Last week's DotA debate confused me more than the game of DotA itself. Either we don't have a lot of DotA gamers reading Dtoid, or they're all just too busy playing DotA to add to these debates. Sure, the lack of votes last week could be that not a lot of people play the game mod, but when the site that only hosts the newest version of the map consistently gets more Internet traffic than our site, that leaves me wondering how many people actually play this game daily.
Even more confusing was that a good portion of the votes seemed to contradict the player trends I had sensed on BattleNet in the two months that I've been playing the game. I guess what I'm trying to say is, this will definitely be a debate we'll revisit again in the future. When the DotA dust finally settled though, here were the two that took home the gold:
- Favorite DotA Hero: (Tie) Goblin Techies & Faceless Void
This week we're taking a debate topic suggestion from our intern, and giving him just enough time off of work to cast his vote before building a mansion for Jim, as well as finishing my long list of chores while I'm busy playing Braid. The last time I visited this game debate topic was almost two years ago, so with Dexter345's suggestion we are now expanding its scope and hoping for even more discussion.
Just to be clear -- this is a series versus series versus series debate, so vote accordingly. If one game in particular in one of these series really stands out to you, then feel free to let it tip the scales when making your choice, but let us all know why you made your decision. Out of the three semi-similar series shown above, which is your favorite, and why? Give it some serious thought, get some PS2 friends to share their opinions as well, and check back next week for the winner.
Bonus Question: Which game out of the series you picked was your favorite?
Contest:
10:55 PM on 08.12.2008
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BQ:Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal
Jak & Daxter. The storyline is great. And I'd have to say Jak 2 is my favorite.
Best game? Sly 2. Thievious might have had a better story, but the gameplay in 2 was much more solid.
Well, I'll admit I haven't played all of the games in each of these series, but I've played several Jak games, a few Ratchet games, and part of one Sly game. Honestly, I only got to play the first Sly game at my friend's place for 20 minutes, but I still liked it way more than both Jak & Daxter, and Ratchet & Clank.
J & D has "let's make the most generic platforming games ever" written all over it, and while that's not as bad as R & C's "let's whore this serious out as much as possible" that's written all over it, that's still not saying much.
However, I'm a big art-whore. Notice how I didn't say graphics-whore. I really don't care what level of graphics a game has (although I still think people are crazy for calling Ratchet & Clank on PS3 beautiful), but I love it when games have awesome uses of color themes to give their world a distinct and memorable feel (example -- Diablo 3 looks fucking awesome so far). And I loved the simple look of the Jak games' textures on the PS2.
That combined with the fact that I only played Sly for a day, and don't know enough about it to possibly give it my endorsement yet, means that I must vote for Jak & Daxter. However, I think the Sly series should be comended for its advanced (by comparison) mission style gameplay and its commitment to make the players think about how to best explore and complete each area, rather than just following a convenient trail of collectible items from A to Z.
In other words...
GOLD MEDAL: Jak & Daxter series -- you can't go wrong with simple fun and eye-pleasing early PS2 graphics.
SILVER MEDAL: Sly Cooper series -- this series probably deserves the gold, but there's too many asshole judges in the olympics too busy bombing countries to play it, and I'm sadly one of those who never got a chance to delve deep into this series. In the future I'll probably switch my votes if I ever revist it.
BRONZE MEDAL: Ratchet & Clank. A game based on an endless pool of gun item design mechanics proves both that their designers are clever and most people are bored and gullible. Unless this series has changed a lot, I have passed on most of them and don't feel I'm missing much. If EA only changing the rosters and a few variables each year is fucking annoying, then so is a game where only the weapons change between each title.
Why would you even put it up against Jak or Sly? They're both fine series but neither of them has ever reached the high watermark set by R&C.
Sly cooper good but not great imo.
and frankly i think that the original Jak & Daxter game was a satisfactory platform/adventure titles, every single sequel released was simply tired and just plain boring. not a big fan of any of the non precursor legacy jak & daxter games
while all the games are good, theres just something special about R&C that makes me want to pick up and play every iteration of it.
Is is it weapons? the gameplay? the storyline? I dunno but whatever it is it makes for a good experience
Conkers Bad Fur Day is superior to all three of those by a million.
For best of the R&C series, out of the ones I have played I would choose Tools of Destruction.
Sly Cooper 3 is my favorite.
You CAN'T!
Not that Ratchet & Clank and Sly Cooper are bad, by any means.
I think Tools of Destruction for PS3 is the best. It was the first one I played, and I went back and played the PS2 ones after. Maybe it has to do with being the first one I played, but it sucked me right in once I started playing it, and going back to the PS2 didn't do that for me.
My favorite out of the series was Up Your Arsenal, but I haven't gotten to play Tools of Destruction yet.
Rachet and Clank are a close second. It has more weapons, but I preferred J&D's weapons a bit more.
I haven't actually -played- Sly Cooper. I desperately want to though.
Seriously though, the way the characters develop from game to game, and the gameplay, the look of the games... top notch.
Sly Cooper is 2nd place in my book.
Also, I'm going to be the only person on Destructoid that will say Size Matters was there favorite.
For some reason, I absolutely loved it!