Fallout 4 (Xbox One)

Bethesda only released one single-player focused RPG during the Xbox One's lifespan, yet it certainly made a big impression. The world of Fallout 4 is ugly, desolate and devoid of life, and yet, it's in equal measures beautiful and captivating to explore. Underneath its ugly exterior is a slice of humanity trying to survive, and in the RPG fashion, you're there to assist.

Exploration is rewarding, as is crafting your character into your own. Not only that, but the game also features a fairly addictive settlement building element, encouraging you to maintain your own factions. Fallout 4 has a lot to offer and hundreds of hours worth of content. An absolute treat.

  • Xbox Game Pass? Yes

Final Fantasy XV (Xbox One)

Final Fantasy XV is a game all about bond. Its main cast of four characters gel and bounce off of each other so naturally that it's hard not to become enamoured with them. Even with its larger than life fantasy world, it somehow manages to feel perfectly grounded due to its central performances.

Outside of that, the fantasy world itself is huge, sprawling and begging to be explored. With an engaging main plot, hundreds of side quests and a fresh take on Final Fantasy combat, the most recent title is a great RPG on Xbox consoles and begs to be played.

  • Xbox Game Pass? No

Hades (Xbox Series X|S)

Supergiant Games had already delivered us the stunning trifecta of Bastion, Pyre and Transistor before unleashing Hades, a game that really feels like this amazing developer fully reaching its potential.

This is quite possibly the very best roguelike we've played to date (and, boy, have we played a few) an adventure that's been polished to perfection, featuring exquisite visuals, top-notch writing, a cleverly evolving narrative that keeps you hooked in to the end and silky smooth combat that expands and evolves to suit your chosen playstyle.

Zagreus' journey through the underworld is critically acclaimed for good reason, it's a slick and stylish romp that can't fail to put a big fat smile on your face. If you've ever been tempted to jump into the roguelike genre but were afraid you might not completely jive with it, this is the game to get you in the mix. Hades is, quite simply, a modern classic.

  • Xbox Game Pass? No

Hogwarts Legacy (Xbox Series X|S)

Simply put, Hogwarts Legacy is the Harry Potter game that we've always wanted on Xbox. It's an open world action RPG in which you can create your character and go on an epic journey through a 20+ hour campaign, and you can also explore the vast Hogwarts Castle and the many environments around it.

There are plenty of RPG features here, including the ability to level up your character as well as your gear and weaponry, but we'd describe this as a much more casual RPG than some of the other titles on this list. Anyway, this is just a great game for you to dive into if you like the concept of it, and it's very deserving of a place here.

  • Xbox Game Pass? No

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Kingdom Hearts III (Xbox One)

Disney and Final Fantasy was always a strange recipe, but it managed to create a recipe for success. The Kingdom Hearts series has only gained more followers with each entry, as it adds more Disney characters and further delves into Final Fantasy lore. Kingdom Hearts III is the most beautifully realised entry to date, with an action packed story that's well worth checking out - fan or not.

The game is absolutely gorgeous, with each Disney world managing to perfectly invoke the art style and feeling of each film. It makes turning every corner continue to be a surprise and the combat is one of the most visceral we have ever seen. It's a must play for any RPG fan.

  • Xbox Game Pass? No

Lies of P (Xbox Series X|S)

So, you like the look of Elden Ring and you want something similar on Xbox Game Pass? Lies of P is for you! This is a fantastic soulslike action-RPG that tells the story of Pinocchio with a "darkly elegant backdrop". It's tough as nails, so be prepared for a rough ride along the way, but it's still one of the best Xbox RPGs to come out in 2023.

Here's a bit of what we had to say about Lies of P in our Pure Xbox review:

"This dystopian tale of Pinocchio does a lot to stand on its own two feet, but when you strip all the set dressing away, it is simply a terrific love letter to Bloodborne."

  • Xbox Game Pass? Yes

Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth (Xbox Series X|S)

It's not very often at all that we give 10/10 scores to games here at Pure Xbox, but Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth managed to receive that "Outstanding" award in January 2024, becoming our favourite Yakuza / Like a Dragon title in the process. You should probably still start with Yakuza: Like a Dragon (or ideally a bunch of the older Yakuza games) first, but we think this one is the best of the bunch so far. That's some serious praise!

Here's what we had to say about the game in that 10/10 review:

"Massively expanded side activities, series-best combat, a fun new location and unexpected adventures around every single corner make for our favourite RGG Studio joint to date. 2024 is barely started and we've got an all-timer RPG to dig into."

  • Xbox Game Pass? No

Lords Of The Fallen (Xbox Series X|S)

Not to be confused with the 2014 game of the same name, Lords Of The Fallen was one of the many major AAA releases on Xbox in 2023, stunning us with its beautiful graphics and epic world design. This dark fantasy action-RPG is five times larger than the original title from a decade ago, and a whole lot more ambitious as well.

The reviews were actually somewhat lukewarm when the game arrived in October 2023, but the game has continued to improve with multiple updates since then, and we've certainly been impressed with what we've played so far.

  • Xbox Game Pass? Yes

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (Xbox Series X|S)

After the fairly average effort that was Marvel's Avengers, we guess nobody was really expecting all that much from Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, although with Eidos Montreal at the helm here we certainly hadn't lost all hope.

As it turned out, we needn't have worried, as what we've ended up with is a rip-roaring adventure that's packed full of hilarious banter between its band of misfit heroes - heroes that, for us, have never been more endearing - some wonderfully colourful and quirky alien worlds, and lots of proper, actual, you're going to make us cry emotion.

Yes, the gameplay is all pretty straightforward stuff that isn't gonna set the world on fire, but it's serviceable, it's fun, and it's bolstered to no end by the writing, world-building and absolutely gorgeous graphics on offer here. This really is one of the very best adventures we've been taken on in recent years.

  • Xbox Game Pass? No

Mass Effect Legendary Edition (Xbox One)

One of the all-time great RPG trilogies returns in a cracking remastered collection that sees Shepard and co. looking and playing better than ever before. Mass Effect Legendary Edition brings all three Mass Effect games together and gives them a facelift, 4K visuals, 60FPS gameplay, rejigged combat and massively improved loading times, resulting in a super-smooth and fully modernised adventure. If you were a fan of the series when it originally released this revisit will take you right back to your glory days, whilst newcomers can prepare to gear up and indulge in some deep Sci-fi RPG action that's never felt better to get thoroughly lost in. Welcome back, Commander Shepard.

  • Xbox Game Pass? Yes (Game Pass Ultimate)

Metaphor: ReFantazio (Xbox Series X|S)

Atlus delivered Metaphor: ReFantazio in late 2024 as the next game from the team behind the fantastic Persona series, and despite knowing that prior to release, it somehow managed to surpass expectations with most of us! This was one of the highest rated titles of the year, and a must-play if you enjoy anything to do with Persona.

We'll throw an excerpt from our review of Metaphor: ReFantazio down below:

"This is a coming together of everything that's been learned, honed and perfected over the years, presented through a phenomenal core narrative that's full of emotion and hope, amazing characters, some of the most warped enemy designs we've ever seen, and enough slick combat and style to do us until they make the next one."

  • Xbox Game Pass? No