Squenix's Best Non-Final Fantasy game

[Wolf Kanno]

Since these contests tend to be popular. Mognet Message me your top five favorite non-Final Fantasy games to do a head to head battle to see which one we love the most.

The rules are simple:

1. Select five individual games produced or published by Square, Enix, or Square-Enix.
2. You may suggest multiple entries within a franchise but you can't simply suggest a franchise, so no KH series, but you can make all five of your choices be Kingdom Heart titles.
3. Series published by any of the three companies but developed by a different studio are allowed as long as SE currently owns the rights to the franchise.
4. No Final Fantasy games, not even spin-offs.

Have fun.

[Lord Golbez]

Secret of Mana
Chrono Trigger
Chrono Cross
Xenogears
Dragon Quest XI

[Wolf Kanno]

Secret of Mana
Chrono Trigger
Chrono Cross
Xenogears
Dragon Quest XI

PM me your choices.

[WarZidane]

3 months too early for me to put KH3 on my list :onoes:

[Lord Golbez]

Why are none of the buttons on a post PM buttons? What a pain....

[Wolf Kanno]

Is it funny that I think I already know which game is going to win this competition just based on the entries so far?

Also, you have until Monday to get your noms in, but seeing how much overlap is going on here, I may let every entry run through just for the sake of variety.

[Vermachtnis]

Is it funny that I think I already know which game is going to win this competition just based on the entries so far?

Also, you have until Monday to get your noms in, but seeing how much overlap is going on here, I may let every entry run through just for the sake of variety.

Obviously The Bouncer is going to win.

[Lord Golbez]

Is it Chrono Trigger? Because I would guess that without seeing any nominations.

[Scotty_ffgamer]

It’s probably Ehrgeiz: God Bless the Ring.

[Fynn]

Rad Racer or bust.

[WarZidane]

Nah, it's definitely Pony Friends 2.

[Wolf Kanno]

Getting a better turnout for this than I thought I would. Though someone did finally break the record one game was receiving.

Here's some fun stats:

8 sets of nominations including myself.
22 Different entries
One game has been nominated seven times, the next highest is five noms.
We have a healthy mix of old and new, with two games from the NES Era and 2 current gen titles
I have one franchise that has had six different entries nominated.
Not surprisingly, the PS1 generation has gotten the most love with six games from that era.
Four entries debuted as handheld titles.
Only two entries are from western studios.
One person has actually had all five noms not solely developed by Square. You know who you are.

[Lord Golbez]

I can think of a number of decent entries not solely developed by Square, but most wouldn't make my top 5. (Not sure if some I nominated count though). 22 is pretty decent variety for 8 nominators and 40 nominations.

I'd be very surprised if the seven times nominated game isn't what I predicted. It's not necessarily my fave of my nominations. I just know how beloved it is

[Wolf Kanno]

Honestly, the second most nominated title is the one that surprised me the most. I know this forum likes this entry, but considering how few of the members ever mention it, I'm surprised it was nominated as much as it was. With that said, only one entry has actually surprised me since I didn't think anyone even remembered that game. There is also one high profile franchise I'm surprised hasn't been nominated yet because usually when I make these types of threads a few people name drop it. In fact, there are about four franchises that haven't received noms yet that surprised me.

[Lord Golbez]

Rudra no Hihou? No wait! I know. Square's Tom Sawyer!

[WarZidane]

The metagame is now figuring out which games these stats refer to :p

Also the surprise entry is totally EVO: Search for Eden, isn't it (if it is, no i'm not the one who nom'd it)

[Vermachtnis]

Do you consider Drakengard and NIER separate franchises? Not putting Drakengard 3 on my list was the hardest part.

[Lord Golbez]

Do you consider Drakengard and NIER separate franchises? Not putting Drakengard 3 on my list was the hardest part.

He did say you can do multiple or even all entries from one franchise, so it shouldn't really matter how they're considered. Either way you could do Nier, Nier Automata, and Drakengard 1-3 if you wanted.

[Wolf Kanno]

Rudra no Hihou? No wait! I know. Square's Tom Sawyer!

My only hint is that it's not a Square developed game. Though I would be surprised if Rudra no Hihou was nominated as I don't know too many people who have heard of it, let alone played it.


The metagame is now figuring out which games these stats refer to :p

Also the surprise entry is totally EVO: Search for Eden, isn't it (if it is, no i'm not the one who nom'd it)

That's why I love giving them to you people.

