Lurker > Lightning Strikes

We saw Overwatch in its prime and it was meh at best. It beating Xenoblade now would be the shock of the contest.

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E3 is in the worst state it has ever been. If it gets cancelled it could end the show, but also that wouldnt mean much any more. You just need to look at all the people saying they only care about the Nintendo direct! The show had already been reduced to the point where only Nintendo and Microsofts conferences meant anything for those who are not there in person.

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The thing about the series battle is that people were complaining that Smash Bros. was even there because it only had two games at the time, same with Halo. That definitely contributed to its loss to Super Mario.

Advokaiser posted...

The level of strength that a handful of games from this decade have is crazy. Like, I'd like to see FFVII vs. Smash Ultimate in a modern scenario. It would be nuts.

(This is for the people that claim GameFAQs doesn't play new games, or that newer games are weaker by default.)

I have always rejected the claim that GameFAQs doesnt play new games, you just need to look at new game purchase and console ownership polls for that. They do however take their time getting to many new games, especially new IPs.

Incidentally I think 2019 games may suffer because of this. 2009 games looked pretty bad last GotD. Fortunately only RE2 and Three Houses are likely to do anything.

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Stats say GTAV. Of course, given how GTAV (online) was directly responsible for Rockstar not making any single player content for five years, it may well have dropped. It getting the 1 seed over the RDRs gives me a bit more confidence though.

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As I recall I was a big believer in Brawls ability to split the Nintendo vote by a huge degree!

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transcience posted...

I dont consider the years contest to even be worth mentioning, but I had 1997 to the finals and probably would have won something if it hadnt gotten gimped by the match picture. but also, it was the years contest so who cares.

Years was the worst contest but there were a few notable results like the 1997 issue. With the one I mentioned, I found it odd that 2006 was such a favourite given that outside of the top level it was kind of a middling year while 2011 was a banger. Yet there was near consensus for 2006. It was odd.

Leonhart4 posted...

MGS4 to the finals in 2009 isn't a bad pick! It almost made it!

Yes I had forgot it was so close, thanks!

...Of course, I neglected to mention that I had it in first place in the semifinal, despite still having OoT winning the final.

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After some thought here are mine:

Best:

HMs: 2B & Geralt (2018), PoR>No Mercy (GOTD), Zelda>Final Fantasy (Series - remember when this wasnt obvious?), 2011>2006 (Years - someone has to say a Years prediction after all!)

5: Golden Sun > San Andreas (GOTD)
4: Undertale > Mass Effect 3 (2015 - little did I know...)
3: Majoras Mask > Pokmon GSC (GOTD)
2: Perfect Round 1 (Series - DAMN YOU KINGDOM HEARTS!)
1: Kirbys run (2009)

Majoras Mask winning that match in particular is a fun one because many on the board were so convinced that GSC would win that they refused to hear any explanations of why it happened and how you could get that prediction from looking at the 2009 match - namely that MM was getting LFFd as badly as GSC was.

But enough about the good stuff, heres a bunch of times I messed up!

Worst:

HMs: Consistently betting against DK in round 1.

5: Having Brawl > Melee AND KHII > KH at first guess then changing both (GOTD).
4: Kiryu > Bomberman (2018)
3: Kerrigan > Vincent (2005)
2: Sans not just beating Pac-Man, but going to round 3 (2018)
1: MGS4 TO THE FINALS! (2009)

Also a wrong pick I am weirdly proud of is Magus>Vincent in 2018, because while he didnt get it done a huge majority of the board favoured Vincent who then got thoroughly embarrassed. A valiant defeat!

