Top 10 Spiritual Successor Video Games

By Andrew Dyce 15 March 2014

• fallout
• bioshock
• portal
• call of duty
• assassin's creed
• shadow of the colossus
• dragon age origins

A strong premise, design philosophy, or tone of story is a valuable thing in the ever-changing world of video games, and for the most part, developers don’t like moving away from a proven formula before they’ve fully plumbed its depths. But occasionally, the choice isn’t up to them.

So more often than not, development teams turn to the notion of a “spiritual successor” – a continuation of the same themes or mechanics of their previous project, but a new name. The story can be a brand new tale, or a sequel in every regard except the game’s title.

This week’s Bravely Default is just the latest such title (originally a sequel to Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light), but it’s not alone. Here is our list of the Top 10 Spiritual Successor Video Games.