I wish E.V.O. was nominated though.


Do you consider Drakengard and NIER separate franchises? Not putting Drakengard 3 on my list was the hardest part.

Actually I don't consider them separate franchises because they share a timeline and basic gameplay structure.

In fact, of the entries, there are fifteen distinct franchises though two of them share a similar style since they were developed by the same team despite being completely different types of games. In hindsight, I'm debating about disqualifying one entry because it does actually break one of the rules but that's due to Flip Flop of God nonsense.

[Lord Golbez]

All of mine follow the rules, even if certain related franchises made by the creators are not owned by Square

[Wolf Kanno]

All of mine follow the rules, even if certain related franchises made by the creators are not owned by Square

Don't worry, it's from my own list actually.

[Spuuky]

I didn't nominate Deus Ex because it's not a Square-Enix game, even if they technically hold the rights now. Sorry.

[nirojan]

awww man....totally forgot Nier before I submitted my list. Oh well my picks were pretty good, but guessing everyone else had a similar list

[Wolf Kanno]

Today's the last day to get your noms in. Also, more fun stats.



I've had ten sets of noms including myself.
25 distinct games are in the running.
One game has been nominated by all but two people.
11 titles are solely Square developed.
14 titles are sequels
2 games are from reboots
One franchise has five entries nominated.
The oldest game on the list was originally released in 1990.
The youngest game was released this year.
9 entries were developed by studios other than Square or Enix.
Two entries were developed by companies that have not become subsidiaries of Squenix.
Only two entries are not some form of RPG.




NES - 1
SNES - 4
PS1 - 7
PS2 - 3
PS3/360 - 3
Current Gen - 2
Handheld originals - 5

[Lord Golbez]

1990 rules out Tom Sawyer. It's probably a DQ game.

[Fynn]

The one with 5 entries is probably KH. Or DQ.

[Wolf Kanno]

Alright, I disqualified one of my entries just so I can have an even 24 entries. I'll post the first round sometimes this evening.

[Vermachtnis]

What game? Vagrant Story?

[Fynn]

I somehow doubt he was the only one nominating Vagrant Story

[Wolf Kanno]

Round 2 (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/172014-Best-Non-FF-Square-Enix-Game-Round-2) is up.

[Wolf Kanno]

Round 2 has a few more hours to go, but I put up Round 3 (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/172019-Squenix-s-Best-Non-FF-Game-Round-3).

[Wolf Kanno]

Round 3 Has less than 24 hours left, Round 4 is up, (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/172020-Squenix-s-Best-Non-FF-Game-Round-4) and this should be an interesting one.

[Wolf Kanno]

Round 4 is drawing to a close, and Round 5 (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/172021-Squenix-s-Best-Non-FF-Game-Round-5) is up. After suffering some bad defeats, will this match-up finally see a KH game succeed to the next round?

[Wolf Kanno]

Round 5 has less than 24 hours. Round 6 is up (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/172028-Squenix-s-Best-Non-FF-Game-Round-6) which marks the halfway point of the first round pics. Unfortunately, due to the holiday in the next few days in my country, Round 7 will likely be delayed until Friday.

[Wolf Kanno]

Sorry for the delay. Round 6 was a tie and decided by a coin toss. Round 7 (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/172033-Sqare-Enix-s-Best-Non-FF-Game-Round-7) is now up and so is Round 8 (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/172034-Square-Enix-s-best-Non-FF-Game-Round-8).

[Wolf Kanno]

Also, just to hype this up a bit. I feel that Rounds 9 through 11 will be some of the most interesting in the first round. I've only seen one real upset so far in the tournament based on how I felt everyone would vote, but the next will be interesting because I honestly don't know how people will vote on them.

[Lord Golbez]

Thus far, the polls have been very kind to my nominations. None of them have gone against each other yet and so far we're 4 for 4 on them making it through (I'm counting the active polls vecause the direction they're going in is pretty clear). Last one hasn't been up in a round yet and it's probably the one I'm most skeptical about advancing.

[Spuuky]

I just assumed all mine would lose to some games I dislike. Pleasantly surprised to have not been completely winless!

[Vermachtnis]

I still have one game left that hasn't been in yet. I'm surprised at the Secret of Mana vs. Dragon Quest VIII though. I thought people absolutely adored Dragon Quest VIII.

[Spuuky]

Perhaps you underestimate the affection for SoM.

