Board 8 > Zelda tries to predict the bracket

(+) Yeah! (+)

Ok, disclaimer: I have played very few games in the last decade (thanks to more addictive stuff like Team Fortress 2, Pokemon Showdown and Mafia, as well as living in a third world country), so I have played maybe 5 games from this bracket. This is going to be crazy, semi-blind, and will likely have a bunch of godawful picks. But I also want to join the fun and I think I can make a lot of good picks by just going with general site knowledge. I have been here since 2006, after all.

Let's do this.

Division 1

Round 1

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild vs The Outer Worlds

What is The Outer Worlds? Looks like a stylish game, which is good news. Also looks like a shooter, which is not good news. Google says it's an RPG, which is always good, but a lot of things are RPGs. It's from 2019, which means it's got some recency factor going on.

........ joking. BOTW is undoubtely the strongest game in this bracket, probably the 2nd strongest zelda ever. Just look at Link's performance in the 2018 contest and imagine what it'd be like if you removed the Noble Nine from that bracket, and you'll get what BOTW is going to do in this contest. The Outer World gets the sad role of being fed to the main Zelda entry in the bracket before doing anything else.

Halo: Reach vs. Life is Strange

Two franchises I have heard about but not played. This is going to be a common thing in this thread. Well, Halo is a known quantity, but I've never heard of Reach? It's a shooter and an Xbox game though, so boo! Life is Strange is a more B8 thing, but it's also Undertale's sister game, i. e. the other morality-heavy indie game from around 2015. So I feel the site might turn against it and go for the hardcore one. I pick Halo, but I'm not sure.

FInal Fantasy XV vs What Remains of Editch Finch

A plot heavy adventure game. Feels like the kind of thing this site could get behind in a good day. Screenshots looks very interesting, too.

It's biggest accomplish in this contest will be to help release the first wave of "why FF always wins everything?" threads.

Hollow Knight vs. Tales of Berseria

Woo, a game I've actually played! Tales of Berseria is probably the most popular Tales game since Symphonia. This is important, because common wisdom says only Symphonia can win anything here, so this game might break that wisdom. It's also got one of my favorite plots in gaming. But I've never beaten it, because the gameplay feels so bloated and overwhelming the game turned into a chore after a while. I'm too old to care about extremely complicated combo systems, I think.

It's a 4 seed vs 13 seed match. I don't know Hollow Knight. This feels like the kind of fanboy pick I usually get wrong. But I'll take the bait. Let's go, Berseria.

Monster Hunter: World vs. Bravely Default: Flying Fairy

Monster Hunter is one of those franchises that have a huge fanbase but that same fanbase is kind of disconnected from the rest of the gaming universe, like the people who play it play A LOT of Monster Hunter but not much else. My senses tell me to have it lose to the first midcarder it runs into. But I don't think Flying Fairy is that game. Bravely Default was huge once, but damn, 2012 was a long time ago. The other game has an actual living board in GameFAQs. I'll take Monster Hunter.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice vs Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

What the Hell vs What's Your Face. Ok, let's google.

So the former game is some kind of Ninja Gaiden. The lead looks badass. The later is a DS/PS3 RPG. The lead does not look badass. But this is an otaku site. I think it wishes it had something like a cute pomeranian, though, not just some kid.

Yes, I'm taking picture here. And seed. And recency (one game is from 2019 and the other is from 2010. Sure, this is OldFAQs, but 2010 is not the good kind of old). Watch me be wrong and there is a huge Ki no Kuni fanbase somewhere, or something. But common sense says pick Sekiro.

The Walking Dead: A Telltale Games Series vs Bastion

Bastion is an indie game from a studio that made a game I actually played (Transistor). Transistor was fantastic and I'm sad it did not make into the bracket. I should play Bastion some time.

The Walking Dead has a franchise name recognition. It seemed popular here around the time it was released. It's been in two contests before. But it has never actually been strong. It feels more mainstream versus Bastion's indie, though. I take TWD.

Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age vs The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC

Big RPG versus Small RPG. DQ11 took a very long time to break out in the west, but iirc DQ11 is its most popular game. It's probably bigger in Japan than Final Fantasy, even! Trails in the Sky is an indie and B8 darling, but this is not even a match.

Round 2

Zelda: Breath of the Wild vs. Halo: Reach

Assuming Halo is here, tune into B8 in this day for your daily morning share of "those nintendrones are out of control" threads. With Life is Strange, this is less likely because not even the casuals will expect LiS to win here. Predicting the state of B8 is the most fun thing to do here. Next.

Final Fantasy XV vs. Tales of Berseria

People don't really like FFXV. If anyone thought they did, lolnoctis in 2018 has defused any expectations in that regard. But this is Big RPG vs Small RPG again. The fanbases get a little overlap and it's a beat down. You need actual non-fodder to beat a Final Fantasy, even if it's a weak Final Fantasy.

Monster World: World vs. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

The winner of Monster Hunter vs. Bravely beats the winner of What the Hell vs What's Your Face. Ninjas are cool, but so are dinosaurs.

The Walking Dead vs. Dragon Quest XI

TWD continues its contest tradition of folding against something with actual strength. Some posts are made about how TWD is such a great story, I briefly consider playing it for a while and might actually do it this time, but chances are I'll forget again. Or maybe not.

Round 3

Zelda: Breath of the Wild vs Final Fantasy XV

What this match is going to lack in excitement or difficulty to predict, it will have in symbolism. The strongest game Nintendo has to offer for this decade, versus the strongest Final Fantasy game from the same period. And FFXV will do very well to break 30%. Such times we live in.

Monster Hunter: World vs. Dragon Quest XI

Woo, this is interesting. Feels like gamefaqs going against non-gamefaqs, except non-gamefaqs has that aforementioned living board (do I need to mention how much of a big deal that is in 2020)? Ok, let's check the wiki.

Ouch, a MH game lost to Suikoden by a respectable margin. And I guess that's our midcarder. Bye, Monster Hunter. Check Board 8 for a flood of angry threads in this day.

Round 4

Zelda: Breath of the Wild vs. Dragon Quest XI

Man, I really want a Switch. Do you know how much it costs in Brazil, though? 600 freaking dollars. And that's only because the price of the dollar here has been spiking lately (thanks, Coronavirus!), or it would be even more expensive. BOTW itself is another 70 dollars, too. I have more than enough money saved for it, but it feels like such an irresponsible purchase, especially in an era where Steam sells games for 1/10 of the price without having to buy a console. One of these days I'll give in to my username though, and get a switch, along with this game, Odissey and that ridiculous goose game. Until then, I'll stick to dreaming.

