Summary
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.
For example, players could buy Wii games digitally to emulate them on the Wii U. RPG classics likeSuper Paper Mario,Pandora’s Tower, andMuramasa: The Demon Bladewere made available in select regions. Then some RPGs made it off of the Wii likeXenoblade Chronicleson the 3DS and Switch. What about theRPGs that never made it out of the Wii libraryin any form? Let’s celebrate these lost treasures today and rank their quality.
6Earth Seeker
Post-Apoclytpic Pikmin
Earth Seekerwas 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 theGundam Breakerseriesmay know their work from that. Developer history aside,Earth Seekertakes 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 thanXenoblade Chronicles, it would have been great to see it released on the Wii in North America like theProject RainfallWii games were.Earth Seekerdoes have an English fan patch out there though for those curious.
Opoonashares 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.
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 andOpoonawas never released on another system, the character did make it intoWarriors All-Stars,a Musou gamethat crossed over several Koei Tecmo properties.
Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moonhas 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 inFragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moonis not card-based though, and instead resembles something more akin toSilent Hillbut with RPG elements.
As the young hero Seto, players will go through theruins of Japanfighting 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.
Spectrobes: Originsis 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 likeThe World Ends With You. Genki took over the development of the Wii game, who some may know from the PlayStation-exclusiveJade Cocoongames, and all three titles were incollaboration with Disneywhen 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 thePhantasy StarandPokemonfranchises. It may be aimed more at kids with laughably cheesy dialogue, but the gameplay is fun and responsive for a Wii RPG.
Most of the recentFire Emblemgamesare not tied to the others, but a lot of the first series entries were.Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawnwas 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.
There was nothing radically new in this game that made it stick out from the others in the series, but given it’s aFire Emblemgame, 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 Dawnwas a tough game that demanded patience, but it was rewarding too.
The Last Storywas a finale in many ways. It was the last console-basedproject from Mistwalkerfor quite some time and one could argue thatThe Last Storywas thelastgreat 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 Storydid 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.
