Board 8 > Game of the Decade: 2010-2019 Contest Analysis Crew - Part 2

(+) Yeah! (+)

Ranticoot posted...

Sonic Mania probably sucks

The best thing Sonic games have done in contests is, what? Sonic 1 beat Street Fighter 2 with Mario 3 in the poll? I love the guy but god damn his games are weak.

Sonic 2 has done pretty decently in its appearances

the biggest problem is that SBAllen conspires to keep Sonic's strongest game out of contests
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Remember when Sonic 3 got smoked by SMK with Super Metroid in the poll?

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WarThaNemesis2 posted...

Remember when Sonic 3 got smoked by SMK with Super Metroid in the poll?

I remember that SBAllen shut down my Add/Remove to replace Sonic 3 with Sonic 3 & Knuckles literally within seconds of me posting it...!
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LeonhartFour posted...

I remember that SBAllen shut down my Add/Remove to replace Sonic 3 with Sonic 3 & Knuckles literally within seconds of me posting it...!

Physical DLC not being allowed is fair imho.

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standalone versions of the game exist digitally and in compilations!
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LeonhartFour posted...

standalone versions of the game exist digitally and in compilations!

Then you should have nominated the Sonic Mega Collection.

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if I had known SBAllen was willing to accept stuff like Persona 4 Golden I would have!
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LeonhartFour posted...

if I had known SBAllen was willing to accept stuff like Persona 4 Golden I would have!

We should have gotten Chrono Trigger into the last Game of the Decade.

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Chrono Trigger DS has a new ending, totally eligible
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LeonhartFour posted...

is this one of those "I've literally never met anyone who disliked RDR2 so it's the most popular game in the contest" blind spots

Didn't play RDR2, I didn't really care for the first one. GTA style open world games got boring after Vice City. Probably the reason I hated BotW so much, it's basically a GTA/Assassin's Creed game with weapon durability and some Zelda tropes

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I can honestly see Ys being above some of those indie fodder.

Problem is that 64% in a contest where things have been hitting 84% is... ew.

anyone taking ys 8 over civ 5?

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ZeldaTPLink posted...

I can honestly see Ys being above some of those indie fodder.

Problem is that 64% in a contest where things have been hitting 84% is... ew.

I mean, Sonic Mania was never going to be up there with the games hitting those numbers. I love the game, but like I said, it's fodder line range at best. I just figured Super Meat Boy would be, too.

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Previous Results: Nioh was actually strong enough to win! Or Binding of Isaac was weak enough to get beat however you want to look at it. Everything else went as expected.

Crew Predictions: 35/40

Next Round Thoughts: God of War will stomp again and New Vegas/Dark Souls III seems like Fallout's match to lose.

Crew Prediction Challenge:

Moltar: 35
Kleenex: 35
transience: 34
Leonhart: 32
Guest: 32

Crew Accuracy Challenge: Moltar gets the point for Fallout, transience gets the point for DS3, and Kleenex gets the point for GoW.

Moltar: 13
Guest: 7 (spooky96, Hbthebattle (2), Black Turtle, ctes (2), MetalmindStats)
Kleenex: 6
transience: 6
Leonhart: 4

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Round 1 Portal 2 vs. Tomb Raider

Moltars Analysis

Tomb Raider is one of the (sadly) rare cases in this bracket where the lower seed isnt a completely weak game that will get blown out. GameFAQs isnt super big on Tomb Raider and Lara, but at least its recognized here and will get some votes.

Portal Im a bit skeptical about these days. Back in 2010 it was all the rage, but in the 2015 contest, both games underperformed. Valve stuff in general just seems out of favor on GameFAQs.

Im not going to fully count Tomb Raider out here, but Portal 2 should still have enough strength to win this match in an unimpressive fashion.

Moltars Bracket: Portal 2

Moltars Prediction: Portal 2 57%

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transiences Analysis

Portal 2, weirdly enough, feels like a big wildcard. Not many games have aged over the last 10 years like the Portal games have. And yet, I think people still have a positive perception of Portal, almost as a throwback to an older time. I guess that lines up with other tastes on the site.

