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'Zelda: Breath of the Wild' did surprisingly well in this new Japanese poll.
Courtesy of TV Asahi in Japan, over fifty thousand people voted for their favorite games in a new poll. Resulting in a new top 100 ranking for everyone everywhere to disagree about.
Thanks to Famitsu, the poll and it’s all important top 100 ranking of various console games is available online. So let’s get straight to it shall we.
100. Persona 3
99. Pokémon Platinum Version
98. Persona 4
97. Super Mario World
96. Romance of the Three Kingdoms
95. Mother
94. Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War
93. Persona 5 Royal
92. Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate
91. Street Fighter II
90. Final Fantasy VIII
89. Super Mario Galaxy 2
88. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
87. Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate
86. Monster Hunter
85. Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation
84. Final Fantasy XI
83. Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past
82. Legend of Mana
81. Dragon Quest Builders 2
80. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
79. Metal Gear Solid
78. Nobunaga’s Ambition: Zenkokuban
77. Mario Kart Wii
76. Kirby Air Ride
75. Animal Crossing: Wild World
74. Super Smash Bros. Brawl
73. Gran Turismo 4
72. Kirby Super Star
71. Dr. Mario
70. Monster Hunter: World
69. Super Mario RPG
68. Pokémon X / Y
67. Bloodborne
66. Ghost of Tsushima
65. Suikoden
64. Pokémon Heart Gold / Soul Silver
63. Final Fantasy III
62. Xevious
61. Super Smash Bros.
60. Pokémon Black 2 / White 2
59. Dead by Daylight
58. Animal Crossing
57. Donkey Kong Country
56. Super Mario Galaxy
55. Yo-kai Watch 2: Bony Spirits / Fleshy Souls / Psychic Specters
54. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
53. Tales of the Abyss
52. The Legend of Zelda
51. Final Fantasy IV
50. Pokémon Ruby / Sapphire
49. Kingdom Hearts
48. NieR: Automata
47. Final Fantasy XIV
46. Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line
45. Kirby’s Return to Dream Land
44. Dragon Quest X: Rise of the Five Tribes Online
43. Xenoblade Chronicles
42. Persona 5
41. Momotaro Dentetsu: Showa Heisei Reiwa mo Teiban!
40. Xenogears
39. Dark Souls III
38. Puyo Puyo
37. Final Fantasy IX
36. Pokémon Gold / Silver
35. Xenoblade Chronicles 2
34. Final Fantasy V
33. Final Fantasy VI
32. Resident Evil
31. Tactics Ogre
30. Apex Legends
29. Okami
28. EarthBound (Mother 2)
27. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age
26. Pokémon Black / White
25. Tetris
24. Pokémon Red / Green / Blue
23. Fire Emblem: Three Houses
22. Animal Crossing: New Leaf
21. Splatoon
20. Minecraft
19. Suikoden II
18. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
17. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
16. Kingdom Hearts II
15. Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen
14. Pokémon Sword / Shield
13. Undertale
12. Super Mario Kart
11. Pokémon Diamond / Pearl
10. Super Mario Bros. 3
9. Final Fantasy X
8. Chrono Trigger
7. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
6. Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation
5. Splatoon 2
4. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
3. Final Fantasy VII
2. Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride
1. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
The big shock for me is that Breath of the Wild is rated so highly and that it beat the almost perennial favorite of Dragon Quest V.
The Splatoon games also seem awfully high up the list and it’s clear Nintendo does very well overall here.
The fact that Apex Legends is included here is fascinating though, as I would have thought Fortnite would have done better, as it’s arguably more popular in Japan.
It’s also worth pointing out that even though fifty thousand people voted, the Japanese gaming populace is a very diverse one in terms of tastes. In that if this had been done by another TV station or even a different games magazine, the results would be very different.
One thing that can be taken away from this kind of thing though is the number of times certain series of games pop up, and franchises like Dragon Quest have clearly lost none of their staying power.
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