Metro Exodus is beautiful, dark and often engaging, but many of the game mechanics seem to fit much better into a dark metro than semi-open maps.

World of Warcraft: Midnight is more of the same in a game well into its 20s. Bright spots such as the Prey mechanic and housing just aren't enough to carry an experience that's saturated with endless perks for logging in daily and churning out world quests and Delves as the numbers go up, up, up.

Utopia brings a whole new depth to Stellaris with its mega constructions, traditions and the new political system.

A fabulous combination of the casual farming simulator and the more action heavy roguelike. Cult of the Lamb dishes out everything you could want from both genres, with gameplay mechanics and systems that run deeper than anything you'd expect. Who knew that running your own religious cult could be so much fun?

Quotation forthcoming.

Dragonborn's most impressive achievement is the new and exciting island that offers plenty of new opportunities for adventure and stories to tell. Bethesda clearly focused on their strengths, and the result is their best Skyrim DLC so far.

With Run Roo Run 5th Cell continues its position as a developer with an eye for interesting aesthetic. Despite its extremely easy initial levels, the last part of the game offers some small amount of platforming fun.

Despite its game mechanics being streamlined to cater the console-audience with a high tempo and a smaller set of statistics, Dragon Age II is still a massive role-playing adventure. With its immersive storyline and good class system, it its yet another Bioware game in the collection of great role-playing experiences.

Despite its game mechanics being streamlined to cater the console-audience with a high tempo and a smaller set of statistics, Dragon Age II is still a massive role-playing adventure. With its immersive storyline and good class system, it its yet another Bioware game in the collection of great role-playing experiences.

A gorgeous, smart and addictive game that is somewhat let down by weak AI. If Amplitude sticks with it post release, it could easily become the new king of the genre.

The Banner Saga 3 does nothing we haven't seen before, and becomes the weakest entry in the series through its lack of suspense, and the abrupt and unfulfilling ending that gives no closure

Hitman 2 delivers a quality continuation of what the previous game started. The maps are bigger, more complex and offers tons of replayability. What the game lacks in story it makes up for with sheer joy in both exploration and dumb ways to take out your target. Technically the game doesn't deliver nearly as well, with the frame rate taking a hit when there is a lot going on on the screen.

Despite its somewhat outdated sneaking and combat systems, A Plague Tale: Requiem is without a doubt one of the storytelling highlights of the year, combining incredible voice acting, visuals and mystery with horror and historical fantasy.

Quotation forthcoming.

Its sometimes highfalutin story may not be for everyone, and the gameplay will undoubtedly turn some away. However, if you can get into the weirdly zen-like groove of Death Stranding, with its enticing world and deep lore, you may very well find it to be a wholly unique journey you'll end up loving every step of.

As one of the lengthiest, most beautiful adventures available for the Nintendo DS, Ōkamiden deserves a place in the collection of any handheld gaming enthusiast. It's definitely not the most innovative sequel out there, but there are still hours upon hours of exciting single player goodness to be had for anyone looking for another Zelda-esque title to sink their teeth into.

Mortal Kombat 11 is a solid and well made fighting game. There is a lot of fan service for those who’ve followed the series through the years, while at the same time being welcoming for new players.

Quotation forthcoming.

Legend of Grimrock proves that the "dungeon crawler" genre still has a lot of life left. Compared to other modern RPG's it offers an unique blend of puzzling, exploration and surprisingly tactical combat, and to top it off it looks absolutely fantastic. This has something to offer everyone, not just old school gamers with fond memories of Dungeon Master.

Little Nightmares II is game that thanks to great puzzles, exceptional visuals and some truly chilling soundscapes almost manages to make the player ignore its somewhat clunky gameplay. Almost.

The Jamboree mechanics and pro rules are both great new additions, and the series is probably at its most charming ever. There is, however, a distinct lack of outstanding minigames, with a lot of creativity being withheld for the passable online modes.

Quotation forthcoming.

With Bulletstorm we're talking about a shooter that makes fun of its own genre, and games as a whole. At the same time, it's extremely funny to play. That combo is just priceless.

Battlefield 6 brings the series back to former glory, despite its uninspired single player campaign.

