Spiritual successor

A spiritual successor, sometimes called a spiritual sequel or a companion piece, is a successor to a work of fiction that, instead of being a standard sequel, only shares genres, themes, styles, and (often) creators with the previous work, without directly continuing a story within the same fictional universe. While this term can apply to almost any media, it has most commonly been used with video games.

Reasons for creating a spiritual successor

Creative teams, due to the current nature of the publisher/developer system inherent in almost all computer games, as well as the continual purchase and takeovers (which sell the entire developer including its copyrights and trademarks) by conglomerate corporations, often fail to retain the copyright and trademark rights of their creations. This often makes attempts to create sequels for a product impossible for various reasons, such as the "core" of the studio being fired or replaced after completing a project while the parent company retains control of the copyrights and trademarks. A good example of this strategy is Electronic Arts, which has fired many studios while keeping their copyrights and trademarks, such as Bullfrog Productions, Origin Systems and Westwood Studios.

To get around this, creative teams will make a product that resembles the original game in some way, without copying or mentioning the original directly. For instance, "Perfect Dark" and "TimeSplitters" are often considered to be the spiritual successors to "GoldenEye 007".cite web
url = http://www.gamepro.com/nintendo/n64/games/previews/5177.shtml
title = First Look: Perfect Dark
publisher = GamePro] [cite web
url= http://www.gamecritics.com/node/1824
title= Perfect Dark – Review
accessdate= 2008-01-04
author= Chi Kong Lui
date= 2000-06-19
publisher= gamecricits.com] [cite web
url= http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/p/perfectdarkzero/20060105-achievementhighlights.htm
title= Achievement Highlights
accessdate= 2008-01-04
author= Franklin Beans
publisher= Xbox.com]

Other times, a spiritual successor is created when the original products were either poor commercial sellers and/or forgotten by the people that would purchase the product. By abandoning the original content's name (and perhaps its baggage as a forgotten product), the spiritual sequel can be appreciated by fresh eyes. An example of this would be "BioShock", which has been referred to by its developers as the spiritual successor to "System Shock 2". [cite web
url = http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/bioshock/707256p1.html
title= BioShock Preview
publisher = GameSpy
date = 2006-05-10
accessdate=2007-05-08] Despite positive critical acclaim, System Shock 2 had failed to achieve the expected commercial success.

Further examples of spiritual successors

* "Ikaruga" is the spiritual successor to Treasure's "Radiant Silvergun". [cite web
url = http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3156213
title= Treasure Talks 360, Wii, and PS3
publisher = 1UP
date = 2007-01-04
accessdate=2008-05-28]
* "Fallout" was originally designed as a sequel to "Wasteland", but it became a stand-alone game after the developers failed to acquire the "Wasteland" copyright and trademarks from Electronic Arts. [cite web
url = http://www.gamebanshee.com/editorials/fallouthistory1.php
title= The History of Fallout
publisher = GameBanshee
date = 2006-06-24
accessdate=2007-05-21] "Fallout" itself nearly received a spiritual successor in the form an untitled game by Troika, dubbed "Mystary!" by fans. [cite web
url = http://www.rpgcodex.com/gamedetails.php?id=293
title= Game information page for FAILSAFE
publisher = RPG Codex
date = 2004-10-07
accessdate=2007-05-21]
* "Supreme Commander" is considered the spiritual successor to "Total Annihilation".cite web
url = http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/supremecommander/news.html?sid=6134783
title= Supreme Commander Q&A - What Makes Supreme Commander Unique?
publisher = GameSpot
date = 2005-09-30
accessdate=2007-03-20] [cite web
url= http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/supremecommanderforgedalliance/review.html
title= Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance Review
accessdate=2008-01-03
author= Jason Ocampo
date= 2007-11-06
publisher=GameSpot] [cite web
url= http://uk.pc.gamespy.com/pc/supreme-commander/767688p1.html
title= Supreme Commander (PC) Review
accessdate=2008-01-03
author= John 'Warrior' Keefer
date= 2007-02-23
publisher= GameSpy]
*"Shadow of the Colossus" was mentioned by Executive Producer Fumito Ueda as a spiritual successor to his company's sleeper hit "Ico" cite web | year=2005 | title=The Long-Awaited Spiritual Successor to ICO Arrives Mid-February in Europe | editor=GameSpot site staff | url=http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/adventure/wandaandthecolossus/news.html?sid=6141938 | work= [http://www.gamespot.com/ GameSpot] | accessdate=July 1|accessyear=2006] and later explained also as a prequel, taking place in the same world at an unspecified time before "Ico" [cite web | author=McNamara, Andy & Berghammer, Billy | year=2006 | title=Colossal Creation: The Kenji Kaido and Fumito Ueda Interview | url=http://www.gameinformer.com/News/Story/200602/N06.0216.1853.30213.htm | work= [http://www.gameinformer.com/ Game Informer] | accessdate=July 9 | accessyear=2006] .
* "" has been referred to by its developers the spiritual successor to "Diablo II". [cite web
url = http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=71581
title= Hellgate is 'spiritual successor to Diablo II' - Roper
publisher = Eurogamer
date = 2007-09-01
accessdate=2007-08-19]

* Valve's "Portal" was developed by the creators of the DigiPen project "Narbacular Drop" and has been officially stated as its spiritual successor.Fact|date=October 2007
* The film "Pan's Labyrinth" is considered by director Guillermo del Toro a spiritual sequel to "The Devil's Backbone", an idea he voiced in the DVD commentary for the film using the terms "sister story" and "companion piece" (del Toro never uses the term "spiritual sequel" in the commentary, instead opting for more generic and commonly used synonyms).
* "Fierce Creatures" is a follow up to the comedy film "A Fish Called Wanda" featuring the same cast and creative team, but entirely different characters. [ [http://www.dailyllama.com/news/1997/llama059.html Daily Llama - NEWS 1997_02_12 - Fierce Creatures - New Film Brings the Stars of 'A Fish Called Wanda' Together ] ]
* The film "Mirrormask" was conceived by the Jim Henson Company and director Dave McKean as spiritual successor to the company's previous fantasy films "Labyrinth" and "The Dark Crystal". [ [http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/authorinterviews/a/gaimanInterview_2.htm Neil Gaiman, author of Anansi Boys ] ]
* The Monolith videogame series "Xenosaga" is the spiritual successor [ [http://www.gamepro.com/sony/ps2/12842/info.shtml Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht : PS2 at Gamepro.com - Reviews, Previews and Cheats for Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht ] ] to the Square game "Xenogears"; each is the product of the same creative minds. "Xenogears" is the fifth episode of a six part series, but this ended prematurely when Monolith Soft was established. The "Xenosaga" series were also originally meant to be a six part series as well, but plans for this were effectively cut short when the series ended prematurely at . Although they are within the same universe, there is no direct relation between "Xenogears" and the "Xenosaga" series.
* Afrika is a spiritual successor to the photography game Pokemon Snap. [ [http://kezins.com/2008/06/africa-the-next-pokemon-snap/1337 ‘Afrika,’ the Next Pokemon Snap? : Kezins.com ] ] [ [http://www.destructoid.com/the-secret-is-finally-out-afrika-details-revealed-89063.phtml The secret is finally out! Afrika details revealed | Destructoid offers reviews, previews, trailers, cheats, and more ] ]

References