The Best Xbox Games of 2022

by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor – January 2, 2023

Which Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One games impressed professional reviewers the most during the past year? We rank the best-reviewed titles released between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022 by Metascore. Games must have at least 7 reviews from professional critics to be eligible for inclusion. If a game appears on both Xbox platforms, only the version receiving the higher quantity of critic reviews (typically the Xbox Series X/S version) is eligible for inclusion. (All scores listed here are from December 31, 2022.)

12 of 14 photo by Atlus/Sega

94 Persona 5 Royal

(#2) This high-scoring Xbox title has its origins in the 2016 PlayStation JRPG Persona 5, later expanded and enhanced (and retitled Persona 5 Royal) for PS4 in 2020. This fall, Royal was ported to all current consoles and PC. Part of a long-running Japanese multimedia franchise that has also spawned numerous Shin Megami Tensei titles, P5 Royal is another high school-set, turn-based RPG that finds students interacting with a supernatural world. Does it play as well on Series X/S as it does on rival platforms? You bet—and, for Game Pass subscribers, the price is even better.

“Persona 5 Royal is as close to the perfect RPG as I have played in a long time. Not since the heady days of Final Fantasy VII will a game grip you so fiercely, refusing to let go. It is deep, it is beautiful and it demands to be played.” —TheXboxHub

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