Hey Dudes,

So After being absent from the Xbox platform all last gen I've picked up a X|S and have been enjoying my time on Gamepass, largely playing emulated 360 games and basking at how amazing the platform was in that era.

Now that I'm able to play missed Last Gen games I'm... well I cant think of any?

I played through Halo 5, really enjoyed it. Played through the original gears Trilogy but I think I'd rather replay them again then continue with Gears 4 so I doubt Gears 5 will hold my attention any better (correct me if Im wrong!).

Ill probably give Sunset Overdrive a look next but after that... is that it? No interest in racing games so wont be getting any mileage out of that one.

I played PS4 all last gen so multiplatform games I've likely played already.

I'm not trying to shit on Xbox but honestly their isn't many. They had a terrible output last gen.

I think Sunset Overdrive is a must play and probably the best "exclusive" from that console's life cycle. Sea of Thieves is another one I can think of that I'd recommend, but I also think it's only fun if you're playing with friends.

After that, Rare Replay & Gears 5 are pretty good but you kind of know what you're getting from both.

I personally enjoyed Quantum Break, but I know a lot of people didn't. (And it's been easily eclipsed by Control, which is better.) I also liked Dead Rising 3 at the time, but I'm not sure it holds up.

There's also Sea of Thieves, if you're into that? And Rare Replay is, IMHO, wonderful.

The only other console exclusives that are coming to my mind are mostly games that you can skip, like Ryse or Crimson Dragon (both launch games, notably).

If you have any interest in racing games, Forza Horizon 4 is great.

Yeah, the era of Xbox first party from like 2010 to present is really rough, especially if you're not into Halo, Forza, or Gears. I'm pretty optimistic about what Xbox Studios have coming in the next few years with all the acquisitions they've made.

While I never owned an Xbox One, almost every first party Xbox game from that generation was released on PC and very little of that library was compelling me at all. Quantum Break was pretty good, though not a top Remedy game. I also enjoyed playing through the Halo games again on MCC, but the only thing new in that was Halo 2's presentation upgrade. I also enjoyed Tell Me Why.

Killer Instinct is great. Like, probably the only fighting game from a western developer that could stand toe to toe with the big games from Japan. Takes the basic foundations from the originals, and improves everything about them. Get it. It's on sale every couple weeks.

To be clear, I don't own an Xbox. Played this on PC.

I'll add another vote for Sunset Overdrive; I absolutely adore that game. It borrows from a lot of different open world games and shooters but ends up being more than the sum of its parts. I don't think there's anything out there that's quite like it.

I'll also say that I think Gears 4 and 5 are worth playing. I had a really great time with Gears 5 especially, even though it is kind of just more of that but with a minor open world element (see e.g. the canoe from God of War 2018 for a comparable and arguably better realized "open world" system).

Also, to the extent that you've missed out on any original Xbox games like Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge or Panzer Dragoon: Orta, the Series X|S is a great way to enjoy those games; they are pretty much impossible to play anywhere else. Here's hoping they bring Jet Set Radio Future and the two MechAssault games.

Gears 4 and 5 are the two best games of the generation, imo. I think they're far, FAR better than the Epic era of the series. Significantly better pacing, world building, characterization, and art design.

Forza Horizon 3 and 4 were incredibly fun. I still fire up both.

Some folks really like the Ori games. I don't; they're too hard. You never feel any sense of empowerment since any new game mechanic is going to immediately be followed by a demand for mastery.

Never got around to Dead Rising 3 or 4. Good?

Crackdown 3

The Forza Horizon series is great I'd recommend to anyone even if their not a fan racing games the MCC is also well worth playing through, but outside of those two the XB1 had a lot of misses.

Sunset Overdrive is a game that gets a lot of praise from the core but I found the gameplay annoying and the humor very grating, SO would just never sut up.

Gears 4 is a really boring game the story goes exactly where you expect and the gameplay is more the same in a different skin. Gears 5 larger enviroments is a little more adventurous but I still don't really care for any of the new characters and the game in the end doesn't go far enough for me.

Quantum Break & Ryse were both decent fun but very shallow games.

ReCore is a pretty fantastic game that came out around the same time as Breath of the Wild (March 13, 2017). Actually 6 months before BoTW. Both have "Z-targeting," open worlds, and hangliders. One has a motorbike as part of dlc. One has it part of its core gameplay. ReCore has a pretty decent open world with platforming in 3rd person. Keiji Inafune had something to do with it. So if you care about Street Fighter and Metroid (not sure which metroids but i get the vibe) then this game may matter to you.

After ReCore i'd probably play Sunset Overdrive. Then I would play the 360 version of Alan Wake. By then you'd have something on gamepass that strikes your fancy. Play your non-exclusive and PS exclusive games on your Playstation. Comeback to Xbox for their upcoming exclusives. (Unless the whole point of this post is to belabor the no xbox exclusives point)

Uhhhh Mortal Kombat lol

Ori isn’t quite for me, but it is a well made game, if you are interested in the jump kind.

Feel like I’m forgetting something, but looking over the thread, that seems to be all the exclusives. They had some bad luck with games not working out and getting cancelled, like with Phantom Dust and Scalebound.

Less relevant now, but they did console exclusives like with Tomb Raider and Cuphead, although those games you can get elsewhere.

Thanks for the feedback!

I havent heard of ReCore and it never mentioned on the exclusive lists I was reading on other sites, I'll check it out.

I've got Sunset downloading for tomorrow.

I havent played Rare Replay - but I ~have~ been playing Nuts and Bolts and loving it. That was one game I missed playing when it came out and Brad gave it such a high review. Its always been in the back of my mind but as years went on I thought I'd never be in a position to play it. Glad it holds up! And its pretty funny.

The backwards compatibility with the 360 works really well. I'm impressed with how smoothly you can acquire old dlc and everything too. They did a good job. The 360 can finally go into storage.

State of Decay 2, that is THE best game xbox has imo. Don't dismiss it as another action zombie game, because it's not.

It's about building and managing your crew of survivors, about freedom to create your own agenda. SoD2 has one of the best "emergent gameplay" of any game and that's creating remarkable experiences.

Yeah I quite enjoyed State of Decay 2! Played it on PS4 mostly already but was one of the first things I installed on my |S after getting it to check out the new content!

Also I've been dabling a little bit with "Grounded" - I'll need to play it with a friend before giving it a final blessing but it seems like it has a lot of potential.

@taylorwmartin: I like Mortal Kombat and would say it has gotten much more polished in recent entries, but it's still kinda rough around the edges compared to something like Street Fighter or Tekken. Especially when it comes to animations. Killer Instinct is closer imo.