• The biggest release of the year was without a doubt Red Dead Redemption 2. Rockstar's latest offering was the culmination of eight years of development and while the conversation about their treatment of labour will continue it's undeniable that RDR2 is a rare treat. With an open world that lives and breathes around you and a mature and contemplative story it's a game with so much offer. But will it be enough to claim the top slot in our list?
  
• RDR2 might have had the most attention but at the 2018 Game Awards it was God of War that took home the prize for Game of the Year. The game has been praised for its nuanced take on Kratos and unique one-take cinematography but us goons are a contrarian lot. Will we be willing to take the same side as the industry insiders?
  
• Case in point: in the December chat thread poll it was Monster Hunter World that took the most plaudits, an award well deserved for its vast world and engrossing gameplay. But that was a simple one-vote poll with far less options available. Will MHW still be able to hold up under these wider voting conditions?
  
• The other big AAA release for the year was Marvel's Spider-Man which was quickly proclaimed by many as the best superhero game of all time for its faithful ode to its mythos. However, as the year drew to a close it was getting lost in the shuffle against other releases. Will the same hold true in our poll?
  
• It wasn't just the big publishers that knocked our socks off this year as some of the best games around continued to come from indie developers and perhaps none were better than Celeste. This moving piece combined pitch-perfect platforming gameplay with an intimate take on mental health but was it good enough to put an indie game in at our #1 spot?
  
• That wasn't the only indie game setting our hearts on fire this year as Lucas Pope returned after five years with Return of the Obra Dinn. There was no handholding in this murder mystery as the game challenged you to think for yourself in a moody piece with a beautiful art style all of its own. Is it strong enough to overcome the competition and win the big prize?
  
• 2018 was the breakout year for the Yakuza series with a number of releases and ports to new systems on offer that made the franchise impossible to ignore. But with so many options available to vote for which one will rise above the others to be the most popular and will it be enough to get to the top?
  
• Right at the end of the year Nintendo graced the world with Super Smash Bros Ultimate and gave us more smash than ever. With a giant roster featuring every character to ever appear in the franchise and a World of Light mode that included spirits from the entire history of video games it felt like a love letter to the medium but has it done enough to win your hearts?
  
• And of course this poll wasn't just about games that came out this year and you voted for a wide array of titles. In particular some of last year's games featured regularly in your lists but could the likes of Horizon Zero Dawn or Nier Automata have done enough to pull off the shock upset?
  

Rarity fucked around with this message at 21:31 on Jan 2, 2019