Game of the Decade: 2010-2019 Contest Analysis Crew - Part 2

I'm curious to see what the Crew consensus is for the next one

I'm already curious to see how FNV vs DS3 plays out, I don't feel comfortable picking a winner. FNV is the favorite higher seed but is also making the bigger jump in opposition

This performance definitely making me feel like Fallout 4 > New Vegas.

Round 1 – Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag vs. Sid Meier's Civilization V

Moltar’s Analysis

Boy after Witcher got 84% on AC Odyssey, Black Flag isn’t looking too hot here anymore. This series is confirmed dead on GameFAQs, and the later games like Odyssey are bottom of the barrel stuff.

Civ doesn’t have a great track record in these Contests, and the closest thing the series has to a win is a close loss against P3 in 2010. Civilization V got doubled by Dark Souls in 2015, which actually doesn’t seem as that bad of a result in hindsight. Far more impressive than 16% on Witcher!

Now, it is likely that fans of the AC series would be bigger fans of Witcher than Civ games, leading them to abandon AC in that Witcher/AC match, but they’ll fall in line for this match. Part of me thinks that’s still going to happen.

But hey I’ll take a chance here. Give me an entry from a franchise that some people care about over AssCreed in 2020. I think it’s easier for people to attach a title like ‘Game of the Decade’ to a Civ game than an AC game. C’mon prestige!

Moltar’s Bracket: Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Moltar’s Prediction: Civilization – 52%

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transience’s Analysis

To be perfectly honest, I spent a total of zero seconds thinking about this match during the bracket period. It was so uninteresting that I didn't even realize it was happening until I looked at the Guru and was like "oh, I guess that was debatable, huh?"

Well, it got a little more interesting, as interesting as these 1 point 8/9 matchups can be, when Witcher went and demolished AC Odyssey a couple of days ago. Civ 5 isn't much to write home about, but if AC4 is really weak then this could be debatable. Civ 5 isn't good, but at least it feels kind of consistent. People know and like Civ, they just don't care about it that much. It's kinda equivalent to something like Starcraft 2.

I'm gonna go with my bracket pick here, Black Flag, just because I'd rather trust a reasonably liked action game to a simulation/rts kind of game. It just feels more safe, though I won't lie, that Witcher matchup really made me pause. I've gotten like every debatable match wrong lately so let's see if I can bomb this one too.

transience's prediction: Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag with 58.33%

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Leonhart’s Analysis

As I write this, I’m watching Witcher 3 obliterate Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, and I’m sure many people are abandoning ship on Black Flag’s chances here! I don’t think I’m one of them though. Assassin’s Creed IV is considered to be the last good game before the series went downhill, so it’ll probably be more fondly regarded than Odyssey, if nothing else. It got an 8 seed as opposed to a 16 seed for a reason.

I’m also still pretty skeptical of Civilization V. The Civilization series has literally never won anything in these contests. This might be its best chance though. I don’t think either game is worth very much here, but I’ll go down with the ship with Black Flag if need be. I’m sure I’ll get a debatable match right eventually!

Leonhart’s Vote: Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag

Leonhart’s Prediction: Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag with 52.37%

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Kleenex’s Analysis

If I was smart, I would have waited to see how well AC:O did against the Witcher before doing this writeup. But I’m not so here we go. Black Flag is one of the most liked AC games of the post-Ezio era. That doesn’t translate to much, as AC is very likely still garbage on this site in all forms, but something to make note of. Civ 5 on the other hand...well…

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/2425-hyrule-division-round-1-the-legend-of-zelda-vs-civilization

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/3450-division-2-round-1-castlevania-3-civilization-sonic-1-sfii

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/4107-south-division-round-1-persona-3-vs-civilization-iv

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/6094-best-game-ever-day-11-dark-souls-vs-civilization-v

Actually, in hindsight, those last two polls might not be all that bad. Civ’s in a rough spot here though. It’s not technically PC exclusive anymore, but that’s mostly where the Civ base lives, and that’s sort of a death sentence around here. Despite that, I find this match giving me some pause. Assassin’s Creed is exactly the kind of game that could get upset by something with a more dedicated fanbase, and I don’t think these two are going to be drastically different in terms of strength. Getting similar vibes to how I felt about the Dragon Age/Ori matchup, and yet I still don’t feel comfortable going with the upset. Stranger things have happened, though.