Split/Second delivers loads of explosive fun. Unlike in many other racing games with weapons, Split/Seconds Powerplay-system rewards skill over luck, both for the attacker and the victim.

The extra content, funny characters and entertaining story introduced through Old World Blues, makes the great Fallout: New Vegas even better. There is much to explore, and who wouldn't want to meet up with one's own brain for a bit of a chat?

Crusader Kings II is quite unique. It's focus on dynasties and family leads to original and entertaining gameplay with great depth and variation. If not for a steep learning curve, it would be close to perfect.

It's pretty remarkable how well this game is holding up to it's current competitors. Halo had a massive impact on shooters in general, and this handsome will tell you why.

The latest installment in the Kingdom Hearts saga gives us the best combat system yet. It's fast, it's fun, and it's deeply customizable. The story is bland, but you'll be too busy beating up enemies to bother.

The most beautiful and touching friendship this year, in spite of somewhat unstable game mechanics.

Team Ninja and PlatinumGames successfully delivers a fast-paced, bloody, and satisfying ninja action game in Ninja Gaiden 4.

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight invites players to a breathtaking new world, teeming with excitement. However, despite some enjoyable new features, such as Dragonriding, the experience quickly boils down to more of the same stuff players have seen and done before.

The Vanishing is a supernatural murder mystery with a dark and sombre, if not entirely original, story beneath its hood. Although gameplay is a tad repetitive, it is wonderfully evident that the game has been crafted with elaborate care and conscience. But more than anything, The Vanishing is a strikingly beautiful stroll through a hauntingly gorgeous valley.

This parodic game takes the player back to the 80's in style. The game itself has some issues, but the hilarious story, the excellent voice acting and the extreme level of detail makes this an excellent source of entertainment for an evening or two.

Quotation forthcoming.

Modnation Racers is an enjoyable arcade racer which will no doubt enjoy a long life due to the creation tools. With shorter loading times and less powerful or more skill-based weapons, it could have been a classic.

Warhammer: Vermintide 2 offers a lot of fun action with friends and strangers. The level designs are great and the visuals amazing, but I wish there were some added depth to the gameplay that would spice things up after a certain number of hours other than the Heroic Deeds missions.

Prey offers a good story, utilizing great environmental storytelling and design. Combat, especially melee combat, suffers somewhat, but the game deserves credit for delivering on story and ambience above all else.

The story of Lee gets even more twists and turns in this second to last episode. It's an action-packed race to the finish, and ends with a cliffhanger that left me on the edge of my seat, yearning for the conclusion to the story.

Quotation forthcoming.

Appearances aside, Escape from Ever After isn't just a Paper Mario knock-off, but a wholly enjoyable roleplaying game in its own right. If Flynt had a red cap and an airy moustache, you might've convinced me that Nintendo had made this.

The fighting system is still solid.

Metro: Last Light is an impactful game, whose perfectly paced story, believable universe and good stealth mechanics come together to make a great, if not flawless, experience.

Quotation forthcoming.

Viewfinder is both clever and fun throughout, delivering some of the best and most unique puzzles this side of The Witness. The story could be more engaging, and more content wouldn't hurt, but that doesn't stop Viewfinder from being one of the most ingenious games in quite a while.

The Skywalker Saga is at its best when it delves into its more linear and tightly designed sections, as the open areas are devoid of life and exciting missions to spend your time on.

Marathon delivers a plethora of deep mechanics, engaging gunplay and a truly unique look, but there's simply too much tedium and way too much busywork between fights.

The Dragon Knight Saga contains two great role-playing games in one brilliant package. These are games every fan of the genre should try, provided they do not mind action-based combat instead of virtual dice.

Humoristic, self-aware and very polished MMO from Carbine. Fast-paced combat feels great, and the content gets harder and harder as the game goes along. End-game content can be a bit too hard to get access to, and the grind a bit too long.

This isn't just a game, it's an experience, and it tells a powerful and touching story about a group of kids facing the ultimate horror.

Victoria 3 is amazing from the get-go, with so many systems that it's going to take dozens – if not hundreds – of hours to get completely comfortable with everything there is.

