Contest Stats and Discussion - Part 1370

Leonhart4 posted...

Or Samus was just stronger than we thought because of that weird match against Tifa.

Most likely this. The ZSS pic hurt her.

UltimaterializerX posted...

I can understand not liking some rallies, but I feel like the people who dislike them drop this when a character they root for is the winner.

Here’s a good example - Solid Snake. If he were suddenly gigarallied like Draven was and beat Link as a result, I highly doubt most people would complain. Or, let’s hypothetically say it was Commander Shepard in 2013 instead of Draven. Most of us love Mass Effect, right? Would anyone have complained if he had some miracle run and won a contest? Maybe, but it wouldn’t come close to the vitriol the “joke characters” got. And that’s always bugged me. It’s like, you like them or you hate them. Don’t pick and choose.

Hell, ZackFAQs itself kind of shows that we like the rallies and underdog runs when it’s a character we like <_<

This is why I hate all rallies. I've had it hammered into me over the last decade or so that nobody wants to hear nuanced opinions about rallies. It's all or none so I choose none.

I will say if Link won the counter rally it would have been legendary.

I guess Undertale rally was the most flavorful

Team Rocket Elite posted...

This is why I hate all rallies. I've had it hammered into me over the last decade or so that nobody wants to hear nuanced opinions about rallies. It's all or none so I choose none.

Ulti doesn't believe in nuance (even less than I realized now that I know he makes no distinction between a bandwagon and a rally) so yeah we've had to take a hard stance one way or the other

Undertale's rally was thoroughly wholesome from the Undertale side. The vitriol was like 95% from Board 8 purists acting like it was a joke entrant on the level of Draven and pretending the fanbase was acting badly when they weren't.

Leonhart4 posted...

Ulti doesn't believe in nuance (even less than I realized now that I know he makes no distinction between a bandwagon and a rally) so yeah we've had to take a hard stance one way or the other

I'm not being dumb here. Aren't bandwagons and rallies the same exact thing? <_<

UltimaterializerX posted...

I'm not being dumb here. Aren't bandwagons and rallies the same exact thing? <_<

No. They're two different terms for a reason.

Meanwhile I'm just excited we finally get a mainline FF and a mainline Zelda in the same year again. How likely is it for FFXVI to be stronger than BotW2?

squexa posted...

Meanwhile I'm just excited we finally get a mainline FF and a mainline Zelda in the same year again. How likely is it for FFXVI to be stronger than BotW2?

Believe in Yoshi-P. I think it can clear 35%.

I don't see any possibility of FFXVI being stronger than BotW2 unless BotW2 really s***s the bed. If FFXVI turns out great and everyone loves it, its peak is probably still FFX-level?

squexa posted...

Meanwhile I'm just excited we finally get a mainline FF and a mainline Zelda in the same year again. How likely is it for FFXVI to be stronger than BotW2?

Basically none. We're going on two straight decades now where the strongest FF of the decade might be weaker than the weakest mainline Zelda, and Zelda has never been stronger here, and FF never been weaker.

Did we forget Skyward Sword is a mainline Zelda? To be honest, I'd feel pretty good taking Final Fantasy XIV over it.

Big Bob posted...

Did we forget Skyward Sword is a mainline Zelda? To be honest, I'd feel pretty good taking Final Fantasy XIV over it.

I said might specifically because Skyward Sword is such an unknown. I think it says a lot though that the strongest non-remake FF since X only gets a 'pretty good' feeling against a Zelda nobody likes on one of the least liked consoles ever.

Also I take Skyward Sword over XV without a second thought.

XV's lead lost to a f***ing hand and is a rare case where Final Fantasy gets blown out of the water by Dragon Quest.

FFXIII and FFXV were definitely a big mess, but from the way FFXIV fans talks about their game like it's the second coming, I feel like there's reason to finally be optimistic about FF again. Plausibly around Witcher 3 level in strength if the team really delivers?

We know too little about BotW2 to comment, but there are potential issues of concern like heavy map and enemy reuse, etc.

Nah, XIV will never be that strong because it's still an MMO.

Oh I was talking about FFXVI, which shares their team and is not an MMO.

The FF fanbase is too fractured on what they want for FFXVI to achieve Witcher 3-level strength here.

KamikazePotato posted...

The FF fanbase is too fractured on what they want for FFXVI to achieve Witcher 3-level strength here.

Yeah, this is also true. The fanbase is divided on what they want from the series in many ways now. Even FFVIIR will only get so strong here.

I wouldn't count on FF16 being strong.

FF7R (and/or its sequels) will likely be a 1 Seed in GotD3. Whether it lives up to the hype of a 1 Seed is debatable.

Skyward Sword would embarrass every original FF since FFX.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/6138-best-game-ever-day-22-round-2-final-fantasy-xii-vs-zelda
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/8008-division-8-round-2-final-fantasy-xiv-vs-mario-kart-8
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/8025-division-8-semifinal-elder-scrolls-skyrim-vs-mario-kart-8

Not that FFXII is strong or anything, but it rather than FFXIV being the strongest post-X FF game should not be in much question unless you think FFXIV has dramatically strengthened in the past 2 years.

