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| - Please note that I do not hate Pokémon. I used to like it, and I still think it's a good franchise. My issues come with Nintendo selling the game out beyond any possible realm of human comprehension. The game itself is fine, as it is a very detailed RPG. But the current franchise is nothing more than a cheap attempt for Nintendo to make a buck, and I've never been much of a fan for that sort of thing. That being said, I'm not going to sit here and say that Pokémon lost simply because it is one of the most hated games on the site. It is. But there are other reasons besides that. The most obvious of which is the game it was up against. Squaresoft RPGs, no matter how obscure, are no joke on this site. Square owns this place, and taking down one of their games in a poll is no small task. For Pokémon, it's a near-impossible task. There's also the issue of the Red/Blue versions not being in the contest. Gold/Silver/Crystal were all cash cow games. Red and Blue were where it was at, and despite any hate the series has by this point, I maintain that it was one of the most fun series out there. Who doesn't remember going at it with your friends during lunch in high school? I do, and I have no regrets whatsoever about it. But sadly, Red/Blue weren't in the contest. If they were, we may have seen something different. So yes, while the big factor in Pokémon's loss was the 'anything but Pokémon' vote, the series isn't something to laugh at, and there were other factors. The fact that over half of the bracketmakers picked Pokémon to win should show that much. But tip your hat to Xenogears in this one. Despite every claim in the book against it, the game has one of the greatest soundtracks and storylines to ever grace a video game. The graphics and the battles weren't anything earthshattering, but Xenogears still possessed two of the key qualities needed for a solid RPG. Oh, and don't forget a kickass cast of characters, a main character who follows the traditional storyline of being a tortured soul to a T, and every Squaresoft plot twist that you could ever think of. Just be ready to get into a ton of random battles so that your gears are always fitted with the latest, or you'll get creamed. Also, you might want to brush up your psychology a bit before playing. Nothing beats being able to understand a storyline involving the multiple egos within the human psyche and the subliminal desire to be more powerful than God himself. Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, I almost forgot! This was the poll that had to be restarted. CJayC broke out some very sexy new code for the polls and bracket before this match. But sadly, it was only allowing people registered with a gamefaqs account to vote. But not to be outdone by his own misfortune, CJayC plastered a giant FFXI ad on the entire front page during the restarted poll. This caused all sorts of hell for some browsers, and the main page was 11 pages longer on some of them. This could be a good reason why the poll didn't even manage 70,000 votes, wouldn't you say? In short, this analysis was brought to you by FFXI.
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