Day 1 of MonsterVine’s Game of the Year Awards kicks off with our selections for Biggest Surprise, Best Narrative/Story, and Best Multiplayer.
Biggest Surprise – Spencer hasn’t been fired yet
Will – Well well this was certainly a SURPRISE. After a year of antics from our resident troublemaker, I’m frankly astounded that Spencer has taken this prestigious award away from video games. From his off-color commentary in MonsterVine’s Kingdom Barfs to attempting Detroit: Become Human’s coin trick, one thing is for certain, its Spencer’s world and we’re all just living in it.
Shannon – I have spoken to Pope Francis and we are all in the running for sainthood for dealing with Spencer.
Austin – I have stared into the dark depths of MonsterVine’s Reviews Editor Spencer Legacy and lived to tell the tale. At the core there is a contrast of deep hatred for dank memes, and yet a love for viral pop culture videos… Unfiltered, unapologetically awkward (not literally, he is Canadian afterall, he apologizes constantly), unhealthily obsessed with Japanese animation and untainted with jaded cynicism I am genuinely surprised that he is able to get enough content created (just barely) for us to keep him around.
Spencer – who’s this uggo melvin lol got em
Diego – By this point I’m sure you’ve read quite a few burns on my boy Spencer. I haven’t read any of them, but knowing my fellow staff members they likely delivered them with the same type of energetic ferocity you’d expect out of a hospice patient. But while they took the low road I look towards 2018 and take the high, which is why I’m here to tell you what kind of a man Spencer Legacy is.
As you may know, Spencer is a big anime fan and is even studying Japanese in the hopes of fulfilling every weeaboo’s dream of going to japan and impressing everyone with his knowledge of their own culture. He’s also really big into arts and crafts, as evident by the Chris-Chan altar that continues to grow in his room. Always quick witted, Spencer’s favorite style of humor is repeating a joke until it gets old and dies quick, which is why his favorite jokes are about progeria.
As you can see, Spencer is a man of utmost class and dignity who I’m happy to have in my life and I enter 2018 with hope that he continues to stay an entire continent away from me.
Runner Up: Dusk
Best Narrative/Story – Persona 5
Samantha – Persona 5’s story was an exciting ride filled with wonderful characters and fantastic scenes. It’s not uncommon to find a long RPG, but it is rare for one to be this long and so story-driven at the same time. All in all, it was a great experience.
Shannon – I’m pretty skeptical of most RPG tropes and the prospect of hundreds of hours dealing with bad fantasy writing makes me roll my eyes, but Persona 5 won me over by being so good and so damn weird.
Diego – I’ll be honest, the main plot of Persona 5 isn’t my favorite due to its incredibly slow start and only bringing it back up every ten hours or so, but it’s the side stuff that really shines. All of the social links you can develop have these troubled backstories that are incredibly relatable and well written. New Game+ is a treat purely because it gives you the time to properly devote to each of these characters so you can get everyone’s story in a single run.
Austin – Persona 5 is an excellent, slice of Japanese life simulator, while also managing to be a pretty good RPG. The combat became very stale for me after the first 40 hours, the story and writing have me interested in starting over as soon as I am done. Hanging out with my virtual allies, learning about their real world problems and how they relate to the main character remind me of all the positives about making friends and being social in the real world.
Spencer – Persona 5 has a story that is equal parts weird, funny, and emotional. Every character has a story to tell, and hanging out with them is the best way to hear it. The main story’s focus on how people perceive themselves serves as a great contrast to Persona 4’s focus on how others perceive us, which allows for some great commentary on people and the world we live in.
Runner Up: Divinity: Original Sin II
Best Multiplayer – PLAYERUNKNOWN’s Battlegrounds (PUBG)
Shannon – Is it okay to say you don’t get something? Because I admire and respect what a good game PUBG is but I am no good at it at all. In my most successful round, I hid in the bathroom for 30 minutes and won when everyone else died. Hiding in the bathroom for 30 minutes to avoid people is something I do in real life, not in games. That said, everyone seems to be having a good time of it. Maybe I need to “git gud” as the kids say.
Diego – PUBG is a special game because it’s not only flipped the industry on its head, but it’s truly something you have to play to get. Just watching a stream won’t give you the same sense of dread and tense anxiety that accompanies every match. Getting that first chicken dinner at the edge of death when I was half asleep at one in the morning was a sense of relief and satisfaction that no other game will ever replicate.
Austin – Battlegrounds isn’t something new. It takes the foundation built by other battle royale, survival games and packages them with the right balance of jank, randomness and paced tension. There aren’t many games I can walk away from mid match to use the toilet or make a sandwich, but I’ve done that multiple times with PUBG. Things can be as boring or as exciting as you make it, as long as the loot spawns are on your side. For maximum enjoyment play with friends.
Runner Up: Windjammers, Injustice 2
