in the Earthbound series, referred to in the United States as Earthbound 64 . Development of the game lasted almost a decade, having started in 1994. Nintendo had to keep rehashing the game, as new consoles came out in that time span. Ultimately, they canceled the game in 2006. The Japanese version was said to be around 60% complete at the time.

Earthbound 64 was an ambitious RPG that wouldn’t work on the N64 due to technical reasons; it was too big. Because of this, the team decided to release it for the 64DD, which was a Japanese exclusive peripheral for the N64. Then, they decided to go back to a cartridge only release.

Originally, the game was supposed to tell the story of a detective investigating a murder which would be told woman working at a flower shop. As the story progressed, the city setting would continue to grow. All of this would be set 10 years after the original Earthbound .

It sounds like the game could have been something truly amazing if only it was completed. At least we got to see it live on as Mother 3 , with one of its characters, Lucas, making an appearance in Smash Bros, right?

Star Wars 1313

Star Wars 1313

Star Wars fans love Boba Fett, and a game featuring the famed bounty hunter as the protagonist is an easy pitch to make. That was the premise of Star Wars 1313, and boy did it get people excited. The games title comes from the setting, Level 1313. It was supposed to be an underground city on Coruscant. For me, the setting is almost as exciting as a Boba Fett game.

The game was announced in June of 2012 and was being developed by LucasArts. Disney, having acquired the Star Wars brand, canceled development and dissolved the studio a year later. And, if that isn’t a big enough nail in the coffin, here’s this: Disney also relinquished the 1313 trademark in 2014.

StarCraft Ghost

StarCraft Ghost

I’d wager you’re familiar with the name StarCraft . If not, it’s that immensely popular real time strategy game that people were obsessed with before League of Legends was around. It is made by Blizzard, who also makes another RTS called Warcraft, in addition to the MMO you’ve definitely heard about, World of Warcraft. The studio has a track record for amazing games is all I’m trying to say here.

StarCraft Ghost was meant to be a stealth-action, third-person shooter set in the same universe as StarCraft. Unlike a lot of games that claim to prioritize stealth, StarCraft Ghost seemed to have made stealth a core part of the narrative and gameplay. There would have also been a multiplayer component, where players could have seen the battles of the main series play out from a unique, shooter perspective. It sounds like it would have been chaotic, but in a good way.

The game was officially canceled after years and years of development alongside the cancellation of Blizzard’s MMO, Titan . Allegedly, the cancelation occurred because gamers had moved onto the next generation, but Blizzard couldn’t justify using more resources to update the Xbox/PlayStation 2 game to work well on the Playstation 3 or Xbox 360. In 2018, having seen so many remasters and the full release of The Last Guardian , that is hard to imagine. But, hey, those were different times and tech moves fast.

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