Lurker > Greyfeld

Blairville posted...
I'M STILL FALLIN'!

Ridley was also a boss in Brawl, for what it's worth. He certainly won't weigh Samus down, but I don't see him helping much.

Well, looking at last hear's CB, i was debating whether the Ryu/Ken rivalry would be able to make up the gap between Ryu and Samus from the x-stats. But if Ridley is a solid rivalry character, then I would assume a resounding "no."

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PSN - Aevio
BlackMageJawa - "I'm on a Goomba."

GranzonEx posted...
From: Greyfeld | #024
All the complaints about linearity aside, I think one of the biggest problems with FF13 is the lack of a major villain for most of the game's duration. For those of you who've beat the game, we all know who the actual "villain" is, but the majority of the game goes on with the characters talking among themselves, and no real antagonist to fuel the conflict. The characters are completely removed from any of the political or social issues going on in the world since they're on the run for the entire game, so until the last 1/3 of the game or so, all the conflict comes from the characters whining to each other about their pasts.
I would have enjoyed the story more if the whole party had better interactions than:

"wait what are we supposed to do now?"
"lol FIGHT OUR DESTINY"
"and what is that?"
"lol who knows lets just do it"
"SERAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH"

Sounds about right. In most of the FF games, you always got the sense that, even if the characters you're playing are exceptional, they're just people in a world of people that have their own wants and needs. On the other hand, FF13 makes you feel like that handful of characters are the only ones in the world that actually matter, and relegate every other character to support roles that are meant to make the main characters' lives easier.

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PSN - Aevio
BlackMageJawa - "I'm on a Goomba."

Hmm...

I have Ryu/Ken facing Samus/Ridley in the quarters. Despite the iconic rivalry of the former, I suppose it wouldn't be abnormal to see the latter take it to the semis, in that case.

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PSN - Aevio
BlackMageJawa - "I'm on a Goomba."

Looking over my bracket again, I took for granted that Samus/Ridley would go straight through to the semi-finals. But after making a few changes, I have to ask, how much of a rivalry is that pairing? As somebody who's never played a metroid game in his life, I don't know who Ridley is, or how much impact he has on the series.

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PSN - Aevio
BlackMageJawa - "I'm on a Goomba."

All the complaints about linearity aside, I think one of the biggest problems with FF13 is the lack of a major villain for most of the game's duration. For those of you who've beat the game, we all know who the actual "villain" is, but the majority of the game goes on with the characters talking among themselves, and no real antagonist to fuel the conflict. The characters are completely removed from any of the political or social issues going on in the world since they're on the run for the entire game, so until the last 1/3 of the game or so, all the conflict comes from the characters whining to each other about their pasts.

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PSN - Aevio
BlackMageJawa - "I'm on a Goomba."

KingButz posted...
From: Greyfeld | #004
I never managed to get more than halfway through FF12, but I did finish FF13. So... I guess you could say it's a better game. But I wouldn't expect a whole hell of a lot.

That said, since I have the house to myself for a week, I'm thinking of going back and trying to beat FF12.
FF12 is great if you are in for the gameplay rather than the story. The last few story dungeons are long and challenging, and the endgame sidequests even more so.

>.> I quit the game because of the gameplay. I was actually enjoying the story.

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PSN - Aevio
BlackMageJawa - "I'm on a Goomba."

I kinda feel bad that I'll never get the platinum... but I never plat games I actually like playing, so it really shouldn't be that big of a deal.

--
PSN - Aevio
BlackMageJawa - "I'm on a Goomba."

lol ertyu, show us your bedroom

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PSN - Aevio
BlackMageJawa - "I'm on a Goomba."

I never managed to get more than halfway through FF12, but I did finish FF13. So... I guess you could say it's a better game. But I wouldn't expect a whole hell of a lot.

That said, since I have the house to myself for a week, I'm thinking of going back and trying to beat FF12.

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PSN - Aevio
BlackMageJawa - "I'm on a Goomba."

I'm going to go with the assumption that you're a big fat faker most of the time, so nobody believes you.

When I get sick, nobody accuses me of anything except looking like I'm going to pass out at any second.

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PSN - Aevio
BlackMageJawa - "I'm on a Goomba."

MarvelousGerbil posted...
On a site where Link, a mute protagonist, always wins, people honestly believe that others will pay any attention to how the contest is "supposed" to work? Huh...

Obviously somebody doesn't understand the concept of a popularity contest.

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PSN - Aevio
BlackMageJawa - "I'm on a Goomba."

redrocket posted...
Greyfeld posted...
pjbasis posted...
That said, I shouldn't have to make allowances for bad storyline just because the gameplay doesn't suck, especially since the original game made its mark on the PS3 largely on its storytelling.

Really? I thought the original made its mark for its innovative gameplay that sets itself apart from the rest of the genre. That's certainly why it was hyped on this board at least.

