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Discussion The Top 100 Games Polled by 50,000 Players in Japan

TheGreatLugia

TheGreatLugia

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A TV network in Japan aired the results of a national poll of people's favorite console games. Over 50,000 people participated in the poll. It appears that participants were asked to rank their 5 favorite games in order with #1 being worth 10 points, #2 being worth 7 points, #3 being worth 5 points, #4 being worth 3 points, and #5 being worth 1 point.

The top 100 are listed below. Only the top 70 have point totals available.


100. Persona 3

99. Pokemon 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 (660 Points)

69. Super Mario RPG (700 Points)

68. Pokemon X / Y (705 Points)

67. Bloodborne (710 Points)

66. Ghost of Tsushima (716 Points)

65. Suikoden (745 Points)

64. Pokemon Heart Gold / Soul Silver (750 Points)

63. Final Fantasy III (755 Points)

62. Xevious (800 Points)

61. Super Smash Bros. (806 Points)

60. Pokemon Black 2 / White 2 (895 Points)

59. Dead by Daylight (900 Points)

58. Animal Crossing (901 Points)

57. Super Donkey Kong (950 Points)

56. Super Mario Galaxy (956 Points)

55. Yo-kai Watch 2: Bony Spirits / Fleshy Souls / Psychic Specters (1100 Points)

54. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (1105 Points)

53. Tales of the Abyss (1151 Points)

52. The Legend of Zelda (1405 Points)

51. Final Fantasy IV (1445 Points)

50. Pokemon Ruby / Sapphire (1450 Points)

49. Kingdom Hearts (1465 Points)

48. NieR: Automata (1552 Points)

47. Final Fantasy XIV (1756 Points)

46. Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line (1810 Points)

45. Kirby’s Return to Dream Land (1850 Points)

44. Dragon Quest X: Rise of the Five Tribes Online (1900 Points)

43. Xenoblade (2055 Points)

42. Persona 5 (2066 Points)

41. Momotaro Dentetsu: Showa Heisei Reiwa mo Teiban! (2105 Points)

40. Xenogears (2165 Points)

39. Dark Souls III (2805 Points)

38. Puyo Puyo (3400 Points)

37. Final Fantasy IX (3451 Points)

36. Pokemon Gold / Silver (3605 Points)

35. Xenoblade 2 (3802 Points)

34. Final Fantasy V (3806 Points)

33. Final Fantasy VI (4150 Points)

32. Biohazard (4455 Points)

31. Tactics Ogre (5060 Points)

30. Apex Legends (5105 Points)

29. Okami (5708 Points)

28. MOTHER 2 (5761 Points)

27. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age (6650 Points)

26. Pokemon Black / White (6651 Points)

25. Tetris (7350 Points)

24. Pokemon Red / Green / Blue (7501 Points)

23. Fire Emblem: Three Houses (7506 Points)

22. Animal Crossing: New Leaf (7555 Points)

21. Splatoon (8026 Points)

20. Minecraft (8059 Points)

19. Suikoden II (8401 Points)

18. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (8651 Points)

17. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (9261 Points)

16. Kingdom Hearts II (9316 Points)

15. Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen (9706 Points)

14. Pokemon Sword / Shield (10401 Points)

13. UNDERTALE (14010 Points)

12. Super Mario Kart (14756 Points)

11. Pokemon Diamond / Pearl (16655 Points)

10. Super Mario Bros. 3 (22256 Points)

9. Final Fantasy X (23001 Points)

8. Chrono Trigger (26006 Points)

7. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (26602 Points)

6. Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation (33905 Points)

5. Splatoon 2 (35550 Points)

4. Animal Crossing: New Horizons (39960 Points)

3. Final Fantasy VII (50501 Points)

2. Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride (55250 Points)

1. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (74000 Points)
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The list of top 100 games is from Gematsu:

www.gematsu.com

Over 50,000 Japanese users vote for their favorite console games in TV Asahi poll – Top 100 announced

Japanese television network TV Asahi aired the special program “50,000 Users Vote: The TV Game National Poll” today, which announced the results of a poll in which more than 50,000 user…
www.gematsu.com www.gematsu.com


The points for the top 70 games are from the following video:

 
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The thing that I'd like to know is how they collected all these votes. I'm assuming they had people list as many games as they could, but were people required to fill out all 100 spots? Don't think I could do that if I tried! XD
Love to see some statistics on this stuff, it's fascinating to me, especially considering how big the sample size is.
 
They got number 1 right. OoT is way too low however. Also, Dr. Mario is there but Super Mario 64 isn’t? That may be my biggest question mark.
 
Dead by Daylight being there is wild! I knew Apex was meant to be pretty big with players in Japan but that caught me off guard too.

Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal both being there but only Persona 4 Vanilla being there is very funny to me, idk.
 
I’m surprised to see DQ II on the list. It’s Dragon Quest, but I thought that was pretty universally regarded as being one of the worst ones in the series…
 
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What an amazing list, some great representation there.

Also happy to see people aren't raging over the tastes of these Japanese players.
 
Also nice to see demographic splits for games like Animal Crossing. Women of all ages love it. Anecdotally that’s the only full-price game my little sister has on her Switch.

Would love to see a poll like this for other territories.
 
WestEgg said:
Good to see Xenoblade 2 so high.
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I'm a little bit surprised Xenoblade 2 ranked higher than both Xenogears and Xenoblade 1, but I'm kind of shocked it ranked higher than Persona 5. Xenoblade 2 got more points than Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal combined, so Royal didn't really split the votes for Persona 5.
 