Taking those Mario Kart matches at face value is probably real generous to FFXIV too.

I would say FF14 has pretty comfortably strengthened since the big WoW exodus last summer, and the success of Endwalker earlier this year. Is it enough to get close to FFX? Certainly not, but I'll take it over 12/13/15 easily

Bandwagons are when you and I start voting for an entrance because it has made it further than expected. Rallies are when people are convinced by someone else to vote for something that they would not have otherwise, usually posting on other sites.

I don't mind standard rallies too much, most rallies look way stronger with our current votals than they used to. It needs to still be unpredictable, which Undertale wasn't past round 1 because the Pokemon fanbase decided to suck. The worst part about them is definitely when something I was cheering for beforehand gets rallied and then I'm told I can't support it anymore. Like when I had been rooting for Shovel Knight, a game I genuinely like, the whole day and it gets a working rally tweet with like an hour to go, and was told I couldn't be happy the game I liked better won.

BlAcK TuRtLe posted...

I would say FF14 has pretty comfortably strengthened since the big WoW exodus last summer, and the success of Endwalker earlier this year. Is it enough to get close to FFX? Certainly not, but I'll take it over 12/13/15 easily

They also made it much easier to solo the game's dungeons, that helps with its popularity.

I wonder how StarCraft performs the next time it appears in a games contest.

Probably still one of the strongest PC only games on GameFAQs, so a midcarder.

My guess at the post-X hierarchy:

FF7R >>> 12 > 14 > 15 > X-2 > 13 > 13-2 > 13-3

X-2 is a wild card. We've never seen it in a contest, and while the game certainly has its haters and bad "Best FF" poll performances, it's also a PS2 JRPG that took 2nd in the 2003 GotY Poll (ancient history and a weak year for games, but still). I think it would crush 13 in a 1v1, but I can't see it beating 15 (or Hollow Knight).

14 in 1v1 matches against offline FFs would be interesting. I feel like SFF could work against it because a lot of FF fans are conditioned to playing offline. Could that swing a match in 15 or X-2's favor? Who knows.

I take 13 over 15 pretty easily. I think 15 was the biggest wet fart of a major series entrant since Skyward Sword

It's crazy cause SS is like maybe just a little worse than Twilight princess but they're treated like FFX vs FFXV.

TP would beat down SS pretty hard

ctesjbuvf posted...

Bandwagons are when you and I start voting for an entrance because it has made it further than expected. Rallies are when people are convinced by someone else to vote for something that they would not have otherwise, usually posting on other sites.

I don't mind standard rallies too much, most rallies look way stronger with our current votals than they used to. It needs to still be unpredictable, which Undertale wasn't past round 1 because the Pokemon fanbase decided to suck. The worst part about them is definitely when something I was cheering for beforehand gets rallied and then I'm told I can't support it anymore. Like when I had been rooting for Shovel Knight, a game I genuinely like, the whole day and it gets a working rally tweet with like an hour to go, and was told I couldn't be happy the game I liked better won.

Yeah. The last point.

There is nothing dumber than being told I’m a bad person because something I was genuinely cheering for out of favor won. I genuinely and truly prefer Undertale to every game it beat except Melee. Most are pretty close on the list, but still.

UltimaterializerX posted...

Yeah. The last point.

There is nothing dumber than being told I’m a bad person because something I was genuinely cheering for out of favor won.

except you're the person doing it to him in this case

because you can't be happy if your game wins via rally unless you support rallies 100% of the time

charmander6000 posted...

Probably still one of the strongest PC only games on GameFAQs, so a midcarder.

Was mostly curious about the possibility it would be punished for Blizzard's current scandals. Probably distant enough but who knows?

If you're looking at just GameFAQs' user reception:

Twilight Princess (Gamecube) - 4.38/5
Twilight Princess (Wii) - 4.35/5
Twilight Princess (Wii U HD) - 4.38/5

Skyward Sword (Wii) - 4.22/5
Skyward Sword (Switch HD) - 4.09/5

I included the releases because I think it's telling that Twilight Princess stayed the same while Skyward Sword dropped, despite SS's rerelease supposedly adding a lot of needed quality of life improvements. In fact, let's add in some more rerelease comparisons:

Ocarina of Time (N64) - 4.59/5
Ocarina of Time (3DS) - 4.54/5

Majora's Mask (N64) - 4.42/5
Majora's Mask (3DS) - 4.44/5

Wind Waker (Gamecube) - 4.38/5
Wind Waker (Wii U HD) - 4.45/5

OoT is the only rerelease that dropped in score, and it was only by a bit (and it was never going to touch that ridiculously high original score anyway). For every 3D mainline Zelda game, when fans were given the chance to re-experience it, they came away liking it about the same - except for Skyward Sword, because without the luster of being a new Zelda release attached to it, it's just a mediocre game. SS is the answer to the old claim that Zelda fans will just vote for anything with the name attached to it, because GameFAQs thoroughly did not give a s*** about it.

