Lurker > KamikazePotato

I would tentatively recommend San Andreas, but I'm not sure its gameplay holds up anymore. The writing is still hilarious though. Maybe watch a cutscene compilation on youtube.

Leonhart4 posted...

Dread isn't about introducing Samus to a new audience (there could be some of that, but on this site, it would be minimal). It's getting people excited about the character, maybe all over again or for the first time. Hype works in cycles. I just beat Dread yesterday, and I would vote for Samus over Mario right now and I don't think I ever have before.

Agree with this. It's also important to keep in mind how close some of the top characters are with each either. Even if Dread is only equal to Samus gaining a 1% advantage against Mario, that margin would've netted her the victory last time.

1994 - Final Fantasy VI
1995 - Chrono Trigger
1996 - Super Mario RPG
1997 - Final Fantasy VII
1998 - Final Fantasy Tactics
1999 - Final Fantasy VIII
2000 - Final Fantasy IX
2001 - Final Fantasy X
2002 - Kingdom Hearts
2003 - Final Fantasy XI (an MMO, but still well-received)

Hell of a run. Took them three years after that to come out with KH2 and FF12, and FF12's mixed reception was the beginning of the decline.

Oh yeah, it was a Square golden era for sure. If you include FFT, the streak was actually five years long starting with FF7 in 1997.

Paratroopa1 posted...

Man I'm still sort of mindblown by the fact that there was a span of three years in 1999, 2000, and 2001 where Square managed to put out a well-received, traditional, mainline FF game each year

Game dev costs were so much lower back then in general.

Kenri posted...

I don't really follow Penny Arcade anymore, but:

https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2021/12/08/digits

Surprisingly on point for Penny Arcade

I love this topic.

ChaosTonyV4 posted...

Please explain how your book about genocide is too PC, lol

They didn't like that one woman expressed romantic interest in another woman, mostly.

Mac Arrowny posted...

People usually include side quests and dialogue between characters in these topics, I think.

The thing is that even good Oblivion's side quests feel disconnected from the world at large. They don't feel like part of a cohesive whole.

DeSantis could beat Trump, but it would be an uphill battle and probably do a lot of internal damage to the GOP in the process.

Yes

I don't think I can rate any Elder Scrolls story. They're just so...not there.

I'm a real author now!

UshiromiyaEva posted...

I have never seen this show outside of this season, where I only watched it in the background while my parents were watching it.

Didn't seem that bad! They like it a lot.

The most recent season is literally an apology season made years after-the-fact due to how bad 8 was.

Wing is extremely strong but it's kinda necessary. I actually think Sephiroth is an underwhelming character without it.

I paid my dues with Ike/Shulk in Brawl and Smash 4. Happy to be maining a High Tier this time around.

Demon's Souls for the PS3
Xenoblade

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/8329-which-game-scheduled-for-2021-are-you-most-excited-for

Found this poll when searching for polls that RE8 had been in, and wow did 2021 miss out on a lot. Elden Ring, God of War Ragnarok, Horizon 2, and Breath of the Wild 2 - all delayed.

Weak showing from Tales of Arise and RE8.

8

Has the highest high points of the series, but can be very inconsistent, especially where blood pacts are involved

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/07/power-causes-brain-damage/528711/

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/aoc-republicans-florida-trip-b1985118.html

Some articles I wanted to share.

Teddie is responsible for several incredible moments in P4, so even if his character is annoying sometimes, he's worth it for that alone

Morgana's big moments actively drag down the game

Ryuji and Morgana can both be bad

Not for 100 hours! The aesthetics stopped dazzling me long before then.

Strife2 posted...

Not when Ryuji piles on Morgana about 2-3 times as often as the reverse.

I'm pretty sure this is factually untrue. Like if you counted the instances of this happening in both directions than Morgana wins easily.

3 / 10

I think this story is garbage that fails to be carried by great S Links. Worst part is the pacing, which is very, very, very bad, one of the worst of any major game I've ever played. Dialogue is bad, cast is bad, chemistry is bad, and the narrative fails to deliver on its own premise.

If P5 didn't have extremely stylish aesthetics and great music then people wouldn't care about its story nearly as much. It tricks people onto thinking that everything is cooler than it actually is. The game is the biggest example of style over substance I've ever seen.