Tomb Raider 2013 is probably a lot better than other 14 seeds in this contest. It finished its GOTY poll about as well as AC4 did and Lara showed a pretty noticeable boost, going from 45% on Chun Li to 45% on Amaterasu (and going 50/50 with Altair). I think you can be relatively high on Portal 2 while also picking it to look kinda bad here due to Tomb Raider being pretty alright. This one is hard to predict percentagewise, but it would be a real shock to see Portal 2 in any kind of real danger.

transience's prediction: Portal 2 with 60.41%

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Leonharts Analysis

I was pleasantly surprised to see Portal 2 get a 3 seed here. Its one of the oldest games in the contest, and I was wondering if everyone had just forgotten about it since Valve basically gave up on the series. It held up fairly well in 2015, losing a close match to Sonic 2 in a contest that was dominated by 90s nostalgia. I think it has a path to the division finals here, but Ill be curious to see how it does round 1. Tomb Raider is probably underseeded here. Weve seen the rejuvenating effect the series reboot has had on Lara Croft in recent contests. I wouldnt be surprised if it put up a decent performance here, so Im not going to get too worried about Portal 2s future prospects if it does.

Leonharts Vote: Portal 2

Leonharts Prediction: Portal 2 with 63.17%

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Kleenexs Analysis

Portal 2 was actually pretty disappointing back in 2015. Its probably weaker than the original Portal, and despite being one of the few PC games that would get a second look on GameFAQs, I dont think its all that strong. I certainly dont think its going to lose to Tomb Raider, but I can see this one ending a lot closer than people expect. Unless they expect it to end close already - I have no idea. Tomb Raider was hot back when the first game in the reboot series game out, but has cooled off significantly since, and I doubt most people care too much at this point.

Kleenexs Prediction: Portal 2 with 59.50%

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Guests Analysis MechanicalWall

Outside of the Division 4 clusterfuck of doom, this was probably the eightpack that gave me the biggest headache. The top seeds are: the last single-player game Valve put out (until this VR thing I guess) that may or may not have managed to maintain its strength despite no PS4/Switch ports; the newest disappointing installment in a high profile Square JRPG series that may or may not have enough fans to bail it out of matches with a bunch of western games; one of the weaker Nintendo series on this site that may or may not benefit from New Horizons being a huge hit; and the latest Rockstar game that may or may not be stronger than the Div 4 ones (and how much will that matter?)

I say this because the actual Portal 2 v Tomb Raider match isn't as interesting or in doubt as the wider meta of this part of the bracket, and what this match might mean within that meta. Portal 2 should win here, and fairly comfortably at that. Like I said, unlike a lot of the PS360 games in bracket, this one doesn't have a port onto the PS4 or Switch (I think the Xbone plays it through BC but lol the Xbone on this site), which might have hurt its longevity. It looked pretty good in 2015 but the further we get from its release, the more room it has to fall. Despite all that, it's frickin Portal 2. It's still widely regarded as a masterpiece, the final game of Valve's godly era before they realized they could just squat on Steam and microtransaction filled multiplayer games and make money without actually having to put in the work of producing the kind of innovative, high budget single player games they were known for.

Meanwhile, Tomb Raider is tougher than a lot of the other 14 seeds if only due to branding, but it's not gonna do much here. The 2013 game was actually pretty well regarded, but two VERY iterative sequels have retroactively made the original seem less interesting than it was. I have a bit of a theory (which hasn't been substantiated) that these same-y sequels that don't improve anything actually hurt the original game more than bad sequels. What made the original game cool and unique fades with each sequel, while all the bad things get repeated and make people wonder why they liked the original game at all; this is a sentiment I often see when talking about the TR reboot trilogy. At least a bad sequel makes people clamor for the good ol' days...

Anyway, for the record I actually have Portal 2 winning this side of the Division, and because I have no read on what the percentages are gonna look like (it could go from a fairly close match to an absolute clobbering and I wouldn't be surprised), I'm just gonna write down the minimum percentage Portal 2 is gonna have to score to make me feel comfortable with my pick. I think a doubling sounds right; like I said, TR shouldn't get rolled as hard as other 14 seeds.

MechanicalWall Prediction: Portal 2 67%

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Crew Consensus: Tomb Raider falls down a pit.

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I have a bit of a theory (which hasn't been substantiated) that these same-y sequels that don't improve anything actually hurt the original game more than bad sequels. What made the original game cool and unique fades with each sequel, while all the bad things get repeated and make people wonder why they liked the original game at all; this is a sentiment I often see when talking about the TR reboot trilogy. At least a bad sequel makes people clamor for the good ol' days...