Oh the pick is Zelda, in case anyone forgot what I said in the Round 1 write-up.

Obligatory "Is anyone actually reading this?" question.

I don't need a huge audience, but need to know if there is an actual audience because I'm feeling silly if there's not. Thanks.

I read a lot of it.

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You should put the winner at the end of the analysis in bold letters too.

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Thanks guys. Will do.

Division 2

Round 1

Mass Effect 2 vs. Resident Evil 7: biohazard

The most popular game of a franchise that died versus the latest game of a franchise that didn't quite die but mostly survives on remakes because people don't really like games after 4. Hmm.

ME is the 1 seed. Hmm.

Alright, wiki.

So ME2 struggled to beat Starcraft in 2015. Ew. I don't trust it against anything really strong. But I don't have any specific reason to believe in RE7, either. It's 1v16.

Winner: ME2

Fallout 4 vs VVVVVV

VVVVVV gets the award for the weirdest name in this contest, I think. And that's all it might get, because this is a quadrupling in the making. The internet wouldn't shut up about Fallout 4 when it came, should be enough to waste this cute indie game.

Winner: Fallout 4

Borderlands 2 vs Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

A Metroidvania? Anime-like? With RPG features? Seems like the kind of game this site would get behind!

Iirc, Borderlands has the title of "weakest GOTY winner in the decade". But the fact it even has that title in the first place makes me think Bloodstained has no business winning this. I could be wrong though, and maybe Borderlands is as dead as people make it to be. Doubt it, though. It's name recognition all over again.

Winner: Borderlands 2

Horizon: Zero Dawn vs Fortinite

Ooooooh Fortnite. This all boils down to rallies. 2018 gave the feeling rallies aren't such a huge thing anymore, and I think the trend will keep going. There was a time where gameFAQs was being rallied to death, thanks to our votals shrinking and huge non-forum communities being formed. Then that just stopped, in part due to Allen's anti-rally measures (the double vote thing, and voters beng forced to pick 4 games at once). But I feel like the biggest factor is that gameFAQs has shrinked so low in relevancy there isn't even a reason to rally against it anymore. Drinking nintendrones' tears was still funny in 2013, but does anyone care now?

Fortnite is the thing pre-teens are playing right now. The game's premise actually seems interesting, but I haven't dared to play it because hearing a bunch of kids screaking on a mic sounds like masochism. Now let's ask yourselves, does a 12yo give a damn about gameFAQs. Do they bother clicking the 5 times it takes to make the vote? Do they give a shit about the other games being polled? Do they refrain from downvoting to death the rally thread that was likely created by a B8er? I think the answer to all of those is no.

Horizon's Zero Dawn isn't exactly what you'd call a proper Round 1 rally barrier, though. This might be close. But I also think this site might just anti-vote Fortnite, if anything out of rally fear, and wanting a cute RPG to beat the casual Gen Z game.

Winner: Horizon: Zero Dawn

Resident Evil 2 vs. Danganronpa 2

RE2 is kind of cheating to be here, remake and all. And it might get far thanks to OldFAQs.

DR2 is the second game in this list I have played, and the first I have beaten. It's a good game, with a great cast, though I feel like the ending exaggerated in complexity and edginess (a trend that only got worse in DRV3, I'm afraid). It's nice to see a DR game in the contest, though, especially since Ace Attorney did not make it (Damn you, Allen). It has no business beating any resident evil, though, much less one with actual strength.

Winner: RE2

DOOM VS INSIDE

BOLD LETTERS TO CONVEY MANLINESS! I have no idea what Inside is. I didn't know Doom had a modern sequel, but I know what Doom is. I think this settles it.

Winner: DOOM

Fire Emblem: Awakening vs. Deus Ex: Human Revolution

This one might be tricky because Deus Ex is another franchise the internet wouldn't shut up about. I feel like this is one of those cases where that game wins everywhere, except gameFAQs. Why not here too, you ask? Because Nintendo. This bracket has had very little Nintendo so far, and the drones will come to town.

Winner: FE Awakening

Bloodborne vs. Call of Duty Black Ops

5 years ago, Call of Duty was what Fortnite is today. The thing kids wouldn't shut up about. And this site didn't care about it. Does it care now? The answer is Hell No.

Bloodborne isn't huge, but it's a Dark Souls prequel or something like that, right? It has a little love going for it, and that's all it takes to beat the mainstream shooter from an once popular series.

Winner: Bloodborne

Round 2

Mass Effect 2 vs. Fallout 4

Ok, this one is juicy. ME2 has the seed. It's well beloved here. But Fallout 4 basically dominated the gaming scene for a few months when it came out.

ME2 has a craptastic sequel and is now a dead series. Fallout also had a craptastic sequel, but iirc that's more of an MMO spin-off. No franchise breaking game, or anything. The third entry in a trilogy of a plot-driven game ruining the whole plot sucks, man.

I feel like ME2 will be the favorite here, but my instinct says don't bet on dead series. Fallout feels like it has a little more goodwill I'll take it, but this might change when I look at the BOP.

Winner: Fallout 4

Borderlands 2 vs Horizon: Zero Dawn

This is a good match to measure what Borderlands's strength even is today. Not that it has any chance of losing this, but from %. Horizon is lucky to be here. RPGs are strong in this forum, but they need a high playrate if they wanna get far.

Winner: Borderlands 2

Resident Evil 2 vs DOOM

Battle of the remakes? Sort of. DOOM could be strong elsewhere, but RE2 is a household name here. DOOM is not. And only RE2 is a remake, DOOM is a new game, so OldFAQs gives the win to RE2.

Winner: RE2

Fire Emblem Awakening vs. Bloodborne

FE contnues to defend Nintendo's honor, this time against a game that has a little more name.

I checked the wiki. In 2015, FEA almost doubled Mario Maker and made DKC2 sweat. Bloodborne lost to a Final Fantasy whose number is higher than 10. This might not be a huge blowout, but it feels like there is an hierarchy here, and when in doubt, don't bet against Nintendo.

Winner: Awakening

Fallout 4 won't be that strong, and VVVVVV won't be that weak. Fallout 4 gets so much infamy over its direction that even people who disliked Fallout 3 started to appreciate it somewhat, while VVVVVV is one of the more renowned indie titles of the generation.

Maybe I'm biased though since VVVVVV is one of only three games in the bracket I've beaten, the other two being Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Portal 2.

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Round 3

Fallout 4 vs. Borderlands 2

Suddenly ME2 vs. FO4 is worth 6 points, because whoever wins that match probably wins here. You can argue Borderlands maybe didn't decay that much, but is there even a reason for it to get stronger? It has lost to Earthbound, ffs.

