Lurker > plasmabeam

Great, can we get Ghost Trick now? I don't want to blow $50+ on a used copy.

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

Leonhart4 posted...

Not to mention Crono/Mario's craziness was that Crono seemingly had an insurmountable lead with like 2 hours to go and Mario somehow managed to win (aided by the poll being open for longer than 24 hours).

When you're talking close wire to wire matches, the go to example will always be CT/LttP.

My thoughts exactly. I didn't check GameFAQs till now (assumed a 24-hour delay), but the vibes from this topic had me thinking CT/LttP.

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

Ranticoot posted...

I have RE2 winning here, but over Fire Emblem instead of Bloodborne!

This. I hope RE2 puts an end to BB. Sick of all the Souls love in this contest.

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

Square would release a new game for each time period, so no thanks.

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest
Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

Sonic may have gotten a boost due to the movie

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

MAX on RE2

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

CaptainOfCrush posted...

Odyssey looked better in Round 1, but we're now seeing evidence that those 85% fodder blowouts might not mean a whole lot. Mario came down to earth a bit in Round 2, so while I'm not supremely confident in Smash or anything, I wouldn't change my bracket if given the chance.

I've wanted a mulligan on taking Skyrim to the finals as soon as I saw what Witcher did to AC.

Another thing... If SSBU/SMO is tight, Smash has far better rally potential. Only way Odyssey wins is if it's somehow a 55-45 match in its favor.

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

My dumbest picks:

• KH3 winning three matches. I actually had it winning the division for a while. I was banking on the idea that KH3 had hidden strength due to it being snubbed from the 2019 GotY polls. So much for its '05 Vincent potential.
• Undertale > SK. I wanted to pull the trigger on SK, but I kept telling myself, "A lot of people on this site genuinely love and appreciate Undertale."
• DKCTF > DMC5. The logical guy in me knew better. DKCTF is a 2D console platformer that costs $50 on Switch and never got much appreciation on Wii U.
• Berseria > HK. Pure fanboyism pick.
• Borderlands 2 > HZD. I knew B2 wouldn't be strong but I thought HZD would suffer because it only appeared on PS4 and isn't part of a series. Should've taken the 2017 GotY polls more seriously.

At the moment, I don't yet regret TLOU > Dark Souls. I'm well aware DS has been more impressive, but both games are still relatively untested, and I wouldn't rule out an upset. When I made my bracket, I kept thinking, "Dark Souls couldn't crack 30% on LttP, but I think TLOU could."

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

BlAcK TuRtLe posted...

My biggest regret is not stickign with the Witcher upset against Skyrim. I had it in my bracket for the longest time and changed it at the last minute for god only knows what reason.

Last-minute jitters. I do the same thing almost every contest. Switching to Mario > Sephiroth in '03 and Melee > Brawl in '10 were among some of my worst.

This time around, the only stupid last-minute thing I did was taking Berseria > HK.

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

Nintendogs posted...

So is Dragon Quest currently stronger than Final Fantasy at this time? That's just unthinkable not long ago.

How the mighty have fallen. The merger murdered FF.

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

Yuri_LowelI posted...

the question is. Those lttp voters...what game are they more likely to side with oot or BOTW?

i just think its crazy to put botw up on this pedastal when weve seen it against 3 fodder level opponents

BotW dominated 2017 polls, and 2017 is widely regarded as one of the best gaming years ever.

Outside of OoT, MM, and maaaybe LttP, I can't see BotW losing a non-rallied match. CT, FF7, and Pokemon RBY might be able to keep it close, but Zelda is dominant and BotW is the definitive Nintendo game of the past 10-20 years. And this is coming from a guy who personally thinks it's the worst 3D Zelda.

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

LeonhartFour posted...

I think they're both pretty good!

You're killing me, fellow FF8 fanatic.

Side note: When I saw early screenshots of FF13-Versus, I always thought, "That's the next FF8!" Then FF15 happened and the disappointment still hasn't left my system.

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

gamer man posted...

Just when you thought FF couldnt let you down anymore

Oh come on. FF15's performance today isn't nearly as bad as the game itself.

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

ZeldaTPLink posted...

Actually the one BotW appears in shows LttP beating both.

Those polls aren't exactly realiable.

LttP wins the 2D vote easily, while OoT has to split the 3D vote with five other Zeldas.

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

ZeldaTPLink posted...

Serious question

How do we know OoT beats BotW directly?

Those "Best Zelda" Polls show OoT winning IIRC.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/7610-whats-your-all-time-favorite-legend-of-zelda-console-game
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/6722-whats-your-all-time-favorite-legend-of-zelda-console-game

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

This is like watching the '07 Patriots

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

Kamekguy posted...

