An outstanding sequel that merges a heartfelt story, stunning visuals, challenging gameplay and glorious music into what is already one of the best games of the year.

Even though the almost 20-hour detective story takes a lot of time at the beginning and has been provided with little playful variety, Pentiment shines with a gripping murder investigation that captivates more intensively step by step. The team around Sawyer succeeds flawlessly in connecting interesting characters from different social classes and backgrounds to a complex web that contains many major and also intimate revelations. 

More accessible and ultimately better than the second game. Far Cry 3 offers incredible freedom in a beautiful world, while delivering a decent main quest with interesting characters, exciting combat and much more compelling player progression this time around. It's not perfect though: Some boring side quests, linear mission design and needless crafting/animal hunting drag the experience down quite a bit.

Improved in every single aspect, Rogue Legacy 2 is not only a fantastic sequel, it's simply one of the best rogue-lites we've played in years.

It's got pretty much everything the community hoped for: powerful combat, tons of loot, cool classes, fun bosses and varied environments. The main downsides are the overall lack of fresh ideas and weak storytelling. But even so, with single-player, LAN and online game modes, a fair amount of content and a mod editor to be released soon, the game comes as a complete package for a ridiculously low price.

A hot contender for Game of the Year 2016. If you’re into turn-based tactics at all, this is the game for you. XCOM 2 builds and improves upon every aspect that made Enemy Unknown great. After XCOM 2, there is simply no reason to go back to Firaxis’s first game in the series.

Quality has its price, so it’s no surprise that the developers had to run into debts to finish their project. The result is gorgeous and a unique experience full of creativity and charm.

Along with its charming 2D retro look and awesome soundtrack the game cast a spell on me with its authentic characters.

After more than 40 hours spent with 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, I have witnessed a consistently impressive story with a fitting ending. I have met a wonderful cast of loveable and unique characters. I have enjoyed endlessly addicting combat between Sentinel against Deimos, and read every intriguing mystery file. This is a game like no other. In confidently sticking to its unconventional ideas, it may alienate some. However, those who connect with it are in for a wonderful time. Even after fully completing 13 Sentinels, its story, characters and fighting sequences continue to stay on my mind. I already miss it to the point that I want to start playing it all over again.

While the additions don't change the game in any fundamental way, the overall experience is still as amazing as it was last year. If you haven't played Ori before, this Definitive Edition is a must buy.

Miles Morales offers the same excellent gameplay as its predecessor with a shorter campaign, richer side missions and some fun new abilities. While it's more of a standalone expansion rather than a full-fledged sequel, the charming cast of characters and a well done coming of age story make it a must-play for fans of the first game. With the PC port, developer Nixxes Software has once again done a great job. Support for ultra-wide monitors, multiple upscaling technologies, smooth performance and a wide array of options - there's not much more you could wish for in a PC conversion. 

I'm a huge fan of Hexfeld strategy games. Whether it's the Panzer General series, Panzer Tactics HD, or much more complex titles like Strategic Command and Gary Grigsby's War in the West, I've spent several hours of my life playing turn-based strategy games with WWII setting. I liked the Panzer General series and also Panzer Corps the best, because they were quite complex, but with a simple user interface and catchy rules. A similar case is Unity of Command 2, where the logistics gives the usual hex battle an interesting spin.

As a big fan of games like Castlevania and Metroid, this genre is right up my alleyway. Sadly, nowadays I lack the time and patience to take on new games of this genre in an adequate manner. Thus, Guacamelee! was a welcomed exception. The classic gameplay, stylish comic-design and excellent humor were exactly what I needed. The fact that Guacamelee! got such a good PC-port was only the cherry on top. So if enjoy metroidvania-games in the slightest, has to check out Guacamelee!.

A wonderful shooter with a lot of well-crafted details which almost reaches the outstanding quality of its great predecessor.

Finally there’s a reason to delete Civilization 5 from our hard drives. Firaxis has improved on many systems, while adding some clever twists like the city sectors. Civilization 6 is a blast to play and we cannot foresee a time when it won’t be installed on our hard drives. This is the definitive turn-based strategy game of the decade.

Battlefield 1 offers hands down the best graphics of any shooter, nay, any game to date. While its single-player-campaign is – again – unnecessary drivel, as short as it is forgettable, the multi-player-offering is in a league of its own. If you only buy one shooter this year, make it Battlefield 1.

A great remake of the GameCube classic, with a few lingering flaws keeping it from being the perfect remake.

The new "My Team" mode is the biggest innovation (and improvement) in recent years and fits perfectly into the F1 game concept from Codemasters. Apart from that, the many adjustments to the driving experience, penalty system, TV-like presentation and technology add a little extra. F1 2020 is not only the best F1 game, it is also one of the best racing games out there.

With Deadfire, Obsidian delivers a worthy successor to Pillars of Eternity.

Without a doubt one of id software's best. Intense battles, brutal enemies, glorious design, a pulse-pounding soundtrack and a smooth engine all come together in one amazing package.

Thanks to its beautiful pixel art, charming characters, diverse environments and great design, Owlboy lives up to the expectations, even though it is far from perfect.

As far as Metroidvania games go, Ori's brilliant visuals, stunning soundtrack and spot-on controls are unparalleled. An amazing achievement.

The game also utilizes the features of the DualSense controller. When Indy punches Nazis, you can feel the haptic feedback, and thanks to the adaptive triggers, you can feel the pressure points when firing firearms.

When it comes to adult, nonlinear storytelling, The Witcher 2 is in a class of its own. Accompanied by outstanding visuals, carefully written characters and one of the most iconic heroes in the genre, the game exceeds many of our expectations. Unfortunately the ending is a little unsatisfying, there are some noticeable bugs and both controls and combat system leave quite a lot to be desired. The Witcher 2 is not perfect by any means, but it's a huge accomplishment nonetheless and ranks easily among the best RPGs of this year.

Quotation forthcoming.

Subnautica shows an almost perfect mix of survival, exploration and building. The story is so beautifully woven into the game, without being forced on the player.

Hitman 3 is the epic finale for the reboot trilogy, which started 2016. The different locations are breathtaking and long term satisfying. The game includes also two of the best Hitman missions of all the time. Dartmoor and Berlin are different to any other previous scenery and really amazing to play. A profound and dark story rounds off this great stealth adventure. There is only one big weakness in Hitman 3 and that’s the annoying and chunky gun handling.

A complex and great remake with only small weaknesses, but the age difference to the masterpiece Persona 5 can be seen in the game structure.