Monday, September 01, 2008

Round 1 - Bracket C - Match 2

4. Final Fantasy VII




Vs.





5. Golden Sun

RPG madness! Of the six or so true RPGs that made the tournament, this is the first head-to-head match up. Final Fantasy VII has you and your team fighting to save the world, while Golden Sun has you and your team... well, also trying to save the world. Pretty standard plot when it comes to RPGs.

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Okay, I am going to start off by saying I have only played through FFVII completely once. Only once. That means from start to finish. However, even one playthrough requires a lot of hours, and then some more when hitting sidequests and leveling and raising chocobos and leveling and gaining AP and leveling... and leveling.

All the RPG elements are here in FFVII, but they are presented differently from other games. This FF story does not take place somewhere in the past, instead it takes place in a futuristic world that is falling apart. Nothing is perfect. Not even the main character. Cloud may be the biggest anti-hero to be the hero ever. His life practically falls apart all around him. He discovers that he has been living a lie for years, and you can see that he isn't perfect all the way till the very end when he defeats Sephiroth. It still does not make things right for him. Very unique story telling.

I do not know what I love more about FFVII, the game itself or all of the lore that encompasses it. Advent Children is one of my top ten favorite movies. The game is an awesome RPG, and millions of people will agree with me on that. It is an incredibly deep game that deserves multiple playthroughs, if not begs for them.

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Golden Sun is the very first game I bought with my Gameboy Advance. And it was awesome. For a handheld game, it was visually stunning and captivating with many good moments that beg you to keep playing and go deeper into the story. Isaac, a classic silent protagonist, is thrown into being the hero like so many other RPG leads; and although this whole game is very archetypal, it works and still feels fresh everytime I play it.

The sequel was in immediate purchase because the game left such a huge cliffhanger at the end. Only two of the lighthouses were lit; Felix and Jenna were lost at sea; and the world was still falling apart. But I am getting way ahead of myself. The first game only showed you half of the problem, and you were fighting against it for the wrong reasons. The second game corrected that and showed you the truth (and the whole rest of the world via magically flying boat).

Golden Sun begs to be my favorite handheld game. It begs that all other RPGs should be played like this. IT BEGS FOR A THIRD TITLE TO REALLY REVEAL WHAT HAPPENED TO ALEX AT THE END OF GS2!!! He could not have died. He was too powerful and too big of a badass. I could get rid of my GBA after six years of good use, but then I would miss out on two (this and the sequel) of the greatest RPGs (and games in general) that I have ever played.

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So, do you think you know who emerged victorious after this turn-based battle? I know you (the millions of other readers I get) are convinced that FFVII should win this tournament all together. I mean, so many others have ranked this at the top of their list. But do not overlook that I am deciding which of these games are MY FAVORITE, not necessarily the best of all time or anything like that. Which is why I favor Golden Sun as a game over Final Fantasy VII. I have said this before and I will say it again: a decade from now if I do this whole bracket challenge again, things may change.

Winner: Golden Sun

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