Contest Stats and Discussion - Part 1375 - Thank you, Allen!

FFV had been doing vastly better than where it ended up at when I asked that question. It's not particularly worth considering with that result.

would still take it over ffxii though!

I'd take almost any FF game with a real fanbase over XII.

What's the highest number we've gone to for polls like that?

I wanna see a "favorite 8" poll!

I don't think we've gone above 5 just because the pool starts getting really thin past that.

What would we even put in a 6 poll?

KamikazePotato posted...

What would we even put in a 6 poll?

Final Fantasy VI
Who cares, pick any 9 games with 6 in the title you want

(Same for the 7 poll)

KamikazePotato posted...

What would we even put in a 6 poll?

FF6, Street Fighter 6, Mortal Kombat 6, Ace Combat 6, Samurai Showdown 6, Ultima 6, Tekken 6, I got deported by six.

The 6th Mortal Kombat game doesn't have 6 in the title. There's Mega Man 6 and Resident Evil 6, I guess.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ykonkC-r4o

Gotta get a Rainbow Six in there.

FFVI sweeps

Yakuza 6

And then we get Mario kart for 7 and 8

Final Fantasy VI
Mega Man 6
Street Fighter VI
Civilization VI
Mario Party 6
Resident Evil 6
Dragon Quest VI
Yakuza 6
Tekken 6
Ultima VI

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/1634-division-8-round-2-contra-vs-final-fantasy

Hey, we managed to get the 8-Bit Theater party into the match pic here, so that's something! The 8-Bit Theater website still exists, so if you've never read it, what better time to start than 20 years after the fact?

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/3476-division-8-round-1-bioshock-little-bp-mgs4-portal

It's wild to think that MGS4 probably finishes 3rd here now, or at least it'd be a lot more competitive. I wonder if there's a game or character that was once this strong that has fallen off harder.

LeonhartFour posted...

I wonder if there's a game or character that was once this strong that has fallen off harder.

Sephiroth, honestly.

If that doesn't work for you...Gordon went from 38% on Tifa to 22% on Bowser.

Seph has fallen from a higher peak, but I don't think he has fallen off quite as hard as MGS4. It almost made the finals in 2009! Then it was getting 60/40'd by KHII in 2015.

But yeah, maybe the answer is Gordon in terms of both a rise and a fall, because 22% on Bowser is around where he started back in 2002...!

Vincent is a good contender too

Eh, I think Vincent did fine in 2018. He's not a Noble Nine killer anymore, but he's still a good midcarder.

Vercetti had quite the drop just from 2003 to 2007.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/1360-south-division-semifinal-tommy-vercetti-vs-mega-man
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/2881-division-5-round-1-master-chief-parappa-vercetti-yuna

And he got even worse later:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/5169-character-battle-ix-division-3-round-1-wheatley-vs-crash-vs

Vercetti is a good shout

Leonhart4 posted...

Eh, I think Vincent did fine in 2018. He's not a Noble Nine killer anymore, but he's still a good midcarder.

We talked about biggest drop from peak and he is definitely in contention for that.

You once agreed it was a good case for Vincent having the title that while Magus might be a joke he at least never almost lost to Magus!

I mean, he's up there, but I think Seph has him beat from his own game!

Peak to now actually might be Mega Man.

Just look at 2002 to 2003 alone.

Kinda serious question, who wins Mega Man/Sephiroth 3? Loser gets the title of biggest drop.

My initial reaction was Mega Man would win because...this site is only olds now and Mega Man will forever be nostalgic in a way that trumps Sephiroth.

Tifa vs. Pikachu: Who ya got?

There's your answer.

Although the fact Seph/Mega Man is debatable would make it Seph either way because his peak in 2003 is higher than Mega Man's ever was.

That seems like one I'd want to look at the past results to get a better gauge.

Leonhart4 posted...

Tifa vs. Pikachu: Who ya got?

I don't think that's the best comparison tbh.

Also who knows post Remake games if it's the same for Seph.

Well, it's been 6 years now, so things have probably shifted around a decent bit since. I was thinking more in the context of 2018 when it would have been a debate.