[Wolf Kanno]

The only real upset I didn't see coming was Soul Blazer, if only because I figured it was probably the least known title of the noms next to Rocket Slime, so I figured CoM would win by default since people actually played it. In fact, I was expecting KH to do better than it has in both noms and in battles. The next three match ups will be interesting because I don't really know how many people have actually played any of them let alone liked them. I kind of feel like the last round is going to be pretty damn one sided though.

For hints:

Round 9 is a battle between handheld titles.

Round 10 is the battle of Square PS1 RPGs

Round 11 is a battle of Enix PS1 RPGs

Round 12 is the battle between a game that fans thought was a flop versus a game Squenix thought was a flop.

[Lord Golbez]

I'd guess

Round 9 = TWEWY vs.... something. Bravely default maybe, but it's probably something I hadn't thought about.

Round 10 = Chrono Cross vs Vagrant Story. There are certainly other possibilities here but these seem most likely.

Round 11 = DQVII, probably, vs maybe Valkyrie Profile

Round 12 = I have no idea. I don't even know what game Square would have considered a flop that the fans did not. And one game I immediately recognize as definitely considered a flop by Square (but also fans) is not qualified for this contest.

[Wolf Kanno]

Round 9 (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/172042-Square-Enix-s-best-Non-FF-Game-Round-9) and 10 (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/172043-Square-Enix-s-best-Non-FF-Game-Round-10) are up.

[Wolf Kanno]

We have 24 hours left for Round 9 and 10, but I'm putting up the last (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/172048-Square-Enix-s-best-Non-FF-Game-Round-11) two (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/172049-Square-Enix-s-best-Non-FF-Game-Round-12) rounds tonight.

[Lord Golbez]

Vote totals on the last few rounds have been kind of disappointing, but it's pretty much the same people so I don't think doubling up split the vote.

[Spuuky]

I have refrained from voting in matchups where I have played neither game.

[Wolf Kanno]

Yeah the last couple of rounds have had less renowned titles at the forefront, so I'm not surprised the turnout is a bit lower.

I do plan on mixing up the next round though. I'm going to randomize the games again in order to see if I can get some interesting matchups. So what has been the biggest surprise in terms of making it to the contest and which games do you feel got really snubbed?

[Lord Golbez]

I've actually found the polls to be going suprisingly close to the way I wanted so far. All my noms seemed to have gotten through the first round and I think there may have only been one where the one I voted for lost, and I wasn't highly invested in it. The only slightly sore spot for me is DQVIII was eliminated too early, but given what it was up against, it had to go. Not a big deal. I still rank it below all my noms so whatever. Probably a bigger disappointment is that Vagrant Story wasn't included at all, but I didn't have room for it. I made my choices. I'd say Sleeping Dogs is the biggest surprise, because WTF is this game even?

[Spuuky]

I knew Sleeping Dogs would have no shot at advancing (I nominated it) but I think it's genuinely one of Square-Enix's best games. It takes everything I like about GTA-type games, removes everything I dislike, and then puts it in a good story with a great setting.

Oh well, I hope someone sees it and is encouraged to give it a shot.

[Lord Golbez]

Well, that kind of sounds like it could be quite good, but then I don't know what the parts you like and dislike in GTA games are.

[Wolf Kanno]

Yeah Sleeping Dogs is the "disappointment" that SE had because it only sold a million copies instead like the 100 million they were hoping for. It actually got high praise and sales but it became more infamous for a time period when SE was known for having unrealistic expectations for their third party titles.

I was the only person to nominate Vagrant Story, but due to the technicality that it's associated with the Ivalice franchise and because it made the amount of entries uneven, I ended up choosing to drop it. Front Mission 3 and Tactics Ogre were also my noms. I love me some SRPGs. I knew Front Mission 3 was likely a doomed title because I think Rez09 and myself are like the only people I know on this forum who has played it. I felt Tactics Ogre would have done a bit better but it was up against KH2 and I think all the forum members who praised this title in the past are no longer active.

