Another thing I should've taken into account is that games released at the start of year typically don't shine as brightly because folk have had time to reflect on their foibles, or the experience of playing them has since slipped their minds. I remember Horizon taking a bath last year, in part because it was a February release and everyone had moved on and forgotten about it. With that in mind Celeste, Iconoclasts, Subnautica, Monster Hunter World, or Dragon Ball FighterZ might do worse than anticipated.
I think Dragonball FighterZ may stand more of a chance here, perhaps off the back of how insanely hype the pro scene has been for it all year, but especially at EVO. Monster Hunter might be back fresh in some people's minds because of the Steam release towards the end of the summer, and the constant drip-feed of content and events it's been seeing, but the crew haven't been playing it since launch, so that may fizzle off into the bottom half of the Top 10 list. I have both of those listed as my tiebreakers, because I don't see them breaking Top 5, but I can see them making the lower half of the list.
Hitman 2 is a big question mark for me. Big expectations coming off the 2016 win, but is there enough there to see it regain its crown at the top? I don't think there is, as it's been an especially strong year for games, but I can see it sneaking into the top 3 as a fan favourite.
And I'm just realising that I failed to mention both Black Ops 4 and this year's Assassin's Creed games. I think both will make the list, but I think they will both be bottom-half games at most.
Very hard for me to call, considering that Monster Hunter is the only 2018 game I've actually played firsthand (moving continents costs a ton of money, who knew?), but I think the games I've picked stand a good chance of making the list.
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