This Old Neon Forum

Welcome to the #BGE2020 Elimination Round Lower Bracket!

Each game in the lower bracket is still seeded based on its performance in the two opening rounds of pools! Every game in the lower bracket has already been defeated by another game in a 1-on-1 poll to get to this point. This is their chance to claw their way back into the main event... but the stakes are high. The games that lose in these polls are out of the tournament for good! The games that survive will face the next crop of upper bracket losers in the next round.

Polls are updated weekly, typically on Saturday... or Sunday or Monday. Check back throughout the week to make sure you don't miss a vote!

HOW TO VOTE

This is easy. You only get one vote per poll. The game with the most votes wins. In the event of a tie, the higher seed advances, so don't get complacent!

Gemfire, like most other of Koei's SNES simulations, holds a special place in my heart. Even with my more recent dive into Uncharted Waters: New Horizons, I've played more Gemfire than any of the others. I have vivid memories of staying up all night playing it with my brother.

It's not a particularly deep game, but the effort that went into building this history of a weird alternate English civil war is fascinating, the portraits are appealing, the music is fantastic and the chesslike combat is just about perfect for the difficulty level. Hidden stuff like being able to find magical items via Search or loyalty stats (which might not actually be there) just add to its mystique.

I do wish the wizards were a little better balanced (Pluvius or Zendor will totally wreck Skulryk or Chylla) and hired 5th units should stick around a little longer, but it was a great introduction to simplified Grand Strategy for me.

I liked the ROTKs at the time - especially 2 - but I can't go back to them like I can go back to Gemfire.

I agree with everything Niahak said except about not being able to go back to RTK2—that is one of my most replayable games of all time. But yes, Gemfire.