Oh yes, that’s right, we’re doing it.
It’s the start of a new generation and, frankly, I couldn’t be more excited. Unless
I were talking about the PS5, but we’re doing that list later. The Xbox Series
X slash Xbox Series S is a nightmare of confusing nomenclature, but it’s also
our first taste of what the new consoles can do. (And therefore what PCs were able
to do six or seven years ago.) What better way to explore this updated technology than by
ranking every launch game from worst to best? I’ll be honest; I have not played every Xbox
Series X slash Xbox Series S launch game. I do know some people who have, however: critics on the
internet, who, as we know, are never wrong. Also, if I ranked these games according to personal
preference, you would all say mean things about my taste in games in the comments. To protect
my delicate ego, I will defer to Metacritic. The rules are simple: Based on critical consensus,
we will rank every Xbox Series X slash Xbox Series S launch game from worst to best. We are defining
“launch games” as games released on November 10, 2020. That may seem obvious as it’s also
the launch date of the Xbox Series X slash Xbox Series S, but you’ll see why that’s
important when we get to the PS5 video. Beyond that, Microsoft has been generously calling
every Xbox One game that runs on the new hardware a “launch game,” but we’re being a bit more
particular. Basically, if it’s released on a disc, it counts. Rereleases of Xbox One
games count as long as they’re actually enhanced and don’t just run better by default. We
won’t be counting digital-only games unlessthey areproperly enhanced versionsof Xbox One games
that were previously available on disc. Easy! Having successfully sucked all the fun out of
the room, I’m Ben and I’m Peter from TripleJump, and this is Every Xbox Series X/S
Launch Game Ranked from Worst to Best. #17: NBA 2K21
68% (Xbox One) I will say up front that Metacritic scores
are subject to change and, in many cases, rereleases of previous-gen games have gotten
few new reviews. In these cases, we’ll go by the Xbox One version’s Metacritic average.
NBA 2K21 is releasing for both Microsoft’s launch and Sony’s, which means we’ll have to write two
entries’ worth of material about what is basically a mediocre basketball game with far too many
microtransactions. Also, I dislike this game’s title. You don’t save any space when you write
“2K21”; you can just write 2021 at that point. Yes, I know the publisher is called 2K Sports,
but the title annoys me and I need to vent. Where was I? Oh, right. Basketball. NBA
2K21 is the story of many basketballers attempting to put basketballs into baskets.
In the year 2K21. Critics looked at it, shrugged, and said, “It’s a basketball
game, alright.” You’d probably do the same. #16: Sea of Thieves
69% (Xbox One) Would you believe Sea of Thieves was
the Xbox One’s most successful new IP? I don’t know why I asked you that because it
doesn’t matter whether or not you believe it. It was. Facts don’t care about your feelings.
Anyway, it’s also available for the new Xbox systems. This isn’t surprising, though it may
disappoint anyone who had hoped to see a sequel instead. Still, the game has come a long way from
its difficult launch in 2018. It was originally criticized for its lack of content and repetitive
simplicity. Its review average unquestionably suffered for that fact, but a whopping 20
major expansions addressed those issues and more. This enhanced version will certainly
be a treat for anyone who skipped the Xbox One, as it features both reduced loading times
and a brand-new ship with Xbox colors. If that doesn’t excite you,
I don’t know what will. #15: Maneater
71% (Xbox One) Maneater might be the posterchild for games that
should have been far better than they actually were. You play as a bull shark who terrorizes the
waters of Port Clovis. In addition to eating lots and lots of delicious people, you can battle
other sea creatures to expand your dominion. It sounds great but, ultimately, it
couldn’t live up to its own ambition. It received middling reviews with critics almost
uniformly underwhelmed by what should have been a can’t-miss premise. Its promotion to
the new hardware – available at retail, no less – is a puzzling choice. If you absolutely
must play a shark game with RPG elements, Maneater does indeed exist, but we can’t imagine this
upgrade was worth whatever development time it required.Having said that, it will be up
against fewer games at release than it was on the Xbox One, so maybe it’ll find the six or
seven people on the planet who will enjoy it. #14: The Falconeer
72%(Xbox Series X/S) Falconry – or falconeering – is the ancient art of
hunting with a trained bird of prey. It dates back to at least 2,000 B.C., but there are indications
that it was by no means a recent innovation at that time. It has a lot in common with this
Xbox Series X slash Xbox Series S launch game, in the sense that they both involve falcons.
