A die hard gamer and a proud supporter of Easy Allies. I welcome any and all messages from any Ally across the various channels:
Brannox: Here (of course) and in Twitch chat
@GamesGann on Twitter
LocustHunter17 on Xbox Live
For a few more details about me, feel free to read my respective bios there. Otherwise, feel free to message me about anything. I'm always up to talk to any Ally!
@bam541 When it's one or two Allies, then it's kind of a misnomer, but when almost everyone who voted for it says it AND Brad called it right before the video's start, it stands out. But I concur in how that aspect isn't all that serious. Just a pattern I've noticed.
Tonight's ceremony was pretty solid and a great tie-in for EZX. I had half the games I was pulling for, however...
Having two of those being the bottom two with God of War and Dishonored 2, ESPECIALLY the latter being banned, HURTS. Also, tracking the amount of times a game was voted for in real-time was pretty open and shut Super Mario Galaxy and Silent Hill 2 were run-aways. Until the reveal. I thought because SIX Allies voted for Galaxy would take it. But Silent Hill 2 had EVERY Ally voted for it.
Beyond that, I DO have a gripe:
Having the majority of those vote for Silent Hill 2 say, "Well, it's time," is kind of like dismissive of the other games and not given as much of consideration. I guess? I don't know, it just doesn't sit right.
As always, this was a treat, and now the three month wait begins anew.
@brunojoey I just checked and it's AVP by just a vote (12-11) Symphony of the Night is already in, so my point was a game that has YET to get in that's only been brought once. But I agree: So many games are so deserving, and I guess that's one of the many reasons why these streams are so compelling. I mean just talking about it now is getting me all hyped up for Tuesday!!
With the amount of times it's been nominated, Silent Hill 2 not being in yet is surprising. When (not if) it gets nominated again, it'll hold the record of most times brought. Final Fantasy IX is also really up there. But I'll never forget God of War 2018 would have been enshrined if it didn't get tied with Portal and sent to a Patreon vote. As far as I can remember, I THINK it's still the highest voted game in a single ceremony yet to get in.
Regardless, I can't wait. Always a highlight when the three month timer (when the Allies can remember) runs out.
I've been holding off jumping into these ranking threads in light of not having much to contribute, but for this one, I thought I would put a fun (to me) spin on it in that Resident Evil is the one franchise I've watched, but never played. As such, the following is how I would rank them as a viewer, instead of a player. I'm in the middle of Brad's 0 playthrough right now, so it's spot could be adjusted. Anywho...
1.) 2 Remake
2.) VII: Biohazard
3.) 3 Remake
4.) OG 2
5.) OG 3
6.) 4
7.) 0
8.) REmake
9.) 5
I'm anticipating VIl.l.AGE to be in the top half, but we'll see.
Since it's been a couple days and it appears the thread has run it course...
.....Hall of Fame?
@axel As always, I love these, but not going to lie, seeing Retribution being in the top group that JUST missed out hurts.
Once again, another top to bottom solid countdown concludes with two standout games!
Pertaining to Arkham Asylum - I've said several times about trying this demo on 360 got me into the Rocksteady games and Nolan trilogy, but I guess the new commentary I'll add is that AA does a wonderful job subverting expectations. And yes, all Scarecrow sections immediately jump to mind, but it does more in that area. For example, even before I purchased the game, the demo was built in such a way that doesn't exactly play out the actual game does, so when I got to that point, and started seeing different stuff, it was like the game had me on my toes from that point going forward, from environments to the story. I'll also say is the Asylum is a good example of how a location can be a 3D metrovania, as that genre is typically 2D. Finally, I prefer the other Rocksteady titles to Asylum (particularly the introduction of the plant elements near the end. They're not fun to deal with), but this is still a solid game.
As for Uncharted 2 - What else is there to say? So many people, in so many conversations across so many years have covered how this game is phenomenal. It's very difficult for me to add anything, because when I try to think of a personal experience that might add to the discussion, it's an echo of so many other points: The presentation, the train, the environments, the last boss being the one thing about the game that's irritating, the characters and story, the score, and so much more.... Truly excellent.
Now, for my list (including those I couldn't place votes for) and a comment on those that didn't make it from the bottom up:
Gran Turismo on PSP (for me) just didn't feel right on handheld. I tried it once and after an hour or so of trying to figure out the controls, I guess the need for a Dualshock really messed with because after an hour, I dropped it and never went back, not just for this game, but GT as an entire series.
Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron also suffers the same issue for me as Gran Turismo in that on PSP, the controls just didn't feel right. I put hundreds of hours into Battlefront II (2005) offline and I was really looking forward to trying out a Battlefront on PSP. I put in just a little more time on it than GT, but still, I was bummed at how it didn't feel good to play.
Dissidia: Final Fantasy is the one FF game bringing together all the singular heroes and villains of every main game (up to that point), and while it's decent, it's sequel, Duodecim, completely makes this game obsolete, from introducing new characters, an overworld, new cutscenes, and reworking some of the fights to be easier, all while having the entirety of this game included. This is a game that, sadly, needed to have been played at the time to enjoy the bizarre experience of an open arena 3D fighting game, because it's not worth going back to now it's sequel is available.
Lastly, Resistance: Retribution was the only other game on my whole list that didn't make it, though I'm not surprised. Resistance may be an underrated franchise, but this is the underrated game of said franchise. A completely different cast of characters taking place in a different part of Europe, this did a good job of being a third person shooter on PSP, but what's REALLY special about the game is, once you've beaten it, you can link the PSP to a PS3 running a copy of Resistance 2, and if both games are open, there's an option in the R2 menu to "infect" your PSP. If you do, your main character in Retribution, James, gets infected with the Chimera virus, which not only means your health can now regenerate, but you can now breathe underwater, have new dialogue in certain scenes, access to more weapons, and are able to find more collectible documents in the environment. And, if you wanted to keep up the hassle of all the cords, you can keep the PSP and PS3 connected and play Retribution with the Dual shock. This game is wild.
I'm actually surprised I could speak to the majority of the above. Typically I can't only really speak on the few of my votes that make it, so it feels real good to be able to give some in-depth thought on games I didn't give a vote for.
To close my novel of a comment, instead of tagging all my fellow voters (because, again, that's a LOT of names) I'll just tag one in @Axel to add to your notifications and also give my thanks in setting up this countdown. I know we'll be the latest group on the internet to dive into a 2020 list, but I'm excited when we do so all the same.
Thank you to everyone who participated and in the small chance there is someone who is reading this and didn't participate this go-around, please consider doing so for future lists! More people means more votes which leads to more games to be celebrated and discussed.
Until the next one!
Dragon Age is not my preferred Bioware series, though I do respect how much of a dedicated fandom it has garnered. And please correct me if I'm wrong, but as an outsider I feel as if this game is the one that's adored the most of the franchise with DA II having an infamous development and Inquisition, while accumulating some GOTYs, is a bit mixed among fans.
Either way, with no hands experience, I must sign off my comment with my hope Bioware gets the coming game right. With massive disappointment that was Mass Effect: Andromeda and the outright failure of Anthem (which we should here about it's fate any day now I think?), this feels like a "three strikes and it's over" kind of situation for the studio. So long as EA goes hands-off (HA!) and senior level devs stop leaving the studio, there's a chance Dragon Age 4 (or whatever its official title will be) can be good. But I'm concerned (And no, I of the strong stance Bioware should NOT have made an official teaser for the next ME before DA 4 is out the door).
Also, tomorrow's final top 2 reveal is very expected, but I'm highly curious which way it'll break....