Winner: Fallout 4

Resident Evil 2 vs. Fire Emblem Awakening

NintendoFAQs vs. OldFAQs, two forces that have defined this contest scene during the past decade. 2015 suggests FE:A is on a tier or two above, but it's been a while and shinier FE games have been made. RE2 remake was one of the talks of the internet this year. But damn, it's Nintendo.

My gut says RE2, but I could change my mind later.

Winner: RE2

Round 4

Fallout 4 vs. Resident Evil 2

Between FO4, ME2, RE2 and FEA, this is a tricky division, and this match might kill a lot of brackets. Well, I think both NintendoFAQs and OldFAQs are bigger forces than whatever it is Fallout represents, or Mass Effect for that matter.

Winner: RE2

Division 3

Round 1

Super Smash Bros Ultimate vs. Tekken 7

Tekken 7 gets Fighter SFF'd by Smash. Nah, I just made that up. It's nintendo vs mainstream fighter series. You know how it goes.

Winner: Smash

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds vs. Bayonetta

3rd game I have played. LBW is great, man. Probably my favorite 2D Zelda to date. It just picks the LttP formula and improves from it, and giving all items from the start was sugh a fun innovation that made it more open ended, something I think BOTW picked up from. It also has a fantastic soundtrack, full of catchy tunes.

Bayonetta has strength, all right. LBW is a portable Zelda, those are not that strong. But it's Zelda, and Bayonetta is a B-list Nintendo series. This is an actual SFF.

Winner: LBW.

Marvel's Spider-Man vs Dead Space 2

I... think I have head of Dead Space? I have definitely heard of Spider-Man, though. And people loved this game when it first came out. Even without that, I'd take fucking Spider-Man in a match pic anytime. Give us the character battle with non-gaming characters allowed already, Allen!

Winner: Spidey

Minecraft vs. Dota 2

Interesting. Both games you wouldn't expect GameFAQs to give much of a damn about. The first is perhaps the most successful casual game of the decade, and one of the biggest of all time. "Casual" spells death here, though. Dota is LoL's biggest rival, and a very popular e-sports game. E-sports is another word that doesn't mean strength a lot here, either.

I feel like when it comes to protecting their turf from the casual menace, gameFAQs people will antivote Minecraft first and pick what looks like a "real game". It's a sad way to analyse a match, but it's how it goes. I've learned not to bet on casual in these contests the hard way.

Winner: DOTA 2

Undertale vs. Octopath Traveler

Game I've played #4! Now, it will be sad to watch Undertale get destroyed. Let me elaborate.

There will be rally fear. I think it's even less warranted than Fortnite, though. It's been 5 years. Undertale is not "in" anymore. And before someone yells "But Deltarune!", I have to point that that game still hasn't been released, except for a demo, and it's been 2 years since that, too. There's just no hype. Now watch out for Deltarune in Best Game Ever 4, though, because that game looks like it's going to be fucking great. But it needs to come out first.

Ok, so taking rallies aside, the actual match. Look at this:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/7296-division-8-round-1-amaterasu-vs-draven

No matter what, Amaterasu is not the kind of character who puts 88% onto anyone. I think Tanner would do better than Draven did here.

There is a trend here, and the trend is GameFAQs likes its revenge best served cold. Octopath is strong? Hell no. But we will get behind anything to avenge our site's honor. We got behind a dog. We'll do with a cute RPG. This could get ugly, and will probably distort the xstats in the end.

Winner: Octopath

Shovel Knight vs. Dragon's Dogma

I googled DD. It looks cool. It also looks like something people probably forgot about since 2012, though. Shovel Knight is widely regarded as one of the best indies ever made. Indies are a synonym for weakness here, but that should be enough to beat Dragon's Dogma.

WInner: SK

Devil May Cry 5 vs. Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze

DMC is strong, as Dante showed in the last contest. But the DKC5 is a cult classic at this point, and Donkey Kong boosted in strength last contest. When in doubt, go with Nintendo. The doubt will not go away, though.

Winner: Tropical Freeze

Super Mario Odissey vs. Mortak Kombat 11

Mortal Kombat could do some damage in this bracket with better positioning. It's not beating what might be the most beloved Mario game of this century, though.

Winner: Odissey

Round 2

Smash Ultimate vs. Zelda: Link Between Worlds

Damn, Allen did put all the nintendo in the same division, didn't he?

If this was Majora's Mask, or LttP, I might pick it. Portables are really a gheto though, and Smash 5 is HUGE. At least until they release Smash 6, at least. LBW might perform respectably, but I don't think it stands a chance here.

Winner: Smash

Marvel's Spider-Man vs. DOTA 2

Remember what I said about neither casual nor e-sports meaning much here? It's easy to rally behind Spidey against something kids are into these days. People will get behind Spidey. It's freaking Spidey.

Winner: Spidey

Octopath Traveler vs. Shovel Knight

After carrying our revenge for us, Octopath folds against something with more name recognition and less hate, and the little knight goes further than most indies ever have had.

Winner: Shovel Knight

DKC: Tropical Freeze vs Super Mario Odissey

If this is not your first contest, you know how this goes. Nintendo has an hierarchy, and Mario and DK's positions in that hirarchy have been clear since the original Donkey Kong arcade game came out. This is not a match.

Winner: Mario.

Yeah Hollow Knight/Tales is a tough one. I went with Hollow Knight bc of higher seed. Either way still just a point I suppose

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ffmasterjose posted...

Yeah Hollow Knight/Tales is a tough one. I went with Hollow Knight bc of higher seed. Either way still just a point I suppose

Well, Velvet did make Yoshi look lame last contest so maybe it's not that weak.

LinkMarioSamus posted...

Fallout 4 won't be that strong, and VVVVVV won't be that weak. Fallout 4 gets so much infamy over its direction that even people who disliked Fallout 3 started to appreciate it somewhat, while VVVVVV is one of the more renowned indie titles of the generation.

Maybe I'm biased though since VVVVVV is one of only three games in the bracket I've beaten, the other two being Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Portal 2.

I think you are greatly overestimating what "renowed indie" actually means for strength here.

Round 3

SSB Ultimate vs. Marvel's Spider-Man

After a good contest, Spidey runs into an actual Nintendo juggernaut. It's like Spidey the character fighting Thanos, it's just not a match. Even in another site I might bet on Smash anyway, and in NintendoFAQs... yeah.