It's a lot less pure logic puzzles and a lot more lateral/geometrical thinking. Like those Phoenix Wright cases where you constantly point at the floor plans and go "THIS is where the person was!". That said, the mid game is definitely its weakest point, and the endgame is generally agreed to be REALLY good. So... kind of? It does go up from where you're at, but Chapters 3 and 4 have mixed receptions, very "love it or hate it".

@Kamekguy Thanks for the spoiler-free insight. I wanted to love D2 but the Chapters in general felt about 25% longer than those in the previous game. At least now I know the endgame is worth shooting for. Might pick up D2 again once I finish AI: The Somnium Files.

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

LinkMarioSamus posted...

Rayman struggled with an indie game in Round 1.

You mean "upset a favored and higher-seeded indie game in Round 1."

Love how people are acting like Rayman had that one in the bag all along.

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

squexa posted...

This entire division just looks awful. Nier and Skyrim for obvious reasons, but this Pokemon performance is pretty underwhelming tbh, just good in comparison because Nier's looking even worse.

The division was an eyesore from day one. Should've swapped out Nier for another 2/3 seed to make the division final interesting.

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

MAX Parlay on Zelda/DQ11

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

FFVIII needs a remake to adequately complete it's story. Objectively it's the easiest choice from a "which game would benefit" standpoint.

Financially, SE would benefit from FFX the most.

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

shane15 posted...

We've found the miserable little pile of secrets folks.

Your posts are as empty as your soul!

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

FFDragon posted...

something something the plan

That explains it. Silly me.

Also, clicking through those later round matches in SC2K3...holy blowouts! Take away Mario/Crono and Link/Cloud, and the entire 2nd half of that contest is a snooze-fest. I remember 2K3 being more fun than that.

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

Hbthebattle posted...

KIU
Theatrhythm

My votes too.

Also, I loved Danganronpa 1, but found D2 to be slow and draggy by comparison. I stopped after Chapter 2. Does it ramp up from there? Might go back to it.

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

It always amazed me how much this site loved Alucard in the early 2000s. I mean, SotN wasn't THAT popular back then and Alucard was only an optional character in CV3.

Him beating Tails, Post-Melee Kirby, etc. is still kinda baffling.

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

OoT > TP > MM > LA > SS

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

I don't like these lines at all.

50% Parlay on MK8, HG/SS, and Nier
25% Parlay on MK8/Nier
10% Parlay on Journey, MK8, HG/SS, Nier
10% on Nier

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

Yuri_LowelI posted...

Witcher 3 at this point isn't even concerned about Skyrim. Its secretly plotting its plan to somehow take down the LAW. Games like Persona and Skyrim are just mini bosses for it to shove out of the way.

Honestly. I thought W3/SMG2 might be interesting before the other night. Now I'm wondering if SMG2 can crack 40%.

On GameFAQs.

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

Kamekguy posted...

WarioWare Gold
Spirit of Justice

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

Mac Arrowny posted...

Yakuza 0 seems to have more support behind it than Ys 8...

That should've been a R1 match.

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

$25,000 parlay on DS, MGSV

$20,000 on MGSV

$10,000 on DS

$8,500 on DS, MGSV, Batman

$2,500 on DS, MGSV, Batman, TLOU

$2,500 on DS, MGSV, Batman, D3

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

Yuri_LowelI posted...

Theres a reason Ys 8 got into this bracket and wasn't a 16 or 15 seed.

This isn't your shitty Hyperdimension game or anything. Ys is popular.

Sonic Mania seems to me getting votes purely based on Nostalgia for old Sonic games.

Yeah, I nom'd Ys VIII, so I'm thrilled what Sonic is doing for it right now. More people need to play that series. It's a crime that Ys has been around so long, yet nobody's heard of it.

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

UltimaterializerX posted...

What even is that game?

@UltimaterializerX Ys VIII is basically Kingdom Hearts on coke, with a 3D Metroidvania-style map, and S-tier music. One of the most pleasant surprises I've come across in ages.

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

Yuri_LowelI posted...

84%

Even though Black Flag is a lot stronger and probably the most popular AC game or at least slightly behind AC2.

Persona/Witcher is probably a 55-45 but you can bet your fucking ass that Match is gonna have rallies. From Both sides but definitely PErsona 5 sides.

Hype machine, gogogo.

I think Witcher 3 wins that one easily, but I hope I'm wrong. P5 is my GotD.

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

Nothing beats the sweet taste of elimination in Round 2.

