With Super Mario RPG’s success, here’s which other franchises from Nintendo could be turned into great RPGs by Square Enix.
Square Enix, or Squaresoft in the early years, used to be joined to the hip with Nintendo. All of their major titles were exclusives including most of the Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy games. Their bond was so tight that Nintendo even gave them the keys to the castle i.e. their biggest icon, Mario.
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars was a miracle but shortly after that, Squaresoft left Nintendo’s good graces to form a new partnership with Sony and the PlayStation brand. Bad blood aside, Square Enix and Nintendo are now good which led to this remake. So, it begs the question of what their collaboration will lead to next. Will it be Super Mario RPG 2, or can Square Enix turn another beloved Nintendo franchise into an RPG? 6 Animal Crossing
Animal Crossing may sound bizarre but it could play to a lot of Square Enix’s strengths. Adding fighting to the series couldn’t hurt as a spinoff and it could even add more players to get involved more so than Animal Crossing: New Horizons. For example, what if objects were anthropomorphized?
Cutting down trees or smashing rocks could turn into battles against these sentient beings either action-based or turn-based. Defeating enemies would net players with materials they could then use for building a new town. Then, on the journey, players could recruit villagers and assign them tasks around town. It could be a bit like Suikoden meets EarthBound. 5 Metroid
Of the many franchises under Nintendo’s belt, it seems like someone at Square Enix in the 90s liked Metroid. Samus, in her full Varia Suit, appeared twice in Super Mario RPG.