Winner: Smash

Shovel Knight vs. Super Mario Odissey

SK is very, very happy to be here. And depending on how the Undertale revenge went, Mario is going to look fantastic in the xstats after it triples SK in this match. That's all I have to say.

Winner: Odissey

Round 4

Smash Ultimate vs. Super Mario Odissey

This match decides which the 2nd strongest nintendo game of the decade is. I'm not sure. Smash is more talked about everywhere. But this Mario seemed to have a special kind of love going for it. There could be some SFF here, with people just siding with Mr. Nintendo, and people here tend to prefer single player games I think. But this is likely the most popular Smash since Melee. This feels like a toss up, and I could change later, but for now I'm going with Smash.

Winner: Smash 5

Division 4

Round 1

GTA V vs. Baba Is You

Is it just me or this contest has more indies than usual? Baba is You seems like a very neat idea and I might play it. Its role in this contest will be to provide shadenfreude if GTA V fails to put a respectable % on it.

Winner: GTA V

Cuphead vs. XCOM 2

Cuphead is another of those mega successful indies. XCOM is some game about shooting aliens. This is one of those rare times where the indie has more name recognition, I think.

Winner: Cuphead

Persona 4 Golden vs FTL: Faster Than Light

A spaceship simulator! Interesting. Seems like the kind of game that actually deserves to win things, if this was not a popularity contest. But it is, and while P4 is not the most popular game in its series, it can send this indie to space just fine.

Winner: P4

Red Dead Redemption vs Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

Ghost Trick is most famous for giving us Missile, an adorable little pomeranian who defeated Sarah Kerrigan in 2013. I don't think that magic will happen again though, because unlike Starcraft, RDR is VERY relevant these days, especially thanks to its sequel.

Winner: RDR

Xenoblade Chronicles vs. Splatoon 2

Splatoon is on that weird limbo of something nintendo marketed to death when it first came out, in hopes that it would be a system seller. But sadly, the WiiU was unsellable, and while lots of people played Splatoon, nowadays it's more like a respectable muliplayer game than something that printed money.

Xenoblade is the opposite, in the sense it's a game people had to petition to make Nintendo bring to the West, and when they finally did, it actually got pretty succesful, got a sequel, came to Smash and now has a big fanbase. I'm not sure if more people played it than Splatoon, but it's definitely the more gameFAQS-like of the two.

Winner: Xenoblade

Overwatch vs Death Stranding

Overwatch is another e-sports game. Not a good start. But I've never heard of Death Stranding. Doesn't look like something the site loves, either. I think name recognition wins here, but both entries seem so weak I could be wrong.

Winner: Overwatch

Dragon Age: Inquisition vs Ori and and Blind Forest

We've got two beautiful covers here. Well, I've heard of Dragon Age. I haven't heard of Ori. Google reveals Ori to be a metroidvania with some very beautiful scenery, while Dragon Age seems like a more generic action game about killing monsters, so I'm more excited about Ori now. But this is a bracket, I'll pick the name I've heard over the one I haven't.

Winner: Dragon Age

Fire Emblem: Three Houses vs South Park: The Stick of Truth

People still make South Park games in this era? And they are good enough to enter brackets? Wow. This novelty is getting smacked by the Nintendo entrant, though.

Winner: FE3H

Round 2

GTA V vs. Cuphead

Can GTA V lose to an indie? GTA never fails to underwhelm, so it's possible. This is a series that has sold like crazy and is always in the gameFAQs top 10s for a long time, but whenever a new contest comes, its fans fail to show up.

But damn, it's an indie. I think more people played GTA.... but then again it's freaking GTA on gameFAQs.

This feels like bait, but I'm taking it.

Winner: GTA V

Persona 4 Golden vs. Red Dead Redemption

So I checked the wiki. The first thing I learned is that P4 was also in the last Game of the Decade, thanks to the magic of ports. That's kind of cheating, you know. The next thing is that they both seem to be midcarders with some respectable showings, and that have very popular sequels. This feels like a match that will be influenced by series name versus individual strength proportionally more than usual.

Ok, let's check xstats.

Damn, xstats give P4 winning by 51-49. This is a toss up.

I think I'll take the more anime-like RPG over the shooter.

Winner: P4

Xenoblade Chronicles vs Overwatch

Now for one easy match so I get at least some points this day. Whatever wins between e-sports darling and Whatshisface gets trashed by the resident Nintendo darling. Next.

Winner: Xenoblade

Dragon Age Inquisition vs. Fire Emblem Three Houses

See above, except at least Dragon Age seems to be a little more famous. But yeah, popular nintendo RPGs are an unsumortable wall for fodder like this.

Winner: Fire Emblem

Round 3

GTA V vs Persona 4 Golden

Whoever wins between indie and lolGTA loses to whoever wins between those two midcarders from the previous match.

Winner: P4

Xenoblade Chronicles vs. Fire Emblem Three Houses

Oooooh battle of nintendo RPGs. Nice. I have played neither series, btw. Xenoblade seems more known, but Three Houses did well in a GOTY, I think? Are all those Fire Emblem games all that strong?

Shulk was pretty lame in 2018. But FE characters have been lame since the dawn of time.

I feel like taking Xenoblade, but I really don't know.

Round 4

Persona 4 Golden vs Xenoblade

Damn, this is a weak division. I feel like this is a division to make or break brackets. None of the contenders feel like they deserve to be in a Final 8.

But one will have to, and I think I'm going with the Nintendo one if it comes down to it.

Winner: Xenoblade

I just realized that Awakening has a lower seed this contest than it did in BGE3! Maybe it was coasting off of recency and would have gotten weaker while Bloodborne was too recent and suffered from being a PS4 exclusive? I picked Fire Emblem to win three matches but now I might pick Bloodborne to win that and then RE2 to beat both.

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Nintedofaqs when in doubt.

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Division 5

Round 1

The Witcher 3 vs. Assassin's Creed.

The Witcher is legit, and that's not just because of Netflix. Geralt's run in 2018 was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. This series has a lot of passion going for it. This is Geralt's division to lose.

Assassin's Creed, last I checked, was a dead series after a couple terrible games. It doesn't stand a chance here.

Winner: TW3

Mass Effect 3 vs Starcraft 2

Okay, what's the deal with Mass Effect? Last I checked, ME3's ending was so bad it killed the series. But then after a while people started praising this again and it didnt kill the series? But then Andromeda killed the series again? I'm lost.

Starcraft 2, from what I know, is a game that was way less liked than the first one for adding too many mechanics that cater to the more addicted type of player, making it feel more like an MMORPG. This series seems to be down, and Kerrigan getting rekt by Missle (lol) shows it. That was 7 years ago, do people even care about Starcraft anymore? And SC2 didn't even make it into the 2015 contest, which at least ME3 did. I think I'm taking ME3.

