Dream Video Game Sequels

Published on December 26, 2023.
Written by Chad Timblin.

Just for fun, here's a list of some of my dream video game sequels, in no particular order.

A brand new Ōkami game

Art from Ōkami, a video game published by Capcom.

Ōkami HD is one of my favorite Nintendo Switch games of all time. It's an action-adventure masterpiece that seems to have been largely inspired by the Zelda series. But Ōkami is not merely derivative—its world has an identity that is uniquely its own. If you haven't played Ōkami, I highly recommend doing so.

6/26/2024 update: In Nintendo Force Magazine Issue #70 (March/April 2024), there's an interview with Sawaki Takeyasu, a "Capcom alum" who was part of Clover Studio, the studio that created Ōkami and Ōkamiden. Here are some relevant excerpts from the interview:

Nintendo Force: You were part of Clover, the studio at Capcom that was known for pushing boundaries of style and auteurship before indie games were really a part of the market. Looking back on it now, how do you feel the studio influenced the kinds of games that get made and played today?
Sawaki Takeyasu: There was no other studio that was as greedy for being original as that studio, and I mean that in a positive way. I think that being able to draw scroll pictures and menu screen illustrations that appear in the game of Ōkami was the culmination of my career as a salaryman. I'm still grateful to Clover Studio for giving me the chance to do that when I was just one of the studio staff.
Nintendo Force: … What were you trying to express with [the character Sakuya, the peach princess you helped to create for Ōkami], and if you were to work on a brand new Ōkami title, is there anything new you'd want to do with her?
Sawaki Takeyasu: Sakuya was conceived by the whole team, led by the director, so it's a little embarassing for me to say something alone. But if Ōkami was getting a new title today that I was working on, I would want to hear what the director wants to do with her now, then do my best to bring their vision to life. As for what I'd want to do with a new, theoretical addition to the Ōkami series, I'm always looking to do new things, so I'd like to draw a human version of Amaterasu.

A brand new Advance Wars game in the style of Days of Ruin

Art from the game cover of Advance Wars: Days of Ruin.

The first Advance Wars game I ever played was Dual Strike on the Nintendo DS shortly after it came out in 2005. After that, I didn't play another Advance Wars game until I purchased a used copy of Days of Ruin from eBay in 2021. I know Days of Ruin is a somewhat polarizing Advance Wars game, but it's my favorite by far. One evening in July 2021, I got out of the shower and sat down to play Days of Ruin while wearing a towel. I ended up playing the game for almost 4 hours straight while wearing a towel before getting dressed because the gameplay was so damn addicting. 😆

I had a lot of fun playing Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp on the Switch in 2023. It was my first time playing Advance Wars 1 and 2 because I had never played the original GBA versions. However, because I had previously only played Dual Strike and Days of Ruin, the nearly nonexistent story and extremely “kiddy” vibe of Advance Wars 1 and 2 felt a bit weird and jarring to me. Thankfully, the tactics gameplay is super polished and fun, so I still think they're great games.

I guess I'm in the minority of Advance Wars fans who prefer the more mature Days of Ruin vibe over the more kiddy/goofy vibe of the first two Advance Wars games. (I feel like the tone of Dual Strike is a mixture of the goofiness of Advance Wars 1+2 and the grittiness of Days of Ruin.) All that said, I hope we get a brand new Advance Wars game someday! I’m nervous that this may not happen, because for a variety of reasons that I won’t get into here, Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp did not sell very well (for a Nintendo game). 😬


Octopath Traveler III

The eight protagonists in Octopath Traveler II.

If Tears of the Kingdom was not released in 2023, Octopath Traveller II would have been my 2023 game of the year. After 97 hours of fun, I beat Octopath Traveler II (OT2) on 4/18/2023 (just in time for Tears of the Kingdom).

OT2 is a solid 10/10 game for me. The new characters and stories are interesting and engaging, the visuals look incredible (even better than OT1), and the music is sublime. One of my favorite pieces from the OT2 soundtrack is titled, "Song of Hope". (To avoid spoilers, I recommend playing through the entirety of Agnea's story in OT2 before looking up the song.) I've had a lot of fun playing through both OT games, and I'll be sure to play any future entries in the series.

By the way, I agree with this soapbox: It Feels Like Everyone Forgot The Best Switch RPG Of The Year.


Triangle Strategy II

A screenshot from one of the early levels in Triangle Strategy.

Like Octopath Traveler I and II, Triangle Strategy is another game created by Team Asano. In short, Triangle Strategy is TRPG (tactical role-playing game) perfection. The polished gameplay supersedes even the best Fire Emblem games. The addictive gameplay + multiple branching story paths influenced me to play through the entire game twice. In June 2023, Square Enix released a free update to Triangle Strategy, which gives me hope that Team Asano may eventually create another Triangle Strategy game.

Here are some other folks describing how much they love Triangle Strategy:

Persona 6

The main characters in Persona 5, Persona 4, and Persona 3.

Every Persona fan knows that Persona 6 is most likely going to exist at some point, but at the time of this writing, it's not currently clear when fans can expect it. Maybe we'll hear some Persona 6 news after Atlus' new IP, Metaphor: ReFantazio, is released in 2024. (Metaphor looks incredible by the way!)


A brand new Mario & Luigi game ✅

The cover of Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time.

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time was one of my favorite Nintendo DS games when I was a tween. Its wacky characters, strong humor, and engaging RPG gameplay hooked me right away. Sadly, the developer of the Mario & Luigi series (AlphaDream) shut down in 2019 due to financial problems, so I'm not sure how likely a new Mario & Luigi game is.

On the bright side, at the time of this writing, there are still many Mario & Luigi games sitting in my backlog that I look forward to playing someday. Also, the recent Mario RPG remakes (Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door) may indicate that Nintendo may perceive RPG Mario games as a "third pillar" type of Mario game, alongside the 2D and 3D pillars.

✅ 6/18/2024 update: Mario & Luigi: Brothership was announced in the June 2024 Nintendo Direct! 🎉


Remakes of Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver

The Pokémon Gold title screen.

Pokémon Gold was one of the first games that made me love playing video games. I have extremely fond memories of my childhood friend Patrick and I playing Pokémon Gold/Silver/Crystal on our Game Boy Colors together. I still listen to the game's soundtrack from time to time.

HeartGold and SoulSilver for the Nintendo DS were fantastic remakes of the original Gold and Silver games. This is not realistic, but I'd love an "HD-2D" remake of Gold/Silver/Crystal (i.e. in a graphical style akin to Octopath Traveler and Triangle Strategy). I know "HD-2D" is a Square Enix thing, but I'm sure Game Freak could return to their roots and do some exquisite sprite work along those lines if they wanted to. In addition to a pixel art remake, it would also be amazing to get a brand new Pokémon game with sprite/pixel graphics.


If I somehow had the power to wish just one of these games into existence, my top pick would either be a brand new Okami game or a brand new Advance Wars game, with a new Octopath Traveler or Triangle Strategy game being a close second.

It’s notable that all of my favorite video games were made in Japan. I’m very grateful for all of the talented Japanese game developers who create amazing video games for people all over the world! 🇯🇵 🎮

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