While video game adaptations of popular anime and manga are certainly not a new phenomenon, they’ve gained immense popularity in recent years. There are the obvious candidates that receive endless adaptations, such as My Hero Academia, Naruto, and Dragon Ball Z, as well as anime you’d never expect to get a game, like Death Note’s bizarre Among Us-esque social deduction game no one played. At this point, if an anime blows up, one can rest assured that a video game adaptation, likely a fighting game, is just around the corner.
Well, I wish that were entirely true for all anime, but it would appear that one of the very best has been abandoned, and it is seemingly all Square Enix’s fault. The prolific publisher and developer, renowned for its incredible Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest series, is once again wasting an incredible IP by simply doing nothing with it. This anime would absolutely benefit from a video game, as its vibrant and richly detailed world, in addition to its phenomenal cast of characters, lend themselves perfectly to an open-world RPG or even the expected fighting game. However, Fullmetal Alchemist remains largely unadapted outside of a handful of forgotten games from the early 2000s, most of which remain unplayable outside of Japan.
I absolutely love Fullmetal Alchemist, having grown up watching and endlessly crying to the original 2003 adaptation. It is a profoundly beautiful show, one that means a great deal to me (I had the song Brothers play at my wedding) and represents one of the happier times of my life. Naturally, as a huge fan, I find myself frequently attempting to find extended FMA media through which to satiate my unending passion for the show. I’ve read the novels, thumbed through the artbook, devoured the four-panel comics, and, of course, played as many of the video game adaptations as I can get my hands on. I even own the TCG, not that I know anyone who wants to play it with me.
Sadly, it is through this fervent obsession that I have come to the frustrating realization that not only are there so few FMA video games available in the West, but it would appear that Square Enix has no interest in making any more. For context, the last Fullmetal Alchemist video game released on consoles was the 2010 PSP title, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, which one could hardly call one of the best anime video game adaptations. Sixteen years have passed since then, and all we have gotten is a mobile game released in 2022 that was discontinued just two years later. It is a paltry offering, especially considering we’re in the golden age of globally released anime video game adaptations.
In a time when even the underrated yet undeniably lesser-known Patlabor is getting a new game, it doesn’t make sense that Fullmetal Alchemist, one of the most popular anime of all time, hasn’t gotten a new video game in nearly two decades. The obvious explanation is that its prevalence in the zeitgeist has simply waned, its popularity slowly fading as newer generations of anime fans turn to more recent series. Unlike DBZ or One Piece, which have endured simply due to never-ending, FMA isn’t exactly drawing in new fans beyond those with a desire and the time to explore older series.
However, beyond adaptations of Square Enix’s popular video games and perhaps Soul Eater, Fullmetal Alchemist remains the studio’s publishing imprint, Gangan Comic’s most successful and popular series. So, while it may not be as popular as it once was, there’s absolutely enough interest for Fullmetal Alchemist to regain its once coveted levels of popularity. Of course, for that to happen, Square Enix needs to do more with the IP. The occasional appearance in other mobile games and live service titles simply isn’t enough to achieve this, which is why it makes sense for the predominantly video game-focused studio to produce its own game adaptations of the legendary series.
Fullmetal Alchemist is perfectly primed for an ambitious JRPG, the kind Square Enix is not only known for but the best at producing. Outside of a handful of rare exceptions, most contemporary anime video game adaptations fit squarely into the fighting game genre, which would thus make a full-blown JRPG a refreshing innovation. It has seemingly worked well for the likes of Fairy Tail and Seven Deadly Sins, so there is no reason why the format can’t be applied here. It could either adapt the manga and retell famous fan favorite moments while fleshing out underdeveloped concepts and characters through additional original story beats, or even tell a completely original narrative featuring new characters accompanied by the manga’s main cast, akin to how Sword Art Online’s upcoming RPG is handling its story.
The fascinating and intricately detailed tense political backdrop and various warring factions make for a rich, mature, and engrossing narrative that would perfectly translate to a JRPG. Naturally, these are complemented by the vast swathe of varied alchemic abilities showcased in the anime, which could either be attributed to their respective characters acting as party members or unlocked as abilities for a custom protagonist. At the very least, building upon the somewhat basic combat seen in the PS2 trilogy would be a genuine treat, especially if implemented in an explorable recreation of Hiromu Arakawa’s mesmerisingly beautiful and eternally politically relevant world.
Sure, the older games on the PS2, Wii, and PSP offered either alternate versions of the 2003 adaptation or recreations of specific moments, and it is great to play those out and control our favorite characters. However, there is more to FMA, so much more, that can be properly explored in an interactive fashion. There are moral complexities to Fullmetal Alchemist’s narrative that could be examined through player actions, periods of history within its world that would be interesting to see take place.
Of course, I appreciate that recreating Amestris as an open-world space or even building a whole new FMA RPG at a time when its popularity has hit an all-time low would be a considerable investment for Square Enix that may not be financially viable. However, as futile as it may be, one can hope that Square Enix will finally stop wasting Fullmetal Alchemist, or at the very least, allow another developer to produce something new within its endlessly fascinating world.
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