Winner: ME3

Stardew Valley vs Destiny

Destiny was a game that made a lot of fuss when it came out, both positive and negatively. It featured a vast expansive world, which people complained felt empty and pointless.

Stardew Valley is a mobile Harvest Moon. It's casual, it's mobile, it's turbofodder. But Destiny gave us this in 2018:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/7262-division-4-round-1-2b-vs-cayde-6

Ugh. This is also turbofodder.

But I'm never betting on casual in this site. The 30 year olds who come here feel weirdly protective of their hobbies whenever they see something that appeals to people younger than them. They'll see the mobile game, and Destiny with its dope cover, and pick Destiny.

Winner: Destiny

Super Mario Galaxy 2 vs Return of the Obra Dinn

A black and white indie puzzle featuring a ship and hyper-realistic graphics? How did this even get in?

I'm not going to criticize this game since I haven't played it, but have all those indies really gotten that many nominations? Either this site is just very disconnected from the game industry now, or B8 rallies are just dominating everything (unlikely since AA is not in the bracket), or Allen removed a bunch of industry darlings on purpose to make the bracket feel fresh. Well, good job if it's the later, this bracket feels fresh as fuck. But Mario will wipe the floor with this thing.

Winner: Galaxy

Fallout New Vegas vs Stanley Parable

Recognizable name versus obscure indie = blowout. See write-up above.

Winner: Fallout

Dark Souls III vs Dishonored

Dishonored seems less like a cute indie and more like an AAA game. But either way, it did not make it to 2015. Dark Souls is a popular series. Another blowout. Next.

Winner: DS3

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth vs. Nioh

I don't know what Nioh is, but it looks super cool. It's for PS4 and seems like an AAA game. Isaac is an indie, but a famous one among most indies. This could be hard.

The wiki says Isaac lost to Tingle in 2013. Okay, I'm going with Nioh. But I could change my mind later.

Winner: Nioh

God of War vs The Talos Principle

Another indie puzzle. And God of War has a name. See write-ups above. Next.

Winner: GoW

Round 2

The Witcher 3 vs. Mass Effect 3

Whatever you think ME3 or SC2' strength are, it stops mattering here, as one of them loses to the third entry in a series that is very much alive.

Winner: Witcher

Destiny vs. Super Mario Galaxy 2

If Cayde-6 even gets to round 2, it's getting destroyed by Mario. Next.

Winner: Mario

Fallout: New Vegas vs. Dark Souls III

Besides the reasons mentioned in the first post for not playing many games this decade, another one is that I've just not owned any non-nintendo console ever, and never been really into those super-realistic open world series. I'll take my JRPGs, my indies and my platformers, thank you. But this means I'm clueless here. I know Dark Souls and Fallout are popular, but how do those particular games rank? Beats me.

Well, I'm gonna guess Fallout's status as a semi-dead series hurts it enough to make it lose to DS3, even if DS3 is apparently not the most popular game in its series. Again, beats me.

Winner: Dark Souls II

Nioh vs God of War

I don't know who is here, but whoever it is is not beating God of War. That series has a lot of popularity in this site, and again, I've never heard of Nioh.

Winner: GoW

Round 3

The Witcher 3 vs. Super Mario Galaxy 2

Now it got interesting. It's freaking Mario. Galaxy is popular enough. But Galaxy is a Wii game, that means it has a ceiling. Galaxy feels like (and literally is) something from a bygone era, while Witcher is "in" right now. The 2015 xstats give them to be tied, but 5 years later, I think Galaxy didn't get stronger. Witcher did.

I get it if you are going with NintendoFAQs, but this feels wrong even for NintendoFAQs. The Witcher 3 is a game to be contested by the likes of Odissey, not Galaxy 2.

Winner: TW3

Dark Souls III vs God of War

I'm back to not knowing those entrants very well, but the fact DS3 is apparently a weak series link makes me feel a big better. The latest God of War is definitely not a weak link.

Winner: GoW

Round 4

The Witcher 3 vs God of War

Okay, let's say GoW is strong. It still got doubled by Pikachu in 2018, while Geralt made that dream run all the way to almost beating Auron. It feels like there is a difference here, though it might be a close match if I'm overestimating Witcher. We'll see.

Winner: Witcher

Fallout: New Vegas is considered one of the better Fallout games if not the best Fallout game. Also Isaac did not lose to Tingle in 2013.

For what it's worth New Vegas did break 40% on RE4 in 2015.

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LinkMarioSamus posted...

Also Isaac did not lose to Tingle in 2013.

Alright, failed to break 60% on Tingle with Link in the poll.

DIvision 6

Round 1

Persona 5 vs Heavy Rain

The 1v16 match, and I have no evidence this story driven little game from 2010 is any strong. P5 is a monster. Next.

Winner: P5

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag vs Sid Meier's Civilization V

AC is a dead series, right? But this is an older dead series, from before the death happened, I think. If ME2 gets to be considered legit, this can't be counted out, can it?

CIvilization is a famous franchise, I think. But on GameFAQs? It's a simulator, a simcity of sorts. Doesn't feel like our type of game, and I don't recall Civilization games every being a thing here. AC feels more like our cup of tea. It's a dead series, but it could win a game once in a while.

Ok, so I checked the wiki, and Civilization has an actual contest record. Being the first entry in a contest whose opponent scored more than 100k votes (Zelda, in the series contest), in what was a Tanner-level blowout. Get out.

Winner: AC4

Sonic Mania vs Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA

I've heard of Ys before. It tends to show up a lot in Top 10 lists for some reason. That's not a good enough call to fame to face against Sonic, though.

Winner: Sonic Mania.

Super Meat Boy vs Slay the Spire

Congratulations to @Advokaiser ! Not only you won the Guru, but you also managed to overcome your difficulty in finding a game from this decade you actually played, and now that game is getting to Round 2! Because this indie roguelike/card game hybrid is definitely not, and Super Meat Boy is an actual known game.

Winner: SMB

Portal 2 vs Tomb Raider

Portal 2 is a game people are having difficulty deciding where it stands. Its prequel was a smash thanks to memes and being a fantastic game, then the memes ended and it became just a cult classic. Portal 2 is also a cult classic, and even better than 1! But Wheatley bombed in a contest just after it got released. It's not THAT strong. But Glados keeps performing well to this day, so it shouldn't be weak either.

Portal is part of that orange box age people kind of got soured on because Valve doesn't make games anymore, but Portal 2 has the advantage of actually having finished its story so gamers don't feel betrayed by it.

