Spiritual successor

Spiritual successor games are sometimes made by the same studio as the original, but with a new title due to licensing issues.[10] Some examples of these include:

• The Dark Souls series by FromSoftware was inspired by the studio's earlier game, Demon's Souls, an exclusive title for the PlayStation 3. Because Sony Interactive Entertainment held the rights to Demon's Souls, the studio was unable to produce a direct sequel on other platforms, leading them to create a new property with similar gameplay mechanics.[2][11]
• Irrational Games' BioShock is a spiritual successor to their earlier System Shock 2. While System Shock 2 was met with critical acclaim, it was considered a commercial failure, and publisher Electronic Arts would not allow a third title in the series. After several years and other projects at Irrational, as well as being acquired by a new publisher 2K Games, the studio developed BioShock, with a similar free-form narrative structure.[12][13]
• Shadow of the Colossus was considered a spiritual successor to Ico by Fumito Ueda, who directed both games as leader of Team Ico. Ueda expressed that he did not necessarily want a direct canonical connection between the games, but that both had similar narrative themes and elements that he wanted players to interpret on their own.[14]

Alternatively, a successor may be developed by some of the staff who worked on the preceding game, under a new studio name. Examples of these include:

• Yooka-Laylee is a spiritual successor evoking the style and gameplay of Rare's Banjo-Kazooie. It was developed by Playtonic Games, which consisted of many former Rare staff members, including composer Grant Kirkhope. Yooka and Laylee, the game's animal protagonists, serve as direct stand-ins for the original game's Banjo and Kazooie.[15]
• Mighty No. 9 closely resembles the gameplay and character design of the Mega Man series, which project lead Keiji Inafune worked on before leaving Capcom, and is considered a spiritual successor.[16]
• Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is considered a spiritual successor to the Castlevania series, created by Koji Igarashi who had led development of several Castlevania games before leaving Konami.[17]
• A number of games from Bullfrog Productions have spawned spiritual successors in the years after the studio was closed by Electronic Arts in 2001, with these projects typically led by former staff from Bullfrog having found their own studios. These include Godus by Peter Molyneux's studio 22cans, succeeding Populous;[18] 5 Lives Studios' Satellite Reign, succeeding Syndicate Wars;[19] and Two Point Hospital by Mark Webley and Gary Carr's Two Point Studios, succeeding Theme Hospital.[20]
• P.N.03 has been called the spiritual predecessor of Bayonetta for its "combat...with stylish dance-inspired movements" and "flashy, energetic, intense" gameplay and character design.[21] P.N.03 director Shinji Mikami later co-founded PlatinumGames, the studio that developed Bayonetta, and Bayonetta director and PlatinumGames co-founder Hideki Kamiya also directed Resident Evil 2, Devil May Cry, and Viewtiful Joe, the last of which was part of the Capcom Five with P.N.03.

The term is also more broadly applied to video games developed by a different studio with no connection to the first, and is simply inspired by the gameplay, aesthetics or other elements of the preceding work. Examples of such games include:

• The game Cities: Skylines (along with other city-builder games) is considered a spiritual successor to the SimCity series, both focusing on constructing and managing a simulated city.[22]
• Axiom Verge is a side-scrolling Metroidvania game that succeeds the Metroid series.[23]
• The Mother series (known as EarthBound outside Japan) has directly inspired a number of pixel-art, role-playing indie games featuring children in playable character roles as spiritual successors to the series. These include Undertale and Citizens of Earth.[24][25]
• War for the Overworld (succeeding Dungeon Keeper) crossed through several of these categories over the course of the development. Originating as a fan-made direct sequel to Dungeon Keeper 2, the game then became a spiritual successor with only thematic connection after moving away from the Dungeon Keeper IP. Finally, the hiring of returning voice actor Richard Ridings presented a direct staff connection to the original.[26][27]
• Planet Zoo and Planet Coaster are spiritual successors to Zoo Tycoon and RollerCoaster Tycoon, having a theme similar to these games.