Best RPGs on the Xbox

RPGs are one of the things the Microsoft Xbox is genuinely for. The ones worth playing start with Knights of the Old Republic, Fable, Jade Empire.

The Xbox and RPGs

A PC in a black box, two years before anyone else had a hard drive or an online service that worked. Its library leans Western and leans technical.

This is one of its strengths. First-person shooters and Western RPGs — Halo, Morrowind, Knights of the Old Republic — plus a strange run of Sega and Japanese exclusives it inherited when the Dreamcast died.

Filtering to RPG means you want progression — a character to build or a party to grow — layered on top of whatever else you liked.

The RPGs Worth Playing

  1. 1. Knights of the Old Republic

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  2. 2. Fable

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  3. 3. Jade Empire

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  4. 4. Morrowind

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

What Makes a Good RPG Game

A reason to keep going after the novelty wears off. RPGs are the genre that reliably converts hours into feeling more capable.

Immediacy. Almost every RPG asks for a slow first few hours, and the systems that make hour forty good are the same ones that make hour one a menu.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best rpg game on the Xbox?

Knights of the Old Republic is the usual first answer, and there are 4 in the library we cover.

Was the Xbox good at rpg games?

Yes — it is one of the things the machine is known for, and there are 4 in the library we cover.

What is the difference between an RPG and an action game with stats?

Whether the stats are the point. In an RPG the build decides what you can do; in an action game with stats the build only decides how fast you do it.

Do I need to like turn-based combat?

No. The picks below span turn-based, real-time and action RPGs, and each one says which it is.

How is this list put together?

From the games this site covers on the Microsoft Xbox, matched against hand-mapped gameplay categories rather than a storefront's genre tag. A page only exists where there are at least four, which is why some console and genre combinations have no page at all.

RPGs on Other Consoles

More From the Xbox

Or browse the whole Microsoft Xbox library.