Cliff Notes – What is the best Xbox Series X first party game?
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Forza Horizon 5’s Popularity: The game is highlighted as a leading contender for the best Xbox Series X title, praised for its engaging gameplay and expansive open world.
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Emerging Contenders: Indiana Jones And The Great Circle is also mentioned as a strong competitor, noted for its polished execution and lack of bugs, appealing to players seeking a fresh experience.
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Quality Over Exclusivity: The discussion reflects a shift in focus from exclusive titles to the overall quality of first-party games, indicating Microsoft’s growing reputation as a quality publisher despite hardware challenges.
Games Inbox: What is the best Xbox Series X first party game?
Is Forza Horizon 5 the best Xbox game? (Microsoft)
The Wednesday letters page thinks Jurassic World Evolution 3 should be the template for other movie adaptations, as a reader is frustrated at the lack of a new NieR game.
Previously exclusive
Interesting review of Ninja Gaiden 4 from GC, and nice to see that PlatinumGames are still alive and kicking. Your final comments, about it being one of your favourite Xbox Game Studios games, made me wonder though, what actually is the best first party Xbox Series X game. Especially as I’m not sure Ninja Gaiden 4 even counts, since while Microsoft published it the developers aren’t someone they own.
We can’t call them exclusives anymore, because most of them aren’t anymore, but I do feel that, even as they mess up on the hardware, Microsoft is becoming a quality first party publisher. So, for me, the main two contenders are Indiana Jones And The Great Circle and Forza Horizon 5.
It seems obvious to me that Forza is definitely the biggest and most interesting game out of it, Halo, and Gears Of War, and I think that Forza Horizon 6 will be much bigger for Microsoft than Fable. But I’m going to give it to Indy. Maybe because it’s fresher in my mind but I really loved that game. The whole thing seemed perfectly made and not a glitch or bug anywhere to be seen. Plus, the impression of Harrison Ford is spot on.
Vander
Back in business
Very glad to see PlatinumGames back in business with Ninja Gaiden 4. I can’t say I ever liked the original games, but I would try this just because of who made it and because I thought they were likely to go under soon.
I hope they have given up their plans to make live service games and can go back to making what they’re good at again. I think it’d be great if they were involved in the next NieR game too, although I’m still perplexed why that hasn’t been announced yet.
Expert, exclusive gaming analysis
I know Yoko Taro is a bit of a strange one but if there’s an opposite to striking when the iron is hot, this is it. It was my hope that NieR would become a major new franchise for Square Enix and I’d love to see Platinum be a part of that. And to use the money they make from that to make a new Bayonetta. All the previous games had a different director so Bayonetta 4 absolutely could happen, I feel.
Harbert
Air heads
How in the heck is Nintendo going to talk about Kirby Air Riders for a whole hour? I can’t remember any game they’ve ever done getting two Directs to itself before and the first one was already 50 minutes!
If this really is Nintendo publicly bribing the guy to make a new Super Smash Bros. that’s wild, but that idea seems like a bit too much of a conspiracy to me. I imagine it’s much more ordinary reasoning and it’s just that Nintendo likes the director and he talked them into making the game. I don’t see it selling even a little bit, especially in Europe, but I guess you can’t say it’s not for want of trying, with all the marketing they’re giving it.
Tacle
Market factors
RE: Should you upgrade to a PS5 console? I’ve been on the edge ready to make the leap, just waiting until the PlayStation 5 becomes more affordable.
When the PlayStation 4 dropped a few hundred off its original price, most people I know took the leap. Games like Uncharted, Assassin’s Creed, Need For Speed, and Battlefield, yep I leapt.
Fast forward to today, that discount never happened with the PlayStation 5.
Five years later and they’ve only knocked off a hundred quid.
In regards to games, it is only this year really exciting games have arrived, only to be told the PlayStation 6 is scheduled for 2027. Why would I drop £400 to 500 now?
To be told the newer faster console is here soon and some of the games I buy now won’t be compatible later.
Chris Lee
GC: Well, it might not be until 2028, but we understand.
Twoka-Laylee
I appreciate that you may be too busy to review a remaster/soft remake but did GameCentral have any thoughts on Yooka-Replaylee? Come to think of it, I haven’t read anything in the Inbox about it either.
I enjoyed the original to a point, but it was only ever a 7/10 game. I’m considering giving the remaster a try. Playtonic are one of the few British developers left so I hope it does well, especially after their recent staff layoffs.
Barry
GC: We haven’t had time to review the remaster but, to be honest, we agree with you on the original. We hope they have the opportunity to make something new instead.
Before they were famous
I think I already saw it suggested here (or somewhere online, at least) that the people that do Jurassic World Evolution should do a Ghostbusters game in a similar style, and I totally agree. There’s so many better ways to adapt movies than just a straight action game.
Jurassic World movies don’t even have what I’d really call action scenes anyway, they’re just kind of short spectacles of the dinosaurs doing things, more than the people, so I’ve severe doubts of this upcoming Survival game being any good.
I’m also dubious about the new James Bond game too. A young Bond doesn’t really make any sense to me, because a young man would not act the way that regular Bond does and that’s kind of the whole appeal, of how he’s suave and confident and a womaniser.
I suspect they’re making him young specifically so he doesn’t do those things, which can be viewed as negative nowadays. But I really don’t like this prequel idea of showing people before they became a character we like. I don’t want to play a game of Bond before he started acting like Bond, I want to play as the actual character.
Moschops
Hero to zero
Everything to do with MindsEye is so crazy. This guy was apparently instrumental to making GTA a success and yet the second he does his own thing apparently he’s a walking disaster area?
It’s a shame because the UK could really have done with another big developer and it sounds like most of the staff were ex-Rockstar Games, so they were probably really good. Sad to think they probably followed him and thought they were making the next big thing. I hope they all land on their feet.
Boycie
30 years behind
RE: Having hundreds of unplayed games. It comes from being digital for 12 years and the sales. My PlayStation transaction history goes back to 2013. But my earliest memory of buying digital is Braid in 2008 on Xbox 360. Time really does fly.
On PlayStation, my owned games are 256. 507 if you include PlayStation Plus. Xbox it’s 75 games (it’s been mainly a Game Pass and backwards compatibility box), PC across Epic Games Store (all free games), Steam and GOG (all bought for less than a quid pretty much) it’s 134 games. I own six physical Switch 1 and 2 games and 12 digital. Total games outright owned (or licensed for most, if you like) is 478 games.
I stopped looking at the sales a year or two ago, so never buy anything on impulse anymore. But I do feel it’s important to support the type of single-player gaming I want to see last, so will pick up games like Silent Hill 2 remake, Astro Bot, Stellar Blade, Donkey Kong Bananza, and Hollow Knight: Silksong day one. Plus, I just really want to play these games. I’m still so close to buying Silent Hill f for those two reasons.
Moving to digital and going nuts in the sales I think is a fairly common experience and probably the root of a lot of gamers’ back catalogue. My purchases now are very well considered but it’s going to take time to play through all those sales splurges. Many years most likely, if ever.
Simundo
Top three still to play: Transformers Devastation (PS4), Spec Ops: The Line (Xbox 360), and Harvester (PC)
GC: Harvester is nearly 30 years old?!
Inbox also-rans
It seems so obvious at this point that the next gen Xbox is going to be home version of the ROG Xbox Ally: not Microsoft hardware and super expensive. It’ll just be a PC in a box and I’m already not interested.
Gemsens
I wish I hadn’t listened to you about Ball x Pit. Why can I not stop playing this game?! Please send help!
Loomis
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