The Falconeer is described as an “ocean world airborne fantasy RPG.” And that sounds lovely! But
flying around on a giant bird shooting monsters out of the sky sounds lovelyeven before
you even start trying to define the genre. It doesn’t quite live up to its lofty – heehee –
potential, however. Critics took issue with its confusing story, unreliable hit detection, and
lack of checkpoints. Its dog-fighting…or, erm, birdfighting…also gets repetitive
quickly. Even the sourest of critics had to admit that the game
looked gorgeous, however. #13: Warhammer: Chaosbane Slayer Edition
73% (Xbox One) An enhanced version of 2019’s Warhammer:
Chaosbane makes its way to the next generation of Xbox consoles. This top-down action RPG
is about…well, it’s about hacking your way through endless waves of tiny enemies
you might be able to see if you squint. You scoop loot out of their spilled intestines
and walk several metersbefore doing it again. Critics were not particularly impressed,
with the game being described as repetitive, lacking content, and being surprisingly boring
for a game about disemboweling monsters. But how does the enhanced version fare?
Well, it introduces a new character class, more enemies, reworked environments, new
levels, and an improved interface. Basically, it offers things that fans of the
original release would have appreciated in the first place, and which
will do nothing for anyone else. It does include all of the previous DLC, though,
so at least this disappointing game is bigger now. #12: Watch Dogs: Legion
77% (Xbox One) Hostile granny simulator Watch Dogs: Legion
is a launch game for both Sony’s consoles and Microsoft’s, which is good because it was also
one of the most anticipated games. You’ll get to enjoy it no matter which console you bought.
Unless you bought the Switch. But let’s be honest, you knew full well you wouldn’t be playing
Watch Dogs: Legion if you bought the Switch. Legion moves the action from an American
nightmare to a British one, which we deserve lately, to be fair. Your goal is to liberate
London from its dystopic surveillance state, brought about either because not enough people
read Nineteen Eighty-Four or because the wrong people did. The main draw of the game is the
ability to recruit a wealth of characters and then accidentally get them killed. Critics mainly
took issue with the hollow narrative, though they were split on the gameplay itself, which
suffers from Ubisoft’s now-distinctive bloat. #11: No Man’s Sky
77% (Xbox One) Ah, No Man’s Sky. The little game
that could. And then couldn’t. And then could again! It’s difficult to find
anyone on the internet who doesn’t already have a strong opinion on No Man’s Sky.
It is worth noting, however, that after a debut that went about as well as eating
petrol-station sushi before a job interview, Hello Games kept working on it and introduced
massive amounts of new features. Okay, yes, some of them were just what we had been
promised in the first place, but still, that’s admirable. And even now, more
than four years after the game’s launch, it is still receiving new content, with
the cleverly named “Next Generation” update coinciding with the new console release.
If you didn’t play No Man’s Sky at launch, that’s probably for the best. Picking it up now
will give you an experience superior in every way. #10: Gears Tactics
79% (Xbox Series X/S) Final Fantasy Tactics. Fallout Tactics. Now
Gears Tactics. If you don’t have a Tactics, do you even have a franchise? When Gears Tactics
was announced, fans scratched their heads. They didn’t scratch their heads clean off their
necks like they did when they saw that Gears of War Funko Pops game, but there was a bit
of scratching nonetheless. Would the brutal over-the-shoulder action translate to a
traditional turn-based strategy game? As it turns out, yes, but not without some teething trouble.
Gears Tactics received largely positive reviews. The one thing just about everybody criticized was
that…well…you couldn’t see any of it. Even when zoomed in, players had to rely on the HUD to be
told what they were looking at. Not a good look, Gears Tactics. Like, literally a bad look.
