Contest Stats and Discussion - Part 1379

TFF (The Fujoshi Factor)

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/3850-final-rounds-quarterfinal-link-vs-sonic

Poor Sonic, he had a pretty decent showing and then Link just lays the smack down like it's nothing. Friendly reminder that Link will be able to SFF everyone eventually.

He always wins.

Leonhart4 posted...

Poor *insert character*, he had a pretty decent showing and then Link just lays the smack down like it's nothing.

A tale told many times through many contests.

Brutal result in the year 2010.

KamikazePotato posted...

A tale told many times through many contests.

It's usually not 70% on a Noble Niner though!

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/3851-final-rounds-quarterfinal-mario-vs-charizard

Charizard's run had been fun. He had even used the release date of a Pokemon game to temporarily upend the hierarchy and upset Bowser, but come on. This was freakin' Mario. He would put Charizard in his place like he had done with Mega Man the round before, right?

Wrong. Mario was never truly in danger of losing, but he could never put Charizard away either, capping off one of the most successful debuts of all-time. Mega Man would get the last laugh a few years later, but that's a story for another time.

(Whoops accidentally hit Post and had to edit in the writeup lawl)

Damn did Mario ever win by so little (besides when he cheats)

He barely got 55% against Shadow!

Mario puts up weird duds every now and then but it rarely actually hurts him (except against Vivi)

Leonhart4 posted...

He barely got 55% against Shadow!

To this day still a completely bonkers results.

It's a shame we never got Mario vs. Sonic in those first two or three contests when Sonic actually could've won

Leonhart4 posted...

It's a shame we never got Mario vs. Sonic in those first two or three contests when Sonic actually could've won

Or potentially given us the nutso indirect match where Shadow > Sonic somehow.

The worst part about the Rivalry Rumble is Mario vs. Sonic not getting in.

WarThaNemesis2 posted...

The worst part about the Rivalry Rumble is Mario vs. Sonic not getting in.

I feel like it instantly tanked any interest I had in the concept when Allen went out of his way to ensure they didn't make it

One of those frustrating situations where he's actively working against the best interests of a good contest whether he realized it or not

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/3852-final-rounds-quarterfinal-samus-aran-vs-cloud-strife

When these two met in 2004, it was considered a massive achievement that Samus broke 40% on Cloud. This time, she went 50/50 for nearly three and a half hours before Cloud took over and finished with nearly 53% by the end. I wonder how this match goes today.

I imagine that Remake/Rebirth mattered more than Dread, but you never know.

I’m proud of that picture. Took me forever to make.

I think Remake/Rebirth mattered more than Dread too, but it'd be an exciting match.

Leonhart4 posted...

It's a shame we never got Mario vs. Sonic in those first two or three contests when Sonic actually could've won

I don't think he ever does, but if he does it's in that first contest.

I agree that Remake/Rebirth mattered more than Dread, though the fact that the question is even being asked says it all. Rebirth may well sell fewer copies than Dread when it’s all said and done which is pretty wild. We’re not at “Metroid is a bigger franchise than Final Fantasy” yet but it feels like we are getting there.

Having said that prepare for my bold yet boring take:

Cloud is still #2 and probably always has been. It just feels like if he was going to lose that spot it would have been in 2018 when Remake was in development hell and Mario was riding high from Odyssey, Smash Ultimate, and the Switch in general. Yet he squeaked by even if it was by the skin of his teeth. Even though Remake and Rebirth aren’t mega hits they are enough to keep him afloat still.

ctesjbuvf posted...

I don't think he ever does, but if he does it's in that first contest.

He probably doesn't, but at the very least, it's not the forgone conclusion it became from 2005 on.

This has got me thinking: who is the strongest character post-2017? The only character who springs to mind is Arthur Morgan, who was probably pretty decent closer to launch but Rockstar characters tend to weaken over time. I doubt people would be lining up to vote for like, Clive from FFXVI.

someone from Baldur's Gate III probably

I think Clive would do fine, which is still better than just about anybody else in the last 8 years.

I dunno, after all Noctis was not great and he was from a bigger FF than Clive is. Not sure I would take him over Arthur or Astarion. Other characters who came up as stronger characters that have not appeared yet like Astro Bot or Doom Slayer are older than 2017 which is why I was wondering about new characters specifically.

XV is only bigger in the sense that it sold more copies. I think XVI would be more popular and Clive would be more popular than Noctis.

Clive and XVI would likely win a direct matchup sure, but even on an enthusiast site like this, there are going to be a lot of people who see Clive and go “who” or never even bothered with XVI despite playing and enjoying other FF games. Final Fantasy characters, with a few exceptions, declined in 2018 and the series is less healthy now than it was then. Which if anything makes Cloud hanging in there more impressive!

I think people here would know Clive even if they didn't play it

Not that we'll ever find out but hey

Yeah that’s true. 🥲

Should we ever get another one, let there be a Clive vs Master Hand round 1 match please. Gotta keep the long-running series going!

Rebirth and FFXVI might be low by today's standards, but that wouldn't matter much here. Whichever audience FFXV sold more to doesn't matter in the sense of a gamefaqs contest.

Could FFXVI break 20% on BotW?

...maybe!

I guess what I’m saying is that the decline has been such that even on a very FF-friendly site that is very up to date with new major releases, the decline has been severe to the point where it would still reach here. We got a taste of that in 2018. Surely it would be worse now.

I'd take a pretty big portion of the BG3 cast and Melina over Clive without any thought.

Torgal would sweep though

I think Astro Bot probably beats any individual BG3 character (though I'd take BG3 in a games contest easily).

