10. Ori and the Will of the Wisps (2020)
Action/Adventure/Platformer | Metacritic Score: 90
Ori and the Will of the Wisps brings Ori’s world to a new light while keeping its charm intact. The stunning, tragic fairy tale setting and a nerve-wracking platforming challenge created by Moon Studios made a lasting impression. The new sequel expertly expands on familiar gameplay without simply rehashing it. There is greater depth, variety, choice, and breadth than ever, and it’s all done with captivating color, light, and fantastic, motivating music.
9. Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020)
Simulation | Metacritic Score: 90
The Xbox version of Microsoft Flight Simulator allows gamers to fly a range of planes around a gorgeously detailed replica of our world. An upcoming update (Flight Simulator 24) will expand on these concepts, offering new challenges and aircrafts to fly. Several shorter missions have been added to the tutorials to help players get up to speed, and the different commands have been clearly and easily assigned to the Xbox controller.
Flight Simulator operates at 4K resolution and strives for 30 frames per second on the Series X. On the Series S, the draw distance is less impressive, running at 1080p. Still, the game plays and looks brilliant on the little beast.
8. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (2019)
Action/Adventure | Metacritic Score: 91
The new Xbox Series X is the best way to play Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, even though it was released for older consoles in early 2019. This is because of the in-built upgrades.
Get ready to face a world of hurt that challenges your reflexes and offers mystical story pieces. For an experience that calls for split-second counters, dodges, and parries while constructing a fluid playground for you to grapple and zip through, Sekiro on Xbox Series X runs at a locked 60 frames per second. This is a much-welcome update for a superb game like Sekiro.
7. Forza Horizon 5 (2021)
Open World/Racing/Simulation | Metacritic Score: 92
Forza Horizon 5 thrives in a beautifully rendered world. After three years in Horizon 4’s lovely but somewhat more homogenous Britain, Playground’s diversified geography of Mexico is an exceedingly unique and exciting assortment of locations to get lost in. Horizon 5’s patchwork of vibrant areas and backgrounds mimics Horizon 3 more closely, yet it seems substantially bigger than even Playground’s outstanding 2016 riff on Australia.
It’s an open-ended, MMO-inspired racer with more races, events, and events. It comfortably builds on challenges, but it never seems overwhelming.
6. Street Fighter 6 (2023)
Fighting/Action/Adventure | Metacritic Score: 92
Street Fighter 6 is fun, robust, and stylish. A unique fighting system has primarily characterized itself since Street Fighter 2, reflected in each game. The core fighting mechanics stay sharp in the latest installment, bringing in some fantastic new features.
Whether you are a first-time or seasoned fan of the series, Street Fighter 6 will keep you occupied for several hours. A fresh campaign, alternative control methods, and other helping tools have all been included by Capcom to attract new gamers to the brand. The World Tour’s storyline was ultimately the sole disappointment.
5. The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe (2022)
Adventure/Casual | Metacritic Score: 93
The Stanley Parable is different. It is out of the box, cylinder, circle, and several other expectations of various shapes and sizes. It deftly tinkers with your video game expectations. It analyzes the often presented options that would only repeat already established ideas.
On the surface, Ultra Deluxe is a modest lighting upgrade and a straightforward console conversion of the original Stanley experience. However, the extra features included in addition to those things is equivalent to an entirely new game. Even though we’ve seen some of these methods, those fresh encounters are continuously remarkable and always amusing.
4. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015)
Action/Adventure/RPG/Open World: 93
Geralt’s adventures look much fresher (and grimmer) with new-gen updates. With new upgrades, the seven-year-old game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has ray tracing, 60 frames per second, and several other improvements. One of the greatest role-playing games on last-gen, it feels much more natural on Series X and S.
Thanks to these new ray-tracing technologies, it appears substantially better than the previous edition in both indoor and outdoor scenarios. Shadows in the game are no longer blocky, pixelated, or just partially shaded; instead, they now appropriately represent their sources. If you’re new to the game, you’re in for a world of brilliant writing, monster-hunting expeditions, magic, and more.
3. Hades (2018)
Roguelike/Adventure/Action | Metacritic Score: 93
Hades is simply one of the best rogue-lites you can get your hands on. It raises the bar for fusing vastly different genres and leveraging their strengths to enhance one another. The game is a combination of gratifying, twitch-based action with a ton of replayability-enhancing modifications, and splendid character interactions.
Failing and then trying again advances the plot, creating an experience that is more than the sum of its parts. Hades expertly navigates the 2,000-year-old baggage of ancient characters, reinterpreting them through a modern prism that makes them seem as if they were lifted from a futuristic animated series.
2. Resident Evil 4 Remake (2023)
Horror/Action/Adventure | Metacritic Score: 93
Many would not require an introduction to Capcom’s iconic survival-horror game since it has been a milestone entry in the series, and the remake brings its legacy to modern consoles.
Resident Evil 4 will completely engross you, whether you were a fan of the first game or are a beginner with a need for some action-heavy horror of the finest kind. Thanks to its fierce cast of creatures, its combat is frictionless but no less stressful; its plot swiftly moves through a series of action scenes. These plot points are varied in structure but consistently unwavering in intensity, and the world is rich in detail and full of amusing and frequently snarling surprises.
1. Elden Ring (2022)
Open World/Action/Adventure/RPG | Metacritic Score: 96
To date, Elden Ring is FromSoftware’s Magnum Opus. The game combines everything FromSoftware has executed brilliantly in older games. You have exploration from Souls games, combat from Sekiro/Bloodborne, and mysteries of uncharted lore straight out of Demon Souls.
Like previous FromSoft games, the epic narrative is difficult to completely understand on the first playthrough, mainly because there isn’t an in-game notebook to remind you of the occasions, people, or uncommon terminology you come across over many hours. However, in choosing which boss to fight first and what areas to brave, you will likely understand Elden Ring’s world better the more you dive into it. It’s everything Soulslike, enchanted by a gripping open world.