Tomb Raider is one of those franchises that are well known just not that strong here. Portal is a site darling, sort of.

Winner: Portal 2

Kingdom Hearts 3 vs Disco Elysium

I want to shit on KH3, but this is not the match for it. It's another indie blowout. It seems like it won a bunch of awards, so it's a blowout on a freaking good indie, I guess? But yeah.

Winner: KH3

Animal Crossing New Leaf vs Street Fighter V

Man, maybe stats will prove me wrong if I look at them, but I just don't feel Animal Crossing. It's a game for the casual fanbase. Do people even play it here? It's on Smash, so it has a floor, but so is Ryu.

I'm hearing a lot of people saying SF5 is a bad game. Is it that bad? Enough for people to vote those fluffly mascots from a game they likely don't care about over a cover that has Ryu looking like a badass? Are you sure? Cuz I'm not.

Winner: SF5

Red Dead Redemption 2 vs Dying Light

RDR2 was one of the big games of 2018. Dying Light is happy to be here. Next.

Winner: RDR2

ZeldaTPLink posted...

Okay, what's the deal with Mass Effect?

As far as I know, people liked the first 99% of Mass Effect 3 just as much as Mass Effect 2. However, they despised the original ending, to the point where EA infamously fixed it up with a patch. If 2013 and 2015 are anything to go by, Mass Effect 3 didn't affect its characters or series as a whole much, at the very least - I'd even argue it's a mostly well-liked game camouflaged by Undertale's run.

Then Andromeda happened and put the series in cryofreeze, possibly for good, and now Shepard can barely beat back third-tier Nintendo villains.

ZeldaTPLink posted...

Stardew Valley is a mobile Harvest Moon. It's casual, it's mobile, it's turbofodder.

As I said in KP's topic, Stardew Valley isn't really a mobile game; it's available on mobile platforms, sure, but it started off as a PC exclusive. It's also not the casualbait in this particular match; its fanbase is adjacent to other successful indie games rather than to the likes of Fortnite and Minecraft.

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Round 2

Persona 5 vs AC: Black Flag

This is where being a dead series charges its toll. Persona is a thing in gaming right now, AC used to be a thing.

Winner: P5

Sonic Mania vs Super Meat Boy

Good hustle, SMB, but there is a reason you needed a guru pick to even get into a contest. I mean, the game, since the character already got in. But yeah.

Winner: Sonic Mania

Portal 2 vs Kingdom Hearts III

NOW is the time to shit on KH3.

Sora in the last contest cost me about 20-30 points, and likely my whole bracket. I went all in on KH3 hype, and got burned. That's not happening again.

KH3 suffered from the fact it took way damn too long to come out. And that Final Fantasy just isn't what it used to be. Then it came out, and people were just... okay with it? I see no hype everywhere. The gamersphere does not give a damn about KH anymore.

Portal is an old series, but it's a cult classic. Mentions of its memes surface here and there. People keep nominating it to these things. It did well in the last few contests. It's the perfect game to expose the fraud of KH3 once again.

Winner: Portal 2

Street Figher V vs Red Dead Redemption

The first thing I said about SF5 in this thread was that people disliked it. I don't recall saying the same for RDR2. That settles it.

Winner: RDR2

Round 3

Persona 5 vs Sonic Mania

Smash SFF, anyone? Kidding.

Sonic has come a long way since the dark times of Dreamcast. It used to have one of the worst fanbases in the universe, but then it started getting a string of great games fueled by nostalgia, its fanbase recovered, and it's even got a very good life action movie! That's a claim Mario can't make.

Persona 5 is HUGE! The internet is in love with this thing. It even got a place in Smash despite not being a Nintendo game, although, coincidentally, Sonic did that first. And this time there is no Ren Amamiya sabotage, even!

How many people actually played Sonic Mania vs P5? I think both numbers should be high, but my gut says P5 is the thing that's actually in right now, while Sonic is just a thing that made a big splash around people who like Sonic and not much outside of them. Granted, this site should have a lot of people who like Sonic.

This is a tough match. But P5 feels more right.

Winner: P5

Portal 2 vs Red Dead Redemption 2

This is where Portal 2 should hit a wall. Cult classic can't push you through all that hype, and from a game that came out recently rather than in 2011. Portal is happy that it's Still Alive after all this time, but that should be enough.

Winner: RDR2

Round 4

Persona 5 vs. Red Dead Redemption 2

And now we have two games that make a lot of noise, both here and in the internet. I really don't know how to compare. I think I'll go with a tried and tested method: which looks more like gameFAQs, the RPG or the shooter? The answer is clear, although whether this was the best method to use is not.

Winner: P5

MetalmindStats posted...

As I said in KP's topic, Stardew Valley isn't really a mobile game; it's available on mobile platforms, sure, but it started off as a PC exclusive. It's also not the casualbait in this particular match; its fanbase is adjacent to other successful indie games rather than to the likes of Fortnite and Minecraft.

I feel like arguing back but the opposition is frigging Destiny.

Will think about it during bracket making time.

Also thanks for the info on ME.

ZeldaTPLink posted...

Super Meat Boy vs Slay the Spire

Congratulations to @Advokaiser ! Not only you won the Guru, but you also managed to overcome your difficulty in finding a game from this decade you actually played, and now that game is getting to Round 2! Because this indie roguelike/card game hybrid is definitely not, and Super Meat Boy is an actual known game.

Winner: SMB

Thanks, man. As I said before, I'm satisfied, and that's all that matters right now.

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Youre heavily overestimating fallout 4. It gets crushed by ME2. Me2 is a former GOTY winner here.

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But Fallout is still relevant because of Fallout 76(I know but still)while ME is dead actually.

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So just fyi the policy here is that I may change my bracket after this whole list is finished, but not until then. I want to keep this project based on raw, blind impressions and not go back and delete posta constantly.

I'm even refraining from reading other prediction threads for now to avoid being influenced by them.

But once it's just me and my bracket, I'll take all the influence I can get.

Division 7

Round 1

Dark Souls vs Hotline Miami

Industry name vs stylish indie. Blowout. Next.

Winner: Dark Souls

Rocket League vs Dragon Ball FIghterZ

Football... with cars? That sounds incredibly fun! Site-wise though, neither cars nor sports are something people care a lot about.

Now, fighter games besides Smash are not a thing here either, and DBZ is probably fodder, but I'd wager 90% of the people who comes here have watched DBZ. It's a Gen Y landmark, and we are a Gen Y site. Name recognition wins here.