This is pretty insightful I think. The approach of many big western devs when they hit on something with mass market appeal is to play it extremely safe with repeated releases, which tends to result in games that are frankly a bit boring, even if well made and not rushed out the door. Whereas our old friends Square and (to a lesser but still noticeable extent) Nintendo tend to make pretty significant changes to their big IPs over the years, building nostalgia for the elements we remembered enjoying.

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It's Fallout 3 syndrome.

Or Star Trek 2009 syndrome.

Or The Force Awakens syndrome. Take your pick.

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Master Moltar posted...

Portal 2 was actually pretty disappointing back in 2015. Its probably weaker than the original Portal, and despite being one of the few PC games that would get a second look on GameFAQs, I dont think its all that strong.

Isn't Portal 2 primarily a console game?
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Is it? I know it came out on everything, but in my head I still associate it with PC more than anything.

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I don't think any Valve game will ever be primarily console.

I mean, they are Steam.

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Mac Arrowny posted...

Isn't Portal 2 primarily a console game?

Why would you even think that

I mean, it was a simultaneous release for PC/PS3/360, and came out after The Orange Box. I'd expect it was much bigger on consoles, especially for GameFAQs users. Having couch co-op was a pretty big thing in Portal 2, and I'd definitely associate that more as a console feature than a PC feature.
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I think of Half-Life as a PC game and Portal as a mix, leaning towards console just because its not HL.

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also, you had Gabe Newell on stage at e3 to talk about PC and PS3 players playing together

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Round 1 Kingdom Hearts III vs. Disco Elysium

Moltars Analysis

oh boy kh3

This game was supposed to be big. GameFAQs was supposed to love this game. Sora was supposed to be a beast because of it.

Expectations vs. Reality

It came, it disappointed a lot of people, and it went. Its name alone should carry it in this match, but I dont think itll do huge numbers here even though its facing an indie game. Remember, any expectation that you have for KH these days, lower it.

Moltars Bracket: Kingdom Hearts III

Moltars Prediction: Kingdom Hearts III 69%

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transiences Analysis

I would pick anything with a pulse to beat Kingdom Hearts 3. That game is pure poison. KH1 and 2 were truly loved games but 3 was the culmination of a decade of awful management of the series. PSP games, mobile games, DS games, 3DS games, enhanced ports -- everything but 3. And then 3 came out and it was so mediocre that it didn't even make the GOTY poll for 2019. Yeesh.

Fortunately for KH3, Disco Elysium, as beloved as it is with its niche audience, doesn't have a pulse. Disco is a sort of spiritual successor to Planescape but without the wide playership and acclaim that Planescape enjoyed. It's better than Baba is You and Slay the Spire, at least according to its GOTY poll, but it's not nearly good enough to hang with a name brand like Kingdom Hearts.

Hopefully Disco can embarrass KH3 a little bit here, but it'll be hard to expect much more than that.

transience's prediction: Kingdom Hearts III with 64.75%

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Leonharts Analysis

I gotta admit, Dragon Ages recent flop has made me kinda nervous about this one! I feel like there are a lot of people chomping at the bit to anti-vote Kingdom Hearts III here. I had hoped the recent DLC would help bolster it a bit, but I think that may have made things worse considering how much Square charged for a retread of the ending and some boss fights! I enjoyed KH3, but I am fully aware that a lot of people were disappointed with it. Now I really wish it had been included in 2019 GOTY here so I can see how it would have done!

I think KH3s saving grace is that Disco Elysium may be a bit too recent to really have found a foothold yet. That, and its still PC-exclusive. If the console versions had already dropped, it might make me a bit more nervous. Im going relatively low here, but I think KH3 still advances.

Leonharts Vote: Kingdom Hearts III

Leonharts Prediction: Kingdom Hearts III with 55.55%

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Kleenexs Analysis

I wouldnt be surprised if Disco ends up being one of the weakest games in the bracket once everything shakes out. It got a lot of critical acclaim last year from the people who did play it, but Im not sure how many people that actually is. At the very least, it did beat out Baba is You and Slay the Spire in the game of the year poll last year. Kingdom Hearts III...boy that game was a mess. But its still a GameFAQs-ass GameFAQs game that...wasnt in any of last years Game of the Year polls? Thats weird. Anyway, KH2 still put up pretty good numbers against rotten scum of the earth Melee in 2015, and even though KH3 was of questionable quality at best, itll come through against Disco, but its certainly possible it could get embarrassed in the process.