Kleenex’s Prediction: Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag with 52.25%

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Guest’s Analysis – paulg

So Assassin's Creed Odyssey didn't do too well against Witcher 3 a few days, but hey, understandable since Witcher 3 is probably one of the strongest western games in the bracket and Odyssey probably isn't one of the most liked AC games out there (has never played anything AC-related so take that as a grain of salt). I remember Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag being pretty hyped way back when and the series was (at that time) pretty hot earlier in the decade, so I think AC4 Black Flag will be a bit stronger.

But will it be strong enough to beat Sid Meier's Civilization V? Probably, but Civ 5 may actually stand a chance at victory. The series as a whole has a bad track record with 0 wins to its name in these contests, but there are a couple of matches that hint Civ 5 might have enough in the tank to upset. Barely being doubled by Dark Souls in 2015 isn't too bad, and in GotD00's Civ 4 only lost to Persona 3 by 52-48%. Serious question, who would take between Persona 3 and AC4 Black Flag in a direct matchup? I know Persona was not as popular back then as it is now, but I would think Persona 3 edges that one out even before Persona 5.

I'm leaning towards Black Flag for this match though I'm admittedly doing so in the hopes of a crew curse (YOU FOUR BETTER PICK BLACK FLAG) because Civ 5 deserves to win at one match, damnit! I don't think I have put more hours into any game released last decade than Civ 5: Brave New World. I remember when I first started to play it and learning the game because I had never played Civ before and though to myself that I probably would get bored of it within in a few days. I was hooked on that shit once I went for a Domination victory with Gandhi in my first proper game and it quickly became one of my favourite games of the decade. I love playing as all these civilizations past and present from The Huns to Spain, trying to maintain diplomatic relations whilst conquering my rivals, racing to build important wonders and projects. Even all the mods (from historical and fictional civs to UI improvements) expand the experience and lifespan of Civ5. Heck, WATCHING AI GAMES (like the Civ Battle Royale) can be entertaining just to see the AI make nonsensical choices with huge empires that result in their fall!

So yeah, rooting for Civ V and I am pulling for the CREW CURSE TO ACTIVATE COME ON!

Prediction: Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag - 53.94%

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Crew Consensus: Black Flag is the heavy favorite, but Moltar is siding with Civ.

guest crew curse attempt THWARTED

Not a fan of Civ5 from what I've played of it, though I'm one of those guys who played a lot of 4.

Mac Arrowny posted...

This performance definitely making me feel like Fallout 4 > New Vegas.

I'm not sure why! I don't think VVVVVV is that much stronger than Stanley Parable!

Also, I'm kinda surprised Black Flag is the favorite! I expected most of us to flip after Odyssey's showing the other day!

I wonder why it was Odyssey and Black Flag that made the bracket rather than, Brotherhood over one of them. Brotherhood is widely considered by that fanbase to be on par with ACII, a game from the halcyon Ezio era when ACII went 60-40 with a Zelda game. Might be because it was a 2010 game and people kinda forgot it was still eligible... rip God of War III

I thought Brotherhood was the weak link of the Ezio trilogy myself! I'd sooner have had Revelations in here.

Lol yeah it wouldn't have made my top 10, but when I've thought AC was better last decade, I've thought of 2 and Brotherhood as the heyday. Enjoyed those two myself.

I actually like Revelations too, but there's no doubt Brotherhood is the more revered of the two among the wider fandom

Leonhart4 posted...

I'm not sure why! I don't think VVVVVV is that much stronger than Stanley Parable!

I'd think V would double Stanley, personally.

V should win, but 80% over a weak game is fine. I think we're parsing these round 1 results a little too closely just because there's a lack of good matches and it's what we have.

Mac Arrowny posted...

I'd think V would double Stanley, personally.

why

We're all just completely guessing here

Although this would be pretty close to a doubling if New Vegas and FO4 are equal

MechanicalWall posted...

