Round 4, in which we worship other gods

[This Old Neon]

Round 4, in which we worship other gods

You can vote for 1-3 games in this poll. Vote carefully—you can't change your votes after submitting them. The #1, #2, and #3 ranked games at the end of the week will move on to Round 5.

1986 - The Legend of Zelda - NES
1989 - Ghouls'n Ghosts - Genesis/MD
1995 - Mortal Kombat 3 - Arcade
1996 - Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! - SNES
2003 - Dynasty Warriors 4 - PS2
2003 - Soulcalibur II - Multiplatform
2003 - Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow - GBA
2011 - Gears of War 3 - X360
2014 - Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition - PC

You are encouraged to discuss your choices and your reasons for selecting the games you did.

[Humphries90]

Easy. Dynasty Warriors 4. It was the third (maybe 4th) Three Kingdom game I'd played and it was this one that made me realise it was all based off something real. It got me into it's history. This is why I live in China right now.

It had the perfect balance of starting characters, unlockables, mission objectives, extra content. I played DW8 a while back and everything just seemed off. All the characters were already unlocked, no individual stories for each character (wtf!!), mission objectives got totally lost. Sure I had fun, but it was nothing compared to the glory days of DW4.

[Drauks]

Mortal Kombat 3, while not as rose-colored for me as the first two, was by far and away the most fantastical the series has ever reached. The sheer amount of finishers, including the newly introduced Brutality and Animality as well as the new characters, came along right as the local arcades had a resurgence which added to the crowd and atmosphere around the cabinet. I'm actually surprised that the base game, and not Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, which is in general viewed as the better, is up here... unless it's in a later round.

Dynasty Warriors 4, how I loathe thee. The changes to the weapon system above all else, up to and including the orbs, with the duels and story advancement following closely. CAW was a shining spark in an otherwise very aggravating game for me. This entry in the series is solely responsible for my disenchantment with Dynasty Warriors as a whole.

[VictorViper]

Ghouls 'n Ghosts is a bona fide masterpiece and beating it (yep, twice) ranks among my proudest gaming moments. My friend and I worked on this one for years. This is action and platforming in perfect balance, with a system that asks for perfection, but allows you to recover from mistakes. This one may be prohibitively hard for some (maybe most), but that does nothing to diminish its greatness.

Not sure I need to say anything more about Guacamelee! at this point. This will be an easy vote for me right through to the bitter end.

[Humphries90]

Super Ghouls and Ghost was a staple of my childhood. It's the only game my Mum used to play too. She was better at it than both me and my Dad.

[Claytone]

Ghouls 'n Ghosts is a bona fide masterpiece and beating it (yep, twice) ranks among my proudest gaming moments.

Likewise. Beating this game (like you, both "laps") is one of the few times I've really felt like I did something in a game that other people legitimately could not do. And difficulty isn't all that makes the game. The reason I persisted is because of how damn fun it was. A wonderful game.

This one is definitely getting one of my votes (after all, I nominated it). I'll have to think about whether or not any of these other games should.

[SkyPikachu]

DKC3. Use to be my least favorite of the 3 but it's grown on me a bit. The level layout is cool and the music is great. I think I just hated playing as Kiddy Kong.

[Kong Wen]

I actually really enjoyed Dynasty Warriors 4, yes, even after really enjoying the superior Dynasty Warriors 3. I thought the maps in DW4 were pretty fun. Lots of big open fields and big castles to run around in and jump off. I thought the CAW system was actually pretty good, and well-implemented. I didn't mind the weapon system so much. I did feel like Dynasty Warriors 5 was a big return to form for the series, though. It's a shame if you missed that one, Drauks. It's basically "Dynasty Warriors 3 but good" in my mind. All that said, I can't vote for it here, for three reasons:

1. Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition is too good. This is a true top-of-its-class game.

2. I couldn't gush about Symphony of the Night in the other thread and then not vote for one of the only games in the Castlevania series that is actually better than it! Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow has a great style, great map/world/castle, and awesome supporting gameplay systems. I think this is out on the eShop now. Everyone should check it out and be impressed with what this series could do in its prime.

3. The Legend of Zelda is unfortunately quite anchored in its time. While it is undoubtedly one of the best and most influential games of all time, a lot of people give it a pass because it was too obtuse, the goals were too obscure, the player was too directionless, and it wasn't easy. It's one of those games where, if you weren't there at the time, it seems reasonable to have given it a pass. But no, other games in the Zelda franchise don't manage to convey the same sense of open adventure, the same open world into which you could cast your own imagination. Not even the wide open field of Ocarina of Time. Not even the brilliantly-realized world of A Link to the Past. I'd say the closest thing kids of newer generations have to the experience of the original The Legend of Zelda is Skyrim with its "go out into the world and do something" approach. Its ability to fostering that sense of blind adventure despite its technical limitations is one of the reasons I loved The Legend of Zelda so much and think it stands up as one of the most influential games of all time.

[Jordan]

I'm worshiping the Goddesses of Hyrule for this one.

[Claytone]

GnG ends up with my sole vote in this bracket. Looks like it might not make it out, which is a shame! It's losing to very good games, though.

Side note: I surely do not understand the glow with which some folks around here talk about Guacamelee. It's absolutely a good game, but it didn't quite click with me the way it did some of you. I don't begrudge it moving on, I've just always found the widespread high praise it finds around TONe to be curious.