It's all fun and games until you have to pick the Game of the Year. Looking back, this year certainly had its share of contenders for the top spot in our annual video game list. From new gaming IPs such as "Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice" to older stalwarts making a return to form like "Resident Evil 2," there was no shortage of games worthy of the crown. Like every year, however, we have to pick one title as the best of the best. Then again, that doesn't mean that we shouldn't recognize all of the other great games that came out, either.

We played a test build of Monster Hunter World Iceborne prior to release. From Barioth to hot spring Palico pals, here's what we learned. Itching to see some "Monster Hunter World: Iceborne" content before the game's official release on Sept. 6? We recently had a chance to play and record video of the first few hours of the full game-length "Iceborne" expansion during a visit to Capcom's U.S. headquarters in San Francisco a few days ago. The test build we tried out remains a work in progress and we weren't allowed to show equipment loadouts, new jewels and mods or go too in-depth about monster weaknesses for spoiler reasons.

August is supposed to mire video gamers in the doldrums as they wait for the arrival of the first of the big Fall releases in September. The outlook for RPG fans is not so bleak. This August World of Warcraft gets a new expansion, the Switch gets a new Monster Hunter game while the PC gets a port of Monster Hunter World, and the first DLC packs arrive for the second games in the Pillars of Eternity and Ni No Kuni series. The RPGs on the horizon are both promising and varied. Here's what August has in store for players who enjoy RPGs.

From the sprawling open world Western Red Dead Redemption 2, to the co-op dinosaur hunting Monster Hunter World; from major remakes like Shadow of the Colossus to brand new IPs like Days Gone; from charming JRPGs like Ni No Kuni II, to terrifying horror games like Agony, 2018 is shaping up to be an incredible year for games and gamers. The following list is long but not exhaustive. It doesn't cover games that haven't been announced (like the inevitable Call of Duty from Treyarch) or that don't have titles yet (like the Fire Emblem game coming to Switch.) I've also left mobile games out almost entirely. These probably deserve their own list. Likewise, PC games release in such abundance (thousands on Steam each month!) that many indie PC titles have been left out. If I've missed anything you think ought to be included, please let me know on Twitter or Facebook. Now, without further ado, let's get to the games. The first proper fighting game in the Dragon Ball Z series, Dragon Ball FighterZ brings 3 vs 3 matches similar to Marvel vs Capcom with the ability to swap out characters during a fight. The first current-gen Monster Hunter entry, this also marks the series' biggest world wide release. The franchise is much more popular in Japan, but hopefully break into the West with Monster Hunter World's giant, seamless environments and online co-op. Whether or not you played the original Shadow of the Colossus, this remake (not remaster) looks absolutely gorgeous.

Wherever you looked in Japan in 2008, someone was bent over a tiny PlayStation Portable games console (PSP) – and that someone was probably playing Monster Hunter. From clusters of young people playing on groomed lawns outside universities to suited salarymen on packed trains, the game had friends, family and work colleagues banding together to track and fight gigantic fantasy creatures. You had a good chance of finding a game to join if you pulled out your PSP in any public place. More than 40m Monster Hunter games, by Japanese developer Capcom, were sold between 2004 and 2017, but its success was confined almost entirely to its home country. Everything changed this year, though. When Monster Hunter World came out in January, it become not only the bestselling game in the series, but also the fastest selling game in Capcom's history, selling 6m copies in less than a month.

PlayStation 4, Xbox One; Capcom Pitting you against everything from fire-breathing dinosaurs to fluffy bird-wyverns, this is destined to be one of 2018's best games Tue 30 Jan 2018 04.31 EST Last modified on Tue 30 Jan 2018 04.32 EST It's rare that a video game forges a connection with nature, but Monster Hunter World does so by returning players to a time when humans were a part of the food chain, casting you simultaneously as a hunter-gatherer and zoologist. Like a virtual Attenborough, the hunter heads out into stupendously gorgeous places, rich with natural life and untouched by human influence, to track and observe extraordinary creatures, gathering local plants, bugs and mushrooms to study their healing or offensive properties. Then, distinctly unlike Attenborough, they must battle to the death. Monster Hunter's foes range from fire-breathing dinosaurs to building-size elder dragons to fluffy bird-wyverns that look like a cross between a hamster and a bat. They are realised so convincingly, with such personality, that it's easy to believe that they could be real creatures despite their fantastical appearance. Each of them exists within a natural hierarchy, feeding on smaller monsters and fleeing when larger ones appear in the middle of a fight.