I think the one entry that really surprised me that didn't get nominated was DQV. Considering how much praise this game got from the forum a few years back, I was surprised no one really bothered. Valkyrie Profile is another title I was expecting to see a nomination for that didn't. Soul Blazer being the sole entry of the Gaia trilogy to get nominated was also a bit of surprise for me as I figured most people remembered Illusion of Gaia and Terranigma more fondly. I was also hoping a SaGa entry would have gotten in, but didn't hold my breath for it, but I was surprised only Secret of Mana made it through among the Mana franchise. I figured Final Fantasy Adventure and Seiken Densetsu 3 would have been nominated. I also expected KH to do better than it has. In fact one of my least favorite entries is the one that actually survived the first round but I know I'm in the minority in thinking KH2 was bad, so I'm not surprised it did better than the spin-offs but I figured KH1 would have made it. Which reminds me...

I think the biggest surprise overall from my own side of things was seeing Xenogears get the second highest amount of nominations out of this whole process with six nominations. To put this in perspective, the third highest noms were Secret of Mana, DQVIII, and Chrono Cross with three nominations a piece. I think this caught me off guard because I often feel like only Fynn, Forsaken Lover, and myself are the only people who ever talk about the game on a regular basis on this forum.

[Fynn]

There’s actually quite a lot of Xenogears talk in the Discord, so honestly, I wasn’t surprised in the least.

[Vermachtnis]

I'm surprised Dragon Quest VII is beating Star Ocean 2.

[Wolf Kanno]

Quarterfinals have begun (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/172052-Square-Enix-s-Best-Non-FF-Game-Quarter-Finals-Round-1). I through the winners into a RNG List maker so we'll have some interesting match ups this round. Since we'll have only six round this time, I'm going one a day but I'll release a new round each day this week so one should be opening on the last day to vote for another.

[Wolf Kanno]

Round 3 (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/172058-Square-Enix-s-Best-Non-FF-Quarter-Final-Round-3) is up. Round 1 has a few hours left and is currently at a draw.

[maybee]

I'm feeling really bad voting for the more unpopular opinions. I just know there's some random spying on this thread screaming "WHY THE FUCK DIDN'T YOU VOTE FOR NIER INSTEAD OF DQ VII YOU WALNUT ?!"

[WarZidane]

Nah, I get why everybody except me voted CT instead of Deus Ex, this is a forum visited mostly by classic JRPG fans after all. :p

[Wolf Kanno]

Honestly, DQVII would be considered the more hipster choice in this pairing. ;)

Honestly, we got a decent mix of old and new, as well as fan favorites vs. cult classic, so I'm pretty happy with the results. Well except for Vagrant Story only being nommed by myself. :colbert:

[Lord Golbez]

I'm feeling really bad voting for the more unpopular opinions. I just know there's some random spying on this thread screaming "WHY THE smurf DIDN'T YOU VOTE FOR NIER INSTEAD OF DQ VII YOU WALNUT ?!"

But Nier...isn't good and DQVII is one of the best in the series.

What round are you going to have 3 games per poll in? The semis or the final?

[Fynn]

Why even give a crap about other people’s opinion of your opinion on a silly video game? It’s all made up anyway and nobody’s opinion really matters so just kick back and enjoy the stuff you like! Life’s too short to fuss over all that :monster:

[Karifean]

"Do you think games are silly little things?"

... sorry the quote just fit too perfectly.

[Wolf Kanno]

"Do you think games are silly little things?"

... sorry the quote just fit too perfectly.

"What is a game? A miserable pile of opinions."

[Lord Golbez]

Only two rounds left to the Quarterfinals, which means a head to head between two of my nominations is guaranteed. Could be a tough vote or an easy one depending on which two go up against each other (one of the three is on the bottom of my list and the only one I really had to think about all the other possibilities before nominating). I'd ask for hints on the next rounds, but I guess we'll find out tomorrow anyway.

[Wolf Kanno]

Round 5 (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/172063-Square-Enix-s-Best-Non-FF-Game-Quarterfinal-Round-5?p=3692130#post3692130) is up, only one more round left in the quarterfinals.

[Lord Golbez]

Round 6?

[Wolf Kanno]

Sorry, hectic work week.

Round 6 (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/172072-Square-Enix-s-Best-Non-FF-Game-Quarterfinal-Round-6) is up.

[Wolf Kanno]

Quarterfinals are finished, I'll get the semifinals up within the next day.

[Lord Golbez]

I'm liking the resilts so far. 4 of my nominations advancing to the semis and they're the 4 I'd pick if I got to choose. I'm also reasonably happy with DQVII's advancement, even if I'd prefer VIII or XI. Oh another disappointment I realized for games that didn't make it into the competition is Brave Fencer Musashi. It's really a pretty underrated game.

