Board 8 > ~ Save My RPG: Reunion Day. And the winner is... ~

(+) Yeah! (+)

All I gotta say is that I am impressed. This was one HELL of a final match. We got a total of 103 votes!

Before I get to the reveal, I just wanted to say THANK YOU. And that is to everyone that was a part of this little spur-of-the-moment I'm-finally-gonna-do-it project I thought to tackle. You guys were what made me continue to want to come back and host this. Thank you for a wonderful inaugural Save My RPG!

Results time!

Things went back and forth a lot early, then Pokemon went ahead, but then Persona 4 made a final push to make it really, really, really interesting. This was the closest, most epic SMC final I have seen in years. I wouldn't have it any other way.

And yeah I counted this at least three times in three different ways and blew off doing my job properly. But this was so worth it! (Yeah, that's not going to happen again for a while.)

So... let's get to it. And the winner is...
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...by one vote. ONE. FUCKING. VOTE.

CONGRATULATIONS PERSONA 4!

Persona 4 - 52
Pokemon Black & White - 51

Save counts:
Bane - 5 Pokemon
duck - 5 Pokemon
Iceman - 5 Pokemon
Inviso - 5 Pokemon
Mewtwo - 5 Pokemon
mnk - 5 Pokemon
MZero - 5 Pokemon
Shonen - 5 Pokemon
Tex - 5 Pokemon
GMUN - 3 Pokemon
Karo - 1 Pokemon
red - 1 Pokemon
Sheep - 1 Pokemon
TOTAL: 51
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Evildex - 5 Persona
guff - 5 Persona
illuminatus - 5 Persona
Janus - 5 Persona
Stan - 5 Persona
tennis - 5 Persona
Turus - 5 Persona
Vlado - 5 Persona
Pirate - 2 Persona
Wreath - 2 Persona
Zylo - 2 Persona
gravy - 1 Persona
Kate - 1 Persona
Stifled - 1 Persona
trdl - 1 Persona
Zeeks - 1 Persona
hagankefs - Who are you? Based on save numbers... Zylo? - 1 Persona
TOTAL: 52

And, to be honest, as much as I adore both of these games... I'd have picked Persona 4. Persona 4 is a true masterpiece in my mind. So that ??? vote - an account with a low amount of karma for being 16 y/o and no posts in the last two years - doesn't ultimately matter.

Again, thank you. I could not have done this without you guys.

RE: The poll. I prioritized games that finished highly in this contest (save for KH, which isn't good for a playthrough now tbqh). The original plan was to do a playthrough topic of the winner, but when the final three all ended up being beloved games of mine, that wasn't going to happen lol

Full contest results in next post...
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SOLE SURVIVOR: Persona 4 (defeated Pokemon BW 52-51)
2nd. Pokmon Black & White
3rd. Tales of the Abyss
4th. Kingdom Hearts
5th. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
6th. Mother 3
7th. Disgaea: Hour of Darkness
8th. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
9th. Final Fantasy XIII
10th. Final Fantasy X
11th. Final Fantasy IX
12th. Pokmon Gold, Silver, & Crystal^
13th. Persona 5^
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14th. Tales of Berseria (Lost special re-entry round to Persona 5, 45-30)
15th. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky (Lost to Persona 5 14-12)
16th. Pokmon Heart Gold & Soul Silver (Lost to Persona 5 18-15)
17th. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door (Lost to Pokemon HGSS 18-13)
18th. Lufia 2: Rise of the Sinistrals (Lost to Pokemon HGSS 18-10)
19th. Final Fantasy VI (Lost to Pokmon HGSS 17-16)
20th. Final Fantasy VII (Lost to Pokmon HGSS 17-14)
21st. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (Lost to Pokmon HGSS 18-11)
22nd. Parasite Eve (Lost to Pokmon HGSS 14-12)
23rd. Pokmon Red, Blue, & Yellow (Lost to Pokmon HGSS 14-13)
24th. Kingdom Hearts II (Lost to Pokmon RBY, 19-14)
25th. The World Ends with You (Lost to Kingdom Hearts II 14-13)
26th. Golden Sun: The Lost Age (Lost to Kingdom Hearts II 18-13)
27th. Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade (Lost to Kingdom Hearts II 17-12)
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28th. The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim (Lost Re-entry to Pokemon GSC, 20-15-4)
29th. Pokmon Diamond, Pearl, & Platinum (Lost Re-entry to Pokemon GSC, 20-x-4)
30th. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (Lost Duel #11 to Skyrim, 9-7-x)
31st. Earthbound (Lost Duel #11 to Skyrim, 9-x-6)
32nd. Radiant Historia (Lost Duel #10 to Skyrim, 10-9-x)
33rd. Persona 3 (Lost Duel #10 to Skyrim, 10-x-8)
34th. Paper Mario 1 (Lost Duel #9 to Persona 3, 15-9-x)
35th. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel (Lost Duel #9 to Persona 3, 15-x-4)
36th. Chrono Trigger (Lost Duel #8 to Persona 3, 17-15-x)
37th. Tales of Xillia (Lost Duel #8 to Persona 3, 17-x-7)
38th. Final Fantasy IV (Lost Duel #7 to Chrono Trigger 15-9-x)
39th. Skies of Arcadia (Lost Duel #7 to Chrono Trigger 15-x-8)
40th. Phantasy Star IV (Lost Duel #6 to Chrono Trigger 18-7-x)
41st. Chrono Cross (Lost Duel #6 to Chrono Trigger 18-x-5)
42nd. Xenoblade Chronicles (Lost Duel #5 to Chrono Trigger 19-11-x)
43rd. Undertale (Lost Duel #5 to Chrono Trigger 19-x-4)
44th. Tales of Symphonia (Lost Duel #4 to Chrono Trigger 15-9-x)
45th. Suikoden II (Lost Duel #4 to Chrono Trigger 15-x-6)
46th. Final Fantasy VIII (Lost Duel #3 to Chrono Trigger 17-8-x)
47th. Final Fantasy Tactics (Lost Duel #3 to Chrono Trigger 17-x-5)
48th. Tales of Vesperia (Lost Duel #2 to Chrono Trigger 17-10-x)
49th. Golden Sun (Lost Duel #2 to Chrono Trigger 17-x-4)
50th. Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (Lost Duel #1 to Tales of Vesperia 20-10)

And, once again, THANK YOU guys. This was more fun than I anticipated and it's because of you.

