Best Xbox One games for 2021
These are the best Xbox titles you can buy right now.
Our Picks
The Xbox One X is the most powerful game console on the market right now, and when it comes to multiplatform games, it's my favorite. Yes, the Xbox Series X arrived last year, but it's still hard to get your hands on and the existence of a new Xbox won't help you if you've been spending more time than usual at home and need to be entertained right now. But there's no real urgency for most gamers looking to grab a Series X, because if you invest in any of these games, they'll be backwards compatible with that video game console.
So, if you're an Xbox gamer looking to make the most of your Xbox One X, either by joining friends for a multiplayer battle royale, diving into a strategy or adventure game, or mowing down zombies, this list has got you covered. Read on for the best Xbox One games.
Before you buy, however, consider the following:
- We've included links to the digital version of each game at the Xbox online store, if you don't want the disc version (sold at linked retailers via the red buttons).
- Some titles, like Inside, Cuphead and The Witness, are digital-only titles. If you buy them at a retailer, you're just getting a download code.
- Apex Legends and the baseline version of Destiny 2 are free to play (for Xbox Live subscribers), just use that digital link to download them.
- In addition to those freebies, subscribers to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate can currently get Outer Worlds, Red Dead Redemption 2, Ori and the Blind Forest, Monster Hunter World, Gears 5, Halo 5, Metal Gear Solid V, The Witcher III, What Remains of Edith Finch and Rocket League at no extra charge. (Note that many of those titles will likely rotate out of the Game Pass system at some point in the future.)
With those caveats in place, let's move on to the best Xbox One games.
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See digital version at Microsoft
Doom Eternal rules. It's very much in the vein of the Doom reboot that launched in 2016, but that's a good thing. We say it's the most metal game ever made.
Cool additions include all-new methods of manoeuvring throughout the game's insanely violent universe. Very cool stuff. Probably the best Xbox One game of 2020 so far.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
See digital version at Microsoft
Endless online discourse about its difficulty aside, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is another masterpiece from Dark Souls creator From Software.
Sekiro shares a little of the DNA that made Dark Souls so compelling, but it's absolutely a brand new beast, even more distinct from the Souls series than Bloodborne. It requires learning a whole new skillset (mainly parrying) but it's worth the initial pain.
An early contender for game of the year.
Red Dead Redemption 2
See digital version at Microsoft
I mean obviously.
It took a while for Rockstar to release this one, but Red Dead Redemption 2 was worth the wait. This is a great game dripping in detail. Get through the slow start and engross yourself in one of the best video game worlds ever built.
Outer Wilds
See digital version at Microsoft
Outer Wilds is just... insane. A strange sci-fi mystery to be uncovered, Outer Wilds is set in a living breathing solar system that's simultaneously small, but also tremendous in its ambition and execution.
It's a game packed with jaw-dropping moments that feel organic in a way few games can compete with. I cannot emphasize this enough: play this video game.
Cuphead
See digital version at Microsoft
Cuphead is one of the most visually striking video games ever created. It's known for being extremely hard, but like most games known for being extremely hard, it's also extremely rewarding. Play it!
(If you have patience!)
Destiny 2: Forsaken
Destiny 2: Forsaken: See digital version at Microsoft
Destiny 2 standard: See digital version at Microsoft
Remember when no one was all that excited by Destiny 2? That's all changed with the Forsaken expansion, which has restored much of the excitement among hardcore and casual Destiny fans. Even if you abandoned Destiny 2 soon after its launch, there's enough fixed in Forsaken to justify diving back in.
Apex Legends
See digital version at Microsoft
Apex Legends is the game no-one saw coming. In 2018 Fortnite literally ruled our cultural universe, but now its position atop the Battle Royale genre has been challenged by Apex Legends and with good reason. Designed by the core team responsible for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and, more recently, the excellent Titanfall series, Apex Legends just feels so good minute to minute. Look for this game to stick around.
Assassin's Creed Odyssey
See digital version at Microsoft
Tremendous in scope, you're gonna want to give Assassin's Creed Odyssey a bit of breathing space. The opening credits roll after 5 hours for goodness sake! But once the game gets going, it really gets going. This is what a game made by hundreds of people looks like. Gorgeous, massive, polished. A supremely well made open world video game.
Ori and the Blind Forest
See digital version at Microsoft
It's beautiful, affecting and just feels good to control. It's a modern classic.
Resident Evil 7
See digital version at Microsoft
There's a Resident Evil cycle. It does something bold and innovative (see Resident Evil 1 or Resident Evil 4) and then it coasts on that achievement for a couple of sequels before getting its act together again.
