DEN
JPN
ENG
USA
POL
CAN
SWE
FRA
AUT
FIN
AUS
EST
BEL2026 Video Game Madness - South Region Super Sixteen: 3 Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 vs. 2 Resident Evil 4
2026 Video Game Madness - South Region Super Sixteen
South Region Super Sixteen Matchup Preview: 3 Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 vs. 2 Resident Evil 4
The Most Decorated Game of 2025 Against the Finest Remake Ever Made
This is the South bracket's marquee Super Sixteen matchup, and it is one of the most compelling matchups remaining in VGM 2026.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is in the Super Sixteen because it beat A Plague Tale: Innocence in overtime in the Round of 64 and then beat Metaphor: ReFantazio in overtime in the Round of 32. Two overtime wins. Both matchups required extra time to resolve. The Round of 32 result against Metaphor was particularly striking because Metaphor had itself just beaten Xenoblade Chronicles 3 by one vote in the Round of 64 and arrived at the second round with a fully present community. Expedition 33 beat it in overtime with the seeding tiebreaker going to Metaphor, meaning the 3 seed won in overtime despite the tiebreaker favoring the 6 seed. Its community found the extra vote when it mattered.
Sandfall Interactive's debut game is the most decorated release of 2025. Nine awards at The Game Awards 2025. The Golden Joystick Game of the Year. A 91 Metacritic. Five million copies. Guillaume Broche founded a studio during the pandemic with no release history and produced one of the finest JRPGs of the era on the first attempt. The dark fantasy setting inspired by Belle Epoque France. The being called the Paintress who erases an age of people every year. A voice cast led by Charlie Cox and Andy Serkis. A combat system that blends turn-based strategy with real-time timing mechanics. A community that has been voting for it through overtime at every stage and has not run out of conviction yet.
Resident Evil 4 is in the Super Sixteen because it beat Dead Cells 3-1 in the Round of 64 and then beat Alan Wake 2 in overtime in the Round of 32. The overtime result against Alan Wake 2 was a reversal of expectations. Alan Wake 2 had survived overtime against Street Fighter 6 in the Round of 64 and arrived at the second round on the strength of thirteen years of audience patience. Resident Evil 4 beat it in overtime 3-2, with the seeding tiebreaker going to Expedition 33 in the other South bracket matchup, and here the RE4 community found the votes it needed in extra time.
The 2023 remake scored a 93 on Metacritic and won Best Adaptation at The Game Awards. Capcom took one of the most influential action games ever made, filtered it through twenty years of additional game design evolution, and produced something that plays like the game you remembered rather than the game it actually was in 2005. The Resident Evil franchise turns out voters in every format, and it has been doing so here consistently enough to reach the South's Super Sixteen.
Two overtime survivors meeting in the Super Sixteen. A debut studio's landmark JRPG achievement against one of gaming's most recognized franchises and one of its finest remakes. The South bracket has been producing extraordinary results at every stage and this matchup is its most compelling story yet.
The South Super Sixteen opens March 27. 12PM.
