LogFAQs > #939491954

Bust Analysis continued:

To me, this was apparent from Round 1, with it putting down 68% on Bayo 2. Sounds good, doesnt it? Sure seemed amazing to people on Board 8, who ALL failed to point out the obvious. I was at the center of a debate that I provoked in the Stats topic, where I was, to my memory (and correct me it Im wrong here), the first person to mention that Nier Automata and Bayonetta were literally made by the EXACT SAME COMPANY, and play remarkably similarly. This triggered a flood of people sputtering indignantly at me for suggesting that there was SFF in what was one of the most clear-cut cases of SFF in the fckin bracket. Like I pointed out in my 2014 analysis, Platinum fans are a hardcore bunch, and likely own both games, different systems be damned. Most of those people were very likely to concede the contest title to Nier for its stronger plot and overall better reception. And more importantly, in the unadjusted x-stats for Division 8, Bayonetta 2 was below JOURNEY. NO ONE believes that; certainly not KamikazePotato, who adjusted Bayo 2 nine whole spots above Journey in his stats.

That vindication didnt come until Division Finals were wrapped up, of course. I had to be satisfied with Nier not even breaking 70% of Divinity 2, which itself couldnt break 70% on Hearthstone. While Hearthstone would end up looking marginally better in 2020 than it did in 2015, where it was at the bottom of the x-stats, this still only put Divinity on par with shit like Ratchet and Clank. There were some minor rallies that boosted Divinity up a percent or so, not enough that Nier didnt end up looking bad regardless. Its godslayer potential was clearly not manifesting.

If anything, only losing narrowly to Pokemon in Round 3, 52-48 style, was a comeback! I mean hey, thats still within the realm where debate surrounding this match was acceptable, as I outlined earlier. Even at this point, some people had SO MUCH faith in Nier than they actually believed this performance was good enough for Pokemon to have a shot at upsetting Skyrim.

I already went over this in my 2010, 2011, AND 2014 analysis, so suffice it to say that no, that performance was NOT good enough to upset Skyrim. So much so that Nier, the highly acclaimed JRPG, a game whose profile has substantially risen thanks to 2Bs, err, profile, is projected to lose to Mario Kart.

Nier was one of the games in bracket where I just wasnt sure where the hype came from. It finished pretty high in the adjusted x-stats, but people were talking about it as a contender for top 15 or even top 10, not outside the top 20. Yes, it has a decent GotY poll under its belt, but how many times do people have to be let down by those before they get the message? For every one predictive GotY poll, theres been three that led everyone astray. Yes, 2B did well in the 2018 character contest, but she has reason to be strong that has nothing to do with her game. One big, fat reason. TAF, if you will. I feel this was one of those cases where peoples feelings for the game clouded their better judgment. Hey, it happened to me, so Im not gonna talk shit about it. Seriously, fuck Three Houses.

Headliner Analysis:

I told myself that I need to start conserving words where I can because these are getting LONG, and I feel this is one of those places. Seriously, do I need to go into excruciating detail about Zeldas run in this contest? Fckin Majoras Mask, an N64 title, won Game of the Decade in 2010. Im one of THOSE people that feel it wasnt really a good fit for the title, no matter how good a game it might be. So for a Zelda game to come into this contest with a VERY legitimate claim to the Game of the Decade mantle. well, no one with a single iota of knowledge regarding this sites history thought it was losing. No one. It would take some ridiculous rally from a game with the profile of Minecraft or Dota or Witcher to take it down.

And man, it acted like it was the shit. It was the #1 overall seed, and was given one of the weakest eightpacks in the contest to flex. Lets fast-forward a little here because I can only write it godstomped its opponent in so many ways.

The Outer Worlds? 85%

Halo Reach? 85%

Final Fantasy XV? 80%

This was one of the most dominant three round runs from a contest entrant EVER. Again though, part of it was Allen probably being careful to not waste anything good on BotW while also setting up the prerequisite Zelda/Final Fantasy duel. Not to beat this horse to death, but for one last time, the FFXV match was fishy and I do believe Hollow Knight would have performed better on Zelda face-to-face.

At this point, we sincerely believed that it might not drop below 70 until semifinals, if that. Certainly wouldnt be dented by anything in its own Division. If FINAL FANTASY couldnt get 20% on it, how in the hell was the deadbeat older brother Dragon Quest gonna do it?

---

If you're only on this board to whine about "SJWs", please redirect whatever you type on to the nearest trash can. And hop in after it.