Best Game of the Noughties (2000-09) - Round One Tie-Breakers

[This Old Neon]

Round One of the "Best Game of the Noughties (2000-09)" side-event ended with some ties. Let's break them!

• You can vote for 1 game per tie-breaker.
• The line above each poll shows how many will advance.
• You can't change your votes once they've been submitted, so click carefully. Voting closes on Saturday at midnight ADT.

VOTE HERE

Tie-Breaker 1 of 5 (1 advances)
Bully / Canis Canem Edit (2006, Multiplatform)
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (2002, PC)
F-Zero GX (2003, GCN)
Fire Emblem (2003, GBA)
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (2009, DS)

Tie-Breaker 2 of 5 (1 advances)
Deus Ex (2000, PC)
Final Fantasy XII (2006, PS2)
Gran Turismo 4 (2004, PS2)
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (2007, DS)

Tie-Breaker 3 of 5 (2 advance)
Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (2000, PC)
God of War II (2007, PS2)
Half-Life 2: Episode Two (2007, PC)

Tie-Breaker 4 of 5 (2 advance)
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn (2007, Wii)
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty / Substance (2001, PS2)
Persona 4 (2008, PS2)

Tie-Breaker 5 of 7 (3 advance)
Final Fantasy X (2001, PS2)
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004, Multiplatform)
Halo 3 (2007, X360)
Resident Evil 4 (2005, GCN)

[The Shoemaker]

Geez, this is almost the entire round all over again!

[Kong Wen]

Tie-Breaker 1 of 5 (1 advances)
Bully / Canis Canem Edit (2006, Multiplatform)
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (2002, PC)
F-Zero GX (2003, GCN)
Fire Emblem (2003, GBA)
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (2009, DS)

Bully was the game that proved Rockstar's GTA formula would work in other contexts.

Tie-Breaker 2 of 5 (1 advances)
Deus Ex (2000, PC)
Final Fantasy XII (2006, PS2)
Gran Turismo 4 (2004, PS2)
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (2007, DS)

Final Fantasy XII is a masterful Ivalice game (great setting) with a really nice strategic core system in the gambit system.

Tie-Breaker 3 of 5 (2 advance)
Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (2000, PC)
God of War II (2007, PS2)
Half-Life 2: Episode Two (2007, PC)

Funny that this is the sequel bracket. I voted for God of War because, as much as I preferred the setup and pacing of the first one, the sequel was really a refinement of the gameplay and puzzle design.

Tie-Breaker 4 of 5 (2 advance)
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn (2007, Wii)
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty / Substance (2001, PS2)
Persona 4 (2008, PS2)

Ugh, Radiant Dawn is one of my favourite games, but it was only half of a two-parter, and not the strongest half IMO, whereas Persona is an iconic and influential game that shaped a generation of RPGs.

Tie-Breaker 5 of 7 (3 advance)
Final Fantasy X (2001, PS2)
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004, Multiplatform)
Halo 3 (2007, X360)
Resident Evil 4 (2005, GCN)

San Andreas was the first fully-formed GTA where you felt like you really had freedom to play in the sandbox and live your life in addition to just running from mission to mission. Stacked up against one of the weaker entries in the FF series, I have to give it my vote.

[SkyPikachu]

San Andreas was the first fully-formed GTA where you felt like you really had freedom to play in the sandbox and live your life in addition to just running from mission to mission. Stacked up against one of the weaker entries in the FF series, I have to give it my vote.

Been playing GTA III lately and oh boy does it just feel like a do a mission then another mission type of thing instead of a mess around type of game.

Also is FFX really considered a weak title?

[Kong Wen]

Also is FFX really considered a weak title?

Weaker. Most (but not all) of the older entries are better. It seems much stronger now because the series has been diluted by a bunch of wacky FF13 spinoffs.

[SkyPikachu]

Also is FFX really considered a weak title?

Weaker. Most (but not all) of the older entries are better. It seems much stronger now because the series has been diluted by a bunch of wacky FF13 spinoffs.

Do you still consider it a great game just a weaker FF title?

[Kong Wen]

Do you still consider it a great game just a weaker FF title?

Yeah, absolutely.

[This Old Neon]

Tie-Breaker 1 of 5 (1 advances)
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (2002, PC)

Tie-Breaker 2 of 5 (1 advances)
Final Fantasy XII (2006, PS2)

Tie-Breaker 3 of 5 (2 advance)
Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (2000, PC)
Half-Life 2: Episode Two (2007, PC)

Tie-Breaker 4 of 5 (2 advance)
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty / Substance (2001, PS2)
Persona 4 (2008, PS2)

Tie-Breaker 5 of 7 (3 advance)
Final Fantasy X (2001, PS2)
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004, Multiplatform)
Resident Evil 4 (2005, GCN)

Winners.