Best Xbox Exclusives of All Time

The history of the Xbox is not the most decorated thing ever. That being said, Microsoft has tried its hardest to try and get exclusives for its system. Yes, many of their exclusives do get ported to PC, but we’ll focus on the majority of the console exclusives they have had over their four console generations so far, while keeping franchises bundled together to save time. Likewise, to keep this video from being too long we’ll just offer a brief overview of the games. With that, allow me to show the Best Xbox Exclusives of All Time!

#22 Palworld 

I think Palworld is a fun place to start because it is an Xbox exclusive—for now, at least. Given recent events, any game on this list could eventually become non-exclusive. Anyway, it’s a game no one expected to be fun, and yet it turned the Pokemon-style world on its head in arguably very fun ways.

Simply put, you’re dropped into a world full of monsters called “Pals,” and you can do almost anything with them. Raise them to be stronger, turn them into a massive labor force, poach them mercilessly because you like how they look, or even eat them. It’s your Pal, do what you want, who’s going to judge you?

#21 Lost Odyssey 

For multiple reasons, the Xbox never truly dove headlong into the RPG genre, mainly because they knew that they weren’t selling many units in Japan. However, they did attempt to make exclusive titles in the genre, like with Lost Odyssey. The game played very much like old-school Final Fantasy titles while also maintaining a more modern story and graphical look.

You played an immortal trying to save the world from a “revolution” while also trying to reclaim and understand the memories that you lost. Believe it or not, it did do well in Japan and beyond, but it didn’t get continued.

#20 Blue Dragon 

Here’s another example of them attempting an RPG, and not just that, it was headed up by the original creator of Final Fantasy via his new studio in Mistwalker. The game took classic RPG turn-based combat and mixed it with anime styling to create a unique experience that became a cult-classic.

Ironically, this was also a game that was so big, it took three discs to hold its adventure! Some people even got to see it bundled with the Xbox 360, making it more of a deal to get.

#19 Otogi: Myth of Demons 

You might not remember this game, but you do know the people who made Otogi: Myth of Demons. After all, it was the team at FromSoftware that did it. Yep, the very team behind Dark Souls and Elden Ring made this title all the way back in 2002!

The game was action-packed and followed an executioner who had to try and save Japan from the demons that were overrunning it. It’s not the most memorable game, but it was an early exclusive for Xbox, and a sign of things to come.

#18 Sunset Overdrive 

This next one is hard to talk about because Sunset Overdrive should’ve been a franchise, and yet it only got one game. The title was from Insomniac Games before they were bought by Sony. That says a lot. They put their action-based experience to the test to make one of the most unique action titles ever.

Long story short, an energy drink has turned most of your city into monstrous beings, except for you, that is. Instead, you get superpowers, and you get to roam around the world in a rather meta way to have fun, cause chaos, and technically save the day.

#17 Ninja Gaiden II 

Who doesn’t want to be a ninja? Ninja Gaiden II allowed you to be that in one of the most brutal and difficult ninja-themed titles ever. Team Ninja once again showed their action-focused gameplay to perfection, and most agree that this is one of the best entries in the series.

As Ryu Hyabusa, you’ll start by trying to find a kidnapped CIA agent and then work your way through a dark plot to try and stop a vile soul from being resurrected. You know, like an epic ninja does.

#16 Saints Row (2006)

This is another title that’s hard to talk about because the developer of Saints Row, Volition, was shut down in 2023. However, what they created with their “GTA clone,” Saints Row, will endure because it showed that you can start out as a clone and then become your own entity.

Unlike in GTA, you start out as a low-ranking member of the Third Streets Saints gang. Within Stillwater, you’ll create your character and slowly work your way through the ranks of the city’s underbelly to become the true leader of the Saints.

The game was fun, hilarious, and never took itself too seriously. It will be missed.

#15 Starfield 

Yep, I’m talking about Starfield. This Bethesda title took 8+ years to get made, and what you feel about it definitely depends on how much of it you played. Bethesda stuck to their guns, graphics engine, and gameplay style with this one, and if you enjoyed it, good for you.

To its credit, Bethesda has tried to improve the game from its troubled launch and fan backlash. There is DLC coming, and official mod support is set to be dropped in 2024. If nothing else, it’s the biggest Xbox launch in history. 

#14 Crackdown 

While the last game wasn’t great, the first Crackdown was a revelation in many ways. It took the shooting of standard third-person titles and mixed it with the power overload of games like Prototype and Infamous. The result was a game where you were encouraged to power up to the max and see what kind of damage you caused.

The fact that the game came attached with a Halo 3 beta likely didn’t hurt its chances of being seen.

#13 Left 4 Dead Series

Valve doesn’t put out too many games anymore, which is sad because they were clearly good at it! The Left 4 Dead was an excellent example of that. It took first-person co-op titles to new heights while still embracing what made things like Half-Life and Team Fortress so enjoyable on the gameplay front.

This was a title that demanded you work together as a group if you wanted to survive the undead horrors that were trying to kill you. Each level was a desperate bid for survival, and titles that tried to mimic what they did never lived up to its quality.

#12 Valheim

Survival games in expansive worlds have been popular for a while, especially when they mix in different elements like what Subnautica, The Forest and others did. But with Valheim, the goal was to be put in a Norse mythology-infused world either by yourself or with nine other players and see what you could build.

