Even though these properties may have just been Squaresoft, or Enix-related at the time of their original release, we are just going to use Square Enix to keep everything uniform. And besides Squaresoft and Enix, the company also holds a lot of rights to other companies they acquired as well such as Taito and Eidos.
This is a huge conglomerate, which means they have a lot of franchises under their belt. Many of which have been abandoned. Some of them have come back on phones or with remasters, but we aren’t counting those. The submissions will speak for themselves, so let’s get right to it.
10 Chrono
Chrono Trigger time-traveled onto store shelves in 1995 for the SNES. The second and only sequel was Chrono Cross for the PS1 in 1999. At one time there was a trademark filed for a potential sequel, Chrono Break, but nothing ever came of it. It’s hard to say if Square Enix will ever bring this series back as the original game was a miracle. Chrono Trigger did get ported to PS1 and DS eventually so at least it hasn’t been trapped on the SNES. That is to say, there is always hope.
9 Bushido Blade
There are only two games in this short-lived franchise. The first was in 1997 and the second was in 1998. Both of them were for the PS1. Technically one could argue there is a third game. Square Enix published those games, owns the IP, but Light Wight developed them. They went on to make Kengo: Master of Bushido for the PS2 and Xbox 360 as a spiritual successor. But disregarding that, the Bushido Blade titles are fighting games with weapons. Unlike something akin to that, Soulcalibur, one hit finishes an opponent off.
8 Legacy Of Kain
Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain arose from the dead in 1996 for the PS1. The final game, Legacy of Kain: Defiance, released for the PC, PS2, and original Xbox in 2003. Technically there was a recent attempt from Square Enix to resurrect the series via Nosgoth in 2013. Even though there were tests for this free-to-play multiplayer game, it was ultimately canceled. It probably wouldn’t have satisfied fans anyway.
7 Musashi
Technically there are three games in the series all of which are based on the legendary true-to-life samurai, Miyamoto Musashi. The first game is almost unknown outside of Japan since it was never released in the West. That would be Musashi no Boken in 1990 for the Famicom.
The second, or first depending on how one wants to count, was Brave Fencer Musashi for the PS1 in 1998. Lastly there was Musashi: Samurai Legend in 2005 for the PS2. The first was more of a traditional turn-based RPG whereas the other two were action oriented.
6 Parasite Eve
Parasite Eve has a strange history due to licensing issues. The first game was released in 1998 while the second debuted in 1999, both of which were for the PS1. Those were still under the licenses of the book on which the RPGs were based. However, Square Enix sort of made a reboot/sequel by changing the name to The 3rd Birthday, which was a 2010 PSP game. It featured the same heroine, Aya Brea, but changed many aspects of the story in order to avoid legal trouble.
5 Valkyrie Profile
Valkyrie Profile graced the PS1 in 1999. The final game was Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume, which was a 2008 DS title. Technically there is a fourth game, recently in fact, which is Valkyrie Anatomia: The Origin, but as we said, the intro phone games shouldn’t really count. While Square Enix doesn’t seem interested in the property for consoles, there is a spiritual successor in the works: Indivisible. It’s being made from the team that worked on Skull Girls and features a similar RPG battle system.
4 Ogre
Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen rallied onto the SNES in 1993. The last game, Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, was remade and released for the PSP in 2010.
If we don’t want to count that, then the last full-on sequel was Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis, which was a 2001 Game Boy Advance title. If one likes Final Fantasy Tactics then those last two games in particular will feel right at home.
3 Gex
Gex, yes that Gex, is a Square Enix product now thanks to their acquisition of Crystal Dynamics. The first game was released in 1995 for the 3DO, PS1, and Sega Saturn. The final game, Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko, launched for the PS1, N64, and Game Boy Color in 1999. It, like many mascot platformers of the '90s, tried to out-platform Super Mario 64. Among the dozens, Gex may be toward the bottom. At the very least, he is not on the level of Bubsy.
2 ActRaiser
ActRaiser made its godly debut on the SNES in 1990. The second and final game, ActRaiser 2, also released for the SNES, but in 1993. While Square Enix has abandoned the franchise after its original console, there are those that tried to carry on the action platformer/sim hybrid. Just this year Sega published a game called SolSeraph. So if ActRaiser was a game one wished would come back, there are now options.
1 Final Fantasy Tactics
Yes, it may be redundant to put this on here since we also included Tactics Ogre. Both series are almost one and the same. On top of that, Final Fantasy gets pumped out, and will get pumped out, until the end of time. That is their cash cow. However, Final Fantasy Tactics is a franchise within a franchise, so let’s count it anyway because the world deserves more tactical love. Just to be thorough, the first game was released for the PS1 in 1997. The last title was Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift for the DS in 2007. That is all to say it has been far, far too long.