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The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - 80.87%
Halo: Reach - 58.83%
Final Fantasy XV - 72.17%
Hollow Knight - 54.96%
Monster Hunter: World - 62.69%
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - 63.44%
The Walking Dead: A Telltale Games Series - 66.34%
Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age - 76.78%

Mass Effect 2 - 65.73%
Fallout 4 - 58.99%
Borderlands 2 - 53.48%
Horizon Zero Dawn - 74.67%
Resident Evil 2 - 78.23%
DOOM - 64.53%
Fire Emblem: Awakening - 69.27%
Bloodborne - 67.48%

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - 81.27%
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds - 72.57%
Marvel's Spider-Man 64.76%
Minecraft - 67.58%
Undertale - 59.11%
Shovel Knight - 59.77%
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze - 50.84%
Super Mario Odyssey - 76.98%

Grand Theft Auto V - 78.68%
Cuphead - 63.24%
Persona 4 Golden - 66.32%
Red Dead Redemption - 73.22%
Xenoblade Chronicles - 65.89%
Overwatch - 51.23%
Dragon Age: Inquisition - 60.33%
Fire Emblem: Three Houses - 68.57%

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34 games, interesting. I wonder how many of the remaining 94 came out during or after that contest. I would guess a large majority!

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My best is definitely getting Kirbys 2008 run right. Also while it was fairly obvious, the sheer brashness of the No Mercy proponents made that one delightful.

My worst is Kerrigan>Vincent because I didnt know who Vincent was and went with the seed. Oops.

LeonhartFour posted...

Keep in mind that Gordon only got 58% on Phoenix when Half-Life 2 hype still existed and Ace Attorney was like a year old. I think Phoenix takes him relatively easily.

Not only was HL2 still fresh but Episode 1 was like four months old. Half-Life was near its absolute peak of popularity then. One of the more interesting long term contest trends has been the waxing and waning of Half-Lifes fortunes.

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Ni no Kuni has a Netflix movie!

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Great illustration of what happened to Half-Life 2:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/4182-northeast-division-final-metroid-prime-vs-half-life-2

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/6128-best-game-ever-day-20-round-2-metroid-prime-vs-half-life-2

It absolutely used to be a contender. Between those Valve gave up on the series and indeed video game development in general. Maybe with Alyx coming out HL2 will regain a little.

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LeonhartFour posted...

I don't expect much from Octopath Traveler. Simply being a Square RPG meant something in 2004. It doesn't mean as much now. It got a 14 seed for a reason.

Id say it has more Nintendo cred than Square cred, even though they developed it! Nintendo was the publisher outside of Japan and was heavily involved (same deal as Bravely Default) plus it lines up more with the likes of Golden Sun than modern FF. I also wouldnt call Octopath niche, it sold like 2 million copies. But yeah it has no chance against Undertale. Undertale will get anti-voted but will also be naturally decently strong.

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Overall this definitely used to be Half-Life 2, but then it dropped a lot. So Resident Evil 4? Metal Gear Solid 3? Mega Man X? Maybe Symphony of the Night? HL2 is probably still up there too albeit diminished.

In the bracket it would be God of War for sure. Maybe that competes overall too.

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UltimaterializerX posted...

Inside looks so awful. What kind of game is it?

INSIDE is fantastic! It was my game of the year that year, and a lot of other peoples. Its basically the drastically superior follow-up to LIMBO. It is probably the reason LIMBO didnt make it actually, despite being one of that early indie vanguard like VVVVVV and Super Meat Boy.

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Good stuff! I will say though, dont underestimate Halo Reachs reception. It is the second best rated Halo game on GameFAQs and I think that tracks with its overall reception. It is definitely the best Halo game of the decade, and a strong Xbox rep. Also worth considering that it is Bungies last Halo fame.

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Reminder that the American people broadly support left wing policy but are only given a choice between centre-right-to-right and right-to-far-right parties not because of the popular will, but because of the actions of very few.

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XIV actually did (temporarily) kill its series in original release. It was a disaster.

Thats not what is competing though, its A Realm Reborn, the rebooted version. That will be s positive connotation. Additionally, this is basically a full-blown Final Fantasy game that just happens to be an MMO. So that is unlikely to be hel agsinst it. I think there is a good chance that this is the strongest FF game in the bracket, though I also dont think FFXV still beats Uncharted 4.

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Not Heavy Rain, which has some pretty atrocious acting and writing.

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Baba Is You
Is
Game Is Great

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I hope Warren being the last to drop out will give Bernie more momentum should she endorse him, a comeback narrative perhaps.