The Battlefield 4 single player campaign lacks both depth and complexity, which results in an all-over poor experience. Multiplayer has however always been the focus of the Battlefield series, and even though there’s few revolutionizing changes from Battlefield 3, the game is filled with new and interesting content.

Quotation forthcoming.

Metrico+ is like a difficult but fun maths test. The puzzles require you to think hard, but they never get too difficult. The visual style filled with graphs and diagrams is amazing.

Intermission has some good qualities, such as the battle system, the music and it looks great. However, it does not offer much new.

To The Moon is one of those games you instantly fall in love with. With it's simple, but elegant design, incredible writing, and thrilling, heartfelt tale, To The Moon is more story than game, but what a story it is.

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is beautiful and terrifying at the same time. Its combat mechanics and puzzles are strong, but its true strengths lies with its ability to tell a story and craft a world that differentiates itself from other titles out there. Together, we're offered an adventure that is equally horrifying and brilliant - a true masterpiece of a game.

Torchlight does very little wrong, and is probably the most streamlined game in the genre. The problem is rather that the genre is getting more and more irrelevant itself. The game lacks DeathSpank's humor and Diablo's mystical universe, and is sadly reduced to a decent single player MMO.

Another charming and well-crafted Kirby platformer that successfully introduces playable robot mechs, a few new ideas in its level design, and a slightly edgier presentation.

A thoroughly enjoyable game. Live A Live is simple and old fashioned in all the right ways, where each little story leaves you wanting more.

As a rather small and downloadable game, Renegade Ops excels in being a fast-paced, intensive and compelling analogue shooter. Its narrative and story components may not be much, but as a fast in-fast out action game with or without friends, it´s a blast.

While it might be a bit short on the content side of things, Splatoon is still a fun an engaging third person shooter. The pace is fast and frenetic without being too chaotic, and both a defensive and offensive play style is not only encouraged but welcomed among players. Unfortunately, it needs more content, and badly so.

Football Manager is still the king on the hill of sports simulation games. Though FM16 is predictable and takes no chances with its established recipe, it delivers an infinitely repeatable game that is both very entertaining and wickedly addictive.

Tearaway Unfolded is a brilliant remake of the critically acclaimed Vita game. The mechanics are re-maped to work with the Dualshock 4 controller and works very well. Using all of the features of the controller you get full control over the world, and gets to help Atoi or Iota with their very important mission. Some of the tasks are pretty repetitive, but does not ruin the total experience.

Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley is peaceful, it creates coziness, and I wish we had more such games.

Phoenix Wright's latest misadventure in the courtroom is undoubtedly his greatest. The overarching plot is as well written as always, with plenty of in-jokes and pop cultural references. While the central gameplay of the series remains intact, the game manages to make it all feel fresh through a number of small updates that improve the overall flow of the game.

Advanced Warfare somewhat breaks the infamous Call of Duty mold, mostly by delivering a surprisingly coherent story, some great new ideas, as well as an overly frustrating multiplayer.

Diablo 2 Resurrected is ridiculously gorgeous and enthralls us into its dark world, despite some annoying quirks from the past - like the outdated item management - still being with us.

This is a unique and atmospheric experience. I highly recommend it, but be aware that you need to give it your full attention to get the most out of the game.

As a Wii U launch title, Black Ops II strives to innovate upon the well-known Call of Duty-formula, and to some extent it also manages to do so. While it still is very much the same game previously released on Sony's and Microsoft's consoles, it is the ability to play the game single-handed through the game pad that should be Nintendo's selling point.

At its best, Shift 2 is one of the most intense and rewarding racing games around. There's some flaws (like the entire drifting part), but the overall package is really solid and fun.

Intriguing puzzles, breathtaking music and a heart-warming story makes Hauntii one of those indie games you can't miss — even if the gameplay and resolution of the adventure doesn't quite live up to the opening hours.

Chaotic, ridiculous, and ridiculously fun – Borderlands 4 is Gearbox back at its very best.

With Everspace 2, Rockfish takes the leap from roguelike to a full-fledged space adventure in a giant galaxy. Here there are endless things to explore, but a lack of variety means that the experience quickly loses its zest.

