8 Best Video Game Sequels (That Weren't Actually Sequels)

Much like the dawning of a new day, the "video game sequel" is something that seems almost inevitable in this day and age.

Very few are the titles that operate as one-and-done experiences in the Triple-A market, mainly because publishers are eager (desperate even) to turn every single one of their games into tentpole franchises. After all the only thing better than making money, is making money with a lower risk of wasted development costs and design time.

Yet some developers see the concept of a sequel in a slightly different light, as thanks to either contractual issues, the inability to carry on their own ideas after leaving a company, or simply because the lead creator has a style so unique that it becomes their trademark, even video games that aren't directly linked can end up being seen as "spiritual successors"

These games might not hold the branding, setting or even gameplay elements of those that it's supposedly tied to, but at their core, their genetic code acts as an homage or even a direct copy of the original.

So, let's take a look at the spirits haunting the bones of titles that sometimes look nothing alike as these are the best Video Game Sequels (That Weren't Actually Sequels)

While many titles will look to the Final Fantasy series as a point of inspiration for their own adventures, as let's face it can you name any other franchise quite as prolific as Square Enix's monster of a franchise? The series isn't completely free from borrowing ideas from previous titles and reshaping them into new experiences.

Take for example, the utter delight that is the Final Fantasy Tactics offshoot of games, which are heralded by many to be one of the finest examples of the tactics game genre. Ultra polished, ridiculously addictive and with often brilliant narratives, the FF Tactics games really are a pleasure to play, and yet without the equally brilliant Ogre Battle and Tactics Ogre games, they'd likely not exist!

Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together shifted the gameplay of the prior Ogre Battle: The March Of The Black Queen into something that FF Tactics fans will instantly recognize, using an isometric viewpoint and a turn-based battle system.

Unfortunately, despite the outstanding quality of the Ogre Games, sales just weren't adding up for the series to have a lengthy tenure, but rather than have the franchise die, Square Enix decided to take the concept and connect it to the much more popular Final Fantasy IP.

Thus Ogre Battle was allowed to live on, albeit under the guise of another.