Results[]
Thursday, May 14, 2020
Ulti's Analysis[]
| Division | Bonus |
|---|---|
| Match # | 128 |
| Match Date | Thursday, May 14, 2020 |
| Oracle Expectations |
Zelda: Breath of the Wild - 53.04% 27 for - 7 against |
This was the clear and obvious bonus poll to have for this contest, and good lord did Breath of the Wild show up. This was just a beating right from the jump, and Majora's Mask never stood a chance.
A lot of people are calling this match SFF, but I'm not so sure. The Zelda series tends to not SFF itself. Here are some great examples:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/6168-best-game-ever-day-35-division-vi-final-zelda-a-link-to-the
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/6173-best-game-ever-day-38-quarterfinal-zelda-ocarina-of-time-vs
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/4188-northwest-division-final-zelda-majoras-mask-vs-zelda-wind
Those matches weren't SFF, so why does this bonus poll have to be? Because Majora's Mask got embarrassed? I truly think Breath of the Wild is just this good. All the evidence is there already. A crazy boost for Link two years ago. An even crazier boost for Zelda two years ago. The game having strength fit for the 90s, which is the decade this site is still stuck in. It's the new hotness. Everything lines up toward this being a legit match, and Zelda only really SFFs itself in fourways.
But it's a bonus poll at the end of the day and these are all lighthearted, so who really knows. We definitely need another catch-all games contest with no gimmicks or BS to find out though. Just throw everything in a normal bracket of 128 and let it rip. I'm also very happy Allen didn't turn around and have a poll between Ocarina and Breath of the Wild. That match needs to happen with money on the line.
And with that, another contest in the books! I guess we'll see you all in ten years when Game of the Decade 3 happens, assuming this place is still around then.
Ctes's Analysis[]
We would get a bonus match this contest, as we often but not always do. People had been asking for this one a while, so Allen was nice enough to provide it to us. It felt right. Game of the 2000s vs. Game of the 2010s. Typically, a match between two Zelda games, though interestingly, it’s the two Zelda games being mostly different from the rest of 3D games fighting today. We were given more picture fun, as picking Majora’s Mask would have the moon slowly covering Breath of the Wild just like in the final but picking Breath of the Wild would instead have a major cuckoo cover the Majora’s Mask picture. It’s nice to see Allen is still getting some fun out of these things.
Breath of the Wild was the overwhelming favorite to win this match. Majora’s Mask was always a weird winner while Breath of the Wild was an obvious one. Even with all the Zelda-drones, Majora’s Mask probably loses that contest to Brawl if not for the active campaign against the latter. Look at how easily Breath of the Wild handled the Smash game of this decade. It looked pretty clear the whole contest that Breath of the Wild would be up there with the absolute best games and Majora’s Mask is unfortunately not quite there. At least not when Ocarina of Time is also in the field.
It won easier than most anticipated though, making everything from the previous decade look very weak. It would do bad with the board vote once again but rise a good bit from there. When you remember the rest of the results Breath of the Wild had, then it’s clear enough Majora’s Mask is very good, and it’s clear that we had a weak field this decade aside from the very top. I could spend a good while praising the actual game, but let’s keep that for another time and stay on its contest strength here. Getting a percentage like this against Breath of the Wild is very good, and Majora’s Mask had all the SFF in the world to worry about. It’s probably not the worst beatsown since the games are far apart in time and are quite different considering they’re from the same series, but it’s SFF regardless. I’m also guessing that this being a Game of the 2010s bonus match with Breath of the Wild coming out fresh as the winner, it overperforms a little bit.
This was the contest match that made sense, but Breath of the Wild against Ocarina of Time would’ve been a more interesting match. Most would probably pick Ocarina of Time there, but Breath of the Wild did come fresh off of winning a contest, so it might look really good. Breath of the Wild is basically the modern Ocarina of Time. The highly acclaimed Zelda game that is often regarded as the best of its time. Majora’s Mask was never that. On the other hand, it’s good that we’re saving Breath of the Wild versus the biggest games for an actual contest and not a bonus match, so it’s a good thing we didn’t see Ocarina of Time today.
We’ve seen that the title of the contest has boosted games, but it looks like Breath of the Wild could be a top 5 game of all time here, which is impressive for a game that recent. Majora’s Mask it up there and Breath of the Wild beat it rather easily, while A Link to the Past struggled a bit beating it in SNES dominant contest. That suggest it’s better than that, but keep in mind 3D Zelda games likely SFF each other more than a 3D Zelda SFFs a 2D Zelda and that none of two had just won a contest back then.
This match did what it was supposed to, make us excited for an eventual Best Game Ever IV where we get to see this mostly untested field against all our usual juggernauts. Contests are rare enough these days though and who knows what other ideas we need to get through first.