I wonder why it was Odyssey and Black Flag that made the bracket rather than, Brotherhood over one of them. Brotherhood is widely considered by that fanbase to be on par with ACII, a game from the halcyon Ezio era when ACII went 60-40 with a Zelda game. Might be because it was a 2010 game and people kinda forgot it was still eligible... rip God of War III

Everyone who has played Black Flag loves it. To me its always seemed like the second most popular game in the series

I'm guessing people didn't nominate Brotherhood because it's basically Assassin's Creed II - II. And ACII was a previous decade game, so people just associate Brotherhood with it and didn't bother nominating it. Black Flag and Odyssey are very much representative of this contest's decade, so they got the noms instead.

Round 1 – Sonic Mania vs. Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA

Moltar’s Analysis

Sonic Mania versus what

All Sonic Mania needed for this match was the word ‘Sonic’ in its title. Apathy votes give it the win, and it also helps that people actually liked Sonic Mania, though the jury is out on how many people on GameFAQs actually played it, so it might crumble against actual competition.

Ys is a niche, but respected franchise, so it probably doesn’t get quadrupled here, but I can see a tripling.

Moltar’s Bracket: Sonic Mania

Moltar’s Prediction: Sonic Mania – 75%

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transience’s Analysis

I'm going to put it out there: I'm really low on Sonic Mania. I just don't think it mattered that much. If it didn't have the Sonic name attached to it, it'd just be another indie game. That's almost how I think of it too - a nice retro indie game. It's there with the likes of Mega Man 11, and MM11 didn't even make the bracket.

Of course, it's up against Ys VIII which I'm surprised even made the bracket. It's probably a level below Trails SC and that couldn't get 20% on DQ8. Sonic will look good here because of the competition but I'm doubtful about its chances going forward.

transience's prediction: Sonic Mania with 76.04%

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Leonhart’s Analysis

I’m excited to see Sonic Mania get into the contest with a winnable match and fourpack. We’re a site that feeds on nostalgia, and this is a game that hearkens back to the glory days of the ‘90s, which is our sweet spot. I know Sonic games in general haven’t performed too well in contests, but we’ve seen indie games that play on our ‘90s nostalgia do well so far, so that might mean good things for Mania, too.

Plus, I don’t think it needs to be all that strong to beat Ys VIII. This game is made by the same people who made Trails in the Sky, which we recently saw get quadrupled by Dragon Quest XI. I think the Ys games are probably more popular overall here than Trails in the Sky, and Sonic Mania obviously isn’t going to be anywhere near as strong as DQXI, but there’s still a lot of space for Sonic to win this one comfortably.

Leonhart’s Vote: Sonic Mania

Leonhart’s Prediction: Sonic Mania with 69.07%
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Kleenex’s Analysis

I really want to spend my entire writeup talking about how ridiculous of a subtitle Lacrimosa of Dana is. It’s up there with similar nonsense like Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean, or Unlosing Ranger vs. Darkdeath Evilman (just kidding, that last one is great). I won’t do that, though. Instead I’ll talk about how I think Sonic Mania is gonna flop. I wish I could point a poll to show why I believe that, but this stupid game doesn’t even have a Game of the Year poll (Unless you count the enhanced port)! I understand that Sonic Mania was probably the ‘best’ Sonic game in X number of years, but I really don’t think that means a whole lot. Sonic 2 is really the only game in the series that’s shown to have any sort of reasonable strength, and even then it’s medium at best. Sonic Mania is super lucky it got paired up against this abomination of a subtitle in round 1.

Kleenex’s Prediction: Sonic Mania with 69.75%

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Guest’s Analysis – Sniperdog117

Yet another round 1 blowout where we try to predict just how big the beatdown is going to be. Between forced voting and people not caring about most of these games, that is how round is going to be. I actually find these matches very entertaining, so it is fine by me.

