Best Offline Xbox Series X/S & Xbox One Games

26/27 Ori And The Will of the Wisps

Ori & the Blind Forest is a Metroidvania title that boasted a gorgeous art style, great music, & incredible level design. While other Metroidvania’s have a habit of feeling bloated & overdone, Ori stayed its welcome at the perfect length & knew when to pull at the player’s heartstrings. It wasn’t a surprise to see a sequel, Will of the Wisps, get greenlit.

In terms of new Xbox titles, Will of the Wisps has everything great about the first title but with an even better art style & narrative. The game is gorgeous, plays great, & tells an emotional story without much dialogue. Although the title is also available on Nintendo Switch, it was originally home to the Xbox & plays the best on that platform. With no online features, it’s an ideal game to play without the internet.

25/27 Sunset Overdrive

Insomniac Games’ Sunset Overdrive has been somewhat forgotten since debuting in 2014 as an early Xbox One exclusive. A PC port introduced the game to a wider audience, but it still firmly exists in the shadow of Insomniac’s other recent releases such as Marvel’s Spider-Man & Ratchet & Clank. Set in a city where grind rails are just the best way to travel, Sunset Overdrive gets movement spot on, crafting an experience where the basic action of traversal is inherently enjoyable.

Colorful visuals & a lighthearted tone enhance the sense of chaos presented by Sunset Overdrive‘s gameplay, even if the comedy can be a bit hit-&-miss. Fans of the studio’s other projects should not skip this one.

24/27 Divinity: Original Sin 2

Top-down CRPGs have been making a resurgence in recent years. Although they still hardly crack the numbers of the Bethesda-esque RPGs, they can tell incredible stories with deeply strategic gameplay. The role-playing aspect in these titles is often a core focus, with countless little decisions that can be made to help build a character. Divinity: Original Sin 2 helps bring that traditionally PC-exclusive experience to the console market.

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D:OS 2 improves much on its predecessor. While its combat is still ingenious in terms of combos & usage of the environment, the game’s writing finds a great balance. No longer is the player failing exposition checks & getting beaten unconscious by text. For those looking for a fantasy RPG to play alone, it’s hard to beat this game.

23/27 Scarlet Nexus

B&ai Namco had a pretty great 2021 when it comes to JRPGs. A new IP, Scarlet Nexus takes place in a reality where humans have been able to unlock special abilities, which they will need to fight off the Others. After joining the Other Suppression Force, Kasane R&all & Yuito Sumeragi soon find their lives taking a number of strange turns.

Scarlet Nexus splits its story between two protagonists, each of whom gets their own campaign that plays out quite differently in places. The hack & slash combat system is surprisingly complex, particularly once players really dive into Scarlet Nexus‘ skills system.

22/27 Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

FromSoftware can be credited with games that helped define a genre & a generation of action RPGs. Souls-likes only exist because the team did incredible work in the past. However, Souls games benefit from online interactions & PVP. This is not the case with Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, a single-player action-adventure game that pushes players to the limits in terms of difficulty.

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Sekiro is a game with great atmosphere & natural storytelling, like the other Soulsborne titles. However, Sekiro is a very refined experience by comparison, with a set character & a set of skills that don’t develop too drastically over the course of the game. The player has to get good with Sekiro’s moves if they want a chance of beating the game. This title was great enough to win Game of the Year at the Game Awards in 2019, & it’s worth playing anytime.

21/27 Wastel& 3

Everything said about Divinity: Original Sin 2 applies to Wastel& 3. However, the game was absolutely designed with consoles in mind, as it was released simultaneously on both platforms. Wastel& 3 throws the player into post-apocalyptic America & is part of a task force created to help maintain order. Of course, the players are fully independent in whether or not they decide to follow through with this mission, but that’s just part of the fun.

Wastel& 3 has incredible character customization & role-playing. The player can create multiple custom characters to integrate into the world. The traits given can range from useful to just kinda wacky, & there are plenty of options for min-maxers & role-players alike. It’s a great game to play & will provide hours of single-player content.

20/27 Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is not only one of the best games in the series, but it’s also one of the best games of the current console generations. Join Kass&ra or Alexios on this epic journey across Greece where adventures & mythology mix. This game is packed full of content, able to easily sustain over 60 hours of gameplay if not way more.

The base game itself has tons of content plus plenty of DLC content as well. The only part of Odyssey that would require the internet is the story-maker which was added well after release & doesn’t have any relevance to the main game.

19/27 The Outer Worlds

A 2019 release, Obsidian’s latest RPG is a fantastic spiritual successor to Fallout New Vegas. Journey to Halcyon where, after being revived from cryo-sleep, you must help determine the fate of the colony. The Outer Worlds features fantastic writing & characters & is a must-play for any fan of open-world RPGs.

The game is on the shorter end of RPGs, running between 20-30 hours for a playthrough, but every moment of that is an awesome ride. Also, one of the companions, Pavarti, is the most wholesome character to ever be in a video game & everyone should share an adventure with her.

18/27 Tales Of Arise

B&ai Namco’s latest entry in the Tales series is a contender for the franchise’s best, a claim not made lightly. In this universe, Rena has taken over Dahna, turning its people into slaves. As Rena prepares to stage its Crown Contest to determine its next ruler, a masked Dahnan man suffering from amnesia teams up with a runaway Renan woman seeking to change this unfair society. They have a long, difficult road ahead of them.