Kleenexs Prediction: Kingdom Hearts III with 70.25%

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Guests Analysis pjbasis

KH3 might have been a divisive game, but I think the vocal hatred is outnumbered by the people who weren't expecting anything different and don't really care. It's going to be weak, but not losing to indie tier weak. This is bizarrely still a franchise people are hanging onto, and the playrate on gamefaqs should be one of the highest in the bracket.

Let's see what wikipedia has to say about it's opponent. An RPG eh?

The gameplay features no combat in the traditional sense

Oh that doesn't count. Not against an actual RPG like KH3!

KHIII - 71%
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Crew Consensus: KH3 leaks into Round 2

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I don't know how to analyze these indie games

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I have a dart board I use

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Master Moltar posted...

It's going to be weak, but not losing to indie tier weak.

I should clarify I didn't really mean the strong ones.

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Leonhart4 posted...

I don't know how to analyze these indie games

Me neither! I think it is fun trying to do this even if I am way off most of the time.

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I have a pretty good understanding of all of them, but KH3 that's another story

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Round 1 Animal Crossing: New Leaf vs. Street Fighter V

Moltars Analysis

animal crossing one of the most popular games in the world right now what times we live in

This match was already a gimme, as fighting games (that are not Smash) do poorly on GameFAQs. Tekken got killed, MK11 got killed, and now SFV, a game that a number of SF players dont even like, will get killed.

Now also factor in that a new Animal Crossing game just came out, and this should be an even bigger win for it than originally slated. Feeling very confident in a big overperformance for AC here, as it has way too many factors in its favor right now.

animal crossing blowouts what IS this contest?!

Moltars Bracket: Animal Crossing: New Leaf

Moltars Prediction: Animal Crossing: New Leaf 72%

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transiences Analysis

Animal Crossing is one of the weirdest situations that I can recall. First of all, unlike a lot of series', I largely see Animal Crossing games as being the same. It doesn't matter which one is listed, really, because you're voting for the franchise. If you like Animal Crossing, you like any of the games, and you're not too picky about which one. New Leaf is a portable game which does probably hurt a little bit, but people who play Animal Crossing play it like it's an MMO, and they'll take anything they can get.

The thing that's weird about Animal Crossing is how it's exploded this month. I can't think of a game that's come out at a better time than Animal Crossing in the middle of the covid stuff. It's such comfort food for so many people, and the game is #1 on this site and has been for a couple of weeks now. New Leaf isn't the new game but I think people who are finding comfort with Animal Crossing will vote for it anyway.

Its opponent is SF5, and I have very little respect for that game. Some people credit it for a steep decline in fighting games. It isn't awful, but its launch was really rocky and it's just not very interesting at all. 4 would probably lose here and it's a huge step above 5.

I'm very interested to see how AC does here, because if it wins more than one round it could be a real underdog. With so many western games and KH3 in its eightpack, it wouldn't be a total shock to see the plucky Nintendo game do it.

transience's prediction: Animal Crossing: New Leaf with 61.44%

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Leonharts Analysis

This is such a weird match. On the surface, Street Fighter is a bigger brand name than Animal Crossing, especially this particular version of the game. However, most of SFs strength comes from SF2 (and its many versions). Weve seen Street Fighter IV in a couple of contests, and it was pretty weak. Now consider the fact that Street Fighter IV was actually really well liked by SF fans and the fighting game community in general! Now contrast that with Street Fighter V, which had a disastrous launch that turned many fans off within the first few months (including me). Capcom managed to right the ship over time, but I feel like the damage has been done.

Animal Crossing is also riding high off of the release of New Horizons, which I imagine will rub off on New Leaf at least a little bit. I feel strange picking it to win the match, but it also feels like such an obvious choice after you put some thought into it!

