6 Xbox 360 Games With Stories That Players Loved

The Xbox 360 was Microsoft’s best era. It sprinted out of the gate, winning the mindshare over the PlayStation 3 throughout most of the generation. The PS3 eventually caught up, but Microsoft was often the dominant console of the era. With that in mind, plenty of great games launched for the system, especially if you were a fan of shooters like Halo or Gears of War. Players who loved stories in their games weren’t as lucky, but they still got their fair share of classic games.

Here are the six Xbox 360 games with stories that players loved diving into.

6) Blue Dragon

One of the areas Microsoft struggled with was bringing the Xbox 360 to the Japanese audience. The console-maker tried to rectify that by pouring substantial money and resources into studios like Mistwalker to develop RPGs that spoke to that audience. Blue Dragon wasn’t quite as big a success as Xbox had hoped, but it’s still a great RPG featuring designs from Dragon Ball Z creator Akira Toriyama.

Blue Dragon is a traditional RPG, which caught some flak at launch as some reviewers felt it didn’t do enough to innovate. And yes, it can be a little generic, but there’s nothing wrong with the classics. Blue Dragon didn’t change the game for Microsoft, but it was a solid attempt.

5) Alan Wake

Alan Wake 2 might’ve taken Remedy to another level, but it’s worth remembering how great that first game was. The 2010 game was originally a 360 exclusive, eventually coming to PC two years later. The atmospheric thriller was a major win for Microsoft, giving them a marquee game from a studio on the rise.

Players step into the shoes of the novelist Alan Wake as he tries to discover what happened to his missing wife. It’s a mind-bender of a tale that takes players on plenty of twists and turns. Structured like a classic TV show with episodic releases, Alan Wake was an exceptional start to what’s become a phenomenal series.

4) Lost Odyssey

Lost Odyssey was another partnership between Microsoft and Mistwalker that tried to improve the console’s RPG offerings. This one was a little more successful, selling over 100,000 copies in Japan alone. However, it suffers from similar issues to Blue Dragon, thanks to its old-school gameplay.

Still, Lost Odyssey‘s visual novel flashback sequences were well-received, and its story is filled with strong characters. The main story isn’t quite as compelling as your partner members, but having a fascinating cast helps carry players through the action. Players looking for a captivating adventure with gorgeous visuals had a winner in Lost Odyssey.

3) Spec Ops: The Line

Spec Ops: The Line came out at a time when military shooters seemed like the most common genre in gaming. That helped it stand out because, unlike everything else in the genre, Spec Ops explores what it means to play through atrocities committed during war. These aren’t setpieces meant for fodder around the virtual water cooler. Developer Yager Development wanted to say something with this one.

It’s a story that could’ve gone the wrong way, but Yager handles it with grace, making for one of the more thought-provoking stories of the era. It’s not an easy game to play through, but that’s not because the enemies are especially deadly. Instead, it’s having to deal with morally ambiguous decisions that make Spec Ops a tough playthrough.

2) Mass Effect 2

Mass Effect 2 benefits from being the second game in a trilogy. That means most of the central characters have already been introduced, but developer BioWare doesn’t have to completely wrap up any storylines. The possibilities of what the team could do with ME2 were essentially endless.

Thankfully, the developers didn’t play it safe. Mass Effect 2 has the strongest cast of characters in the series, and the final mission is one of the best sequences players have ever seen. BioWare shows exactly how to handle the middle entry in a trilogy, and while some players might’ve been frustrated with how the team ended things in Mass Effect 3, that doesn’t take away from the incredible second game.

1) Dragon Age: Origins

As you can see, BioWare was on a heater during the Xbox 360 era. The developer was at the height of its powers, releasing all-timers seemingly with ease. Origins came out a year before Mass Effect 2, setting a high bar for what to expect from a BioWare RPG.

We’ve always known the developer excelled in the fantasy space. After all, BioWare’s Baldur’s Gate games are legendary. That said, this was the team creating its own world in the space. They pulled it off with aplomb, giving players a massive world filled with exciting prospects. Like Mass Effect 2, Origins has a fan-favorite cast and a compelling main story, giving RPG fans plenty of exceptional content to play through.

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