The sad fact is that the Democratic Party is a right wing party, just one that is liberal enough to get progressives to vote for them as a shield from the Republican party who are a far right party, despite people not wanting to say it. That is just how much America is slanted to the right compared to the global standard. As a non-American it always struck me as odd that the likes of Biden and Bloomberg get to be called moderates when to look at them, theres nothing moderate about them. Bidens nuttier than the nutters in the Tory party and Bloomberg is basically American Berlusconi. Sad...

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On the subject of snubs, here are the top ten best reviewed games of the decade that didnt make the contest, from Metacritic (averaging scores for identical multiplats):

Super Mario 3D World - 93
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - 93
Rock Band 3 - 93
Pac-Man Championship Edition DX- 92
Forza Horizon 4 - 92
God of War III - 92
Uncharted 3 - 92
Super Smash Bros. For Wii U - 92
Dark Souls II - 91
LittleBigPlanet 2 - 91

If you allowed remasters OoT3D tops it and Super Street Fighter IV makes the list.


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You have to look at what the 2011 games are though:

Skyrim
Dark Souls
Arkham City
Portal 2
Deus Ex Human Revolution
Minecraft
Dead Space 2
Terraria
Ghost Trick

Add to that it being a year where a lot of the most notable snubs congregate (Skyward Sword, Uncharted 3, Mortal Kombat, Mario Kart 7, Super Mario 3D Land) and thats a good year right there. However, as with 2010 it certainly hurts from being at the very beginning of the indie boom. Those years only have one each (Minecraft doesnt count.).

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You know what doesnt suck? Super Mario 3D World. It is better rated and more popular than Super Mario Sunshine, yet that made it in last time and this didnt. Really shows the difference in philosophy. I also think Skyward Sword is worthy. I havent checked, but I would guess that those two are the two best reviewed games to not make it in. 3D World was the best reviewed game of its generation for a long, long time also.

However, you cant look at Square and reasonably go You know what should be in contention? Final Fantasy XIII., a lot of games that would have previously been considered snubs have a pretty good reason for not being here. I also see very few indie games you can justify cutting, if there were any purge it would be of some the small publishers games, which still seems messed up.

Though people talk about Pokemon snubs, so what if Fate/Grand Order got replaced with Pokmon Go? Just saying.

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Yes it is a little hard to track some indie publishers, but Annapurna has one and Devolver has two. Devolver Digital: as many game of the decade contenders as Valve.

Ngamer64 posted...

Good research. It's an impressive Rise of the Indies to be sure, but keep in mind, some of that is inflated by SB creating a two games per series limit (which also held Nintendo back significantly).

Thank you! Is that a confirmed rule? Honestly looking at the games it seems that it more or less only hurt Nintendo. Most companies only have one or two major snubs if any, Nintendo could easily reach its GOTD1 number with them. Also I messed up, Take-Two should be +1.

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Nintendo: 17 (-10)
Sony: 10 (+3)
Square-Enix: 8 (-3)
Take-Two: 8 (+2)
Capcom: 7 (-3)
Namco Bandai: 6 (+2)
Bethesda: 5 (+2)
Microsoft: 4 (-2)
EA: 4 (-5)
Ubisoft: 4 (=)
Blizzard: 4 (+1)
Activision: 3 (-1)
Warner Bros.: 3 (+2)
Sega: 3 (-2)
Valve: 2 (-2)
Falcom: 2 (+2)
Atlus: 2 (=)
Spike Chunsoft: 2 (+2)
Konami: 1 (-3)
Aniplex (wtf): 1 (+1)
CD Projekt Red: 1 (+1)
Larian: 1 (+1)
Epic: 1 (+1)
Telltale: 1 (+1)
Paradox: 1 (+1)
Indies: 27 (+26)

Thats western publishers, also not including indie publishers like Annapurna or Devolver, though that would bring the indie number down a lot. I did count Microsofts indies (Ori, Cuphead, Minecraft) in its number though, without them Microsofts representation would be very sad.

Nintendo lost a lot but still dominant. Sony are now the number two publisher. EA and Konami had the biggest proportional drops as expected. Smaller publishers and indies on the rise. Interesting stuff!