Anyway, our games this time are Sonic Mania and Ys VIII. Sonic Mania is obviously going to win, as Falcolm has and never will be worth anything on GameFAQs. This match reminds me of Doom vs Inside, where there is a well-received classic IP vs an unknown title. (people like Sonic Mania, right…? I never could get into it like I did with Doom) But Ys VIII is not as unknown as Inside, and I am not sure if people like Sonic Mania as much as Doom.

I know this is a JRPG site, but I feel like with forced voting people will just go with Sonic Mania because they know what a Sonic is and not what a Dana is. Also, I’m confident that Trails>Ys on GameFAQs, and that got quadrupled by DQXI. Sonic Mania is definitely weaker than DQXI, so it is not quite getting there but I think it will get at least a tripling.

Sonic Mania: 75.33%

Ys VIII: 24.67%

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Crew Consensus: Sonic speeds on to the next round.

MIA Guest Alert - @BlAcK_TuRtLe

I don't have a write-up for SMB/Spire yet. If I don't get one in a few hours, it's not getting posted with the rest of the Crew write-ups.

For what it's worth, I've seen Ys a lot of times in those top 10 lists. It seems to have a fanbase here.

The last two AC games have been good in terms of critical response (although those are the only two I haven't played), but general consensus on the internet, and my own personal rankings as well, seems to have it as:

Brotherhood > 2 > Revelations

With those three being the peak of the series, and then Black Flag being a great return to form after the disaster that was 3. Most people would put Black Flag over Revelations, as well. Post-Black Flag is generally seen as garbage before the aforementioned Origins and Odyssey essentially changed the entire AC formula.

I'm like the opposite of a diehard AC player, but I sunk cost fallacy'd myself into continuing to play every game just to see how much worse it could get.

Man, you guys really think Ys VIII could be weaker than a Trails game? It was so much bigger than any other Falcom game, and has the massive benefit of coming out on Switch/PS4/PC/Vita, rather than just PSP/PC.

I have no idea what Ys is and I play/consume a whole lot of gaming and gaming media. It might legitimately be the only game and/or series that I could not tell you a single thing about in the bracket.

The same would have been said about Trails but I've at least seen that talked about a whole lot on B8. I'm expecting Ys to be incredibly weak.

I’m super surprised that I’m the highest on Sonic Mania, but I have even less respect for Ys as others. Trails over Ys any day.

transcience posted...

I’m super surprised that I’m the highest on Sonic Mania, but I have even less respect for Ys as others. Trails over Ys any day.

Yeah, I'm the opposite. They're both niche, but I think Sky in particular is even more niche. Cold Steel is a different story.

I feel that Sonic Mania is a piece of '90's that snuck into the tournament. I think that factor is going to make the game quite strong, and put up a good performance in the tournament, not unlike what Sonic 2 did before. I'm with transcience here, Sonic will blow out Ys by a lot.

If Witcher 3 has the 'Netflix factor' does Sonic have the 'Actually semi-watchable video game movie' factor

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/6822-which-scheduled-september-release-are-you-most-looking

Only poll I could find with Ys VIII in it - not really much you can take away from that regarding how weak it is (though "slightly below Cuphead" would be awesome) but I'd expect it to be well above TitS SC if only for being much more accessible.

Janus5k posted...

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/6822-which-scheduled-september-release-are-you-most-looking

Only poll I could find with Ys VIII in it - not really much you can take away from that regarding how weak it is (though "slightly below Cuphead" would be awesome) but I'd expect it to be well above TitS SC if only for being much more accessible.

I never really thought about accessibility, I just feel like Trails is turn based and Ys might be seen as low budget or cheap. Would love to wrong of course.

Yeah, Sky's biggest problem is that it isn't easily accessible, and it wasn't exactly widely promoted since it didn't come out in English until years later, so it probably doesn't have much word of mouth outside of places like here.

I hear people talk about trails a ton though. are there ys devotees out there? probably, but maybe not as many?

Round 1 – Super Meat Boy vs. Slay the Spire

Moltar’s Analysis

So now that we’re a bit deeper in the Contest, I can say something like “Wow it’s Slay the Spire, a game that lost to the game that got 15% on BotW but beat the game that got 21% on GTAV in its GotY poll!”

