Top 5 favourite gaming rivalries?

[NightmareFarm]

Rivalries are very enjoyable in video games since they are recurring anti-heroes or villains who have a personal connection to the player. These recurring conflicts between two acquainted characters make for very interesting drama and keep you wanting to see how it resolves(like if the rival joins your side or you end up killing the rival). Which would you say are your favourite?

My list:

1 - Dante & Vergil(Devil May Cry)

2 - Yuri & Flynn(Tales of Vesperia)

3 -  Velvet & Artorius(Tales of Berseria)

4 - Naked Snake & The Boss(Metal Gear Solid 3)

5 - Cole & Kessler(inFAMOUS)

Honourable Mentions: Delsin & Augustine(inFAMOUS Second Son), Sora & Riku(Kingdom Hearts), Squall and Seifer(Final Fantasy VIII), Basch & Gabranth(Final Fantasy XII), Solid Snake & Liquid Snake(Metal Gear Solid)

 

Edited September 9, 2022 by NightmareFarm

[Heatman]

I would choose one of the best in Final Fantasy Series between Cloud Strife and Sephiroth. The fued between them both and their battles was impressive by all standards. 

[NightmareFarm]

2 minutes ago, Heatman said:

I would choose one of the best in Final Fantasy Series between Cloud Strife and Sephiroth. The fued between them both and their battles was impressive by all standards. 

That too. I tend to think of Sephiroth more as a typical villain than Cloud's personal rival though.

Edited September 9, 2022 by NightmareFarm

[Heatman]

5 minutes ago, NightmareFarm said:

That too. I tend to think of Sephiroth more as a typical villain than Cloud's personal rival though.

You're very right about Sephiroth being a villain. In fact, if I'm being very honest, he's my favourite villian in all the Final Fantasy franchise. 

[NightmareFarm]

1 minute ago, Heatman said:

You're very right about Sephiroth being a villain. In fact, if I'm being very honest, he's my favourite villian in all the Final Fantasy franchise. 

That's fair enough. For me it goes Seymour(gave me chills as a kid), Ardyn(god tier villain), Kuja then Sephiroth then all the other FF villains.

[Heatman]

3 minutes ago, NightmareFarm said:

That's fair enough. For me it goes Seymour(gave me chills as a kid), Ardyn(god tier villain), Kuja then Sephiroth then all the other FF villains.

There's always something sinister about the character of Seymour Guado. Everything he does with his powers are linked to one evil or another nasty end. He's got a very weird hair design for my liking though. 

[NightmareFarm]

4 minutes ago, Heatman said:

There's always something sinister about the character of Seymour Guado. Everything he does with his powers are linked to one evil or another nasty end. He's got a very weird hair design for my liking though. 

Yeah, he has very creepy and sinister mannerisms. I liked his design it looks very regal. His hair may have been weird but it also looks stylish imo. My only problem is his poorly written motive where people dying causes suffering so his solution is to just kill everyone so no one dies anymore. But on every other front he is a great antagonist. Come to think of it he's kind of like a proto-ardyn when it comes to his role in the plot. 

Edited September 9, 2022 by NightmareFarm

[Shagger]

Abby and Ellie from The Last of Us part II needs a mention. Bothe driven buy such similar motives and emotions, but both led down a path by thier intend that costs them. The way the game develops empathy and conflict within the player in relation to the two characters is also very smart.

[Crazycrab]

Well number one is obviously Trevor Vs Foot...

 

 

Ha HA🤣!!

 

Ok seriously, my top 5 (in no particular order) would be:

 

Cloud Strife and Sephiroth (Final Fantasy 7):  I know this one is a bit obvious but I don't you cant include it.  It's personal, deep and the battles are undeniably epic.

 

Velvet and Artorius (Tales of Berseria):  With you on this one @NightmareFarm.  Deeply personal and compliments the motivations of both extremely well.  I really enjoyed the fact that in many aspects, Velvet is perceivably kind of more the villain of the piece with Artorius being calm and rational and Velvet being reckless and emotional.

 

Aloy and Sylens (Horizon Zero Dawn/Forbibben West):  This is very different from the typical "Hero Vs Villain" rivalry, it's almost more like student Vs Lecturer.  Aloy needs Sylens' knowledge and experience even she clashes with him constantly to the point where she cant stand him.  As for Sylens, Aloy may the only person who has ever truly challenged him intellectually and he needs that drive.  Even though neither would ever admit it, they need each other their is healthy respect there.

 

Solid Snake and Liquid Snake (Metal Gear Series):  They are two sides of the same coin yet maybe the only thing they truly have in common is that desire to break that bond.  So predictably sparks fly across multiple titles in the series and it's awesome!

 

Basch and Gabranth (Final Fantasy XII) (Yep, I'm staling another one from you @NightmareFarm):  I see a lot of similarities between these two and Soild and Liquid snake that I just mentioned.  Cut from the same cloth but when their homeland of Landis fell to the Arcadian empire they took vastly different approaches to deal with it after the fall.  Gabranth, seemingly putting the blame for Landis' fall on his brother joined the Empire.  Basch fled to Dalmasca swear fealty to Protect another Kingdom form Arcadia to restore his honour.  It's part of why, in my opinion, has one has of the best stories in the franchise.

 

50 minutes ago, NightmareFarm said:

Yeah, he has very creepy and sinister mannerisms. I liked his design it looks very regal. His hair may have been weird but it also looks stylish imo. My only problem is his poorly written motive where people dying causes suffering so his solution is to just kill everyone so no one dies anymore. But on every other front he is a great antagonist. Come to think of it he's kind of like a proto-ardyn when it comes to his role in the plot. 