This new world was yours to explore and create with. You were encouraged to venture out, make homes, weapons, armor, and fight whatever you came across. Your life here was what you made it, and that made the game enticing. 

#11 The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind 

While the last Bethesda title I mentioned wasn’t the best, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind was a great example of how Bethesda used to be. This expansive RPG is exactly what you might think or remember. You create a character and then set off to explore the realm how you see fit.

Will you attempt to save the realm from the blight that’s slowly killing it? How will you grow your character via the characters and guilds you meet? A near-endless journey awaits you if you haven’t played it yet.

#10 Forza Motorsport Series

I’m going to do back-to-back Forza franchises here, so be ready. On the side of the Forza Motorsport Series, this was the version that was all about getting cars onto the road or track and racing until you either crash or win.

With hundreds upon hundreds of cars to drive and fine-tune, you’ll get the ride of your dreams and then work hard to overcome obstacles so that you can be the best. The Forza Motorsport Series was meant to be the “most authentic racing experience” ever, and more times than not, they were able to pull that off.

#9 Forza Horizon Series

In contrast, the Forza Horizon Series was more about taking the cars that you love and setting them on a course for adventure. Whether it was in Mexico, the UK, or somewhere else entirely, you were given massive open worlds to explore either alone or with friends.

If you wanted to enjoy racing in untamed places you came across? You could do that! If you wanted to just explore and see the graphical beauty before you, that was an option, too! The Forza Horizon Series was about the fun and joy of driving, and that’s pretty cool.

#8 Jet Set Radio Future 

No, this wasn’t the original title. That was on Dreamcast. Instead, Jet Set Radio Future was a “reimagining” that Xbox did in 2002, and it worked incredibly well. If you liked the cult classic, you would’ve loved playing this on the OG Xbox.

The game was very much the same. You were part of a street gang trying to rip it up skate-style in Tokyo and tag the world in your wondrous graffiti. This classic was all about fun and expression, and Sega is going to remake the game again in the future!

#7 The Witcher 2: Assassin’s of Kings 

Ah, it’s time to talk about the continuing adventures of Geralt of Rivia. Long before his franchise took off, The Witcher 2: Assassin’s of Kings was just a semi-hyped RPG that would eventually help cement the franchise’s status and CD Projekt Red’s dev ability.

In the game, Geralt is framed for the murder of a king, and so after escaping prison, he must set out to find the true kingslayer. You’ll encounter many people and monsters along the way, so you’ll need to be at your Witcher best to stay alive.

#6 Fable II 

You likely know that the Fable franchise never truly “lived up to the hype,” but some of their titles, like Fable II, got close. Like many other RPGs of the period, the point wasn’t just to get through the story but to make choices that would affect how “good or evil” your character would end up.

Plus, you could make key choices that would affect the world around you and the people you met. You could get married, have kids, build up a business for yourself, burn down villages or areas, and work.

#5 Gears Series

Without a doubt, one of the biggest problems that the Xbox franchise has had was making franchises that were truly their own. That’s where Cliffy B. and the Gears Series came into play. This was a third-person action title that played like mixes of numerous other franchises that came before it, and helped influence series like Mass Effect with their cover-style combat.

The original trilogy starring Marcus Fenix is, without a doubt, an epic saga. Yes, they had more games after that, but the mix of dark story and brutal combat within these first three titles showcased why this was a franchise to buy an Xbox for.

#4 Jade Empire 

Before Bioware was, well, Bioware, they made a deep RPG called Jade Empire. You can see its influences within Mass Effect, and it was their attempt to make a big new IP after doing the greatness that was KOTOR.

You played a monk who had to find and defeat the person that kidnapped their master, all while learning many skills and solving problems along the way. As you might have guessed, the “morality system” that Bioware became known for was on full display here.

While they didn’t get to make the sequel they wanted, they did make Mass Effect after this, and that’s a big win in my book.

#3 Panzer Dragoon Orta 

Here’s a franchise that likely will never get its due, but it still had fun entries to enjoy, especially ones like Panzer Dragoon Orta. This was actually the fourth entry in the rail shooter, and it played like the previous ones as you would expect.

You played Orta, a young woman who is saved by a dragon and has to team up with it to help save the world. Sadly, while the game was fun and praised by critics, it would be the last game in the franchise officially.

#2 Microsoft Flight Simulator

It might sound weird that Microsoft Flight Simulator is on my list, but hear me out. This classic simulator has not only had multiple iterations to this day, each one better than the last, but it’s one that has gone above and beyond the call in the real world.

How so? This game is so big and detailed that it’s used to train literal pilots on how to fly a plane without risking them crashing a real plane. So it’s not just a simulator; it’s a training tool! One that Microsoft proudly boasts about.

#1 Halo Series

There’s no other franchise I could put at the top slot, and while the franchise has seen better days, when the original trilogy helped raise the Xbox to prominence, there was nothing else like it.

From Combat Evolved to Halo 3, and some the spinoffs in between that Bungie made, this wasn’t just a game inspired by FPS titles set in a sci-fi universe, this was THE franchise that inspired MANY FPS titles and series to come.

From dual-stick control systems to online multiplayer and more, you have to thank the Halo series for how it elevated the genre to where it is now. It’s the ultimate franchise that Xbox can hang its hat on.