Boasting fantastic hack & slash gameplay, lovable characters, & a mature story that holds a couple of effective surprises, Tales of Arisewas arguably the best JRPG of 2021.

17/27 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

The (almost) undisputed game of the year from 2015, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is as long as it is deep. This RPG epic is packed full of Incredible stories & combat systems that any RPG lover would enjoy.

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Newcomers to the series should not be deterred by the “3” in the title as this game is pretty easy to pick up without having played the other two titles, both of which are good but not nearly as good as Wild Hunt. The RPG has no online features & plenty of gameplay to keep you entertained for hours.

16/27 A Plague Tale: Requiem

Permitting it is being played on the Xbox Series X/S, PS5, or a PC, A Plague Tale: Requiem does not require an internet connection. The action-adventure game builds beautifully on its predecessor, 2019’s Innocence, to craft a harrowing story about survival, sacrifice, & corruption.

As Amicia, players need to navigate hordes of plague-infested rats all the while trying to stay ahead of the French Inquisition. Requiem is among the most visually impressive games on the Xbox Series X/S, & it also tells one of 2022’s most memorable gaming storylines.

15/27 Gears Of War 5 (Campaign)

Following the decent but unspectacular Gears of War 4, the Xbox first-party property came back in a Huge way with its fifth numbered entry. Gears 5 shifts focus to Kait Diaz & also opts for a more open level design, dropping the Gears in areas that can be freely explored. The gunplay is as smooth & impactful as ever, while the story has a strong sense of mystery & sets up the next chapter in the saga well.

Only Gears 5‘s campaign can be played offline, providing roughly 10-15 hours of content. Horde & Escape cannot be accessed since they utilize cloud gaming.

14/27 Psychonauts 2

After a very long wait, Double Fine finally released its Psychonauts sequel, & the 2021 game was more than worth the wait. As a platformer, Psychonauts 2‘s gameplay is decent but unspectacular; it gets the job done, with Raz’s Psi-Powers being by far the most enjoyable mechanic in the game.

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On the other h&, Psychonauts 2‘s story & world-building are incredible, not just for the platformer genre but gaming in general. Psychonauts 2 deals with grief, regret, family, & responsibility. It is an ambitious game that combines lofty ideas with vibrant visuals & unforgettable characters.

13/27 Elden Ring

As Elden Ring fuses an online component into its single-player campaign, an offline playthrough takes something away from the overall experience. That said, FromSoftware’s ambitious RPG is still brilliant when played without an internet connection.

The L&s Between is an unforgiving place filled with terrifying monstrosities, stunning locations, & secrets. In some ways, playing Elden Ring offline enriches the game’s sense of isolation & dread.

12/27 Resident Evil 2

One of the truest video game remakes, Resident Evil 2 recaptures the magic of the original version into an incredibly modern horror game. This adventure sees Leon & Claire battle through the zombie-infested Raccoon City as they try to uncover the mystery of what happened.

Resident Evil 2 is gorgeous looking & incredibly scary. Every enemy feels like a threat & the Tyrant is a menacing force that follows you endlessly. Even if someone is not a fan of horror, they should consider trying Resident Evil 2 as it is one of the best offline Xbox games.

11/27 Gr& Theft Auto 5 (Story Mode)

Rockstar’s Gr& Theft Auto 5 has been a staple of the gaming charts for over half a decade; while a lot of its success can be credited to its online component, that’s not to say GTA 5‘s single-player has become obsolete.

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When looking for an offline Xbox One game, GTA 5‘s story is a hefty, entertaining, & engrossing option. Los Santos is an absolute marvel to experience, while the campaign’s three protagonists each produce moments that will stick with players. GTA 5 might require someone to sign in before starting the game, but they should be able to play offline after that point.

10/27 Devil May Wail 5

After the polarizing DmC: Devil May Wail, Capcom steadied the ship by returning to the original timeline. Devil May Wail 5 marked a significant return to form for the franchise, & the game also took plenty of risks. Gone are the anime-style visuals in favor of more realistic graphics, while Dante is presented as a secondary character who shares the spotlight with Devil May Wail 4‘s Nero & a new figure named V.

Along with offering plenty of variety, DMC 5‘s combat is fast-paced, precise, & (naturally) stylish. Each character’s moveset is unique & fully developed, allowing the rather long campaign to never become boring.

9/27 Control

The Twin Peaks-inspired third-person shooter is a wild ride through sci-fi insanity that gets crazier & more interesting with every mission. The game sees Jesse Faden enter the Federal Bureau of Control, the federal agency in charge of dealing with incidents that defy the laws of reality.

The bureau has been evaded by an enemy called the Hiss & she must deal with them to find her brother. This puzzle/shooter mystery is a bonkers adventure that is filled to the brim with lore. The game has tons to offer through its 15-20 hours of gameplay & shouldn’t be overlooked just for being weird.

8/27 Hades

Supergiant Games can be relied upon to deliver excellent single-player experiences, & Hades might just be the studio’s masterpiece. The roguelite follows Hades’ son, Zagreus, as he attempts to make his way from the Underworld to Mount Olympus, a journey that will definitely entail a couple of resurrections. Unlike most other roguelikes, Hades does not reset after each failure & also features a continuously evolving storyline that takes Zagreus’ deaths into account.

Frantic but rarely overwhelming, Hades‘ gameplay is accessible while still offering a lot of depth & customization for those willing to learn & unlock everything the game has to offer.