I think I enjoyed this top 10 more than any other to date, because getting to sit back and listen is wonderful.

At entry #6, I'm recently familiar with that person because I had just seen them during the DICE awards.

#5 was obviously going to show, but while I was initially surprised it felt a little low, the following four entries were no brainers.

And full bias speaking: I really was hoping to see who ended up at #4 be in the top three, but hey, still beautiful music regardless.

The top two are exactly the two you're thinking of. But I was quite pleasantly surprised with the order.

Happy Massive Release Day everybody! Not since October 27, 2017 have we had such a packed release day. FOUR games all are stricken, and it's pretty clear one stands above all others:

Metro Exodus finished as the second overall desired game, finishing with 10 desires, with one being the most desired game.

The next highest overall desired game was Jump Force, finishing in 39th. With only two desires of eighth most and 14th most, it barely held out over Crackdown 3, which also had two desires. Finishing 42nd overall (so only a three spot difference), the two desires for the Xbox exclusive were even lower: 13th and 20th overall.

The final game out today was ALMOST the least desired game on the list. Out of 58 games, Far Cry: New Dawn ends at 57th, with only one desire of 18th.

I too miss Resistance. The first holds a special place in my heart, and while I dug 2's story, dropping the weapon wheel for only two weapons was annoying. 3 looks fantastic still, but it feels like it's missing something. Retribution is ok and Burning Skies is passable (both are better with New Game Plus bonuses), but the true hidden gems are actually the two books. Those are some pretty good stories.

Newest episode is LIVE! And with it, comes some critical notes on some lackluster trailers.

Wow.

Just. Wow.

Let me quickly touch on Red Dead for a moment: I respect how realistic the game strives to be and it can't really be argued about how graphically impressive it is. But as someone who never like Westerns (and just a general dislike of Rockstar's portfolio at large), I simply don't get the love for it. I understand that goes both ways, so I don't really press the issue, but as I touched on in regards to Spider-man, I thought it would be a two game race because zeitgeist and expectation are POWERFUL things.

So I'm overjoyed God of War was much better than expectations, which for me were pretty high.

I'm not going into why I like the game. To do so when 29 other people put in on their lists and the game garnered 18 GOTY NODS... I don't think it's ever been this one sided. Almost DOUBLE the points. That's INSANE.

So I'm not going to tag everybody. That's a lot. But kudos to one of the best games I've ever played and I'm so excited for what's to come.

Next, as is custom my list:

1. God of War
2. Spyro: Reignited Trilogy
3. Detroit Become Human
4. Shadow of the Tomb Raider

2018 wasn't really my year for my interests. I had two sure fire good times, a nice surprise, and an as expected average three-quel. 2019 though, has a lot scheduled and I'm more excited for the next 10 months than the previous 12.

And finally, once again, @Axel you absolutely rock for always organizing these. Thanks so much.

@axel First off, I have to say WOW what a response! And like you I lean more towards Batman, but that comes with some caveats:

1. I'm only really into Rocksteady's trilogy and the Nolan trilogy
2. One inspired the other for me. Meaning: I tried the Arkham Asylum demo on 360 and liked it enough to give the whole game a shot, which lead me to getting into said trilogy and after hearing so much love regarding the Dark Knight movies, I watched and liked them as well (Dark Knight is actually one of my top five movies overall).
3. I have no desire to read comics and while I respect the Animated series, it's only something I'll sit and watch if I happen across, not something I seek out.

All of that is to say, Batman is personally a special case, and a limited one at that. If Insomniac or Sony decided to pull a RE 2 Remake and put a 30 minute trial to do whatever I wanted, or perhaps if they went the Anthem route and gave me like a three mission demo to try, it might put me over the edge to test it out. I will admit that the E3 demo did a good job trying to sell me on it better than anything prior, but it's still the property, and I just don't care for Spider-man.

I'm not a superhero person. Never really have been. Don't think I ever will be. Hell, I'm probably one of the few people on Earth who cares little to nothing in regards to Marvel. The only Marvel movies I've seen are the first two Iron Mans and the first Captain America. That genre just does not appeal.

And I also share in the need for having a limited size to a world. I don't like it when there's so much to the point of paralysis by analysis on what to do and where to go.

Outside of minor critiques, I've seen constant praise, it showed well at conferences, and with that Insomniac stamped on the box, I know it's high quality. Maybe some day when there's a lull in game releases where I don't have interest (I have quite a bit I'm looking forward to this year if release windows for many hold).

