LogFAQs > #940064713

Round 2 Division 8 Day 24
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim 74.98%
Journey 25.02%

Prediction Percentage 88.32%

This was the match that initially made Skyrim an easy target for most of the rest of the contest. The Subnautica result was one thing, only a few Bethesda anti-votes were needed to keep it from going higher then, but people had a tough time accepting this result and it didnt help The Witcher 3 had looked extremely good a few rounds before. Journey finished at the near bottom of the 2015 x-stats and it was debated to be the weakest round 2 entry there was. The general consensus before the contest was that Skyrim was the favorite to each the finals. If it was still the case after round 1, it certainly wasnt the case now, and on top of The Witcher 3 taking the title, Dark Souls beating Skyrim was now considered very possible.

I was one of the people defending Skyrim at the time, but it wasnt easy. I didnt doubt The Witcher 3 would be the one to make the finals any longer, but I didnt think this was as bad as people made it out to be. Ill say once again that Skyrim was the Final Fantasy VII character of this contest. They always get where theyre supposed to, but it sure doesnt look good getting there. The Bethesda anti-votes are a thing, thats for sure. Skyrim has also become a victim of its own popularity. At least it seems that way to be. There are seemingly a group of people that find it cool to hate on the game, partly because Breath of the Wild and The Witcher 3 has overshadowed it in the latter half of the decade. This has had some bandwagon effect probably, it felt like people wanted to see Skyrim lose early and board 8 lacked the Skyrim fans to defend it. Still, most people are better than that and respect Skyrim. Its a vocal minority.

Then theres Journey. The above doesnt work if we really think Journey is as weak as 2015 project it to be, and I dont! The 2015 x-stats project Skyrim to do about 5% better against Journey, although both are clouded by Undertale rallies. Thats not too big of a difference! Skyrim had room to be a little weaker and still easily get to the semi-finals and look good there and Journey had reason to be stronger than last time. Its not good, but the game is mentioned in some Game of the Decade debates and during this contest it was made free for every person that owns a PS4. Not just the PS+ subscribers, but everyone. Sonys way of telling people to stay home during the pandemic was by giving everyone the Nathan Drake Collection and Journey for free. That could help close that 5% gap a little more.

Finally, Journey is probably a terrible game for Skyrim to look good against. Its so vastly different and colorful in comparison. The Witcher 3 looked to be in its own league, but it also got opponents of similar fanbases to trash, Skyrim didnt. I thought Skyrim looked fine already then, but there were people not understanding why we had such a hard time accepting Skyrim was just weaker. That wasnt it! In the end, Skyrim looked fine and so Journey wasnt as bad as we thought. Theres no point in seeing it in another contest, but it managed to get away from the bottom of the barrel where it used be, although it took most of the contest for the majority of people to see that.

---

Guinness Book of World Records is the name of the diary that belongs to azuarc, the winner of the Game of the Decade II guru contest.