The 10 RPGs that defined Xbox and evolved the genre
Nov. 25, 2024Feature | Xbox built a bridge between computer-first RPGs and playing on the couch, redefining the genre in the process – here are the 10 Xbox RPG games that redefined the format for good
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We love an RPG quest that seems simple at first but gradually gets more complex as you embark on it. That’s exactly what happened with our quest to try and narrow down the 10 RPGs that defined Xbox. While you may associateMicrosoft’s consoles more with Halo, Forza, or Blinx the Timesweeper (for the real ones out there), they’ve actually boasted a rich history of great role-playing games. Xbox also did more than any of the major platforms to erode the barrier between PC and console RPG.
The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind
This month, we’re diving into the highly anticipatedupcoming Obsidian game. To find our coverage, visit theAvowed Big Preview hub.
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Designer and visionary Peter Molyneux knows his fantasy, even if that’s partially due to some pie-in-the-sky promises for this flawed-but-fun first entry in the Fable series. Yet, while the game didn’t make good on all of Peter’s ideas – honestly, nothing could – it was still a delightful romp through a gloriously silly fantasy universe that nevertheless delivers on its lofty ambitions. The opening alone, in which you play a child who can punch any NPC and happily take a bribe from a cheating husband to not to tell his wife about his affair (you’ll then be called out by a guard as “accessory to Improper Man and Lady Behaviour”), is a sublimely cheeky antidote to more self-serious RPGs. Here’s hoping thenew Fablecan pull off the same trick.
A passion project from studio veterans, this RPG mixed Chinese mythology and homemade fantasy in Bioware’s first attempt at an original IP. Tragically overlooked on Xbox as the Xbox 360 was on the horizon, this was an essential part of Bioware’s journey. The usual sharp writing and great characters were now joined by a far more hands-on martial arts combat system that replaced KOTOR’s sit-back-and-watch fighting. Didn’t hurt that the game was filled with great villains whoreallydeserved a smack in the face, either. We also wish more fantasy RPGs had aerial combat sections inspired by top-down arcade shooters (no, really!). If you lovedDragon Age: The Veilguard, go try this studio’s hidden gem immediately.
Developer:Bethesda Game StudiosPlatform(s):Xbox 360Release date:March 20, 2006
A lot of early Xbox 360 games were simply HD ports of what we’d been playing on the original Xbox. That all changed when Oblivion came along. Finally, a game that used all that extra horsepower to give us, well, a really big field. Butwhata field! Oblivion was beautiful, utterly massive, and would probably be talked about a lot more fondly today if Skyrim hadn’t completely stolen its thunder a few years later. As much of a statement of what consoles could do as Morrowind had been on Xbox, except this is infinitely more accessibleandhas Patrick Stewart in it. So world-shattering was this release that we declared “welcome to the first day of the rest of your role-playing life” in ourThe Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion reviewback on Xbox 360.
Developer:BioWarePlatform(s):Xbox 360Release date:November 20, 2007
Easy to forget that this was once an Xbox 360 exclusive, and a series so important to that console’s identity that it was basically Xbox’s Final Fantasy. Mass Effect 2 may have been the peak of the series, but none of that would have happened had this game not gotten so much right the first time. You’re the subtly-named Commander Shepherd, leading a squad of loveable/hateable/I-want-to-romance-you-able characters on an unforgettable mission through the cosmos. An incredible achievement that proved Bioware didn’t need Star Wars to make a beloved sci-fi adventure, and led to one of the greatest trilogies ever in gaming. So much so that in ourMass Effect Legendary Edition reviewwe reiterated that it’s “an unmissable” series.
Developer:Mistwalker, FeelplusPlatform(s):Xbox 360Release date:December 6, 2007
We could have written an entire list of poor, doomed games that Microsoft developed to try and crack the Japanese market (RIP Blue Dragon). One of the more successful attempts was this heartfelt RPG from no less than the creator of Final Fantasy. There was a real hunger for a more traditional turn-based JRPG after the divisive Final Fantasy 12, but Lost Odyssey is probably most fondly remembered for its frequent flashback sequences that tell NPC short stories. These play out like little visual novellas and really go for the heartstrings. It’s probably the most conservative game on this list, but a surprisingly strong JRPG on a console that’s as American as a bald eagle eating an apple pie.
Developer:Bethesda Game StudiosPlatform(s):Xbox 360Release date:October 28, 2008
New Vegas gets all the love these days, as if it wasn’t working off the incredible template that Bethesda forged here. One it got so right that we basically accepted an identical shinier retread withFallout 4. There’s the incredible opening that sees you go through your entire childhood before the shocking reveal of leaving the bunker and seeing the post-nuclear wasteland for the first time. A terrifying horror game lurks in its ghoul-infested subway stations.Andthere’s a bit where you meet a cult worshiping a sentient tree that begs for death. Fallout 3 pushed the 360 to breaking point, but few Xbox games were as willing to take the RPG to such ambitious, bizarre places. Back on release, we called it “a huge, varied, epic, ambitious masterpiece” in ourFallout 3 review.
Developer:BioWarePlatform(s):Xbox 360Release date:November 3, 2009
Bioware was so un-confident that this game would be a hit, that it didn’t plan any sequels (which some of Dragon Age 2’s meaner players might say is pretty damn clear). It’s easy to forget after the success of 3 that the idea of a spiritual successor to Baldur’s Gate was a pretty tough sell back in 2009. But Bioware attempted – and succeeded! – in making the old-school character-focused fantasy RPG more appealing to modern console players' tastes. So began a series that’s still giving us great games today, based on ourDragon Age: The Veilguard review.
One of the PCs most ambitious RPGs was somehow miraculously squeezed into your humble Xbox 360, in what would be the most incredible Witcher-based miracle until some demons somehow got the third game running on Switch. Geralt’s second adventure is noThe Witcher 3– few games are – and yet it might even bemoreambitious, famously featuring a second act that can play out completely differently depending on early decisions you make. Proof that a series which was PC to its bones could work on console, this was Geralt’s first victorious step into the gaming mainstream, and well worth revisiting. In ourThe Witcher 2 review, we gave it a five star rating and called it “a brilliant masterpiece”.
Want more? Avowed is set to be a more up-to-date Xbox RPG favorite.Despite the Skyrim comparisons, Avowed is an Obsidian RPG first and foremost: “Let’s bring in all the greatest hits”!
As well as GamesRadar, Abbie has contributed to PC Gamer, Edge, and several dearly departed games magazines currently enjoying their new lives in Print Heaven. When she’s not boring people to tears with her endless ranting about how Tetris 99 is better than Tetris Effect, she’s losing thousands of hours to roguelike deckbuilders when she should be writing.
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