Winner: DBZ

Yakuza 0 vs The Witness

Hey I've heard of Yakuza! In 2018. It had two characters in there. They bot got destroyed, though. But one of them was overseeded! So maybe there is some lingering strength here.

The Witness is a puzzle indie. There is no lingering strength here. Yakuza finally wins a match in this site.

WInner: Yakuza 0

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain vs Dead Cells

Like iInal Fantasy, the MS series is still very strong, especially Solid Snake. Games after MGS3 are not, though. MGS5 seemed like it got a "meh" reaction from most people. Its role in this contest is to fold to the first midcarder it runs into.

Whatever Dead Cells is though, is not a midcarder. "Roguelike metroidvania" is synonym for "inaccessible for most people", which translates into "low playrate".

Winner: MGSV

Batman Arkram City vs Xenoblade 2

A hard match in round 1? In my GOTD2? Impossible!

I just bet Xenoblade to win an entire division, so having the sequel lose round 1 would feel weird. But that was a weakass division. And from what I hear, this is the least popular of the two games.

Batman... is fucking batman. The name recognition is through the roof, and City is the most popular of its series afaik, a series that was very popular at the time, before getting two lame games and dieing.

This feels like could go either way. Xenoblade could tap into its nintendoness, beat fucking batman, and induce numerous rage threads in B8. Or lose because city is probably just more popular. Or maybe people are soured on Arkhram games.

I'm picking Xenoblade, but could change my mind.

Winner: Xenoblade

Bioshock Infinite vs Terraria

Another series killer. We seem to be getting a lot of those here. From what I got, Bioshock Infinite forgot what really made the series cool and became just a generic shooter, albeit with some cool plot.

Fun fact, I bought the fiust Bioshock in a steam sale in 2015, but couldn't play it because my PC sucked. Now I have a better PC, but I keep getting sidetracked for stuff like Phoenix Wright and Danganronpa! I need to play it some time, though.

Terraria is another game I've heard about, albeit it's an indie. It might have some lingering strength. It might even win here and humilliate an AAA game. I think I'm picking it just for that lulz.

Winner: Terraria

Diablo III vs Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward

I need to play the zero escape games some time, it's the kind of genre I like. Well, this match feels like Zero deserves to win but won't. Because Diablo is a big industry name. The people didn't like D3 that much, and I remember a lot of bad feelings in the internet when it came out. But it's diablo, and my first image of Zero is failing to break 15% in that poll with Chester. Yeah, no.

Winner: Diablo III

The Last of Us vs Crusader Kings

Is this Risk? Seems fun. But TLOU is fun and strong. Blowout. Next.

Round 2

Dark Souls vs Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward

DBZ is happy to be here, and Dark Souls is trying to get a good % to sell its chances of reaching the semi-finals. That's all I have to say.

Winner: Dark Souls

Yakuza 0 vs MGSV

Oh boy I could see an upset here. But I think MGSV's playrate is just bigger. It's more of a "meh" game than a hated game. A guy from Yakuza got 30% on Master Chief. I think we are talking different tiers here.

Winner: MGSV

Xenoblades Chronicles 2 vs Terraria

Batman vs Xenoblade is worth 3 points, because whoever wins that goes past Terraria. It's another case of popular series vs indie.

Winner: Xenoblade 2

Diablo III vs The Last of US

TLOU, from what I get, is a top 10 game in this contest. Diablo has all that divisiveness and being a PC game and not being the right genre for gamefaqs. Easy.

Winner: TLOU

Round 3

Dark Souls vs Metal Gear Solid V

The Dark Souls series is doing better than MGS. Also this is the strongest DS versus one of the weakest MGS.

Winner: Dark Souls

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 vs The Last of US

TLOU saves my bracket from having to decide 7 points on a round 1 match.

Winner: TLOU

Round 4

Dark Souls vs The Last of Us

And now my low knowledge of modern games returns with a fury. Okay, xstats.

Hmm, TLOU wins with 54%. My gut says Dark Souls would win anywhere else though, but I think TLOU is really legit here. TLOU is getting a sequel soon. Dark Souls got two, and people preferred the original. My instincts say the intangibles will side with TLOU.

Winner: TLOU

Division 8

Round 1

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim vs Subnautica

... LOL.

Winner: Skyrim

Fate: Grand Order vs Journey

Ooooh is that a a mobile game? My instincts say bury it, but Journey is really niche. Fate is weird because it's based on an anime a lot of people love, so I'd wager people wouldn't be so ready to hate it as they would for most mobile games, and might even vote it on name recognition. Also google says it's an RPG, which helps a lot. Journey is critically aclaimed and what I've seen of it is cool as fuck, but I think people just go for the cute blonde girl here.

Winner: Fate

Final Fantasy XIV Online: A Realm Reborn vs Crypt of the NecroDancer

The MMORPG.

Man, if there is one thing in my life I'm proud of, is not having played a single MMRPG in the last decade. They really did a number on my social life when I was a teenager during the previous decade, so staying clear of the renge feels good, man. I've played MMOs and RPGs, but not the combination. Whem you combine the two, you get things like skinner box design where the game wants you to repeat the same tasks over and over to level up slowly. It becomes a chore rather than a real game. Never again.

FF14 is not strong here. It got basically ignored in 2015 and 2018. It probably has a base, but the people who play MMORPGs regularly tend not to play anything else, and as such, not come here.

And FF14 apparently was a very divisive game when it was first release, with broken serves, which probably hurt its popularity even further.

Crupt of the Necrodancer is a rythim roguelike, though. That's not the kind of genre that beats a final fantasy in Round 1.

Winner: FFXIV

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End vs Mario Kart 8

Uncharted 4 was huge here, and then it's kind of forgotten? But it was huge here, probably more than Mario Kart.

MK is the quintessential party game nintendo, though. Show me someone who doesn't enjoy it and I'll tell you they aren't worth making friends with. It should have a high floor.

This goes down to whether nintendoFAQs will take a victory from a game people don't care about anymore, or if they still do care about it. When in doubt, I'll go with nintendo.

Winner: MK8

Pokemon HeartGold / SoulSilver Version vs Night in the Woods

Whatever Night in the Woods is, it's not beating an A-list nintendo series. Next.

Winner: Pokemon

Celeste vs Rayman Legends

Is Rayman still relevant? It feels like a thing from 90s that should have died but kept coming back as a zombie. Celeste looks pretty cool, but I feel Rayman bight just beat it on name recognition. That's a weakass name recognition, though.

Okay I checked the GOTY polls and Celeste won indie of the year. There is strength here. I'm not siding with fucking Rayman.