Board 8 is the last place I would expect to get any sort of decent perspective on RPGs. It's like a mini 4chan. No offense to the handful of people here that don't suck.

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PSN - Aevio
BlackMageJawa - "I'm on a Goomba."

pjbasis posted...
Story shouldn't get in the way of enjoying game play.
That's what skipping cutscenes are for!

I'm going to avoid making sweeping generalizations about people who play RPGs, then skip the cutscenes, because despite how I prefer to play my video games, not everybody holds the same preferences and values as I do.

That said, I shouldn't have to make allowances for bad storyline just because the gameplay doesn't suck, especially since the original game made its mark on the PS3 largely on its storytelling.

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PSN - Aevio
BlackMageJawa - "I'm on a Goomba."

KimPilgrim posted...
I would say the story and characters were bad enough for a game that relied so heavily on them that you could indeed call it a bad game.

This is what I believe. I'm not going to sit here and say that everything about the game was horrible. But the removal of any semblance of a good story, and the injection of a horrendous number of anime cliches made it unbearable for me. I quit playing about 1/3 of the way through the game because of it.

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PSN - Aevio
BlackMageJawa - "I'm on a Goomba."

To be fair, it wouldn't have mattered if they had made it a ps3/xbox multiplat. With the garbage they turned the second game into, nobody would have bought that piece of crap.

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PSN - Aevio
BlackMageJawa - "I'm on a Goomba."

BlackMageJawa posted...
VC2 didn't sell well in the West because it's a ****ing high school comedy. I still bought it, it's got some good ideas, but the structure the gameplay is built around is anathema to anyone outside Japan.

VC3, being an actual WAR game again, looks much better, and would probably sell if Sega dropped the number and pretended II didn't happen.

Or port it to PS3, like Peace Walker HD.

I couldn't agree more with your comments on VC2. I also bought it, knowing how much I loved the first game and hoping that it was more of the same, only to be severely disappointed in its departure from the excellence of the first game's premise and characterization. The plot and character development was turned into something akin to where bad anime cliches go to die.

I haven't bothered looking up any of the info on VC3. I don't want to get myself worked up about a title that I'll likely never get to play. (I don't speak Japanese, so I don't import games)

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PSN - Aevio
BlackMageJawa - "I'm on a Goomba."

As long as nothing is lost from the single player experience, I don't care one way or the other.

--
PSN - Aevio
BlackMageJawa - "I'm on a Goomba."

foolm0ron posted...
From: neonreaper | #021
I don't see how it is "alpha" to sit around listening to someone chatter about an ex and then only take off once she goes around the corner.
Married people usually are out of touch with what is "alpha", yeah

I'd prefer to be "out of touch" than part of the brainless broskis that high-five each other during lonely nights drinking without women.

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PSN - Aevio
BlackMageJawa - "I'm on a Goomba."

lol this is oddly entertaining

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PSN - Aevio
BlackMageJawa - "I'm on a Goomba."

Unfortunately, I'm not as good at reading trends as some of you guys are. My thoughts are pure speculation.

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PSN - Aevio
BlackMageJawa - "I'm on a Goomba."

Excuse me, nostalgic, not iconic.

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PSN - Aevio
BlackMageJawa - "I'm on a Goomba."

Considering Vivi went 56.29% against DK, then 55.79% against Altair, it's easy to rank the match as even, as long as you assume Ezio is at least as strong as Altair (which is a good chance, since he has more games).

DK/KRool is iconic, which shifts the match in their favor, but between DK's tendency to choke, and the fact that it's a night match (AC may not have amazing night trends, but the series was developed in europe) should shift momentum back into Ezio's favor.

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PSN - Aevio
BlackMageJawa - "I'm on a Goomba."

Not that anybody cares, but I'm waiting for AC: Revelations.

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PSN - Aevio
BlackMageJawa - "I'm on a Goomba."

I actually think having Blinky instead of the entire ghost troop helps boost pac-man. When I first saw the rivalry listing, I looked at it for a couple seconds, then I started laughing. Pacman/Ghosts is iconic. Pacman/Blinky is funny as hell. Joke vote factor will get him past the first round, though he'll fall to the Snake duo in round 2.

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PSN - Aevio
BlackMageJawa - "I'm on a Goomba."

It really comes down to how much you trust the X-stats. The RAW X-stats puts DK easily behind Ezio, but the adjusted X-stats puts them about even. If we're to trust the adjusted stats, we have to take into consideration that K. Rool will probably outshine Rodrigo, putting DK as the winner for the match.

That said, this is going to be a night match, which swings things in Ezio's favor.

It really is hard to call. You have to decide whether you trust DK to choke or not.

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PSN - Aevio
BlackMageJawa - "I'm on a Goomba."

ffmasterjose posted...
Anyone else toying with the Ezio pairing upset over the Donkey Kong pairing? For some reason that looked like a nice little one to me.