Ilomilo is charming, no doubt. But it's also a well balanced puzzle platformer with elements that captures and entertains throughout.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker continues the successful recipe from the mini-games in Super Mario 3D World. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is something different and deserves praise. It’s packed with content and challenges and will keep you entertained for hours. Nintendo has been creative with the usage of camera angles, but I’d wish they’d have more illusions like in Super Mario 3D Land.

An already great game returns as one of the best space strategy games ever made.

Tight and challenging combat aside, this remake feels like a step back for a series that with its previous few installments had begun moving beyond the clichéd storylines found here.

Dredge is a simple, yet incredibly atmospheric game, whose fluid gameplay, hand drawn art style and meaningful musical interludes makes for a very compelling experience.

The newest rendition of Mario and Luigi's role-playing adventures is a good one, filled to the brim with fun mechanics, great characters and dreamy role-playing madness to boot.

Even in their thirteenth outing in the Lego world, Traveller's Tales have managed to craft a humerous and charming platformer with enough in-jokes and references to satisfy the most discerning comic book fan. Unfortunately the experience is ruined by a severe lack of challenge, idiotic AI and slipshod platforming.

Finding Paradise is another well-told and profoundly meaningful story in the To The Moon saga. An amazing soundtrack, great artwork and clever, realistic writing all come together to bring this charming, touching and deeply human tale to life.

Broken Age is a smart, charming and funny throwback to the adventure games of yore. The characters defines the game, and come to life through clever writing, great voice acting and a gorgeous visual style. What holds the experience back is mostly a lackluster ending and increasingly obscure puzzles, the type you kinda need a guide, or immense trial and error, to figure out.

The Penal Zone is a very enjoyable adventure game with fresh and interesting puzzles, great humour and good presentation. The lack of a good point & click interface lets it down somewhat, but it's still well worth buying.

Sunset Overdrive is a great game, and with unrivaled freedom of movement, extremely fun dialogue and chaotic combat, it’s never boring. It might, on the other hand, be a bit too crazy, and the mix of traversal and shooting never quite matches up.

A wonderful Tower Defense concept in a disappointing package. There's a lot of strategic potential here, but the levels often end when you are getting the grip on things.

Bursting with color, and well acted, but also a bit to short and clumsy at times.

Defense Grid 2 takes everything we know from the first game, adds clever new ways to both build upon, and improves your strategies. On top of this we find a sometimes hilarious story told by a bunch of misfit AI's.

Just Cause 2 delivers a huge amount of vehicles, tons of enemy bases and installations to liberate and gameplay so extreme that you'll end up giggling in front of the screen.

Rage is a beautiful game set in a vivid and believable world. The old-school id-polish is present, and the weapons and items at your disposal make for a solid shooter. Sadly, the experience is somewhat thwarted by a severely crippled story arc, repetitive gameplay, and a lack of innovation and lasting multiplayer.

The Jak and Daxter Trilogy sees the strange duo returning to consoles, this time in glorious HD, but the package as a whole is surprisingly unbalanced. The Precursor Legacy is a great experience, with top-notch level design and pure platforming fun, but the second installment falters in nearly every aspect being little more than an annoying time consumer. The third game addresses many of its predecessor's flaws and brings back some of the series' unique and magic charm, making this HD collection a safe buy for anyone looking for two greatly fun games.

Gran Turismo 6 is a massive game, and it is fantastic in its best moments, but the shortcomings of the series are getting difficult to ignore. Most notably the awful sounds and the lack of a proper damage model.

An engaging battle system in a slim package, Dungeon Encounters still offers some good hours.

Final Fantasy XV is both a massive triumph and a let down. The world is great, the gameplay is spectacular, but the story falls through.

Puyo Puyo Tetris is a captivation puzzle game that only sometimes is a bit to busy in its presentation.

Quotation forthcoming.

The solid mechanics of the Civilization series are not enough to lift this game up to its potential. It fails to differentiate itself from Civ V and is lacking in inspiration and soul. A missed opportunity to create something great.

Hatsune Miku’s first western video game is a fun one, with some great bits of music and a charming visual style. The experience is however muddled by messy menus and stupid mini-games.