Robert said:
The thing that I'd like to know is how they collected all these votes. I'm assuming they had people list as many games as they could, but were people required to fill out all 100 spots? Don't think I could do that if I tried! XD
Love to see some statistics on this stuff, it's fascinating to me, especially considering how big the sample size is.
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This was posted on Install Base.

So if this is right they gave or sent in their top 5 where each game is weighted like this:

f2bU3ka.jpg


1. 10 pt
2. 7 pt
3. 5 pt
4. 3 pt
5. 1pt
 
What a fantastic surprise to see Dragon Quest V at #2. A truly magical and outstanding experience. It's a shame it's not as well-known in the West as the 3D iterations, because it's secretly one of the best JRPGs in the Super Famicom - a system that is known for its great JRPGs.

To this day I can't get over how enthralled I was when I first played it. I only realised how much time had passed and for how long I was playing when I noticed I was getting next to the end of the game. I still remember the feeling.
 
BotW @ No. 1 is a great selection, recency bias be dammed.

Seeing bad pokemon games like D/P and Sw/Sh in the top 20 is where they lose me.
 
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I'm genuinely surprised, but so happy to see Xenoblade 2 so high. But seeing Xenoblade 2, Xenoblade 1, and Xenogears in the the Top 50 still warms my heart.

ZNrIxcL.gif
 
Wow, had no idea Final Fantasy X is that highly regarded.

Or that Shin Megami Tensei is so ... not regarded, considering how its spinoffs like Persona and Pokemon are so beloved
( 😉 )

Oh also no Smash Melee but everyone else is there??

But most surprising, after having recently watched Tim Rogers' ridiculously long yet ludicrously entertaining review of Tokimeki Memorial, and his subsequent placement of it in the Pantheon of Greats ... dang, what a snub from the Japanese gamers!
 
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We need a Xenoblade X port so the three Xenoblade games can be on the list.
 
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This is a high quality list. Definitely reflects the current state of gaming in Japan with Splatoon, Xenoblade and the like all charting so high. Can't be arguing with number 1, although Ocarina is surprisingly low.

Also nice to see Final Fantasy X get so much love. It's my fav FF, and often I feel alone in that department.
 
My main takeaway here is how rare it is for western games to make an impression in Japan - correct me if I'm wrong but I count just six games that don't originate from Japan (Tetris, Minecraft, Undertale, Apex Legends, Dead by Daylight, Ghost of Tsushima).

I think if 50,000 US players were polled for their favourite games, you'd definitely see a larger portion of non-western games included than non-Japanese games here.
 
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Possibly a bit of recency bias there but it's a really strong list. Xenoblade could become something significant if it's that well regarded. Maybe Yo-kai Watch doesn't have to remain dead if they can give it a worthwhile sequel.

No Metroid at all though. Why Japan, why? 😭
 
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Surprising lack of Mario games on this list, particularly the GOAT Yoshi’s Island.

Still, good list overall. Probably much more reflective of my tastes than a western list would be.
 
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doodlewhizz said:
My main takeaway here is how rare it is for western games to make an impression in Japan - correct me if I'm wrong but I count just six games that don't originate from Japan (Tetris, Minecraft, Undertale, Apex Legends, Dead by Daylight, Ghost of Tsushima).

I think if 50,000 US players were polled for their favourite games, you'd definitely see a larger portion of non-western games included than non-Japanese games here.
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Western games aren't generally designed for a broad audience, methinks. Hitting that 18-34 male demo, while large, cuts out a lot of people. And with so many of such games, ranking just 5 of them is difficult. It wouldn't shock me if there were lots of western games in people's lists but just not enough points doled out
 
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Weebos said:
Pretty cool results.

Interesting to see that Gold and Silver don't have the pull in Japan that they do in the West.
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In general the first Pokemon gen on each console ranked higher than the second gen on the same console.

Diamond/Pearl (11) above Black/White (26), Red/Green/Blue (24) above Gold/Silver (36), and X/Y (68) above Sun/Moon (didn't make the top 100).
 
Pretty good list. Mario World and Persona 4 being so low is a bit hmm though.

I'd be quite curious to see something like this done in the US and how it differs to Japan. I get the feeling I'd disagree with the US list a lot more haha.
 
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Undertale being so high up makes me so happy. Japan has such good taste.
 
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I don’t quite understand how Super Mario Kart (SNES) would be so highly rated. It’s hard to imagine someone willingly choosing to play the SNES game over 8 Deluxe.

I suppose it’s a quirk of ranking iterative games using a top-five methodology.
 
Nanashrew said:
It's kinda wild to see Xenoblade ranked so high.
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This sounds like hyperbole, but I could swear I remember reading that when it released, Japanese gamers regarded Xenoblade as "saving" JRPGs, after FFXIII went so far off the path and western RPGs were starting to rise. I know it didn't make a big splash in the west at first but I think it was a really big deal in Japan.
if someone has actual insight into Japanese game culture please comment on this, I'd be interested to hear if this is right
 
Further 'proof' that a Genealogy remake is coming next year. The stars are aligning.

Also, Scrimblo Bimblo fans have been quiet since this list dropped, curious.
 
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chocolate_supra said:
This sounds like hyperbole, but I could swear I remember reading that when it released, Japanese gamers regarded Xenoblade as "saving" JRPGs, after FFXIII went so far off the path and western RPGs were starting to rise. I know it didn't make a big splash in the west at first but I think it was a really big deal in Japan.
if someone has actual insight into Japanese game culture please comment on this, I'd be interested to hear if this is right
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This was said more by western gamers, but it did have a very positive reception in Japan as well.
 
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