Every now and again, we like to take a look at how the Metacritic ratings are shaping up for Xbox releases, with the 2022 list revealing that Elden Ring was the highest-rated title of the year with a massive score of 96.
In case you aren't aware, Metacritic creates an average score for each game based on reviews from across the web and beyond, and that means we can get a generally good picture of how each title has fared with the critics.
Looking at 2023 so far, we're not even five months in yet, but it's already shaping up to be a great year for Xbox releases. Below, we've listed Metacritic's top Xbox games for this year (as of May 2023), although we've eliminated The Witcher 3's physical version - as the digital version of that title for Xbox Series X|S was released in December 2022.
The following list is based on games with at least seven professional reviews for Xbox on Metacritic.
- Resident Evil 4 - 91
- Dead Space - 89
- Persona 4 Golden - 89
- Hogwarts Legacy - 87
- Hi-Fi RUSH - 87
- Persona 3 Portable - 87
- Monster Hunter Rise - 87
- Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition - 86
- Star Wars Jedi: Survivor - 85
- Ghostwire: Tokyo - 82
Interestingly, this list misses out a few acclaimed 2023 releases such as WWE 2K23, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, Like a Dragon: Ishin, Dead Island 2 and Forza Horizon 5: Rally Adventure, all of which couldn't quite make the cut.
It's definitely a nice start to 2023, then, although the absence of Redfall and Minecraft Legends in the list will be disappointing for Microsoft and Xbox Game Studios. The big question is whether Forza Motorsport and particularly Starfield will be able to push towards to the top of the list come the end of the year, and we're all hoping they will!