(also just watched the trailer and Celeste looks super fun. I think I'm buying it)

Winner: Celeste

Divinity: Original Sin II vs Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft

How weak does a game have to be to lose to anti-vote bait? I've never heard of Divinity, but looks more like an AAA than an indie to me. It won PC game of year once. Hearthstone got 10% on Ocarina. It's fucking Ocarina, but still, Divinity is more likely fodder than turbofodder.

Winner: Divinity

NieR: Automata vs Bayonetta 2

2B is the other character (besides Geralt) who made a dream run in 2018, so I'm willing to bet on her. Bayonetta has always been legit, but not that strong. I think there is a pecking order of waifus here.

I just checked the covers though, and Bayonetta is the one with the most revealing image. Damn. I hope that doesn't matter enough to flip the poll.

Winner: NieR

Round 2

Elder Scrolls: Skyrim vs Fate / Grand Order

Regardless of how much I'm over/underestimating Grand Order, it doesn't hang out in the same playground as Skyrim.

Winner: Skyrim

Final Fantasy XIV vs Mario Kart 8

All that talk about 14 sucking becomes relevant here, because Mario Kart is on a prime position to slaughter an MMO. Fuck you, MMOs.

Winner: MK8

Pokemon HGSS vs Celeste

The A-List nintendo is still waiting for a proper opposition.

Winner: Pokemon

Divinity: Original Sin II vs NieR: Automata

If Bayonetta couldn't stop 2B, this fodder who escaped Round 1 won't either.

Winner: Nier

Round 3

Elder Scrolls: Skyrim vs Mario Kart 8

This is where being a spin-off comes to charge its price. Everyone likes Mario Kart, but very few people really love Mario Kart, at least the way Skyrim was loved. That game dominated the gaming talk for over a year. It got a Switch port not long ago. The 2010 decade was the era of open-world games, with things BOTW, Dark Souls and Witcher running the show, but Skyrim was the game that opened the dam. Open world games did exist before it, but Skyrim made them mainstream. It took Mario 64 to stop it last contest. Mario Kart is not competition for it.

Winner: Skyrim

Pokemon HGSS vs NieR AUtomata

Okay, let's talk about Pokemon.

I suck at predicting Pokemon in those contests. I think the way I perceive this series is very different from how the average fan perceives it, and even more different from the general gameFAQs user. I like competitive pokemon but am not too crazy about it, and liked every single player that I've played. The pokemon fanbase is way more divided than that. There are the genwunners and anti-genwunners, people who will anti-vote anything new out of spite, or anti-vote the old games for the same reason.

In 2013, I failed to see the dize of pokeFEAR in advance. In 2015, I bet on it, and let my newfond love of competitive pokemon influence my expectations, but the games didn't really do anything. In 2018, I overestimated Charizard and Mewtwo and underestimated Pikachu. I don't get this series.

Generally though, it seems pokemon games are weaker than characters, and new games are even weaker. X/Y was almost tripled by WInd Waker once, a result you expect from fodder. Now HGSS is a remake of an old, beloved game, but it's still a newer game itself. People were mostly down on Pokemon when it was released. Heck, they started going down on Pokemon around the time GS itself was released. How many people in this site actually played HGSS? How many didn't, but played GS and might take one game for another?

I don't trust a pokemon game. But I could be royally wrong and watch it go to the semifinals or something. That's how this series is hard to get a view of. But I think I'm going to trust me raw analysis, and believe in 2B repeating her dream run.

Winner: NieR

Round 4

Elder Scrolls: Skyrim vs NieR: Automata

If you believe pokemon is a juggernaut, there might be a discussion here, but since I don't, NieR just doesn't seem to be in the same tier of Skyrim. Good effort 2B, but it's over.

Winner: Skyrim

Quarterfinals Bracket:

BOTW
Resident Evil 2

Smash 5
Xenoblade

The Witcher 3
Persona 5

TLOU
Skyrim

BOTW vs Resident Evil 2

7 matches left, and 3 of them are things being crushed by BOTW. There is not much else to say. If anything can even hope to beat Zelda, it's not Resident Evil.

Winner: BOTW

Smash Ultimate vs Xenoblade

The upper half of the finals is pretty straightforward. This is where the fact DIvision 4 was weak comes to make the Odissey vs Smash match worth 24 points. NintendoFAQs and the Nintendo Hierarchy comes here to put a stop on whatever RPG/RDR/GTA came out of that division.

Winner: Smash

The Witcher 3 vs Persona 5

Two series that got much stronger since 2015. Good luck calculating this match, you can't. Witcher also got a TV show, while Persona got Smash. I'm going to bet on Witcher though, after 2018 I think Witcher is just so legit and the TV show takes it up the elite.

Winner: Witcher 3

Skyrim vs TLOU

TLOU was loved here, but Skyrim is one of those rare things that get to hang out with 90s games. It defined an entire decade. I feel like there is another difference in tiers here.

Winner: Skyrim

Semifinals

BOTW vs Smash Ultimate

Wouldn't be a gameFAQs contest without an old-fashioned nintendo SFF beatdown in the final rounds. Majora once showed Brawl the door in this contest's prequel, so this is a revenge match. But BOTW should be stronger than Majora. Ultimate should also be stronger than Brawl, but Brawl had some weird strength going at the time, and still got stopped by Link.

Do not go against the LAW.

Winner: BOTW

The Witcher 3 vs Skyrim

I believe this is the match of the contest. You must get this one right to have any chance of winning. This is where the Guru champion will probably be crowned, too.

The two games belong to the same genre, but different eras. Skyrim made its genre mainstream, The Witcher made it even more popular. It's got a Netflix show, ffs! Witcher feels more current, but Skyrim is such a monster that I'm not sure if people will just turn against it. Not in OldFAQs.

I'm going with Skyrim. I might change my mind. Even if I do, will not be with confidence. Spend extra hours thinking of this match, because the rest of the bracket is pointless compared to it.

Winner: Skyrim

Finals

BOTW vs Skyrim

And now, ye olde contest tradition of having Link murder something in the finals. Can its opponent break 40%? That's the discussion here, because I think BOTW just shows who is the boss. The game even improves on Skyrim/Witcher's own genre. That's like if they had made a Zelda game who was a better version of the latest Final Fantasy, and it went against that Final Fantasy. Except that won't happen because FF sucks now, lol.

But yeah, Link Always Wins. He came to town. Etc.

WInner: BOTW

Now to read Leon and KP's thread and see how off the base I am.

I picked Dark Souls to the finals but Skyrim, Witcher, and TLoU are definitely good choices.

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