Evillordexdeath posted...

5

I actually like the focus on political intrigue, but the story as a whole is just really emotionally dead.

This is beating a dead horse, but I think the biggest reason - outside of a simple lack of story content in general after the first 1/3 is over - for the 'emotionally dead' thing is Vaan's fault. Political stories need a strong emotional character hook to succeed, as it keeps the audience invested when it comes time for those characters to sit around and start talking about international matters bigger than themselves. Final Fantasy Tactics has Ramza and Delita's relationship. Game of Thrones has Ned's death. FF12 initially has Rek's death, but Vaan seems to forget about that plot point shockingly early. It's a strong hook they did absolutely nothing with! Afterwards, FF12 waffles between Ashe wanting her country back, Basch's redemption, and Balthier's relationship with Cid, without giving sufficient time to develop any of those things. Maybe it could've worked okay if Vaan's hook was still running in the background, but it's just not, and there's long stretches of game where you're left with little to care about.

Missed Potential / 10

Actual number: 5.5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcsTULLjKYs

Disclaimer: This is a faked parody. If I don't spell this outright I know at least one person here won't notice that

Paratroopa1 posted...

I feel like this is less "why aren't the democrats doing more?" and more "haha, look at these loser dems, can't pass their agenda because we're stonewalling it"

Yeah there's a reason 'convict Trump' was on the Failed List they showed.

To extend the comparison, DMC2 initially outsold 3. It took 3 re-releasing several times for it to catch up in sales. Zestiria, as of mid-2021, has still outsold Berseria.

Bump, because why not.

The Berseria/Arise comparison can be roughly summed up in Devil May Cry 2, 3, 4.

2 = Zestiria
3 = Berseria
4 = Arise

2 shits the bed, damages the brand's name. 3 releases under the radar as a result. It manages to rebuild consumer trust due to word of mouth and better reviews, but never achieves great sales due to its handicap. 4 releases on a new console, symbolizing a fresh start, and is able to be a big sales success because of that - and because of the damage control 3 did. Despite that, hardcore fans of the series prefer 3.

There's some differences (Arise is reviewing a little better than DMC4 did) but the template is there.

CasanovaZelos posted...

Endwalker would probably be in my top 5 of the year but I am not far enough in to have wanted to rank it yet. The problem of being a massive game released only a couple weeks before the deadline while having server issues.

Same, too busy for FF14 right now but I'm 99.9% sure I'll love it

Mr Lasastryke posted...

is the implication that nobody has died from covid?

From the viewpoint of MAGA types, no one has died from COVID.

Except the people who did. But they don't count.

7

Aecioo posted...

Check out some of the rest of the channel. It's definitely all nightmare fuel.

I wouldn't describe most of the subject matter as nightmare fuel, but Eyepatch Wolf does have an vaguely offputting (in a good way) style, especially his more recent videos.

8.25

Undertale and Minecraft being big in Japan have been well-known for a while. Minecraft is Minecraft, and Sans literally got into Smash Bros!

The only non-Japan-developed games on the list are:

66. Ghost of Tsushima
59. Dead by Daylight
30. Apex Legends
20. Minecraft
13. UNDERTALE

Congratulations to Toby Fox.

From what I understand, Japan didn't like Mother 3 much for whatever reason.

_stingers_ posted...

Also the recency bias seems pretty strong with three houses, sword/shield and acnh. Can't see those standing the test of time that favorably

Three Houses definitely will and already has, and I say that as someone who isn't a huge fan of it

Sword/Shield is absolutely due to recency factor, though

Has zombie time loop seriously not been done yet?

UshiromiyaEva posted...

I won't pretend that the narrative amongst critics surrounding it "fixing the franchise" hasn't left a bad taste in my mouth in retrospect.

This sort of feeling happens a lot when a weeb series gets popular with mainstream critics

Honestly surprised Symphonia is still this dominant here.

Berseria > Symphonia > Graces > Vesperia > Xillia > Abyss

With apologies to the dozens of Legendia and Xillia 2 fans out there.

8

Strangely interesting despite its issues

No

1. Psychonauts 2
2. Omori
3. Deltarune Chapter 2
4. Record of Lodoss War- Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth

For the record, my 2.5 is me being generous and assuming how I would've felt if I played the game with zero context of classic DMC