13 games remain, though only 10 appear in this round. voting is now open and will last for one week. bracket here.
WINNERS SIDE:
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LOSERS SIDE:
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VOTE
I didnāt realize how close we were to the bottleās neck! I really should have said more last round. Maybe I should do something special for the games I want to win this roundā¦
My lightning fast choices are
Katamari Damacy
killer7
Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne
F-Zero GX
Demonās Souls
Coincidentally, Iām reminded of how Sight & Soundās list continually had votes clustered around films from the 50ās and 60ās which just happened to overlap with the majority of criticsā young adult years. I see how that happened nowā¦
ULTRAVIOLENCE
Weāre In a Tight Spot
wow I canāt remember a quote from Dark Souls
There Was A Hole Here But Itās Gone Now
So That The World Might Be Mended
Katamari
Super Mario
Dark Souls
Silent Hill
Demonās Souls
You canāt remember a quote from Dark Souls, but I bet you can remember āToo bad you lost your machine!ā or āBroken down!ā or even āRescue every octopus in the universe thatās in danger of being eaten.ā
katamari is just such a pure, holistic, well considered product on every creative axis; sparky and full of life. even if i maynāt necessarily want to play it more than doom at a given moment, itās a thing i wish i got to see far more in games, and in media in general. i smile every time i think about it, sometimes involuntarily
i do think doom is great though! i came around to it quite recently; thereās a real solid underlying pulse which wasnāt obvious to me at first
Not a bit: i donāt know what any of those are from.
Why is SH2 in this, itās practically kusoge
I just recently watched someone play it and itās even worse than I remember. Sure itās high concept but everything else is trash about it
Iām not mad, just amused. I kinda want it to win, even
This is a surprising take. Itās widely recognized as great. Why do you call it kusoge?
With so few left my criterion is basically: which opponent should videogames be more like, in spirit?
Katamari Damacy vs. DOOM / DOOM II
A lot of games are inspired by doom but the Katamari spirit is pretty rare still. Think carefully about what your input method is doing for your gameās ideas.
killer7 vs. Super Mario 64
killer7 always has the stink of being a āweird gameā in popular discourse. I think it would be nice if a game like that could be as straightforwardly discussed as SM64 speed runs or the corporate history of Nintendo. When playing super Mario 64 there is always an awkward section that you kind of have to just endure when revisiting it. It takes you out of the natural exploration and relatively engaging controls tango that are probably the biggest strength of the game. Killer seven does this too but it is no less engaging for its awkwardness. SM64 has no real substance to fall back on when things get awkward or downright irritating as in hazy maze cave or wet dry world. Killer 7 always promises some exquisite new thing to touch, hear or chew on through a consistently awkward series of corridors and locks. Killer 7 contains a spirit that shows how that awkward stuff can be made timeless, the chrono-apology is always trotted out for SM64 despite it apparently being the greatest game ever made or something.
Dark Souls vs. Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne
Iāve never played Nocturne but as itās rerelease approaches it feels more exciting to me than the prospect of replaying dark souls ever again. If this poll is taught me anything itās that I want to play everything that people cherish and re-evaluate the ones I actually enjoyed.
F-Zero GX vs. Silent Hill 2
Horror has endured as a genre and many have taken up the mantle of dark, indistinct, lo-fi psychological mazes since Silent Hill withered. The same has happened for high-speed future ship arcade racing but the results always feel diluted to me. Thereās something much more dangerous at the heart of FZGX about going too fucking fast. SH2ās sense of dread is great but I always felt I was encountering it at my own pace. Itās use of darkness should be investigated further. FZGX meanwhile is one of those games where you feel time compressing which is exhilarating but makes you think that playing the game is somehow bad for your physical health. A game that actually flirts with the anxieties about the limits of your body.
Demonās Souls (2009) vs. The Legend of Zelda: Linkās Awakening
Dreamscape melancholy aside I donāt think most games would benefit from being spiritually antecedent to Linkās awakening. In many ways Demonās souls is probably one of the most influential games remaining in this bracket, bar Doom. Asymmetrical multiplayer, the blending of single and multiplayer online spaces and the resurgence of prickly, obtuse mystery that is often mischaracterised as high difficulty being unquestionably good. Demonās souls is an adventure but not in the pseudo-cinematic sense of the word. Adventures are perilous, transformative, full of horrible encounters that you just barely escape. You learn a lot but also lose a lot. There is no limit on malevolence; something echoed through the plot of the game as much as it is through its level design and emergent player behaviour.
The thing is, I donāt even know exactly whatās supposed to be great about SH2. There are three things I like about the game. The concept (the way its delivered is terrible though. The cutscenes and voice performances suck), the S-Tier music by Akira Yamaoka, and I guess the environments look good on the rare occasions you can see them. But like name anything else about this game and itās trash, especially from todayās perspective. I mean I didnāt like it back in the day either but it sure doesnāt hold up well for me.
I can get into more of what I dislike about it but maybe thatās not really productive
iām with you on this. iām fond of sh1 and 3 but iāve never understood the appeal of 2 at all, and iām kind of surprised itās still here above REmake - shallow design, acrid misogyny, awful writing, and to be honest the first issue is common to the whole series, even the ones i like. and its homogenizing narrative, thematic and design influence on subsequent āpsychologicalā survival horror games is miserable.
im proud of nocturne btw
I like 3 as well. For the fact that it scared me, which I canāt say about 2. I donāt know how well it holds up now, as I havenāt revisited it in a while. Havenāt played the original Silent Hill enough but I feel like itās better than 2, from what Iāve seen.
I hope Nocturne rules as much as people say because Iāll play it when it comes out on Steam later this month!
On one hand, DOOM is one of the most perfect games ever made. On the other hand, so is Katamari. And Katamari also has one of the most banging soundtracks ever. Also DOOM was made by turbo-nerd John Carmack and Katamari was made by Keita Takahashi and a bunch of interns.
Katamari
Iām not a huge fan of either one of these next games. I can see why theyāre here; theyāre just not my cup of tea. Killer 7 has the better soundtrack though.
Killer 7
Iā¦havenāt played Nocturne.
Dark Souls
I continue to do the wiggly-arm Octoman dance when something good happens and nobody knows what the hell Iām referencing. My son has started doing it as well, which rules.
F-zero GX
Demonās is the best Souls game because itās janky and weird. I never played the original LA, sorry.
Demonās Souls
Gonna have to vote Dark Souls because yesterday I was thinking about funny games and was reminded of that bastard who dropped me off a bridge for no reason, and then like 50 different situations in Dark Souls all came back to me at once and itās just such a memorable game for shit like that.
Nocturne looks dope as hell though and I feel like if it was any other game Iād vote for Nocturne. I will be playing it for the first time soon
yeah i played silent hill 1-3 for the first time when the pandemic first hit and found 2 to be by far the weakest, while i was legit mad at myself for not playing the first sooner
killer soundtrack though
i will say that sh4 has a fantastic gameplay concept and premise but executes on it atrociously