Leonharts Vote: Street Fighter V

Leonharts Prediction: Animal Crossing: New Leaf with 57.86%

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Kleenexs Analysis

No one likes Street Fighter V. Even the people who play SFV competitively hate SFV. Animal Crossing just had a brand new game come out two weeks ago that no one can stop fucking talking about because were all stuck in our real homes spending hours a day in our virtual ones. New Leaf was pretty well liked when it was the Animal Crossing du jour, and I think itll do just fine against a game that everyone agrees sucks.

Kleenexs Prediction: Animal Crossing: New Leaf with 61%

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Guests Analysis ZeldaTPLink

Street Fighter vs Animal Crossing. When I first looked at the bracket, with my infinite lack of knowledge of modern games, I figured Street Fighter was a much more liked franchise. And AC's most recent feat in GameFAQs is being on the receiving end of the 2nd biggest blowout in CBX.

Fortunately, there was plenty of time to change my bracket, and to see this poll:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/6381-now-that-the-first-half-of-2016-is-over-what-is-your-pick

Ever heard of Zero Escape? It's a pretty beloved series in B8. Its list of feats in gameFAQs polls includes not looking worse than Chester when Mewtwo got 80% on both of them in 2013, avoiding the quadrupling by Mass Effect 2 in 2015, and beating the crap out of Street Fighter V in that poll.

Oh look, did you know they still make Digimon games in this decade? Digimon, for those who don't know, is a series that started on tamagotchis, then became a videogame, then finally an anime that threatened to rival with Pokemon, until eventually people forgot about it. But apparently the series is still alive, and strong enough to get a win against Street Fighter V. How is SV5 in the bracket yet Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth is not? The mysteries of contest nominations!

Ok, I get it. SFV is fodder. People who are more aware of modern gaming have told me no one liked it. Still, that's a series everyone knows, and Ryu looks pretty badass in that cover, which may or may not be the match pic. It could get apathy votes, right? Since no one cares about Animal Cross...

https://i.imgur.com/xPyC8Ni.png

... oh.

Animal Crossing 75%
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Crew Consensus: Street Fighter cant pay its debt.

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Let's not confuse Animal Crossing being popular among the 14-24 age bracket group of social media tweeters and what remains of gay tumblr with any sort of GameFAQs strength. It may be the biggest thing right now but GameFAQs exists in a bubble.

Not that it needs much to beat SFV, though.

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Surskit posted...

Let's not confuse Animal Crossing being popular among the 14-24 age bracket group of social media tweeters and what remains of gay tumblr with any sort of GameFAQs strength. It may be the biggest thing right now but GameFAQs exists in a bubble.

Not that it needs much to beat SFV, though.

Well Stardew Valley just showed maybe the bubble isn't that impervious!

Wow Animal Crossing 70%+ predictions

Is this real life

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ZeldaTPLink posted...

Well Stardew Valley just showed maybe the bubble isn't that impervious!

Whatever is popular on "the Internet" isn't necessarily popular on GameFAQs, and the demographics between the people obsessively tweeting and making memes about New Horizons and the people who visit GameFAQs are pretty different. Stardew Valley is a well-respected game even outside of social media buzz. Not that I think AC is in any danger of losing this match because SFV is gonna be weaksauce, but anyone trying to justify its strength with its current Internet popularity is looking at it the wrong way, imo.

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I think you are extremely underestimating the range of people who are into Animal Crossing right now. GameFAQs is a bubble, yes, but New Horizons has permeated groups way broader than what you're suggesting.

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It looks to me like how a new Pokemon game spends weeks at the top for GameFAQs and then it still flops massively and turns out to be super weak tbh, and at least there's evidence that GameFAQs likes Pokemon.

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The thought of a massive Animal Crossing rally just entered my mind and it's the most surreal thing

Not that it really needs one this round

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The core Animal Crossing fanbase certainly has a lot more in common with Undertale fans, so who knows...!

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I'm in the middle here. yes, AC has broken through somewhat on this website because we are a nintendo fan site. but there's still a limit to how much that will be to our core audience that is pushing 30 and doesn't really care about 'social media pull'. we are resistant in ways that other people are not.

that said, my wife texted me today to tell me that we need to get animal crossing, so there's that

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transience posted...

that said, my wife texted me today to tell me that we need to get animal crossing, so there's that

hell yeah

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I know user SaveEstelle has gotten swept up by the new Animal Crossing. I haven't played a game in the series since the DS one.

