I'd put Yookalaylee below average.

Well, you already gave a great example with Free Radical Design. But let's not forget ActiVision, one of the biggest gaming companies there is, was made of former Atari employees.

If one person moving around meets your criteria, Amy Hennig seemed to have a nice upwards career trajectory as she left one company to go to the next. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Hennig

I loved those Kain games, but Soul Reaver 2 was a letdown.

But Soul Reaver 2 was my favorite D:

Really? Hmmm. I thought the story progressed nicely, PS2 graphics were very good for their time, and a solid upgrade over the Dreamcast port of the PS1 original. It was way too easy though. I played the entire game without dying. I mean, it was basically impossible to die. Because of that, it lost most if not all tension around halfway through. It was the first game I ever signed a petition for, which I did for the canceled Dreamcast version. :)

I just loved the story and design :D

Telltale Games: A bunch of LucasArts employees founded it after LucasArts canceled the Sam&Max sequel.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telltale_Games

Well I really like Yooka Laylee, so I'd give Playtonic the seal of approval.

As for other companies, Tri Ace split from Wolfteam and did quite well for themselves. I like Star Ocean and Valkyrie Profile and their other one off games are normally good too.

Camelot also released some good games after breaking from Sega but they've settled into mostly Mario Golf and Tennis games which while still good aren't the best use of their talent. I'd consider this one working out well though.

I guess Mark Cerny after leaving Atari, then Sega, then Universal Interactive Studios, has done pretty well but not many would thank him for unleashing Knack upon the world.

I hope the guy behind Castlevania hasn´t lost his touch with his upcoming game.

I don´t really know but it´s supposed to come out next year.