Top 10 Spiritual Succesor Video Games

Top 10 Spiritual Successor Video Games

Similar creators, similar gameplay, different games. Welcome to Watchmojo.com and today we’re looking at the Top 10 Spiritual Successor Video Games.

For this list, we’re looking at video games that aren’t direct continuations of their predecessors, to be considered a Spiritual Successor, the games need to have some form of development connection, such as previous team members, development teams or publishers working on both projects. Also while there have indeed been a large wave of Kickstarter campaigns for spiritual successors, we’re only looking at games that have been officially released.

#10: “Command and Conquer” (1995)
Successor to “Dune II” (1992)

Westwood Studios’ major breakthrough occurred in 1992 with their real-time strategy adaptation of Frank Herbert’s massive sci-fi universe. The game laid the foundations for the RTS genre in the coming years, introducing elements like a world-map and base and unit construction. Three years later, Westwood upped the ante with what many consider to be the perfection of the RTS genre. C&C refined the groundwork laid out by its predecessor, while creating its own unique world and mythology centering on the resource Tiberium, and the terrorist leader Kane.

#9: “Dragon Age: Origins” (2009)
Successor to the “Baldur’s Gate” series (1998-2001)

Long before Bioware immersed themselves in science fiction, they released a fantasy RPG set in the world of Dungeons and Dragons. Baldur’s Gate was immediately acclaimed for its deep gameplay, and the fact that it basically rescued RPG’s on the PC. Eleven years later, Bioware returned to fantasy with their own unique creation – something they could experiment with freely. The developer’s prior knowledge of high fantasy universes and their unrivalled talents in game design ensured that Dragon Age would be the modern equivalent of the game that put them on the map.

#8: “Paper Mario” (2000)
Successor to “Super Mario RPG” (1996)

Nintendo’s mascot is famous for his genre hopping, and one of his most beloved non-platforming outings is the Super Nintendo classic developed by Squaresoft. But after Square parted ways with Nintendo the next console generation, they gave their signature franchise to Intelligent Systems to keep Mario’s role-playing legacy alive. Beyond its distinctive papercraft visual style, the N64 RPG expanded on its predecessors defining elements: RPG gameplay with button timed attacks, and its signature humor.

#7: “Crysis” (2007)
Successor to “Far Cry” (2004)

The visual wizards at Crytek hit the gaming scene in 2004 with a gorgeous tropical based first person shooter where players battled mercenaries and and mutants in a dense, tropical setting. While Crytek had no involvement with the eventual sequels, they followed it up in 2007 with another FPS which many claimed to be the best looking game of all time – at least up to that point. Besides high graphical fidelity, both games came to be defined by their lush jungle settings – something that the later Far Cry games by Ubisoft could not capture as perfectly.

#6: “Bayonetta” (2009)
Successor to “Devil May Cry” (2001)

Director Hideki Kamiya blew everyone’s minds when he and Capcom released the legendary hack’n’slash action game about the demon hunter Dante. After Capcom went behind him and his team’s back to create the DMC sequel, Kamiya didn’t return to the realm of 3D hack n’ slash until 2009, with the help from a sexy witch. Kamiya’s creations share similar combat systems and gameplay, and he even managed to exceed the ridiculousness of his first outing with the complete insanity that occurs during Bayonetta. Not to mention Dante and Bayonetta’s personalities are so similar you’d swear they were separated at birth.

#5: “Dark Souls” (2011)
Successor to “Demon’s Souls” (2009)

Atlus’s punishingly difficult 2009 action RPG was such an unexpected success that the publisher actually had to reprint the game months after its release. But rather than follow it up by continuing the original’s story, Atlus and developer FromSoftware supplied a change in setting and the mythology for the follow-up – a move which allow their new franchise to go multi-platform, since Sony had a lock on Demon Souls. Both games still feature very similar concepts and gameplay, and most importantly, are both brutally tough. Interestingly, FromSoftware went back to the console exclusive route with their follow up game Bloodborne.

#4: “Assassin’s Creed” (2007)
Successor to the “Prince of Persia” series (1989-2010)

When Ubisoft rebooted the dormant Prince of Persia franchise in 2003 with The Sands of Time, its design and action-adventure gameplay led people to call it one of the greatest games of its generation. After its success, Ubisoft Montreal went to work developing a spin-off based on an assassin. The spin-off eventually became its own game, sharing several gameplay mechanics and with its conceptual cousin, but moving its story into the conflict between the Assassins and the Knights Templar.

#3: “Fallout” (1997)
Successor to “Wasteland” (1988)

War. War never changes. And neither do post-apocalyptic RPG’s apparently. Interplay put out an RPG set in a post-nuclear war America in 1988, and it became an instant classic in the genre. But in 1997, their inability to obtain the rights from EA prompted the development of a game with a similar concept, but is considered to be superior in every way. Fallout retained the style of its precursor, but also improved on it in regards to gameplay, proving that rights issues don’t have to keep a strong idea down.

#2: “Perfect Dark” (2000)
Successor to “GoldenEye 007” (1997)

It was a console FPS based off a movie that had come out two years before. It shouldn’t have worked. But Rare worked a miracle with Goldeneye, delivering both legendary shooter and multiplayer experiences. Despite Nintendo losing the James Bond license to EA, Rare followed GoldenEye with another beloved FPS three years later. Using a modified version of the Goldeneye engine, the story of Joanna Dark became a must-own for N64 gamers, with someone even saying it eclipsed its licensed predecessor. Still some team members did leave Rare during Perfect Dark’s development to form “Free Radical Design” and released their own spiritual successor: TimeSplitters.

Before we reveal our top pick, here are some honorable mentions:

-“Sleeping Dogs” (2012)
Successor to “True Crime” (2003)

-“Rock Band” (2007)
Successor to “Guitar Hero” (2005)

-“Dying Light” (2015)
Successor to “Dead Island” (2011)

-“Supreme Commander” (2007)
Successor to “Total Annihilation” (1997)

#1: “Bioshock” (2007)
Successor to “System Shock 2” (1999)

Oh, the wonders and terrors of isolation. In 1999, Irrational Games released a first-person shooter far ahead of its time, set in a cyberpunk universe with the player battling a malevolent AI. It took Irrational eight years to properly follow it up, but it was well worth the wait. The 2007 FPS masterpiece perfected System Shock’s concepts, expanding on its role-playing elements, and created an unforgettable setting and atmosphere with the underwater city of Rapture. Take your pick: Atlas or SHODAN? Shit, was that a spoiler?

Do you agree with our list? What’s your favorite spiritual successor video game? For more top tens that we won’t lose the rights to, be sure to subscribe to Watchmojo.com.