Save My RPG will return in 2019...
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I remember thinking Persona 4 was really good when I played it as a teenager, but I never went back to it and so it faded somewhat in my memory over the years. I think it kind of lacks the "wow" factor that the absolute top-tier games like Chrono Trigger and the Mother games have. Still clearly the most deserving game in the top five though (except maybe Tales of the Abyss. I can't really say on that one.) Glad it wasn't Pokemon.

Evillordexdeath posted...

I think it kind of lacks the "wow" factor that the absolute top-tier games like Chrono Trigger and the Mother games have.

I disagree. Persona 4 blew me away when I first played it. And then again with Golden. The party's chemistry is unmatched. When Persona 5 came out, do you know what the thing I said I'd miss most about P4? "My friends." Persona 4 does something truly special in that it makes the protagonist's friends feel like the player's friends. Not only do you get to know them - and deeply at that - you hang out with them and laugh. It feel so authentic. And that is why it has the "wow" factor: It lets the player actually feel a bond with both each individual character and the group as a whole. There are not very many games that pull that off.

except maybe Tales of the Abyss. I can't really say on that one

You still should play it! Incredible game. Comes close to P4 in terms of getting to know the cast, too.
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ah that's annoying
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__LeiaRolando__ posted...

It feel so authentic. And that is why it has the "wow" factor: It lets the player actually feel a bond with both each individual character and the group as a whole.

I agree that the characterization and the player's role are two of the strong points of the game (along with the completeness of the game in terms of content and the Persona system,) but I think it's overstating the case to say the player really gets to bond with them. Because of the limitations of the game it's inherently one-sided - that is, the characters confide their insecurities and wishes onto the player but the player has no way of confiding into them, because that would be a staggering, impossible thing to program. So it isn't as powerful as having real friends. Or at least it wasn't to me. That's not to say that I don't understand why people would get emotionally invested in the game or even that I didn't myself, though, mind you.

One of the things I didn't like about Undertale was that the content was structured in such a way that you ended up spending more-or-less exactly the same amount of time with all the major characters. That made it feel impersonal and as if the player was somewhat uninvolved. Most RPGs have a mechanism for that just in terms of who you take along with you the most. Persona does it one better with the combination of the social links and the timed system. In those games, you *can't* fully develop your relationships with everyone. Or at least you have to sacrifice almost everything else to do so. I think that's kind of cool.

I preferred Persona 4 over B/W but I would've supported most other Pokemon games over P4 so I just opted not to vote in the final. Glad it had an exciting finish!

FFXIII being last FF was a pleasant surprise, too. I hope it holds its lead in the poll.
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my favorite RPGs in this finished 6th, 7th, 15th, 18th, 32nd and 49th.

except for that last one, pretty good results. perhaps Vesperia will do better after its remaster comes out.
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Arti posted...

perhaps Vesperia will do better after its remaster comes out.

Possibly. Next one of these will be sometime next year, so most people will get to see Yuri Lowell in action.

Arti posted...

my favorite RPGs in this finished 6th, 7th, 15th, 18th, 32nd and 49th.

Mine finished 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 20th, and 37th. Really happy about this top 3 and still wonder if my own taste as host had anything to do with it. Might disallow myself from saving for the first hour in the sequel...
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Persona 4 is an awesome game but it really just goes a little too long for me to consider it one of my favorite RPGs. It's not that the story takes a nosedive or anything as much as I think it just doesn't escalate well. Like as far as quality goes it's very consistent. Too consistent. Most RPGs build up a lot better in terms of the story or the mechanics. Can't really say late game Persona 4 is significantly more interesting than early game Persona 4. Not a bad winner though.

My top 5 I'm thinking placed 10, 18, 27, 45, 47. Losing Final Fantasy Tactics and Suikoden 2 (and Tales of Symphonia, frankly, as it could possibly be top 5 as well) so early had me tuning out pretty fast.
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Solid results, really. The only games I think went out WAY too early are KH2, Vesperia, and FF8. And FF13 finishing in the top ten makes me a little nauseous. Other than that, can't really hate on much of anything here.
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Oh cool, good result. Especially after a ton of my favorite games went out way to early imo

I guess I forgot to actually post my first save. Whoops! >_<

Thx for hosting this contest!
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I almost used my 5th vote on Persona just so I could say Persona 5 :> didn't realize it was so close

Not surprised P4 won though considering it's board 8. Not a big fan but it's not a bad winner. FFX and P5 too low but FFX getting 10th is pretty fitting!
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I might need to make a second poll with the top 3 or 4 to determine what I play through. The goal is have one THE where enough people are going to care. Know what I mean?

Again, that's probably going to start come early October. Regardless of which game it is.
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bumpo, just making sure more people have seen the result here.
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Losing by one vote is rough. But losing by one vote because douchey Mr. "Every New Game Sucks Nowadays" still showed up to vote for the first time all contest and push five votes against Pokemon, that fucking blows.
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If it makes you feel better I didn't see the round and would've voted 5 times against Pokemon too.
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