I considered it, but in the end I stuck with DK. The thing is, as well as Ezio and AC have done for themselves in these contests, even the people who love the series are going to say "Who the hell is Rodrigo?" On the other hand, despite DK's tendency to choke, King K. Rool has a massive nostalgia factor going for him. I think he'll definitely pull the ape up a few notches.

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PSN - Aevio
BlackMageJawa - "I'm on a Goomba."

I dunno. As much as I like seeing representatives from other Final Fantasies outside of VII, none of them are going to do nearly as well. It's a shame that there's no slot for Vivi/Black Waltz. I would have vote stuffed the hell out of that lol.

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PSN - Aevio
BlackMageJawa - "I'm on a Goomba."

Fair enough :)

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PSN - Aevio
BlackMageJawa - "I'm on a Goomba."

PartOfYourWorld posted...
From: KamikazePotato | #060
Ugh. The more I think about it the more I lean towards Luigi>Red. You'd think that GameFAQs wouldn't be that bad and vote a nonexistant joke rivalry over one of the most famous ever just because they like Luigi...and then you realize yes, they probably would.
I'm the opposite. Once I thought about the SFF, I felt more and more that it would go Pokemon's way. I know Luigi > human Pokemon characters is pretty logical, but I think the actual rivalries will play a larger role in this match. Pokemon's is great. Luigi's is nonexistant. I love Waluigi, but he's ONLY in the multiplayer games and has never established any sort of relationship with Luigi within the games or the fanbase. The Nintendo fanbase will side with the more quality choice.

lol while I agree with your stance, I'm not sure I agree with your reasoning. I don't think the Nintendo fanbase is going to think it through all that carefully. I foresee most of them going "Waluigi, WTF? Gey. Pokemon was AWESOME!!"

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PSN - Aevio
BlackMageJawa - "I'm on a Goomba."

WarThaNemesis2 posted...
Rivalry affecting the match requires people to care about at the very least, the game. This site doesn't care about Phoenix Wright games. Phoenix Wright the character is already far stronger than the games. This isn't like Red/Blue where it's an 'iconic rivalry' from maybe the third strongest game on this site where the more popular half got what, 40% on a near-elite and has room to grow. Phoenix has virtually no room to grow by 'rivalry factor', and grow he needs to do just to make this close enough to have a shot.

And Gordon is far weaker than the HL games.

Considering the direct power between the two characters, Phoenix doesn't need a significant power leap, he just needs to watch Breen pull Gordon down into the dirt while the night vote lets him coast to a close win.

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PSN - Aevio
BlackMageJawa - "I'm on a Goomba."

UltimaterializerX posted...
Greyfeld posted...
I think we also have to keep in mind that there will be a bit of "smart voter faqs" going on, where people will actually vote on the rivalry, rather than just their favorite character.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/index.html?poll=4195

Whether you agree with the finalists or not, that doesn't change the fact that these are popularity contests. However, popularity and "smart voter faqs" aren't mutually exclusive. There were plenty of posters last year that genuinely felt Zelda: Majora's Mask was the best game of the decade.

Similarly, there will be some voters who honestly feel that the Phoenix/Edgeworth rivalry is more interesting/awesome/iconic than a Freeman/Breen rivalry (and vice versa). But considering it's been stated more than once that Breen isn't really a great rival for Freeman, it gives Phoenix/Edgeworth an edge for those who are legitimately going to vote for "best rival pair."

I don't know if it will really make a difference, but it's one of several circumstances working in their favor.

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PSN - Aevio
BlackMageJawa - "I'm on a Goomba."

I think we also have to keep in mind that there will be a bit of "smart voter faqs" going on, where people will actually vote on the rivalry, rather than just their favorite character.

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PSN - Aevio
BlackMageJawa - "I'm on a Goomba."

Phoenix is a night match, which favors him considerably. While Gordon is stronger in a direct match, according to the 2k10 x-stats, I think this being a "rivalry" contest is going to put the match in Phoenix's favor, since Edgeworth is a beloved rival from the series.

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PSN - Aevio
BlackMageJawa - "I'm on a Goomba."

I originally went with Frog/Magus, but after doing a bit more research, Alucard pretty strongly blew magus out of the water last year: http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/index.html?poll=3731

Unless Frog is appreciably stronger than Alucard, I have to give it to Alucard/Dracula. But I can't really find any info to push me one way or the other.

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PSN - Aevio
BlackMageJawa - "I'm on a Goomba."

Somebody needs to read 8-bit theater.

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PSN - Aevio
BlackMageJawa - "I'm on a Goomba."

charmander6000 posted...
I agree Pac-Man won't win by much, but at the same time losing seems like a longshot IMO.

I considered picking Crash, but when I saw "Blinky" was paired up with Pac-Man, I realized that Crash is going to lose.

While Pac-Man doesn't have a ton of strength on his own, the choice to go with only one specific ghost gives it a "joke vote" factor that's going to seal the win for him.

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PSN - Aevio
BlackMageJawa - "I'm on a Goomba."