Have you ever finished playing a video game and immediately thought afterward, 'Holy cheese crackers, this game was amazing, and I absolutely must play the sequel when it comes out?' Have you ever had your hopes and dreams shattered like a broken wineglass when you found out that the sequel was canceled? Far too often than every gamer would like, development on a game is halted and the release of the game is postponed indefinitely. I think that every gamer, at least once, has had a game they have been anticipating canceled on them.

The reasons behind canceling a game are numerous. Disagreements between developers and publishers arise, roadblocks present themselves to indie creators, and a shifting of priorities can occur at any time during a game's development. The list goes on. All I know is that it can be pretty painful for anyone who was ardently expecting that sequel.

Personally, the thing about video game sequels getting canceled that really puts lemon on the paper cut is just the idea that the game's potential is eliminated and becomes a big mystery. It could have been a piece of trash, but we'll just never know. Conversely, it could have been the greatest game of the year, and we will never get to play it. The uncertainty of it all is simultaneously irritating and heartbreaking. Understandably, you might not want to open yourself to that kind of heartache right not. However, read on if you want to check out some video game sequels that might have been.

25 Chronicling The Halo Story

via: deviantart.com (Legobuilder3190)

This one hurts my heart most especially because I am a mega Halo fan. A game tentatively titled Halo: Chronicles was in the works around 2006. It would have told an intimate tale about a single marine during the fight with the Covenant.

I like Halo for the multiplayer, don't get me wrong, but the story is what keeps me coming back. (I know, that's a very odd thing to say about Halo.) Losing Halo: Chronicles was losing the opportunity to play a story-heavy Halo game.

24 The Boba Fett We Deserved

via: polygon.com

Most Star Wars video games we play revolve around the Jedi and the Sith. That is totally understandable and cool with us gamers because who doesn't want to play a video game with a lightsaber? 

Star Wars 1313 would have been different. Standing out from the crowd of Jedi-oriented games, Star Wars 1313 would have centered its story on the bounty hunter Boba Fett and his career while on Coruscant. The number "1313" actually refers to an underground level within the city-planet.

23 Bring On More Horror Things

via: thething.wikia.com

The Thing originally started out as an amazing horror film by John Carpenter. It got a relatively solid video game adaptation in 2002 that should have gotten itself a sequel. Instead, The Thing's sequel got canceled when it was barely in its conceptual stages.

Admittedly, the third-person shooter original was never my thing (pun unintended). But it would have been nice to see the game evolve. Who knows? Maybe the sequel would have become more horror-oriented.

22 Enduring The Fallout

via: reddit.com

It's ironic the Fallout 76 is releasing with some new aspects of online play. Years earlier, a Fallout game called Fallout Online was being developed as a massively multiplayer online (MMO) game.

Even with its feet firmly planted in the role-playing genre's soil, I've always felt that the Fallout universe would do well as an online game. Sadly, this project was canceled. However, maybe some elements of it will be found in Fallout 76 when it releases.

21 Aliens After Marines

via: polygon.com

Most would not consider the Aliens franchise to be ripe ground for creating a role-playing game (RPG). As seen with many Aliens games, it is clearly suited for an action-shooter or a survival-horror experience.

But oh, my stars and garters, an Aliens RPG would have been so awesome. It would have been a unique experience to have to role-play getting facehugged. Alas, thanks to the cancellation of Aliens: Crucible, we will probably never get to experience that.

20 Legends Never Get Canceled

via: polygon.com

Fables is well known for being a fantasy role-playing game. Fable Legends would have taken the series to a whole other level. The game would have been available to be played with up to five players.

Four Heroes would have faced off against one Villain on various quests.

I don't know about you, but that sounds like a totally awesome game to me. But as is usually the case with canceled sequels, awesome concepts don't mean diddly-squat in the face of a studio's closure.

19 Saints Row Slough

via: news4c.com

It's strange when a popular series such as Saints Row gets an installment canceled. You would think that popularity would prove to be a stalwart shield for such happenings. Clearly, that's not always the case.

Saints Row: Money Shot would have occurred after the second Saints Row game. However, its release was canceled. Several aspects of the game were leaked however, which allowed gamers a first-hand glimpse of the game that could have been.

18 A Ghost In The Stars

via: en.riotpixels.com

Blizzard's Starcraft contains a very deep lore that is to be expected in a game that takes place in space. However, as a real-time strategy (RTS) game, Starcraft does not always have the time to develop that lore. Starcraft: Ghost would have filled that gap.

Slated to be a third-person shooter, the game would have given gamers a chance to explore the universe that Starcraft had shown them. Unfortunately, the game was indefinitely put on hold and later canceled.

17 Splitting TimeSplitters

via: polygon.com

I think the TimeSplitters series is highly underrated. In an age when first-person shooters were just beginning to become ubiquitous, TimeSplitters rode that wave to relative success. Its graphics had a bit of a cartoony feel to them but that made it more endearing than those games that strove to look realistic.

TimeSplitters 4 was in the works, but ended up not getting released. Apparently, all good things must come to an end. Here's hoping someone reboots TimeSplitters! 

