Another incredible year!
It won’t be long before we release our Pure Xbox Game of the Year roundup for 2024, but since we still have about a week to go, we wanted to take this opportunity to highlight what Metacritic ranks as the top 10 Xbox games of the year.
We already anticipate that this list will be considerably different from the Pure Xbox one. The title holding the top spot isn’t even a full game — it’s Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree — while titles like Neva and Neon White have also made the list, both of which surprised us! Quite a few notable titles didn’t make it anywhere near the top 10 according to Metacritic’s averages, with games like Hellblade 2 and Stalker 2 not even breaking into the top 25.
So, let’s take a look at the top 10 Xbox games of the year according to Metacritic. Keep in mind that if an Xbox release doesn’t achieve at least seven reviews for the platform, Metacritic doesn’t consider it in its roundups, which is why a game like Balatro isn’t ranked despite having an average score of 95! Four Xbox games this year also hold a Metacritic average of 87, so we chose the one with the most reviews (Indiana Jones) for the tenth spot.
- Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree (95)
- Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth (92)
- Metaphor: ReFantazio (92)
- Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance (92)
- Death Stranding: Director’s Cut (91)
- Tekken 8 (89)
- Destiny 2: The Final Shape (89)
- Neva (88)
- Neon White (88)
- Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (87)
As mentioned, there were three additional games that achieved an average of 87 for Xbox on Metacritic, which were Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Botany Manor, and Unicorn Overlord. All of these are, in fact, tied for tenth place.
We know you’re curious about the overall list too — here are the top 10 for ALL platforms:
- Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree (95)
- Astro Bot (94)
- Metaphor: ReFantazio (94)
- Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth (92)
- Castlevania Dominus Sequence (92)
- Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (92)
- Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance (92)
- Slay The Princess: The Pristine Cut (92)
- Tekken 8 (91)
- Animal Crossing (91)
As you may notice, several games appearing on both lists have different scores, which is because Metacritic ranks them based on the platform they scored highest for. For instance, Metaphor: ReFantazio scored the highest on PS5.
Anyway, we hope you found this interesting! As mentioned, the Pure Xbox Game of the Year will be announced soon (on Christmas Day, in fact), and we’re excited to reveal the results of your votes for 2024’s Xbox GOTY!
What do you think about the best Xbox games of 2024 according to Metacritic? Let us know in the comments.
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Fraser is the News Editor at Pure Xbox, where he dedicates his time to covering the most significant stories in the world of Xbox and beyond.