In fact, let's keep dogpiling on Skyward Sword because I have insomnia and this is a distraction.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/4594-best-of-2011-game-of-the-year

Gets doubled by Skyrim in the GotY poll. This is somehow by far the best Skyward Sword has ever looked.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/7610-whats-your-all-time-favorite-legend-of-zelda-console-game

Score 2nd-worst out of all games in the Favorite Zelda poll. Only beats Four Swords Adventure. Loses to Zelda II.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/8691-best-of-2021-remakes-and-remasters

Its rerelease loses to Nier and Tony Hawk.

Oh, and it failed to make both Best Game Ever 2 and Game of the Decade 2. If Skyward Sword ever had a semblance of strength, it's long gone now.

and one more just for fun because it's still one of the most legitimately hilarious results we've ever had

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/5193-character-battle-ix-division-6-round-1-groose-vs-lu-bu-vs

LeonhartFour posted...

and one more just for fun because it's still one of the most legitimately hilarious results we've ever had

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/5193-character-battle-ix-division-6-round-1-groose-vs-lu-bu-vs

My favorite part about this one might be that Groose was winning 6 minutes in.

KamikazePotato posted...

Skyward Sword (Wii) - 4.22/5
Skyward Sword (Switch HD) - 4.09/5

I included the releases because I think it's telling that Twilight Princess stayed the same while Skyward Sword dropped, despite SS's rerelease supposedly adding a lot of needed quality of life improvements. In fact, let's add in some more rerelease comparisons:

Conversely, you can argue that 4.09 is still quite high despite a decade of nonstop bashing and is still a good deal higher than the likes of FFXV and FFXIII. FFVIIR on the PS4 is only 4.16. And a fall of 0.13 is hardly that much. For example,

Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii) - 4.55/5
Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition (Switch HD) - 4.35/5

Xenoblade's remaster got an even bigger fall, despite being in a similar situation.

Aw yeah, Yoshimitsu winning what am excellent match.

plasmabeam posted...

_SecretSquirrel posted...

I really would have loved to have seen the winner of Chrono Trigger vs. Pokemon RBY against Ocarina of Time directly in that small window of time post-Wii U, but pre-BotW. If there was ever a time that GameFAQs would, on its own, choose another game over Ocarina, it would have been in that window of time that has long since closed.

Ocarina likely would've SFF'd Pokemon RBY (barring any major Pokemon rallies, of course). I know RBY destroyed Mario 3, but RBY/Ocarina are from the from the same era/year, and that makes a difference. That said, if RBY/OoT met in the final, you could potentially have a Majora/Brawl situation where Pokemon rides its momentum and "good vs. evil" narrative to a close victory.

Ocarina vs. CT would've been interesting. 3D vs. 2D, Nintendo vs. Square, N64 vs. SNES, Sprites vs. Polygons, Zelda vs. JRPGs, etc. CT could've potentially been another "good vs. evil" candidate by the time it reached the final.

I actually had Pokemon > OoT in my 2015 bracket. I knew it was a bit of a long shot, but I figured that Ocarina was ripe for the picking no matter which game got through the loaded top half of the bracket. If Pokemon vs. Ocarina had been set up to happen before hand, OoT probably wrecks Pokemon's s***, but a Pokemon that went through the three top Mario games, as well as the strongest of CT/Melee/FF6/FF7, would have been riding some serious momentum against Ocarina that was just gifted an easy path on purpose. And if Pokemon had beaten UNDERTALE, I would have had a potentially grand prize winning bracket because RBY would have ran that momentum to contest victory right there.

Of course, hindsight shows us that a rally-less contest would have Chrono Trigger in that spot without question. I still say CT would have done it, considering the way OoT just let UNDERTALE run right through it, while all the other games it beat gave it some sort of trouble.

Game of the 90s man. Can give the Ct vs OoT match we deserve, plus the Mario gauntlet.

RBY that contest was so sad. It was taken to go far precontest, but after its performance in round 1 against Tetris, literally everyone was saying Mario 3 would win that under normal circumstances. But Undertale was there the same day and everyone still picked RBY to win. I was basically the only person saying Tetris would be good now and RBY still beats Mario 3 naturally but didn't get go gloat because rally spillover made people pick the right game regardless.

I finally decided to go all in on Pokemon and had R/B/Y in the finals

I had too, I think it was pretty popular.

After round 1, RBY was only believed to win round 2 because of spillover though.

Top 3 finals picks in the Guru were FFVII, R/B/Y, and Mario 64, in that order. Only 5 Gurus had CT in the finals.

Oh yeah, I was alsoso sad I didn't get to be right about World > 64 that year, but it would have been from result on RBY so not perfect anyways.

tagggg

Pokémon winning that contest was a fantastic pick. It truly was.