Board 8 > Velvet vs. James reminded me of why I enjoy contests.

(+) Yeah! (+)

To most, it's two worthless fodder characters duking it out. I can understand that opinion. Most people haven't played their games and haven't heard of them, and thus they don't care. It's not a match worth more than 1 point, and it's not even a close fight. By contest metrics, it's a total filler match. As someone who spends way too much time analyzing these things, I feel the same way about a lot of matches.

But for me, it's two characters I really like - who have never been in a contest before - getting to be on the front page. It's awesome that Velvet has a chance to win a match, even if she wouldn't beat 98% of the rest of the bracket. And even if it's a shame that it comes at the expense of James, just seeing him there on the front page is nice. I have no idea how he got in but I'm glad he did.

Velvet is going to get brutalized by Yoshi next round, and that's okay. This match gave me a chance to sit back and watch two (very underrated!) characters I love get some recognition. We've seen so many contests that it's hard to get hyped for your characters doing well sometimes - like, is it really that special if Luigi wins for the tenth time? Every match becomes about analyzing percentages, and while I really enjoy doing so, it was nice to enjoy a contest match on a simpler level. It doesn't come around often for me as a lot of my favorite characters would (and have) gotten wrecked even against soft competition.

That's a lot of words for Fodder vs. Fodder, but hey.
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I felt the same way about Chloe vs Lightning. No matter what happened, one of my favorite characters was winning a match.
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I liked James better. SH2 is my favorite SH...
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I remember Super Mario RPG vs Goldeneye vs DKC2 vs Resident Evil 2. The first three games are my all time favorites, so it was nice to see them all on the front page, even if my all time favorite was getting sunk into the ground.
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This is so genuine.

It's a shame that the history of gaming and the culture of GameFAQs intersect in such a way that very few new characters see any love in these contests.

Mobilezoid posted...

I felt the same way about Chloe vs Lightning. No matter what happened, one of my favorite characters was winning a match.

I was secretly hoping for Chloe to destroy Lightning but knew there was absolutely no chance in hell.

Still got my vote, though.
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trogita posted...

This is so genuine.

It's a shame that the history of gaming and the culture of GameFAQs intersect in such a way that very few new characters see any love in these contests.

Yeah. My biggest issue by far with GameFAQs contests is that I actually barely like any of the people at the top. That's not to say they're bad characters, and they deserve the love, but it's hard to care sometimes. A lot of supporting them is academic to me - I get behind them because I think they can win and help my bracket and because it's simply more fun to back a horse, but sometimes I gotta force myself to do so. Velvet vs. James was a very nice break from that.
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FakeAccount3000 posted...

I liked James better. SH2 is my favorite SH...

James is really good and I would vote him over almost all of the bracket. Velvet just wasn't one of them. Stacked match for me!
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I wonder how Velvet and James would compare to the other first round newcomers. I suspect Velvet could probably beat Shantae or Primrose. I wonder if James could be put in a winnable match.

WhirlieMan posted...

I wonder if James could be put in a winnable match.

maybe if he got paired up against Cayde-6

KamikazePotato posted...

is it really that special if Luigi wins for the tenth time?

you're darn right it is
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I'm baffled James made it in too. I mean, he's an interesting character, but he's kind of a piece of shit.
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How do you KNOW about that? Aren't you Maria?

*amazing Laura's theme intensifies*
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KamikazePotato posted...

And even if it's a shame that it comes at the expense of James, just seeing him there on the front page is nice. I have no idea how he got in but I'm glad he did.

You can thank @Inviso for that.
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*wave*
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Inviso posted...

*wave*

You did good work.
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I was all aboard that James Sunderland rally. A shame he didn't get a win, though.
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I think plenty of people have played silent hill 2, it's just that James isn't as much of a mascot as velvet is to their games
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Great topic.
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Yeah I'm gonna get that feeling myself when Richter Belmont has his match against Captain Falcon later

I mean sure he's probably gonna lose, but it'll be awesome to see him have a match at all
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Lopen posted...

Yeah I'm gonna get that feeling myself when Richter Belmont has his match against Captain Falcon later

I mean sure he's probably gonna lose, but it'll be awesome to see him have a match at all

That's going to be a cool match.

I'm hoping Richter pulls through. He definitely has my vote.
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It was cool to see Velvet win. Berseria is a solid game which, for me anyways, saved the Tales series after the disappointment that was Zestiria.

Though it's a bit sad B8 is so myopic towards anything not from a major series or anything. ToB may not get major buzz, but whenever discussion of the game came up on the internets, everything seem to suggest that Velvet was a well-received character, but most here will just chalk up any "success" she has to being "more photogenic."
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KamikazePotato posted...

Velvet is going to get brutalized by Yoshi

fan art please
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Good to see that the contest can still bring joy to the old timers beyond the analysis part.

Now I'm just waiting for match pics, that's another source of enjoyment for me.
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If you put any two characters together, one will have to win.
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Vlado posted...

If you put any two characters together, one will have to win.

Thanks for that, Luster
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same, love when fodder goes at it.
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StarStormScream posted...

ToB may not get major buzz, but whenever discussion of the game came up on the internets, everything seem to suggest that Velvet was a well-received character, but most here will just chalk up any "success" she has to being "more photogenic."

Yeah I wouldn't have picked Velvet if I hadn't known she was a very liked character. It matters!
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I mentioned this in another thread, but I actually just finished ToB this past week, and I really, really liked Velvet, so seeing her win a match (which I never would have expected given the position of non-Symphonia Tales) was pretty special.
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I liked Berseria so much more than I expected. Once of the best gaming surprises I've had in a long time.
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Berseria is so good that it managed to make the standard RPG kid character into one of the best characters in the game.
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Berseria is basically the savior of the franchise. Can't wait to see what they do next.
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also here to say that Berseria is great and Velvet is great
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CybrMonkey posted...

Berseria is so good that it managed to make the standard RPG kid character into one of the best characters in the game.

Yeah seriously, Laphicet is awesome.
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metaIslug posted...

Same. A nobody generic anime character beating an actual good one, in a gamefaqs contest? takes me back, man

Just in case anyone sees this post and takes it at face value for whatever reason, I feel compelled to mention that Velvet is about as far from being a generic RPG protagonist as you can get.
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I'd take Velvet over James any day of the week in terms of development and value.
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metaIslug posted...

Same. A nobody generic anime character beating an actual good one, in a gamefaqs contest? takes me back, man

To be perfectly honest, I'll take anyone from the playable cast in Berseria over James.
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I've still only played Symphonia, and that was like thirteen years ago or whenever it came out. I should give another game a try.
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GiftedACIII posted...

I think plenty of people have played silent hill 2, it's just that James isn't as much of a mascot as velvet is to their games

Yeah

I made the point earlier that I'd prefer Pyramid Head because he's more iconic and unique-looking and has a name that's not just "a guy".

Still happy James made it tho
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PH has been before though. Nice for James to get his time as well
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NBIceman posted...

metaIslug posted...

Same. A nobody generic anime character beating an actual good one, in a gamefaqs contest? takes me back, man

Just in case anyone sees this post and takes it at face value for whatever reason, I feel compelled to mention that Velvet is about as far from being a generic RPG protagonist as you can get.

This x1000! That's okay metalslug, your ignorance is forgiven! :)
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I'd have taken Pyramid Head over Velvet in a heartbeat
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I would have too, although she did well enough on James that I think she could win that matchup
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Up. Enjoying the positivity in this topic!
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