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It is a real shame because other than both being space games that can broadly be called open world they are radically different. I have to wonder if Outer Wilds got smothered a little bit by attention going to The Outer Worlds, which sucks because Outer Wilds is amazing.

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I gotta say, it would be weird if BotW slaughtered Outer Wilds, because Outer Wilds isnt in that match or even in this contest! It is going up against The Outer Worlds.

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HGSS is giving me a massive headache. I had it losing to Nier Automata, then I had second thoughts, and now who knows. We can be reasonably certain that the true PokFEAR crowd are being as ridiculous as they were last time, but by how much?

I am, however, feeling pretty good about P5. It is the highest rated PS4 game here, behind only BOTW this generation. It doesnt have as many ratings as say Witcher III but it has a lot. It also did really well in GOTY. I think it will be well up there.

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Yeah things are messed up in Poland and Hungary Im not denying it. I was mainly thinking about western Europe then figured whats going on in Turkey was significant. Of course, the ruling Polish and Hungarian parties came to power on a centrist platform...

Edit: Fideszs international affiliate is linked to the US Democratic Party. That should say something about where the US is relative to Europe!

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Late but worth addressing:

red13n posted...

Isn't Europe all moving far right?

Not at all. The only European country where the far right is a significant threat is Italy. Even there, they have declined significantly from their peak. In the vast majority of Europe the far right is either on the decline or has stalled.

In the UK, the far right has ironically been completely killed off by brexit. In France, despite the best possible conditions, Le Pens party is exactly where it was. In Germany, the AFD have not moved at all from the 12-15% zone in years despite the establishment failing, and they just got shut out in the Hamburg elections. In Austria where the far right has cone the closest to power and has been in coalition, the far right FPO lost a colossal amount of seats after a scandal involving - you guessed it - Russia. In last years Danish elections the far-right Danish Peoples Party lost two thirds of their vote. In Ireland the far right completely bombed at the election last month, while the left parties had the popular vote for the first time ever. The only place where they really have momentum is Sweden and they will never get in. Even Turkey, arguably the first example of the modern wave of right wing populism, is seeing Erdogans rightwing ruling party and their far right coalition partners start to lose ground for the first time since they came to power.

The media has acted completely shamefully on this issue, giving extremists a platform they have no right to have. The actual story in Europe is the rise of the Greens across the continent, but you dont hear a peep of that from the media.

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Here is my rough prediction in rougher order:

The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild
The Witcher III
Skyrim
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Super Mario Odyssey
God of War
Pokmon Heart Gold/Soul Silver
Dark Souls
Persona 5
The Last of Us

Obviously I have a lot of faith in The Witcher III!

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None though I know jack about Fate Grand Order. I only even learned it was a mobile game thanks to this contest. I had heard the name though.

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HeroDelTiempo17 posted...

yeah but she's a TERF so she has common ground with social conservatives

Sadly common on the left and with liberals, hence the RF. Really disappointing and baffling given that New Labour were supposed to be liberal!

Also since the next topic is coming up, if the title is not Bidens truths to be self-evident ramble or some variant thereof I will be very disappointed.

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JK Rowling is 100% a Blairite, but by American standards thatd be far left!

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Well damn it, he was filling the Dan shaped hole very very nicely and then hes gone in just a month.

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Oops forgot:

Into the Breach

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The Last of Us will do very well here, but would be a surefire top 3 in many other places, it easily won the Metacritic users poll. I do think Breath of the Wild would dominate in most places however, that game was a huge deal. I think Witcher III is likely top 2 or 3 here so I wouldnt say that at all. Really I think the biggest difference is that Smash Ultimate will do much better here than elsewhere, but I am not expecting huge differences.

Regarding the likes of Fortnite, I doubt that gets much traction in terms of game of the decade elsewhere. There is a difference between popular and acclaimed. Its also important to remember that games and the discussion around them have democratised to a point that the line between casual and enthusiast has significantly blurred. At The Game Awards, as mainstream a platform as you can find within gaming a Fire Emblem game won the user voted poll. That says a lot! So I am not expecting giant differences.