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splitting time between animal crossing and ff14 is a real dilemma, let me tell you

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Surskit posted...

It looks to me like how a new Pokemon game spends weeks at the top for GameFAQs and then it still flops massively and turns out to be super weak tbh, and at least there's evidence that GameFAQs likes Pokemon.

And yet, Pokemon killed the noble nine twice.

Be careful of absolutes. What this site likes isn't that easy to define.

I mean everyone's right that AC will never penetrate gamefaqs all that much, but SFV doesn't stand a chance anyway.

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Just saw the bracket. Really rough draw for Bayonetta against Link Between Worlds. LBW is way better than an 8-seed.

Also, Zero's Escape Virtue's Last Reward? Puzzles were nice but the plot was utter nonsense. Hard to say that deserve a nomination over better virtual novels like Ghost Trick.

Also Hollow Knight won a round but is likely dead against FF15. Nice to get some recognition since the game's fantastic.

Hotel_Security posted...

Just saw the bracket. Really rough draw for Bayonetta against Link Between Worlds. LBW is way better than an 8-seed.

Also, Zero's Escape Virtue's Last Reward? Puzzles were nice but the plot was utter nonsense. Hard to say that deserve a nomination over better virtual novels like Ghost Trick.

Also Hollow Knight won a round but is likely dead against FF15. Nice to get some recognition since the game's fantastic.

Ghost Trick made it too. Though I guess it was easy to miss amidst all the blowouts.

Round 1 Red Dead Redemption 2 vs. Dying Light

Moltars Analysis

Dont know how many different ways I can write about big mainstream game wrecking far less popular game. RDR2 wont be as strong as the original, but itll still be strong enough to put up big numbers here.

Moltars Bracket: Red Dead Redemption 2

Moltars Prediction: Red Dead Redemption 2 77%

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transiences Analysis

I think RDR1 is stronger than 2, but 2 has a beautiful match to look good in here. I'm shocked that Dying Light made the contest. It's been in a single poll, not even a GOTY poll, and looked pretty dreadful (though apparently better than Ori!). I don't see that game as being one that has any kind of audience here.

RDR2 looked okay in its GOTY polls but it was pretty far off from God of War. I think it cleans up this poll because what even is a Dying Light but its big performance here could be deceiving. Not every blowout win is the same!

transience's prediction: Red Dead Redemption 2 with 79.66%

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Leonharts Analysis

Fun Fact: When I first looked over the bracket, I initially thought Dying Light was that inFamous game. It probably wouldve done better, too! I feel like people have soured on Red Dead Redemption now that the game has had time to settle in, but its up against one of the weakest games in the bracket (how many games have we said that about so far?). Actually, which Red Dead Redemption faced the weaker game? Its a decent question, and I dont have an answer for it!

Leonharts Vote: Red Dead Redemption 2

Leonharts Prediction: Red Dead Redemption 2 with 74.46%
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Kleenexs Analysis

Im on my twelfth writeup in a row here and Im starting to lose steam. In a battle of two games about dying, one of them is going to die a lot more than the other. Im still super skeptical of any Rockstar game, but who is voting for Dying Light here? All those Dying Light superfans out there? Do those exist? This is another nominee for weakest game in the bracket.. I actually think its weaker than Ghost Trick, so Id expect bigger numbers here than the original game put up a few days ago.

Kleenexs Prediction: Red Dead Redemption 2 with 82.50%

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Guests Analysis Hbthebattle

RDR2 is easily going to crush here, based on how the original RDR crushed Ghost Trick in a similar manner. and Dying Light could possibly be even weaker.

RDR2 with 80.11%

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Crew Consensus: dead > dying

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You are neither dead nor dying.

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Hotel_Security posted...

Just saw the bracket. Really rough draw for Bayonetta against Link Between Worlds. LBW is way better than an 8-seed.

Also, Zero's Escape Virtue's Last Reward? Puzzles were nice but the plot was utter nonsense. Hard to say that deserve a nomination over better virtual novels like Ghost Trick.

Also Hollow Knight won a round but is likely dead against FF15. Nice to get some recognition since the game's fantastic.

How was the plot nonsense? It made sense to me. And the Zero Escape series is definitely more popular than Ghost Trick so it makes sense that it was nominated

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