 

To be honest, as much as I love Final Fantasy X I don't think Seymore was a particularly good villain, especially in hindsight.  His motivations made little sense, he was melodramatic, over the top and even kinda silly at times.

Edited September 9, 2022 by Crazycrab

[NightmareFarm]

50 minutes ago, Crazycrab said:

Well number one is obviously Trevor Vs Foot...

 

 

Ha HA🤣!!

 

Ok seriously, my top 5 (in no particular order) would be:

 

Cloud Strife and Sephiroth (Final Fantasy 7):  I know this one is a bit obvious but I don't you cant include it.  It's personal, deep and the battles are undeniably epic.

 

Velvet and Artorius (Tales of Berseria):  With you on this one @NightmareFarm.  Deeply personal and compliments the motivations of both extremely well.  I really enjoyed the fact that in many aspects, Velvet is perceivably kind of more the villain of the piece with Artorius being calm and rational and Velvet being reckless and emotional.

 

Aloy and Sylens (Horizon Zero Dawn/Forbibben West):  This is very different from the typical "Hero Vs Villain" rivalry, it's almost more like student Vs Lecturer.  Aloy needs Sylens' knowledge and experience even she clashes with him constantly to the point where she cant stand him.  As for Sylens, Aloy may the only person who has ever truly challenged him intellectually and he needs that drive.  Even though neither would ever admit it, they need each other their is healthy respect there.

 

Solid Snake and Liquid Snake (Metal Gear Series):  They are two sides of the same coin yet maybe the only thing they truly have in common is that desire to break that bond.  So predictably sparks fly across multiple titles in the series and it's awesome!

 

Basch and Gabranth (Final Fantasy XII) (Yep, I'm staling another one from you @NightmareFarm):  I see a lot of similarities between these two and Soild and Liquid snake that I just mentioned.  Cut from the same cloth but when their homeland of Landis fell to the Arcadian empire they took vastly different approaches to deal with it after the fall.  Gabranth, seemingly putting the blame for Landis' fall on his brother joined the Empire.  Basch fled to Dalmasca swear fealty to Protect another Kingdom form Arcadia to restore his honour.  It's part of why, in my opinion, has one has of the best stories in the franchise.

 

 

To be honest, as much as I love Final Fantasy X I don't think Seymore was a particularly good villain, especially in hindsight.  His motivations made little sense, he was melodramatic, over the top and even kinda silly at times.

 

I'll be completely honest, I am heavily biased by the fact that FFX was like the 5th game I played as a kid and my first JRPG so he had a huge impact on me when I played it without any previous villains as a point of reference. Especially when I learnt about the twist, that felt like some crazy shit. 

 

Moderator Edit: As it appears you accidently pasted @Crazycrab's post into your own, I cut that section out. I hope you don't mind.

Edited September 9, 2022 by Shagger

[Kane99]

In recent memory I'd say Arthur Morgan's rivalry with Micah Bell in RDR2. Micah is one of those guys that I don't think anyone likes, and that's why he works so well as a villain. Another game that comes to mind is Bully, and the guy you have to go up against in that game. I forget what his name is, but he would play all sides, he was that kind of character. He kinda starts off as a friend, but manipulates things and goes against you (Billy Hopkins I think is the main character's name) near the middle to end. 

I'm having issues remembering others. Maybe Mario and Bowser, that's a classic rivalry. 😄 

[Empire]

Sonic 3 & Knuckles is a good one. Even though there isn't a single word of dialogue, by the time you're halfway through you'll be sick of taking Knuckles' shit.

[Heatman]

22 hours ago, Kane99 said:

I'm having issues remembering others. Maybe Mario and Bowser, that's a classic rivalry. 😄 

There are so many other rivalries to mention such as the following ;

1. The Master Chief and The Covenant in Halo 

2. B.J. Blaskowicz and The Third Reich in Wolfenstein. 

3. The Slayer and Hell in Doom 

[killamch89]

You took all the good ones:

1. Vergil and Dante was my first mention - I mean these two are iconic and seeing them go head to head in DMC 3 was such an epic fight. DMC 5 had an awesome fight as well especially when they both went full powered devil trigger. Too bad Nero had to interfere...
2. Squall and Seifer from FFVIII (my favorite Final Fantasy game) - Seifer was always jealous of Squall and that's because even though he was an introvert, many people looked up to Squall and respected him.
3. Solid And Liquid Snake's rivalry spans multiple games with Liquid taking over Ocelot's body or that's what we thought until the twist at the end of MGS 4 when it was revealed that he used nanomachines to transplant Liquid's personality into his body to avoid the Patriots.

[Ajibusu]

1 hour ago, killamch89 said:

You took all the good ones:

1. Vergil and Dante was my first mention - I mean these two are iconic and seeing them go head to head in DMC 3 was such an epic fight. DMC 5 had an awesome fight as well especially when they both went full powered devil trigger. Too bad Nero had to interfere...
2. Squall and Seifer from FFVIII (my favorite Final Fantasy game) - Seifer was always jealous of Squall and that's because even though he was an introvert, many people looked up to Squall and respected him.
3. Solid And Liquid Snake's rivalry spans multiple games with Liquid taking over Ocelot's body or that's what we thought until the twist at the end of MGS 4 when it was revealed that he used nanomachines to transplant Liquid's personality into his body to avoid the Patriots.

Vergil and Dante had a lot of iconic moments on Devil May Cry (DMC) 3. You get to feel the power when you play this game and although I didn't see much of that in the DMC 5, I still like what they did.