The Xbox Series X games with the best graphics | Digital Trends (2024)

PlatformsPC (Microsoft Windows), Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S

GenreSimulator

DeveloperAsobo Studio

PublisherXbox Game Studios

ReleaseAugust 17, 2020

It’s easily forgotten, but Microsoft Flight Simulator is actually the longest-running game in Microsoft’s catalog, predating its entry into consoles at all. Originally a PC-exclusive series, this entry is the first to transfer over to your couch, and it doesn’t lose a single pixel of amazing visuals. The game uses real photographs of the entire planet to create the landscapes, and it shows. Flying your immaculately detailed plane over the most majestic real-world locations is a near-meditative experience, especially when the weather hits just right, like with a bright orange sunset or crisp morning sky. Even if flight simulation isn’t your thing, this game is worth a download just to gawk at.

PlatformsPC (Microsoft Windows), Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S

GenreRacing, Sport

DeveloperPlayground Games

PublisherXbox Game Studios

ReleaseNovember 09, 2021

Forza Horizon 5 takes all that beauty you get from Flight Simulator but brings it down to street level. On one hand, the world isn’t nearly as vast as the entire earth, but the version of Mexico Forza Horizon 5 created has all the environmental diversity you could want. Of course, every car is lovingly crafted to be accurate down to the screws and bolts, but even for people who aren’t motor-heads, just watching the dirt kick up from the tires, or the lush trees scream by in a blur, is on another level. Racers are always a safe bet when it comes to pushing the graphical benchmark, and Forza Horizon 5 really does impress.

PlatformsPC (Microsoft Windows), Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S

GenreShooter, Adventure

DeveloperThe Coalition

PublisherXbox Game Studios

ReleaseSeptember 10, 2019

When Gears 5 first launched it was still during the Xbox One days, but even then we all could feel the hardware creaking while trying to show us just how good this game was meant to look. Thanks to the power of the Series X, Gears 5 finally shines how it was always meant to. Having a bigger focus on environments this time around, every location is a treat to look at from any distance. Vistas can make your eyes water, but getting up close to a rock or wall and you’ll be greeted with the most minute details that really add that level of care needed to make a world feel real. Oh, and then there’s the gore. Popping a locust head, or slicing them through with a chainsaw, has never been so deliciously gory.

PlatformsPC (Microsoft Windows), Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S

GenrePlatform, Adventure

DeveloperMoon Studios

PublisherXbox Game Studios, iam8bit

ReleaseMarch 10, 2020

Great graphics don’t have to be restrained to just being photo-realistic, however. Ori and the Will of the Wisps is beautiful in a completely different way. The game looks more like a painting in motion than anything else, and despite being a 2D game, the level of detail and sense of depth and scale of the background elements have made it feel like a full world. The animations also play into this in a major way, with fluid motions, amazing color work, and a rock-solid frame rate all contributing to the game achieving a level of artistry rarely attempted.

PlatformsPC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Google Stadia

GenreShooter, Adventure

DeveloperUbisoft Toronto

ReleaseOctober 07, 2021

Open world games generally take a hit on the graphics side to compensate for the sheer amount of space they occupy. Far Cry 6 is big, yes, but the fictional island nation never looks anything less than amazing. What’s most impressive is how the game manages to make the way the environment looks, heat rising off of surfaces, the sun reflecting off the water, to immerse you in what it would actually feel like to be in that kind of climate. When the action picks up, all the dirt, destruction, and particles will raise your heart rate as if you were actually fighting for your life.

PlatformsPC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Google Stadia

GenreAdventure

DeveloperUbisoft Montreal

ReleaseNovember 10, 2020

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is one of the earliest games we got a Series X version of, and whether or not you enjoy the formula, the visual quality of the Viking setting here cannot be argued. Just on a character scale, all the details in hair, tattoo, skin, and clothing feel true to the time period and location. Ubisoft has always been a perfectionist at attempting to recreate whatever real place it’s exploring in its games, and the hills, mountains, rivers, and forests here feel like taking a trip to the past for real. Climbing up to a high point and scouring the vista will never disappoint you.

PlatformsLinux, PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S

GenrePlatform, Adventure

DeveloperDouble Fine Productions

PublisherXbox Game Studios

ReleaseAugust 25, 2021

Psychonauts 2 can be considered ugly by some, but in the same way that older cartoons would. If you fall on the side that enjoys the somewhat gritty aesthetic of more mature animation, then you’ll love Psychonauts 2. The art style is what it is, but what makes the visuals so impressive is what you’re looking at rather than how detailed it is. Going into different people’s minds and seeing twisted, almost dreamscape-like places means that no two levels will ever look similar. Variety and creativity are the core of the entire game here, and that bleeds over into the visuals just as much as the story and gameplay.

PlatformsPC (Microsoft Windows), Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S

GenreRole-playing (RPG), Adventure

DeveloperAsobo Studio

PublisherFocus Entertainment

ReleaseOctober 18, 2022

The sequel to a small title that already had the graphical fidelity of a big-budget game, A Plague Tale: Requiem takes its visuals to the next level for the Series X. Not only do the characters and environments of the historical French setting impress, but the scale and detail of the massive amounts of rats will send shivers down your spine. Being a stealth-focused game, as well as using light as a main mechanic to ward off the plague-ridden vermin, lighting is also some of the best you can find.

PlatformsPC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S

GenreShooter

DeveloperInfinity Ward

PublisherActivision

ReleaseOctober 28, 2022

Whether you love the Call of Duty games or not, you can’t deny that every entry looks impressive. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II doesn’t just look impressive, but downright amazing to the point where recreations of real-life locations can too easily be mistaken for real footage. Environments are detailed down to cracks and chips in the walls, and character models move and behave in realistic and believable ways. Say what you will about the story, but just gawking at all the amazing locations you visit is worth the price of admission.