Brand-new games arrive on Xbox all the time, so it’s easy to forget about the many older Xbox One titles. But there are a ton of last-generation games that are worth playing again on the latest hardward thanks to some big upgrades that overhaul performance, visuals, and even features.
1 Halo: The Master Chief Collection
Xbox would not be the brand it is today without Halo. It’s one of the most recognizable gaming franchises of all time, and back in 2014, the Master Chief Collection contained the series’ best moments including the original trilogy, Reach, and ODST. Honestly, it’s difficult for me to accept that MCC is already ten years old!
The collection gives you access to some of the best campaigns in FPS gaming, along with the multiplayer for each title (Combat Evolved multiplayer is a real blast from the past), Forge modes, Theater, tons of achievements to pursue, Easter Eggs to find, and more. It’s one of the best choices if you want the most bang for your buck.
This release received plenty of upgrades for the Series X|S, including variable field of view adjustment, support for 120 frames per second for both single and multiplayer, and 4K resolution. It now looks and plays just as well as any modern game, and it’s absolutely worth your time.
2 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
I’ll be frank: you’ve been living under a rock if you’re a gamer who hasn’t heard about The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. This 2015 title is not just one of the best RPGs ever made, but many consider it one of the best overall games of all time, and it holds over 200 game of the year awards to prove it.
In this action roleplaying game, you play as monster hunter Geralt of Rivia in a massive fantasy world inspired by Slavic mythology. Engage in fierce battles against both man and eldritch beast, craft unique potions and poisons to aid you, and become the world champion of Gwent (the best card minigame to ever exist).
The Witcher 3 is one of the highest-selling games of all time for good reason. It has been upgraded for the Series X|S with many graphical improvements such as ray-tracing and higher-resolution textures. The latest release also includes all DLC and even has some extra main game content compared to the Xbox One release.
3 DOOM Eternal
There were a lot of ecstatic fans when the DOOM 2016 reboot blew all expectations out of the water and brought the classic franchise back into the limelight. This meant that DOOM Eternal had a ton of hype as well, and thankfully it met all expectations.
It’s DOOM. It’s frenetic, violent, deceptively complex, full of awesome music, and includes a deeper story than most realize. It already looked great on the Xbox One, but it also received an update for the Series X|S, allowing it to look even better and play more smoothly. If you love fast-paced shooters, DOOM Eternal is worth a look.
4 Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
There was a time when the Star Wars franchise was putting out incredible games every year. Knights of the Old Republic, Republic Commando, Jedi Knight, Starfighter, and more. In the past decade or so, quality Star Wars games have been harder to come by. Thankfully, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, brought back that awesome feeling in 2019.
As a sort of spiritual successor to the Jedi Knight games, Fallen Order has a lot to love: a robust and intuitive traversal system, simple but punchy combat, exploration of incredible sci-fi worlds, character customization, and, in my totally unbiased opinion, the best droid companion in all of Star Wars.
The sequel, Jedi Survivor, came out in 2023 and is every bit as amazing as the first game. But the story is what drives these games, so I’d recommend playing Fallen Order first! Don’t worry: it got plenty of upgrades for the Series X|S, including improved loading times, stability fixes, and a higher resolution.
5 DragonBall FighterZ
There are surely some people reading this who fondly remember playing the Budokai games in their childhood. For a time, nothing could hold a candle to those titles in the world of DragonBall Z fighting games. DragonBall FighterZ made a huge splash in 2018, bringing an incredible aesthetic, epic soundtracks, and a complex but easy-to-pick-up combat system.
Fighting games aren’t for everyone, but if you love DragonBall, it’s worth a look just for that feeling of practically being in the anime. If you like other 2D fighters but haven’t tried FighterZ yet, I’d recommend it just for the team-based fighting system, super moves, and great music (ArcSys really never misses). The main upgrade from the Xbox One version to the X|S version was the addition of rollback netcode.
6 Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is not a game that everyone is going to enjoy. Some people think it’s like Dark Souls, but it’s not really. You spend a lot of time walking around, listening to voices in your head and trying to figure out challenging puzzles. Occasionally, you get to fight some nightmarish foes, but it’s not really an action game.
To me, it’s more of an artistic experience. Hellblade is a beautiful game that delves into Norse mythology, particularly aspects of the afterlife. It’s like walking through a Norse nightmare that’s both eerily beautiful and terrifying. If you love games that focus on an intriguing narrative and gorgeous visuals more than anything else, you’ll probably enjoy Hellblade.
Moreover, the sequel, Hellblade 2, arrived in 2024. Now is a great time to play the original game. On the Series X|S, the game is even more visually incredible, thanks to the inclusion of ray tracing and other graphical upgrades.
7 Mortal Shell
Elden Ring took the world by storm, and rightfully so. It’s arguably the best Souls-like game to date, and honestly, few of its competitors could hope to match it in quality. This includes Mortal Shell. But if you enjoy Souls-like games, this one has solid mechanics, a wonderful grim aesthetic, and some unique mechanics.
In Mortal Shell, you can possess different armors, which are your classes. This means you can re-spec your character at any time to focus on stealth, balanced combat, or tankiness, all of which are viable throughout the game. It’s not a particularly long game, being easily completed in less than 12 hours, but that’s not always a bad thing.
Mortal Shell has an enhanced edition for the Series X|S, improving its graphical fidelity. If you’re looking for a quick but rewarding Souls-like experience, give Mortal Shell a shot.
8 Stellaris: Console Edition
4X strategy games are usually the domain of the PC gamer, but in recent years, more titles have been coming to consoles, optimized for play with a controller. Stellaris is a great example of one such game, where you’ll take control of a civilization that has just reached the space age. Explore the galaxy, grow your civilization, and do pretty much whatever you want.
Destroy entire worlds, conquer other empires, take over the galaxy as a sentient fungal hivemind horror: you name it, Stellaris probably lets you do it. I can personally attest that Stellaris plays very intuitively with a controller, which many 4X games on console can’t claim. Being a strategy game, graphics aren’t that important, but a performance-optimized version for the X|S does exist now.
9 Cyberpunk 2077
If you tried to play Cyberpunk 2077 when it first debuted on the Xbox One, you probably remember that it was a really rough launch. Console versions were full of bugs and performance issues, to the extent that Sony even removed the game from its stores for a time. It was a real shame because the game was highly praised for its interesting setting, intriguing narrative, and memorable characters.
The good news is that this critically acclaimed title is in a much better state today, and it has a Series X|S version optimized for the newer hardware. It looks better, runs better, plays better, and there’s a big DLC expansion available too. So if you avoided playing Cyberpunk 2077 due to its rough launch, now would be a great time to give it a shot on the Series X|S.
10 Sea of Thieves
Good pirate games are hard to come by. Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag set a gold standard at least as far as sailing and naval warfare was concerned, but more modern games like Skull and Bones fail to match it. Sea of Thieves falls in a slightly different bucket with its cartoon aesthetic, but the focus on social and interactive gameplay with other players sets it apart.
There’s nothing quite like frantically sailing your sloop through a storm as one of your buddies tries to board an enemy ship by launching himself out of a cannon, only to miss entirely and get snatched by the Kraken in the open ocean. The best part is that you can do all of that with the best graphics and frame rate possible since the Series X|S version is an upgrade to the original Xbox One release.
There are hundreds of Xbox One games worth trying out on the Series X|S, but I can’t list them all here. The ones I’ve mentioned above are all great picks, but there are many more hidden gaming gems out there. Consider looking through your backward compatible library since you never know what amazing adventure might be waiting.