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Super Mario 3D World
Pikmin 3
Zero Time Dilemma
Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Spirit of Justice
Titanfall 2
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle

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Johnbobb posted...

1. Bioshock Infinite
2. God of War III
3. God of War (2018)
4. Journey
5. Kirby's Epic Yarn
6. Octodad: Dadliest Catch
7. Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale
8. What Remains of Edith Finch
9. A Hat in Time
10. Return of the Obra Dinn

Not much of my actual top 10 (though that's just a rough estimation) but plenty of my HMS made it in

Obra Dinn is in there!

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Regarding The Outer Worlds, it is basically Fallout in space, by the New Vegas developer. Absolutely GameFAQss thing but it just hasnt had the time to develop that following yet.

MetalmindStats posted...

As far as I know, people liked the first 99% of Mass Effect 3 just as much as Mass Effect 2. However, they despised the original ending, to the point where EA infamously fixed it up with a patch.

Nah. The main parts are good but only the Rannoch arc lives up to the main or loyalty missions from Mass Effect 2, maybe the Tuchanka one but thats it. There is also thee issue that its not only 1% of the game, the ending comprises the last three hours and each hour is worse than the last. Even the fix they did doesnt make it s good ending, it just takes it from I cant believe they shipped it like this to well that didnt really work for this story.

There is another problem too which is that to get the full experience you need to get most of the DLC, which has never been collected into one release and I believe never had its price reduced. Otherwise large parts of the game and story are conspicuously missing. This game came out at the height of EA mucking around with the ways games were designed, there is so much horrible EA business stuff around that release.

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Went for ten but my list is super hazy. Outer Wilds is absolutely one of my top games of the decade, but I dont know if it cracks the top ten. So nine or ten.

A pretty reliable top 8 (release order):

Mass Effect 2
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Xenoblade Chronicles
The Witcher III
Undertale
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Nier Automata
Super Mario Odyssey

Fighting for the last two spots:

The Walking Dead
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
Bayonetta 2
INSIDE
Outer Wilds
Fire Emblem Three Houses

Edit: I thought about it and The Walking Dead and INSIDE would fill out the top ten so they all made it in. INSIDE was a major surprise but I was really thrilled to see it there. Other definite top 20 games that did not make it are Into the Breach and No More Heroes 2.

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MetalmindStats posted...

The most GameFAQs result would be the port of a 2008 game winning, just saying...!

Nahhhh, 2008 isnt in the 90s so its fine. Its not that GameFAQs prefers older games, its that it is specifically stuck in the 90s.

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SwiftyDC posted...

Just go with the most GameFAQs result. GTA loses and 3H probably wins it. But I agree, Division 4 is brutal.

GTAV is pretty good here, but then people are mad for Three Houses and Xenoblade has gotten much more mainstream. I currently have Three Houses but that feels off.

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Leonhart4 posted...

KH3 did just have a big piece of DLC drop. I wonder how much people still care about Portal.

People hate the DLC though, it will likely make matters worse. It is glorified cut content they charged half the price of the game for. It may hurt the game not help it. I think if you redo that first match five years from now Disco straight up wins.

There has been talk of snubs, and someone earlier said it was odd to not see so many Square games here. The truth is this has been a bad decade for them. I cant think of any worthy snubs from them, maybe Birth by Sleep (a 2010 PSP game!) at a push. There is Hitman but thats not them any more... Rise of the Tomb Raider perhaps but thats arguably represented by Tomb Raider. Rough, rough time for them.

...But at least we get to say that Nier Automata is the strongest Square game in here!

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90, slightly less than 94 the new bracket. I guess the increasing prevalence of multiplatform games, sales, subscriptions makes it much easier to play s large number of games these days. Indeed if this gad been asked in 2010 mg number would be much lower for sure. Lots I have only lightly touched though.

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94.

Maybe I have played too many video games.

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NowItsAngeTime posted...

Oh shit im sorry

Sorry for what?

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Baba is You

Game is Good

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...No?

Spider-Man is a well received game that sold a tonne and did well in the GotY polls. Dead Space 2 is one of the best action horror games ever. There are worse matches in this contest!

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