Thanks, KH3. Glad I didn't buy you last week when you were on sale for $10 at Best Buy.

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

Interested in seeing if RDR2/ACNL turns into a sneaky-good match.

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

HALF on Parlay P5, SM

25% on Parlay SM, ACNL

25% on Parlay P5, SM, ACNL


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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

cyko posted...

Luigis Mansion
Radiant Historia

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

AndywoodCubeGmr posted...

Well I think 9th is the highest I'm going to reach this time. Losing 90% of my money today!

Really disappointing showing for SMG2 today.

Same. I finally decided to pull the trigger on a huge parlay and got smoked thanks to SMG2.

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

MoogleKupo141 posted...

hell yeah, that fight rules

Argorok was super cool too.

Love that fight and the Spinner item. TP had fantastic dungeons and bosses.

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

BlAcK TuRtLe posted...

I never played it, as the RE games don't really do it for me, but based on the feedback, it would have been a better choice than most of the bracket.

Even FFX, for all its flaws regarding linearty, shitty characters and a contrived story pioneered voice acting and a lot of other JRPG trends for the decade.

Brawl beating Melee was such a valid result, because Melee was basically just an uprezzed and polished Smash64, while Brawl had the whole single player mode, and online multiplayer that was actually very good for its time.

Melee was a HUGE jump from Smash 64 in terms of gameplay (side-B moves, dodging, etc.). Brawl did nothing to evolve the gameplay, it merely added more characters and a single player mode that was decent at best. The online was terrible. Smash 4 was the first one with decent online.

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

MechanicalWall posted...

RE4 was probably the game that balanced both critical and commercial success on top of being highly influential last decade, IMO

It would have made a great winner

This I can agree with. Over-the-shoulder 3rd Person Shooters (and some other genres like Batman games and survival horror) owe everything to RE4.

RE4 or GTA3 seems most sensible to me, and this is coming from a guy who hates GTA.

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

BlAcK TuRtLe posted...

I guess this comes down to the age old argument. Do you just vote for the game you liked better (like Persona fanboys are doing today), or do you actually factor in what makes a game objectively great?

P4G is objectively better than any "follow the map marker" game out there.


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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

monsefuz posted...

Just to add to my post, not only is it the blandest 3D Zelda, it is also the one most devoid of soul. It's inoffensive as fuck and doesn't excel at anything. Okami was better than TP.

TP is a dark masterpiece. The bland, soulless 3D Zelda you're thinking of is called Breath of the Wild.

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

One more for me...

$4,000 Parlay on W3 and GoW

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

Since RDR appears likely to lose to a Vita game, what should we expect from RDR2 vs Animal Crossing 3DS?

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

UltimaterializerX posted...

The objective games of the decade: Skyrim, Dark Souls, Dota 2, Clash of Kings, GTA5, Fortnite, Red Dead Redemption 2, Smash Ultimate, Breath of the Wild, CoD: Black Ops, Witcher 3, Undertale, Bloodborne, Mass Effect 2, Mass Effect 3, Mario Odyssey, Super Meat Boy, The Last of Us, Doom, Overwatch, Borderlands 2, Shovel Knight, Hearthstone, Stardew Valley, Persona 5, Dragon Quest 11, Horizon Zero Dawn, Hollow Knight, NieR Automata, God of War, and REmake Evil 2.

The answer is whatever you want from that list, but it is absolutely one of those games. And trust me, there are things on there I detest, but the story of gaming this decade cant be told without them.

(Minecraft and League both came out in 2009.)

Batman Arkham City, Telltale's Walking Dead, and Uncharted 4 deserve to be there as well.

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

WarThaNemesis2 posted...

Well, SOTN is significantly stronger than RE2, for one.

Unless you think Mario 64 is stronger than Ocarina of Time.

SotN >>> RE2 1998 I agree with you on.

But RE2 Remake is in a unique situation because it draws strength from its modern and classic incarnations.

If we held SotN vs RE2 Remake today, SotN would likely win because of the Castlevania TV show boosting it. But I don't see any reason to believe that pre-Netflix SotN (the 2015 version that beat DKC2 62-38) would be significantly stronger than RE2 Remake.

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~

WarThaNemesis2 posted...

In a year where Mega Man X is worth 45% on FFX and SMRPG is stronger than the entire MGS and RE series, I'd easily take DKC2 to put 46% on RE2.

DKC2 couldn't put 38% on SotN. Where is it finding the strength to put 46% on an acclaimed remake of one of SotN's PS1 contemporaries?

DKC games don't have that kind of firepower. Look what happened to Tropical Freeze last week.

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~Jacksonville Jaguars~