How many Noble Niners do you take Tifa over in a post-Rebirth year? Sonic and Sephiroth feel like givens. Mega Man and Crono are in the "probably" pile. The gap between them and the next tier is a decent jump though.

To be honest the Remake/Rebirth boost might already be over. Remake's old history now (but not old enough for nostalgia) and Rebirth is exclusive to a system that if you own there's a very strong chance you already like Tifa.

New games aren't necessarily about creating new fans. It's the power of recency bias because you've got strong memories of Tifa being awesome. It can also strengthen nostalgia. It's why Mario can beat Cloud or Charizard can beat Bowser on the day a new release because you've got a new burst of excitement about them.

If they're already a personal favorite, it probably won't do anything, but for me, this is definitely a window when I'd be more likely to vote for someone like Aerith than other times because she's quite good in this game.

I mean more that Remake came out a lifetime ago and Rebirth's reception feels....fine, I guess? I haven't really gotten the feeling of it being a huge, game-changing hit. Good game, but...is Rebirth going to be anything but weaker Remake?

I would expect Aerith to boost, but the gulf between her and Tifa (or the characters on Tifa's level) is comparable to the gulf between Tifa and the characters she's chasing.

Rebirth absolutely had a better critical/fan reception than Remake. The problem is that its playrate is lower.

Yeah, Rebirth is a pretty big hit in terms of critical and fan reception. Its current audience threshold would be the biggest hurdle to having any real impact at the moment.

It'll probably get snubbed from the GotY polls like FFXVI did, so we won't get a real sense of its strength anyway.

I would have a better feel for Rebirth if we got to see how badly XVI got swatted aside, since that's about where I expect Rebirth to end up.

Can we get any games of even vague strength in polls with these Final Fantasies?

WarThaNemesis2 posted...

Can we get any games of even vague strength in polls with these Final Fantasies?

I think Remake would do fine in a contest. Not spectacular, but it could win a match or two, just like any well-liked FF below the VI, VII, and X tier.

Would be extremely surprised if Rebirth wasn't better than XVI on this site.

Which it doesn't have to be top notch to be.

Yeah, it feels like people have turned on FFXVI at this point.

The people who dislike FF16 are louder than the people who like it, and since even more people just straight-up haven't played it yet (woo PS5 exclusive), those loud voices drive the narrative. That's important when people vote for games they haven't played just based on public perception, which happens all the time.

FF16 just kind of came and went.

Being right before Rebirth definitely didn't help. It would lose to FFXII.

Surely FF16 still beats FF15, right?

I think the question is what order XIII, XV, and XVI would go in.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/6872-which-final-fantasy-title-is-your-all-time-favorite

Maybe 13 > 16 > 15? Does 14 beat all three?

I'd take XIV over any of them despite being an MMO, yeah. That game has a really dedicated fanbase, more than the other three do, for sure.

I think less people have played 14 than those games, but like I said, perception matters. People would vote for 14 just based on the reputation of it being a good game. That's all it takes to beat a low-tier FF game these days.

EDIT: And yeah the fanbase being more dedicated also helps.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/8008-division-8-round-2-final-fantasy-xiv-vs-mario-kart-8

I feel like Mario Kart 8 puts up a higher percentage on the other three than this

Leonhart4 posted...

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/8008-division-8-round-2-final-fantasy-xiv-vs-mario-kart-8

I feel like Mario Kart 8 puts up a higher percentage on the other three than this

FF14 probably does somewhat better if you take out the 'A Realm Reborn' subtitle too. That's the worst expansion. (Besides the original one that got deleted).

Leonhart4 posted...

I think the question is what order XIII, XV, and XVI would go in.

May as well throw in II and III as well!

II and III will be way down at the bottom. Not even XIII, XV, or XVI would lose to those.

Yeah, FFII and FFIII would be a stretch.

The real embarrassing FF games that XIII/XV/XVI could conceivably lose to are FFTA and Crisis Core!
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/1647-division-128-round-2-final-fantasy-tactics-advance-vs-final
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/4114-southwest-division-round-1-final-fantasy-xii-vs-crisis-core

I doubt they'd lose to Tactics Advance. If the original FFT has fallen off hard since 2004, I'd have to imagine FFTA has fallen off pretty hard, too!