Spiritual Successors

[Moonface]

I was reading the Eiyuden Chronicle thread again, and I saw this comment by @ShiraNoMai:

I'm hoping this turns out to be everything Suikoden fans hope for in a game by the great minds being some of the best. Fans knew Konami would never ever entertain the idea of putting out a 6th game in the series, so this kind of project seems like the best outcome they could ever hope for.

Reading this just made me think of something interesting to ask but I didn't want to derail that thread, so here we are.

Like how Eiyuden Chronicle is a spiritual successor to Suikoden, what other games are there that are basically a spiritual successor to an existing series that isn't getting new/good entries?

The only one I can think of off the top of my head right now is Yooka-Laylee being an attempt to continue Banjo-Kazooie (it was even made by people who originally worked on Banjo).

[Maniakkid25]

Bioshock is the Spiritual Successor to System Shock, and that's usually the first example that comes to mind when it comes to Spiritual Successors in games. Though, depending on how you define the term, there are way too many titles to list that are spiritual successors. I've actually seen the argument that FF13-2 is a spiritual successor to Chrono Trigger, so there's a lot of play here.

[Moonface]

I've actually seen the argument that FF13-2 is a spiritual successor to Chrono Trigger, so there's a lot of play here.

Only the second game in FF13? What did it do that made it feel reminiscent of Chrono Trigger that the other FF13 games didn't do?

[Maniakkid25]

To put it simply: Time Travel. Time Travel and manipulation of events to influence the timeline are both major mechanics in both games, hence why the two are seemingly linked.

[ShiraNoMai]

Time travelling in JRPGs now feels so common place that it's really hard to wanna say "all these games are successors to the one that started the trend!" ya know?

Xenoblade Chronicles is a great example of a spiritual successor, off the back of the Xenosaga trilogy, which was in turn a spiritual successor to Xenogears game that started it all (ironically, this title was in the works to be the sequel to Chrono Trigger before it became its own original game!)

[Kyng]

Planet Coaster and Parkitect are both spiritual successors to the RollerCoaster Tycoon series.

Perhaps that's a bit of an odd choice, given that RollerCoaster Tycoon games are still being made under that name . But, sadly, the last few games have been utter crap, to the point where the franchise has lost all relevance: it's a far cry from the late 1990s and early 2000s, when RCT1, 2 and 3 dominated the theme park simulator market. These days, that market has been taken up by Planet Coaster (with very powerful tools that offer total freedom to customise your ride layouts), and Parkitect (which offers a more traditional grid-based layout, as seen in the classic RCT games).

Sadly, I stopped playing Planet Coaster at the second scenario (I just couldn't figure out the complex coaster-building tools ). I haven't yet tried Parkitect, but I would like to.

[Moonface]

Sadly, I stopped playing Planet Coaster at the second scenario (I just couldn't figure out the complex coaster-building tools ). I haven't yet tried Parkitect, but I would like to.

Yeah, I dropped off Planet Coaster for the same reason. I didn't like how meticulous I needed to be to place decorative objects like railings on balconies but with no way to do fine adjustments or snap it to a grid system. The building tools for the environment were fine until you started going for precise details, and then it just became a pain.

Also, your post about a game still getting entries but something else feeling more like what that game is supposed to be reminded me of the Harvest Moon series. I can't remember if I have the right game but I think Rune Factory was seen as the spiritual successor to it; if not that, then I might be getting confused with Story of Seasons actually being the Harvest Moon series but under a new name due to a licensing issue, while the original name is being used to make games that are not actually by the original team (they work on Story of Seasons).
Stardew Valley seems to be the most common game I've seen labelled as the closest spiritual successor to the Story of Seasons (OG Harvest Moon) series.

[Nightingale]

I can't see it, but I heard that Shadowrun is the spiritual successor to Nightshade.

If so, then great! But, as mentioned already, can't see it.