Day 3 concludes with MonsterVine’s picks for Worst Game, Best Sequel/Entry in Series, Best Soundtrack, and 2017’s Dumpster Fire Moment. Stay tuned for our Game of the Year reveal tomorrow!
Worst Game – Bubsy The Woolies Strike Back
Shannon – Speaking of torpedoing a beloved franchise, we have Bubsy returning after 20 years only to make you wish he’d go away again. No, dad, why don’t you go back out for cigarettes?
Diego – The best part of Bubsy is the photoshopped banner Spencer put together.
Austin – Are there worse games of 2017 than Bubsy The Woolies Strike Back? Yes, almost certainly. But they stayed quiet enough and were able to make it through the year undetected (which might make them better than Bubsy in some ways). Do yourself a favor: don’t play Bubsy.
Spencer – Approximately once a week, I am thrust awake in a cold sweat in the middle of the night. Fast, shallow breaths are all I can manage, as it feels as though something has been taken from me. Something profound, something important. And yet, all I can remember are vague phrases; words that make little sense, but hurt all the same. “Pilot’s license? What for?” “MC Bubster, the pounce master, in the game yeah!” “Is there a veterinarian in the house?”. I do not know what these mean, or how they will change my future, but I do know that Bubsy is to blame. I do know that I will never be the same because of a cruel bobcat that won’t stop rising from his 90’s-era grave.
Will – While I can’t imagine why Spencer went out of his way to play Bubsy, I’d have to admire the well composed review which was more entertaining than the game itself.
Runner Up: The Evil Within 2, Middle Earth: Shadow of War
Best Sequel/Entry in Series – Persona 5
Shannon – Sequelitis is real. Witness Bubsy and Andromeda in our very own articles. It’s hard enough to make a good sequel, much less one that outshines the work that’s come before Persona 5 is a legitimately great game, whatever your feelings are on the rest of the world.
Diego – Divinity: Original Sin 2 is a perfect sequel to what I considered a near perfect game. Beautiful locations to explore, even funnier writing that balances well with the darker elements of the plot, and a sweeping soundtrack that never leaves you. Wait, Divinity lost? Who won then? Persona 5? Oh… whoops.
Austin – Persona 5 sure is a great game! It takes everything that the previous games in the franchise established and brings them into a modern package. Maybe it’s because it took almost a decade after Persona 4 first release before this release, but it sure feels like it has improved in every aspect. You don’t need to play any of the other games to enjoy Persona 5 but if there are plenty of subtle treats for you if you have.
Spencer – Listen up, I’ve said it a million times in a million articles, just go play Persona 5 alright?
Runner Up: Divinity: Original Sin 2
Best Soundtrack – Persona 5
Diego – Just go Google Last Surprise or Life Will Change.
Austin – I have been listening to the Persona 5 soundtrack as I wrote out all of my GOTY coverage. It’s packed with leitmotifs, which disconnected from playing the game are powerful enough to bring my mind to imagine the moments and characters they represent. When playing Persona 5 the music is catchy, emotive and such an important part in making it such a stylish, cohesive package.
Spencer – YOU’LL NEVER SEE IT COMINNNNNNNNNNG
Will – God help me I have the Beneath the Mask theme on repeat.
Runner Up: RUINER, Telltale’s Guardians of the Galaxy
2017’s Dumpster Fire Moment – Chris King/Chris Chan
Shannon – My only comment is “lmao” and you can quote me on that.
Will – I have no clue.
Diego – As a latino and avid lover of our telenovelas, it was a genuine pleasure to get to see this entire fiasco explode as I sat by giggling while wondering when the next twist will occur.
Austin – A guy wrote some articles (that weren’t very good) for MonsterVine. He posted those same articles to his own blog. We asked him to stop, but eventually cut-ties because he was unreliable, and was bringing some weird toxicity with him. He was later at the center of a strange fraud investigation. I wonder if the world will ever know what truly happened. There are still plenty of unanswered questions.
Spencer – As the site’s resident loser, I am an avid historian of the world of Chris Chan. When Chris King, a fraudulent and generally unpleasant person, threatened someone online then lied about having a variety of serious illnesses, I was shocked and confused. When Chris Chan started calling Chris King out, I was even more shocked and confused, but also incredibly delighted. This debacle reminded me that, for better or for worse, the world is an unpredictable and strange place.
Runner Up: EA closes Visceral Studios & doesn’t want linear, story-based games