Meat Boy is a far more popular indie game and should win pretty easy here. Indie game SFF incoming?

Moltar’s Bracket: Super Meat Boy

Moltar’s Prediction: Super Meat Boy – 72%

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transience’s Analysis

I feel kinda bad for Slay the Spire here. It's a nice little indie game and attracted a good bit of attention for being a great deckbuilder roguelike this past year. It's better than Talos or Obra Dinn or Inside.

Unfortunately, it's up against one of the most popular indies around in Super Meat Boy. We haven't seen Meat Boy since 2010 but it's almost certainly a top 5 indie game in this contest. I think I'd put it around Ori's strength as its floor, and its ceiling could be a lot higher. I sometimes pause with older indies but Meat Boy has managed to stay relevant for a good long while as it gets mentioned as one of the tightest 'masocore' platformers around. I'm not always sure that those play here, but the internet remembers Meat Boy fondly and it should do well.

transience's prediction: Super Meat Boy with 75.36%

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Leonhart’s Analysis

Super Meat Boy was one of the original games that sparked the indie phenomenon, and I imagine a lot of people have played it at this point or at least have heard of it. I’m in the middle of playing it myself! The main character has a really memorable design as well, which will really pop out during the match picture. Slay the Spire, on the other hand, is a roguelike card game, which I can’t imagine plays too well here. We saw Hearthstone be the weakest game in the field in 2015, and while there may be other reasons for that particular game’s weakness, I can’t imagine Slay the Spire will be too much better!

Leonhart’s Vote: Super Meat Boy

Leonhart’s Prediction: Super Meat Boy with 72.44%
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Kleenex’s Analysis

Slay the Spire is super fucking cool, but it’s going to get obliterated. Super Meat Boy is up there with the most prolific indie games around, and Spire is just completely outclassed here. I was actually kind of surprised to find out that Meat Boy hasn’t been in a game-related poll since 2010 game of the year. It’s hard to really come up with too much more to say about this one. It’s two indie games and one is just infinitely more popular than the other.

Kleenex’s Prediction: Super Meat Boy with 72%

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Guest’s Analysis – Black Turtle

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Crew Consensus: Meaty Boy with a meaty victory.

Calling all guests

emergency guest write up

Super Meat Boy should be pretty good, it's on pretty much everything and is a real landmark indie title. Slay the Spire is a card game. Anything less than a doubling is probably a disappointment for Meat Boy. I'll go with the low pick. Or not because I decided to change my Oracle.

Super Meat Boy with 73.45%

Time to see if I finally get a debated match right!

Wow, it might happen!

Fuck, I though Meat Boy was tomorrow. My bad

that seemed like it might be interesting for a minute there.

I just realized that Persona/Witcher will be judged by their performances against Assassin’s Creed games

Wow, that was an amazing P5 board vote based on how much it just dropped.

sonic sucks

but super meat boy isn’t looking great either!

This is about in line with what I thought! These are fodder line level games beating up on bottom feeders!

Can't wait for RDR2 to shut up the Persona fanboys

I guess it’s possible. I’m not convinced it’ll be there though

is this one of those "I've literally never met anyone who disliked RDR2 so it's the most popular game in the contest" blind spots

People on here seem to see RDR 2 as a disappointment but I could see them voting for it out of spite for Persona 5

Why would anyone be spiteful for Persona 5?

Also RDR2 was a good game too!

DoomTheGyarados posted...

Why would anyone be spiteful for Persona 5?

Also RDR2 was a good game too!

I see a lot of people here hate on it just because its a JRPG with an anime artstyle. They're tired of people praising it all the time so they talk smack about it every chance they get. I think that it would be kind of close between the two of them with Persona 5 slightly winning

lol sanic

I guess it's bad that I'm so off. But I love Ys so happy to see it do ok.

Unless Sonic Mania just sucks.

I choose to believe Ys 8 is pretty good and this means nothing bad for Sonic.

Sonic Mania probably sucks

The best thing Sonic games have done in contests is, what? Sonic 1 beat Street Fighter 2 with Mario 3 in the poll? I love the guy but god damn his games are weak.