PC Gamer Annual - UK (2022)

11

DIVINITY:

ORIGINAL SIN 2

RELEASED 2017 | LAST POSITION 2

Wes: The best traditional computer

RPG of the last decade, Original Sin 2

remarkably manages to succeed on every

axis as an RPG. Its main quest is exciting

and intricate, each of its premade heroes

has unique stories worth experiencing, the

world is crammed full of sidequests, and

you can approach most problems however

you want, including killing every NPC in the

world like a complete psycho. Hell, if you

played it in 2017, play it again: Larian has

spent a couple of years improving it.

12

XCOM 2

RELEASED 2016 | LAST POSITION No change

Robin: We’ve written about Firaxis’

modern strategy classic more times than

I’ve lost soldiers, but there’s a good reason

for that. It’s still the absolute gold standard

of turn-based strategy on PC, a sprawling

tactical puzzle that pokes at your grey

matter, but crucially also tugs at your

heartstrings, as you love and lose squad

members. Add in the expansive War of the

Chosen DLC, full of weird villains and

technology, and you’ve a near endlessly

replayable package. The thriving mod

scene gives it even more life – including the

ever-popular Long War, which turns the

campaign into an even more brutal feat of

endurance while cranking up the detail.

Surely we’re past time for an XCOM 3

now? Come on Firaxis, get a move on

• Chimera Squad was barely a snack.

The Top 100

FE ATURE

DISHONORED 2

RELEASED 2016 | LAST POSITION 7

13

Phil: Aside from being the best stealth
game of the 2010s, what makes
Dishonored 2 remarkable is that,
however you decide to approach its
levels, it always has a response. When I
kill my target in the opening mission, I
later hear his goons announce that he’s
dead. On a second attempt, I kill him and
hide his body in an area the guards can’t
access – something the game never
asks me to do. And yet it apparently

knew I might try, because

this time the goons

announce that he’s

missing instead. It’s a

small example, but later

on this same attention to

detail – this anticipation

and extrapolation of the

player’s agency – applies

to some really big,

dramatic moments.