And for your comment about seeing nothing yet.... Tomorrow is going to be interesting, one way or another.

Heading into the year, I thought GOTY was going to be a two game race: Red Dead Redemption 2 and Spider-man. Being such a huge fan of Insomniac and almost everything they've ever done, I passed on this because I just have never really gotten into anything Spider-man.

To be absolutely clear:

• I think this is one of the best looking games out there
• The combat seems intuitive and smooth
• I really like how it's a unique story
• Manhattan seems vast and there's plenty to do

But honestly, I can't get into it. I AM impressed at the number of runner-up votes it got. EIGHT! I'm very happy for Insomniac that it is such a massive success, and selfishly, I see that as a double-down on a sequel as opposed to Ratchet & Clank, which is a personal bummer. Still, a deserved honor and a shame they got Horizon'd at the Game Awards.

When Monster Hunter World came out in January and the hype kept growing over the next few months, I really started to feel like it's candidacy for being a GOTY dark horse was legitimate. While not really known from a "main stream" point of view, I really feel this entry put the series on the map in a whole new way. I truly believe 2018 made Monster Hunter grow from a quasi-niche franchise with a hardcore following to a popular one.

I think it held a consensus (or at least the majority of the mindshare in terms of coverage and discussion) of 2018's best game until probably the second half of the year came along. I will say this though: Capcom has struck GOLD with their now yearly January title: RE VII in 2017, this last year, and now RE 2 Remake, it's GENIUS to hold a major game until now, kicking off the year.

Personally, I held off from Monster Hunter, because while the concept of hunting monsters is a fun one (it's actually my favorite thing to do in a couple of Final Fantasies), the sheer amount of systems for this game leave me overwhelmed. But good on ya Capcom. I applaud this game greatly.

At just north of 59 hours, I have done everything possible.

While on the whole I enjoyed the game greatly, there are some things that bother me:

Primarily, story threads unanswered. WHO are the new seven princesses of light? WHO is the mysterious girl that has been in Sora's heart for pretty much his entire life? WHO was the "traitor" of the old Masters? What is the deal with Luxu/Xigbar/Braig's Black Box? WHO IS the Master of Masters? What was the point of Maleficent and Pete? And of the course the coup de grace: Pretty much every single millisecond of the Secret Movie: - - WHAT?!?!

Outside of that, feeling like worlds' staying power wasn't as strong as KH II, but I kind of understand this when the worlds themselves are massive areas. Granted, therein lies another issue I have:

Toybox is only two locations. TWO. While I enjoy this iteration of Twilight Town more, there's less to it. San Fransokyo was just one open space (and other worlds like Olympus and the Caribbean had more to them than that). Also, the inclusion of Hundred Acre Wood was completely pointless. And personally, Arendale was about the most boring, both in terms of scenario and environment. At least the labyrinth changed it up a little.

While most of that is negative, there are plenty of positives I enjoyed: Most of the story, combat, a large portion of the mini-games and Olympus and the Caribbean were true highlights where I constantly had a fun time. The Gummi Ship is the best in the series (IF you can find two particular ships, one leading to the other, making it MUCH easier). Plus the Ultima Weapon is now my new favorite game weapon ever.

Overall, I'm satisfied with my time, though I wish some story beats were properly cleaned up. I hate ambiguity at the conclusion of a story (any story, whether it be a chapter or the whole narrative).

@mbun As far as accessibilty, I would go so far as to say it's the easiest to pick and up and play.

But I'm weird when it comes to being given character choice, regardless of the game. Take Mass Effect 2 as an example. I love that game, but my biggest gripe with it is, to me, it gives me all these different characters when I don't need/use them. And with how the story is designed, you practically need to use Legion for the rest of the game once you meet him, and that's only his loyalty mission and the Suicide Mission. So characters like Samara, Jacob, Zaeed, Miranda, Kasumi, Jack, and even a couple of my favorites in Thane and Mordin I never really use, because there's too much choice.

I'm someone who wants to give every character/party member/etc. their fair shake and time, so to me, having a cap of like 6-9 characters max is my sweet spot, and nine is pushing it. It's why when I look at ANY fighting game roster, I think to myself, "Pick one, ignore the others" and that makes me feel weird.

But back to Smash: I DID own Melee when I still had a Gamecube over a decade ago, and fighting against the computer by myself just wasn't fun. I've given other fighting franchises a shot, but I've just come to accept it isn't for me. I will say though I enjoyed Ultimate's E3 presentation more than anything else from the show, and I'm a Kingdom Hearts fan.