The Canceled Final Fantasy Sequel We Never Got To Play

Although it's known as Final Fantasy, the games have been anything but final. Since its series debut on the NES in 1987, the franchise has gone on to produce over 50 games. What began as a struggling developer's attempt to follow the successful lead of Dragon Quest grew into something its creators likely never dreamed of.

The impressive number of titles is due in part to the many spin-offs and even some remakes. Of course, a lot of hype surrounded the Final Fantasy 7 remake, but even less groundbreaking titles like Final Fantasy 12 received similar treatment.

Several of the main games have had direct sequels, including Final Fantasy 12: Revenant Wings. FF12 was to have another sequel that unfortunately never saw the light of day. With a series as prolific as Final Fantasy, it makes sense that not all planned projects make it to stores. Here's a little insight into the canceled Final Fantasy sequel we never got to play.

It began in 2008 when representatives of Square Enix flew to Sweden to meet with Grin, the development studio responsible for Bionic Commando Rearmed. Impressed by the project, the team at Grin was asked to pitch an idea using one of Square Enix's properties. Though Grin co-founder Ulf Andersson put together a pitch for a lesser-known card game called Lords of Vermilion, he was instead handed the keys to Final Fantasy. From there, according to GameSpot, Grin began work on a sequel to Final Fantasy 12 called "Fortress."

What's especially unusual about Fortress is that it was the only project in the series developed by a team outside of Square Enix's jurisdiction, or even outside of Japan. Because its franchises other than Final Fantasy were not quite as popular in the West, the Japanese developer/publisher wanted to try something new. Indeed, it would have been quite different. 

The game was planned to be an action RPG that revolved around a fortress. It possessed, as Gamespot's Alexa Ray Corriea described, "a distinctly Scandinavian art style." The team even went so far as to create its own area within Ivalice. Sadly the project came to a swift end after Square Enix allegedly stiffed the small Swedish studio. Grin folded in 2009, and thus ended work on this Final Fantasy 12 sequel.