16 Smart Jelly Goes Away

via: youtube.com (ThePoltergust5000)

Before developer Game Freak became famous for creating the Pokémon series, they made a game called Smart Ball. This delightful little adventure game had you playing as this little globule with a face through some platforming levels.

This little ball was called "Jerry." (In Japan, the game was call Jerry Boy.) Jerry was all set to get a sequel. Unfortunately, Jerry's sequel fell through. I guess the epic saga of that smart ball will never be completed.

15 Let Your Disappointment Ring Through The Hills

via: theverge.com

2015 was probably the worst year of my life video game-wise. That was the year that Silent Hills was canceled. The game had been extremely hyped up after it was teased with a playable teaser. The teaser showed us everything we could ever want in a Silent Hill game.

It was creepy and horrifying. It was good. And then they took it all away from us. Publisher Konami announced Silent Hills was being canceled after some disquieting rumors began surfacing about the game's future. My heart still hasn't recovered.

14 The Ragtag Project

via: denofgeek.com

This wound is a fresh one. Developer Visceral Games was all set to make a Star Wars game focused on a group of space adventurers that was totally story-driven.

The project was even called "Ragtag."

Doesn't that sound like the kind of Star Wars game you would want? (Though to be honest, I want nearly any kind of Star Wars game.) But apparently it wasn't the kind of game that publisher Electronic Arts wanted. EA shut Visceral down before the game could be completed.

13 Gaslight Gotham Gone

via: youtube.com (portiz 62)

Some great video games never even get past a conceptual stage. Plans were in motion for creating a Gotham by Gaslight video game that would set players and Batman in a Victorian English setting.

But the game was eventually canceled. 

Gotham by Gaslight was originally a DC one shot that told an alternate-reality story regarding Batman's antics in a Gothic fashion. A game based on this comic book would have definitely been unique enough to stand apart from the Arkham series.

12 Another Titanic Halo Mistake

via: youtube.com (Halo SMG)

I'm upset whenever I hear anything Halo is canceled. A Halo t-shirt design could be canceled, and I would be disappointed. But Halo's "Codename Titan" is a tremendous tragedy of epic proportions. "Titan" would have been a Halo-themed MMORPG.

I honestly don't know if it would have been any good, but it would have been so flubbing awesome to have played it at least. Its cancellation eventually led its developers to begin working on Halo Wars. 

11 It's Donkey Kong's Turn

via: goombastomp.com

Despite starting life as a side character in Mario's story, Donkey Kong grew to have a wide variety of games to his own name. One of the best is Diddy Kong Racing. Diddy Kong is the Luigi to Donkey Kong's Mario, and the racing game named after him is one of the best games in Donkey's line-up.

A sequel to it titled Donkey Kong Racing was planned, but ended up getting canceled. Hopefully, a future Donkey Kong game will give us a chance to ride along with that lovable ape.

10 Somewhere Over The Rainbow

via: unseen64.net

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six series has been around for a good long time. In 2015, Rainbow Six: Siege was released. You may or may not be aware that a Rainbow Six title aside from Siege was in the works around the same time and ended up getting canceled.

Rainbow 6: Patriots would have been what we were all playing circa 2011, but it was canceled for unknown reasons. Honestly, Rainbow Six games have begun to blend in with each other after so many entries.

9 A Mega Universe

via: wired.com

Creating levels on Super Mario Maker has been a blast ever since the game released, and doing something similar with another action platformer would have been awesome.

Mega Man Universe was a planned Mega Man game that would have allowed gamers to create their own Mega Man levels. (Is it just me, or can you already imagine what kind of horrors we would have seen?) Sadly, our imaginations will never be put to the test as the game was canceled.

8 The Blizzard Titan

via: tweaktown.com

"Titan" must be a really poplar name for video game projects. Just as Halo had a "Project Titan," so did Blizzard. Blizzard's "Project Titan" was kept under wraps for quite a while. It was only after it was canceled that details about what could have been were released.

"Project Titan" would have been an MMO game with a dual nature.

Characters within the game would have had daytime duties (like jobs) and nighttime feuds (like battles). "Project Titan" never got to see the light of day, but shortly after it was canceled, Blizzard announced Overwatch. So I guess I can't be too mad.

7 What The Fez?

via: dualshockers.com

Great indie games are always a delight. They are usually based on unique concepts that a Triple-A studio would not risk time and money on. Fez was one of those indies games. An adorable puzzle platformer, Fez was entertaining from start to finish.

As such, Fez 2 was highly anticipated. However, after an explosive Twitter conversation with one of Fez's creators, all plans to continue with a sequel were abruptly halted. This cancellation definitely showcased how not even indie games are immune to sudden cancellation.

6 A Failed Alliance

via: youtube.com

Most every gamer knows that the X-COM series is a strategy video game. It's a well-known and beloved franchise. The creators decided to shake things up a bit with X-COM: Alliance. If it had ever been released, Alliance would have been a first-person shooter set in the X-COM universe.

If you feel immensely excited by that idea, you were not the only one. Fans of the series, despite the departure from the usual genre, were excited to give Alliance a try. Sadly, they never got the opportunity to.