The Best Xbox Games of 2021

by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor – January 4, 2022

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, 2021 and December 31, 2021 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 January 2, 2022.)

6 of 14 photo by Sega

87 Yakuza 6: The Song of Life (Xbox One)

(#8) Released for the XB1 in March after first debuting on the PS4 three years prior, the seventh main game in Sega's increasingly popular Japan-set action-adventure series concludes the story of dragon-tattooed ex-con Kazuma Kiryu, the franchise's long-time playable protagonist.

“As a conclusion to Kiryu’s seven-game saga, Yakuza 6: The Song of Life on Xbox provides a very fitting end that will not leave a dry eye in the house. It is an added bonus that it is one of the best Yakuza games; a standout title in a standout series.” —TheXboxHub

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