Early on in the game, Lightning gains the ability to escape battle.

Or you can just not confuse video games for reality and appreciate play for what it is.

they have made the playoffs 25 times in the last 13 seasons

Of course you don't, but I figure its better not to be operating under false pretenses.

I don't think this is true. If you block the ad, it doesn't count as an ad view and the content producer does not get paid for it. Google and the companies that pay them a shit-ton of money to advertise on their platform aren't that dumb.

Is it possible to mention Thomas Edison on the Internet without having someone comment on Tesla being better? Anyway, it's completely irrelevant to this article.

But does the out-of-town scoreboard update to reflect the current state of the season being simulated? That's make-or-break for me.

Right. GTA V's high scores are totally earned on its individual merits, and are in no way inflated by hype and/or the fact that it's the latest iteration in a beloved franchise, whereas Zelda's high scores are wholly attributable to those two factors.