Thankfully,
Monster Hunter: World
See digital version at Microsoft
It's a great starting point: previous games in the series have been on the Wii or on handheld consoles. This is the first time in a while Monster Hunter has appeared on a cutting-edge console and Monster Hunter: World takes full advantage of that computational grunt.
Celeste
See digital version at Microsoft
Celeste is an early contender for game of 2018. It's a brutal platformer in the style of Super Meat Boy, but innovates in a number of interesting ways. It messes with your expectation of what jumping in a video game looks like.
It's also incredibly tight in terms of its design, and features one of the most delicately balanced learning curves. Extremely good stuff.
Mortal Kombat 11
See digital version at Microsoft
Mortal Kombat is still kicking and, some might say, is better than ever. Ignore. Once upon a time Mortal Kombat was a gimmicky ultra-violent competitor to the sublime Street Fighter II. Now it's a spectacular fighting game in its own right, with its own set of strengths. This is the best Mortal Kombat game to date.
Gears 5
See digital version at Microsoft
There's a lot less hype around the Gears of War series these days, which is a shame, because Gears 5 is a true return to form. One of the best big-budget AAA games of 2019.
Inside
See digital version at Microsoft
Play this video game.
(Note that the retail version, linked below, comes packaged with Limbo, another excellent -- albeit short -- game.)
Halo 5: Guardians
See digital version at Microsoft
Halo might never regain the popularity and cultural relevance it had in the mid 2000s, but that doesn't mean
The story has lost its way, but that core 30-second gameplay loop is as compelling as it ever was. Get stuck in.
XCOM 2
See digital version at Microsoft
It's probably the kind of game you'd rather play on PC, but if that's not an option might as well get stuck into this on your Xbox One.
Titanfall 2
See digital version at Microsoft
Just when you thought you'd seen everything the first-person shooter has to offer, along comes
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
See digital version at Microsoft
You could make the argument that
Unmissable.
Forza Horizon 3
See digital version at Microsoft
Forza grabbed the racing game crown from Gran Turismo years ago, and it's been squatting there ever since.
It also looks like a million bucks and then some.
The Witcher 3
See digital version at Microsoft
Some people call
It absolutely is.
Also, it's a video game with good writing. That makes The Witcher 3 a bonafide unicorn.
Rise of the Tomb Raider
See digital version at Microsoft
It's also extremely good, and the closest you're ever likely to get to an Uncharted-esque experience on the Xbox One.
Control
See digital version at Microsoft
A wild, spectacular (and completely bizarre) video game, Control is one of the most ambitious and interesting big budget games of the year. Fans of the X-Files (and maybe even Twin Peaks) will enjoy this.
Doom
See digital version at Microsoft
Doom is the video game for you.
Dark Souls 3
See digital version at Microsoft
You can't get Bloodborne on the Xbox One, but
From Software haven't made a bad game yet and in the pantheon of the "Souls" genre, Dark Souls 3 ranks pretty high. That means it's up there with the best of an already exceptional bunch.
Souls games aren't for everyone, but you owe it to yourself to give Dark Souls 3 a try.
The Witness
See digital version at Microsoft
From the creator of Braid comes a video game unlike anything you've ever played before.
It's a universe waiting to be unlocked, only you don't require power-ups to proceed, you need to power-up your garbage brain. That sounds boring but it's really not. It's a fascinating design exercise and one of the most unique video games I've ever played.
Overwatch
See digital version at Microsoft
Mainly because Blizzard has literally no idea how to make a game that isn't compelling on every possible level.
If you were into Team Fortress back in the day, this is your new jam. If you like online shooters in any form, this is also your new jam.
Get on it.
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
See digital version at Microsoft
Punching Nazis: The Video Game.
What Remains of Edith Finch
See digital version at Microsoft
A unique, story-focused game that'll pique the interest of folks that liked Gone Home or Dear Esther.
Like those games What Remains of Edith Finch is narratively driven, short but affecting. Best of all, you can play through the game in one sitting.
Rocket League
See digital version at Microsoft
Playing soccer with cars is about as good as high concepts get. Hard to go wrong with that.
Resident Evil 2
See digital version at Microsoft
Probably the best video game remake ever. Evokes the spirit of the original Resident Evil 2 but doesn't feel creaky or dated. Works as a nostalgia piece but is also perfectly playable for newcomers. It feels like a brilliant reworking of a type of game no-one really makes any more.
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Originally published earlier and updated periodically.