Otherwise, though, it’s been well received, with particular kudos going to how true the sounds
and animations are to the main series games. #9: Dirt 5
82% (Xbox Series X/S) Dirt 5 is the 14th installment in the Colin
McRae Rally series of racing games. It’s also the eighth Dirt game. Why are game developers so
bad at counting? Anyway, Colin McRae Rally 14 is an off-road racer that takes place in locations
around the world, including Morocco, New York, and China. Please do self-quarantine after
completing any events there; do your part. The game features both a dynamic weather
system and different seasons, which affect the events that are available, as well as
split-screen multiplayer for up to four racers. Also, there are characters voiced by Nolan North
and Troy Baker, two voice actors I’ve never heard of. Hope they’re good. Critics were impressed
with the level of visual detail in the game, though they were split on the art direction,
with some clearly preferring more-realistic graphics that would have taxed
the new hardware a bit more. #8: Borderlands 3
82% (Xbox One) Is Borderlands 3 any good? Well, I’ve been
playing it regularly since September 2019, so, maybe. It’s not for everybody, I admit.
Some are turned off by the repetition, the humor, and the reliance on
procedurally generated weapons as rewards. Others, of course, love it
for exactly those things. Either way, Borderlands has been one of the biggest hits
of the past few generations and Borderlands 3 is the best-selling game in the series. Porting
it to the newest consoles was a no-brainer. Now a new generation of players can guide their
Vault Hunters of choice to distant worlds to find what is sure to be great wealth and fame,
and not a violent cel-shaded hellscape at all. Critics enjoyed it, even if there were complaints
of the game being “more of the same.” Since that’s exactly what most people who bought Borderlands
3 wanted, though, that’s hardly a problem. #7: Planet Coaster: Console Edition
84% (PC) There’s nothing like digging through
a stack of launch titles for your new console and finding a PC game from four
years ago staring back up at you. Of course, as its name suggests, Planet Coaster: Console
Edition has been tailored to the new hardware and has obviously had its entire control scheme
revamped, meaning you can use your Xbox Series X or S to torment innocent little digital
people with your amusement park from Hell. Upon its original release, fans of
RollerCoaster Tycoon were pleased, because it was what fans wished RollerCoaster
Tycoon would have continued to be. Planet Coaster is essentially a spiritual sequel, and even
if it doesn’t hit the heights of that series, it’s still a welcome continuation. The Console
Edition adds a significant amount of content, including hundreds of blueprints for new objects.
Then there’s the Frontier Workshop, which allows players to share creations and upload their parks
to torment little digital people the world over. #6: Gears 5
84% (Xbox One) If you owned an Xbox One, the odds are good you’ve
already played Gears 5. In fact, I’d wonder why you purchased an Xbox One if you weren’t a Gears
of War fan, but that’s neither here nor there. Gears 5 could serve as a decent entry point
for new players if only because it has more to offer than just being the fifth numbered entry
in a series. It leans more heavily on exploration than its predecessors, for instance, and it has a
greater emphasis on narrative. It also stars Kait Diaz, who is every bit as irresistibly likable as
her voice actor, Laura Bailey. Kait was introduced in the previous game and positive fan response
led to her getting a greater spotlight here. Fans of the entire series will certainly
get more out of Gears 5 than newcomers, but critics loved it enough that it’s probably
worth diving in if you have any interest at all. #5: Fortnite
85% (Xbox One) What could I possibly say about Fortnite that
would make a difference in how you already feel? The answer is nothing, but sitting here in silence
would not be a good use of your time or mine. If you somehow have not heard of Fortnite,
it’s a game in which 100 strangers visit an island and shoot at each other whenever they
aren’t flossing. As each round progresses, the safe area shrinks, forcing the participants to
get closer and become good friends. Or slaughter each other. Probably the second one.
The only main upgrades to the game seem to be in terms of its graphical presentation and
performance, but that may turn out to be enough for fans of the game. Importantly, you can carry
your progress over from the previous version, meaning your deep, personal investment in your
avatar will not be lost. Floss on, little ones. #4: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
85%(Xbox Series X/S) If you enjoy Vikings, stabbing people, and Vikings
stabbing people, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla will be right up your alley. Ubisoft’s Ubiworlds have
taken heat over the years for being overstuffed with dull side missions and collectibles,
strongly emphasizing quantity over quality, but that doesn’t mean the games aren’t fun.