(yeah, I know Astro was around prior to 2017, he didn't make a contest though)

Johnny Silverhand is pretty much just Keanu so may crush a lot of match pictures

I would find Zagreus interesting as well

ctesjbuvf posted...

Rebirth and FFXVI might be low by today's standards, but that wouldn't matter much here. Whichever audience FFXV sold more to doesn't matter in the sense of a gamefaqs contest.

I mean, lots of people really liked FFXV, for all its haters, and FFXVI has plenty of haters too. Clive's definitely more well-liked than Noctis, but I wouldn't be confident in him being much stronger.

Big_Bob posted...

I think Astro Bot probably beats any individual BG3 character (though I'd take BG3 in a games contest easily).

(yeah, I know Astro was around prior to 2017, he didn't make a contest though)

I'm not sure how strong Astro would be. Do gamers care about him as a character? My niece loves him, but she's 4...

I don't think FF would decline any further since 2018 because people have liked what came out for most part. The FFVII cast might even see an increase.

If we had anyinflux of new users that might be different but not as it is.

MacArrowny posted...

I mean, lots of people really liked FFXV, for all its haters, and FFXVI has plenty of haters too. Clive's definitely more well-liked than Noctis, but I wouldn't be confident in him being much stronger.

I'm not sure how strong Astro would be. Do gamers care about him as a character? My niece loves him, but she's 4...

It's less that Astro would be strong, and more that BG3 has an ensemble cast without a specific character to fans to rally around (see: Terra and how she's weak compared to FFVI as a game). Meanwhile, Astro is front and center, easily recognizable with a distinct look, and the fact that his game is a celebration of PlayStation history means he would have a fanbase that isn't just a young audience.

ctesjbuvf posted...

I don't think FF would decline any further since 2018 because people have liked what came out for most part. The FFVII cast might even see an increase.

If we had anyinflux of new users that might be different but not as it is.

Again, loads of people just haven’t been engaging with it. Like none of these games have exactly made a huge splash despite positive overall reception. It’s not like any of them are FFVII come again in terms of public mood either.

Now I actually agree that certain VII characters (mainly meaning Aerith and Tifa) might get stronger but that only says anything about those characters due to their portrayals in the games rather than everything else. The assortment of random FF leads will continue to get weaker though.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/3853-final-rounds-quarterfinal-solid-snake-vs-sephiroth

This might be my favorite user made picture of this contest. Even though the writing was on the wall, many of us were still in "I need to see it to believe it" mode with Sephiroth, who was still the overall favorite in the Oracle. Well, it didn't take long to see it, as Snake had 58% at the freeze and Seph didn't put up much of a fight in the process. He didn't get above 46% until halfway through the match.

Barring a Snake > Cloud upset (which had to be on the table at this point), this result ensured Palmer would have the highest scoring bracket. Of course, we know how that turned out. It would've been ExThaNemesis had Sephiroth won, which makes it even more hilarious that he didn't.

It was kind of wild how Sephiroth crashed straight from #3 and “Clinkeroth” being its own entity to the lower levels of the Noble Nine. While it is possible that the 4-ways in 2008 were masking a decline there he still looked pretty good against Sonic. He really fell off quickly.

Not the most satisfying Sephiroth defeat though. That would be Mario in 2018!

Not even the best Sephiroth loss of 2018!

(Mario winning wasn't even that fun of a result anyway)

A big part of it is of course also Snake rising a lot.

Sephiroth was at least pretty clearly still ahead of Mario in 2007.

LightningStrikes posted...

Like none of these games have exactly made a huge splash despite positive overall reception.

FF7R1 definitely made a splash! Square's fastest selling game ever.

2008 is where you can start seeing the first signs of a dip for Cloud and Sephiroth. They were clearly still beasts in 2007.

I feel like between Smash and Remake/Rebirth Seph is probably back to mid tier noble nine

Snake/Seph would be very interesting again

Snake would SFF Sephiroth now...!

Leonhart4 posted...

Not even the best Sephiroth loss of 2018!

(Mario winning wasn't even that fun of a result anyway)

It was the margin that made it a fun result. And the dab.

MacArrowny posted...

FF7R1 definitely made a splash! Square's fastest selling game ever.

Eh? Everything I’ve ever seen had it both selling slower and being more frontloaded than FFXV even only on PS4. Of course if it was the fastest that mainly speaks to the main target audience all rushing to buy it at opening then it not reaching the wider audience after that.

Yep XV at five million shipped and digital on day one:

https://www.siliconera.com/final-fantasy-xv-broke-even-development-costs-launch-day/

Against VII Remake shipped and digital of 3.5 million over three days:

https://www.gamesradar.com/final-fantasy-7-remake-launch-numbers-broke-35-million-in-first-3-days/

So VII Remake was down and fairly substantially at that. Of course XV was 80% on PS4 and VII Remake launched as a PS4 exclusive but even so that puts XV at roughly four million but still ahead.

LightningStrikes posted...

Yep XV at five million shipped and digital on day one:

https://www.siliconera.com/final-fantasy-xv-broke-even-development-costs-launch-day/

Against VII Remake shipped and digital of 3.5 million over three days:

https://www.gamesradar.com/final-fantasy-7-remake-launch-numbers-broke-35-million-in-first-3-days/

So VII Remake was down and fairly substantially at that. Of course XV was 80% on PS4 and VII Remake launched as a PS4 exclusive but even so that puts XV at roughly four million but still ahead.

 https://x.com/Zuby_Tech/status/1674028804057051139

Right, I guess that was just for exclusives. Still, selling faster than Spider-Man and God of War is pretty big!