It won't be long now until we publish our Pure Xbox Game of the Year roundup for 2024, but as we've still got around a week to go, we thought we'd take this chance to look at what Metacritic is listing as the top 10 Xbox games of the year.
We already know that this list is going to look very different to the Pure Xbox one. The game in first place isn't even technically a full game — it's Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree — while the likes of Neva and Neon White have also made it in there, both of which come as a surprise to us! Quite a few big titles don't get anywhere near the top 10 according to Metacritic's averages, with the likes of Hellblade 2 and Stalker 2 not even in the top 25.
So, let's take a look at the top 10 Xbox games of the year according to Metacritic. Keep in mind that if an Xbox release doesn't get at least seven reviews for the platform, Metacritic doesn't count it as part of its roundups, which is why a game like Balatro doesn't get ranked despite having an average of 95! Four Xbox games this year also have a Metacritic average of 87, so we've picked the one with the most reviews (Indiana Jones) for the 10th place spot.
- Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree (95)
- Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth (92)
- Metaphor: ReFantazio (92)
- Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance (92)
- Death Stranding: Director's Cut (91)
- Tekken 8 (89)
- Destiny 2: The Final Shape (89)
- Neva (88)
- Neon White (88)
- Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (87)
As mentioned, there were three other games that scored an average of 87 for Xbox on Metacritic, and they were Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Botany Manor and Unicorn Overlord. All of those are essentially in joint-10th place.
We know you're curious about the overall list as well - here's the top 10 for ALL platforms:
- Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree (95)
- Astro Bot (94)
- Metaphor: ReFantazio (94)
- Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth (92)
- Castlevania Dominus Collection (92)
- Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (92)
- Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance (92)
- Slay The Princess: The Pristine Cut (92)
- Tekken 8 (91)
- Animal Well (91)
As you can see, a few of the games that appear in both lists have different scores, and this is because Metacritic ranks them based on the platform they scored highest for. Metaphor: ReFantazio, for example, scored highest on PS5.
Anyway, hopefully you found this interesting! As mentioned, the Pure Xbox Game of the Year will be published soon (on Christmas Day in fact), and we're looking forward to sharing the results of your votes for 2024's Xbox GOTY!