There’s something addictive about scampering over rooftops, taking in the views, and
slaying peasants who had the gall to accidentally bump you in a crowd. Plus, Valhalla
takes place during a fictional ninth-century Viking invasion of Britain. I think we can
all agree that this qualifies as beautiful escapism at this point. If you’ve been sick of
Assassin’s Creed for the past several games, Valhalla won’t win you back. Critics did enjoy
the improvements it made upon Origins and Odyssey, however, so if you are a fan of the
series, you should be in good hands. #3: Yakuza: Like a Dragon
86% (Xbox Series X/S) As 2020 comes to a close, the West will
finally get to play Yakuza: Like a Dragon, which Japan has had since January. Normally that
might not merit mention, but since 2020 has been fifteen years long, I think it’s significant.
Like a Dragon is the story of new protagonist Ichiban Kasuga and his quest to learn the
real reason he was imprisoned for 18 years…a quest that will frequently be
interrupted by karaoke sequences, go-karting, and various other minigames. That
much is classic Yakuza, but the fighting system has been entirely reimagined, combining the
turn-based combat you’d see in traditional RPGs with the environmental interaction you’d
see in something closer to a brawler. Sega has said that if this new style is
badly received, they will go back to the original. You know…like they adamantly
refuse to do with Sonic the Hedgehog. Critics and fans both seem to enjoy it, though,
so if it wasn’t on your radar, give it a look. #2: Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition
87% (Xbox One) Devil May Cry has been a consistently strong
series ever since its debut on the PS2, with average scores in the mid-80s and above.
Except for Devil May Cry 2, of course, but that game doesn’t exist and I just made it up as a joke
so let’s move along. 2019’s Devil May Cry 5 is in the running for best entry in the franchise, at
least according to critics, and we’re glad to see a Special Edition launching with the new consoles.
This version includes all DLC, adds Vergil as a playable character, increases the
game’s speed by 20% in Turbo Mode, improves performance, enhances the presentation,
and introduces Legendary Dark Knight Mode for anybody crazy enough to wish the game were more
difficult. It’s an excellent entry point for anyone who has yet to experience the stylish
brutality of the series for themselves. But it’s still not the best game in the Xbox Series X
slash Xbox Series S launch lineup. That game is… #1: Forza Horizon 4
92%(Xbox One) It’s Forza. You bought an Xbox. By all logic, you
either already bought this game or it’s sitting in your Amazon cart, waiting for payday.
And I can’t blame you; it’s a great one. Forza Horizon 4 released originally in 2018
and has been updated with new vehicles, new modes, and balancing tweaks. There’s
even a 72-player battle royale mode, which has been a legal obligation for all
games released after 2017. The Eliminator, as the mode is called, is an interesting spin
on the Forza formula and gives the game even more replayablity than usual. Oh, and there
was the Lego expansion, which instantly made Forza Horizon 4 the greatest game ever released.
Critical scores hover between 80% and 96% and it’s won several awards, but will a years-old racing
game really stand out on your new Xbox?Judging by review averages, the answer is clearly yes.
It’s bound to be a bit less appealing if you aren’t already a fan of racing games, but it
will be a great way to experience the speed and processing power of your new console. And,
hey, isn’t that the entire point of launch games? In all, that brings the average score of the Xbox
Series X slash Xbox Series S launch lineup to 79.59%. How does that stack up against
Sony’s launch? Stick around and find out. That’s our list, and it was our shortest Worst
to Best video yet. I’m not sure if that means you should feel shortchanged or if you should thank
me.Which is your favorite launch game? Are there any digital-only games you’d recommend?
Are you only watching this to kill time before our PS5 video? Let us know in the comments
below.You can follow TripleJump on Twitter here, and while you’re at it, why not support
the things you enjoy by having a look at our patreon. Finally, don’t for get to
like the video, share it with your friends, and subscribe to the channel. I’m Benand I’m
Peter from TripleJump, and thanks for watching.