[Wolf Kanno]

I randomized the list one more time. Semi-finals begin now (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/172082-Square-Enix-s-Best-Non-FF-Game-Semifinals-Round-1).

[Wolf Kanno]

Round 2 (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/172095-Square-Enix-s-best-Non-FF-Game-semifinals-Round-2) is up, and my childhood self is torn.

[Lord Golbez]

Well, I'm still not sure which game will win the third round, but I'm pretty sure I know which 3 games you favor to advance now.

[Fynn]

So who is Xenogears up against in the semis?

[Wolf Kanno]

The final round (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/172100-Square-Enix-s-best-Non-FF-Game-semifinals-Round-3) of the semi-finals is up! Will the last hold out for Enix make it to the finals or will we have a head to head battle between three games developed by the Chrono Team?

[Lord Golbez]

Bleh. This round went much worse than previous ones. Still think the same one will win though. At least Xenogears is still in this.

[Wolf Kanno]

DQVII has delivered another upset and the finalist have been chosen. I'm going to do something a bit unconventional for the final round though in order to make this final round more interesting, so stay tuned for future updates.

Our finalist are:
Xenogears
Chrono Trigger
Dragon Quest VII

So who do you think will win?

[Lord Golbez]

Pretty sure it will be Chrono Trigger but I could be surprised. Heck, it might even be DQ7 if Xenogears splits the CT vote. I'm almost certain that either game alone would soundly beat DQ7 though.and tbh, I doubt DQ7 will get more than 2 votes tops, so even with a split vote, it'll probably come in third.

[Spuuky]

I was 100% sure it would be CT before the event, I'm still sure it will be CT, unless people are just trying to be iconoclasts.

[Wolf Kanno]

So I'm doing the final round a bit differently. I figured a straight vote would be boring and at the rate some of the voting has been going, I figured this would be pretty anti-climatic. So to keep this interesting, I'm splitting the final round into three threads where you'll vote between the three finalist based on one aspect of the game: Storytelling (Plot and Characters) Gameplay (Battle system and mini-game/sidequests), and Artistry (Music and Art direction)

The winner of this tournament will be determined by the culmination of votes from all three threads which means that this can be any games chance if they get an overwhelming lead in one of the categories. Perhaps this will still play out as I saw it, but I figure this will give all three competitors a fighting chance.

[Wolf Kanno]

Storytelling Round (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/172108-Square-Enix-s-Best-Non-FF-Game-Finals-Storytelling-Round?p=3692435#post3692435)

Gameplay Round
(http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/172110-Square-Enix-s-Best-Non-FF-Game-Finals-Gameplay-Round)
Artistic Round (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/172111-Square-Enix-s-Best-Non-FF-Game-Finals-Artistic-Round)

[Vermachtnis]

I'm just happy and completely surprised Dragon Quest VII made it to the finals. Chrono Trigger and Xenogears are the two games I figured it come down to.

[Lord Golbez]

So far, DQ7 has netted zero votes among three polls for the finals. It's performing even more poorly than I would have imagined. I'd say the reality is that Xenogears and Chrono Trigger are the two games it came down to

[Wolf Kanno]

We have less than ten hours left for the contest, so get your votes in! If you have a particular entry you want to win, now is the time to type up your convincing arguments. :shifty:

[Wolf Kanno]

uYC1TN1eqko


We ended in a tie. So I flipped a coin to see who would win and Chrono Trigger won by chance, though Xenogears is an equally awesome game and I am still mad at many of you for actually praising it and never talking about it. :shrug:

Thanks to everyone for participating. Good luck to maybee and Final Fantasy Survivor which is coming up next!

[Lord Golbez]

Tie in number of total votes maybe, but Xenogears won two out of three races.

[maybee]

Congrts to Chrono Trigger ( and Xenogears !)


http://rs19.pbsrc.com/albums/b153/KuzouKiriyama/Chrono%20Trigger/FrogVictory.gif~c200

[Vermachtnis]

This was pretty fun. Liked seeing what games made it in. Thanks for hosting.

[Lord Golbez]

#xenogearswouldhavewon

[Fynn]

I’m really super glad Xenogears got so far! CT was always going to win though, let’s be real

[Wolf Kanno]

#xenogearswouldhavewon

Some things are simply fate...

75847


Still I was pretty happy with the final three though surprised DQVII made it as far as it did. I honestly didn't think it would have survived the first round and figured DQVIII or XI would be in the final three if not Chrono Cross.