There are a whole bunch of Assassin's Creed games that we could put on this list, includes the likes of Origins, Odyssey and Valhalla, but we may as well start with the latest entry in the series in Assassin's Creed Shadows.
In general, we've really enjoyed our time with AC Shadows so far, noting in our preview that it felt like a "timely refresh for the series" and summing it up as "an incredibly atmospheric, and deliciously dark slice of Assassin's Creed".
Released back at the launch of the Xbox Series X and Series S, Assassin's Creed Valhalla is one of the finest entries in the series to date, sporting hundreds of hours of content and a wonderful representation of England to explore.
Taking the role of a Viking this time around, the combat is bloody and chaotic, especially with the ability to dual wield two devastating weapons at once. While the series has deviated massively from its origins, what it's managed to morph into is fantastic. Embracing elements from games such as The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt with its quest design, and even taking a leaf out of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild with its exploration, it's one not to be missed.
We had high hopes for Avowed when it was announced by Xbox and Obsidian, but there was always the question of whether it'd end up feeling like a pale imitation of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and The Outer Worlds when it launched.
Fortunately that didn't end up being the case, as we loved it in our "Great" 8/10 review here at Pure Xbox! This is a first-party Xbox game that absolutely deserves your attention on Xbox Game Pass, so go and check it out already!
It took a while for Baldur's Gate 3 to finally make its way to Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, but it finally happened in December of 2023! This is not only one of the best Xbox RPGs you can play right now, but it's also one of the best RPGs ever made! Prepare to lose yourself to tens if not of hundreds of hours on this epic adventure.
We're talking turn-based combat with a heavy Dungeons and Dragons inspiration in BG3, and it's a game that's filled with so much choice that you can truly carve your own path - it can't be understated how beloved this game is!
The Borderlands series hasn't managed to evolve massively since its original iteration, but what it has managed to do is continuously fine tune the gameplay it created back in the original. Borderlands 3 continues that tradition with an entry that feels like a culmination of all the ideas before it.
The gunplay has never felt tighter, the variety in both the environments and weapons is constantly surprising, and the quests manage to remain as wacky as ever. It's hard not to be charmed by its cel shaded world that looks just as impressive now as it did in the original entry. Grab some friends, groovy weapons, and cause some mayhem in Pandora.
If you've always wanted a Pokemon-like experience on Xbox, you've got a number of games to choose from, but Cassette Beasts might well be at the top of the list. This cute indie title dropped on Xbox Game Pass in early 2023, and very quickly racked up outstanding reviews from a variety of outlets, landing on an 84 Metacritic average.
Just like in Pokemon, you'll travel on an adventure collecting monsters to use in turn-based battles, but in this case, you actually have to record the monsters to cassette tapes and then play them back in order to fight. It's a really cool idea that works extremely well, so we think you'll have a blast with this one if you like the look of it.
Chained Echoes debuted on Xbox Game Pass to absolutely incredible reviews in December 2022, making it one of the best-rated Game Pass launches of the year. This SNES-esque RPG may well fly under the radar for a lot of folks, but it's definitely worth your time if you're up for some classic JRPG action.
This is a pretty substantial experience as well — you're looking at 30 to 40 hours of gameplay in which you'll "travel around the vast continent of Valandis to bring an end to the war between its three kingdoms". So, this is a chunky RPG with a small download size - although sadly it's no longer available on the Game Pass service these days.
Chernboylite was one of those games that we really hoped would make the Best Xbox RPGs list eventually, and we're happy to say we've been having a great time with it on Xbox Series X! The game received a major free next-gen upgrade back in early 2022 (including the addition of ray tracing), and it's been elevated to the next level as a result.
As for the game itself? It's officially described as a "science-fiction survival horror RPG", in which your job is to uncover the truth of your tortured past in Chernobyl's Exclusion Zone. In our review, we called it "a deep and addictive indie gem awaits that does a fantastic job of scratching that S.T.A.L.K.E.R itch". Definitely worth a play!
Citizen Sleeper might not look much on the surface, but it's an absolutely brilliant tabletop RPG that Xbox Game Pass fans have been enjoying for a long time now. The premise is that you play as a "sleeper", described as "a digitised human consciousness in an artificial body", and the game challenges you to "explore a lawless station, choose your friends, escape your past and change your future."
Here's a bit more about it:
Roleplaying in the ruins of interplanetary capitalism. Live the life of an escaped worker, washed-up on a lawless station at the edge of an interstellar society. Inspired by the flexibility and freedom of TTRPGs, explore the station, choose your friends, escape your past and change your future.
Citizen Sleeper received one of the best Xbox Series X Metacritic scores of 2022, almost placing it in the top ten games of the year, so that tells you how much the critics (and players) have been enjoying it so far!
A lot of Xbox fans were excited about Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 prior to its Xbox Game Pass arrival in April of 2025, but even more of them were excited after it was revealed to be a Game of the Year contender! In fact, amidst very challenging competition, it ended up becoming the highest-rated game of the year at that point.
What we've got with Expedition 33 is an amazing turn-based adventure that clearly borrows inspiration from Final Fantasy, complete with an emotional story that you'll want to see through to the end. Oh, and the combat is probably the highlight of the whole thing, even if you're not typically a big fan of turn-based games!
CrossCode is a 2D retro-inspired action-RPG that has gone unnoticed by some, but it was a low-key hit when it was part of Xbox Game Pass, and we highlighted it here at Pure Xbox as "a wonderful blend of Zelda and Sword Art Online."
We'll let our own words do the talking here — it's definitely one to add to your wishlist!
"CrossCode has surprised us massively. Its narrative is engaging enough to keep us moving forward, but the gameplay is the true star. It boasts some deep RPG systems, punchy combat, fantastic puzzles, and a world you want to explore every corner of."
