spacepup | 2,406 Administrator · Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 Hello all! As the Title implies, I'm looking for Original Xbox (exclusives) recommendations! Particularly, if you have recommendations for games that have not been ported / re-released to other platforms such as PC. Or, if it has been ported, if the original is significantly better for any reason. I'm familiar with a lot of the big ones (many have been rereleased), like Halo, Jade Empire, Fable, KOTOR, Blinx etc. But if you have any favorite Original Xbox exclusive titles (outside the box/quirky is fine too!), please share! Admittedly, I haven't really explored the Xbox library all that much. My friend is currently re-capping my system, and when I get it back, I'd like to test it out some more and give it some love, so I'm looking for any and all recommendations. I'm pretty flexible in terms of what I like, but I don't usually play many sports/fighters/strict FPS games. I like puzzle, action adventure, RPG, etc. I appreciate your time and any suggestions you might have! ------ My own starter list: Blinx / Blinx 2 KOTOR / KOTOR II [Though available on PC] Jade Empire [Though available on PC] Fable [Though available on PC] Updated List of Recommendations from the thread: Voodoo Vince (Platformer, Psychonauts vibes (though Psychonauts is better)) Otogi: Myth of Demons (Action game, kinda souls-y, kinda Ninja Gaiden-y, made by FROM) Otogi 2 Fuzion Frenzy (multiplayer party game) Dino Crisis 3 Buffy the Vampire Slayer Metal Wolf Chaos (JP) Raze's Hell Panzer Dragoon Orta Bloody Roar Extreme (actually a renamed port of the GameCube’s Bloody Roar) Crimson Skies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloves | 11,812 Administrator · Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 Fuzion Frenzy, if you have friends to play with. It's a party game, and among the best of the genre IMO. 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacepup | 2,406 Administrator · Posted January 24, 2023 Author Share Posted January 24, 2023 2 minutes ago, Gloves said: Fuzion Frenzy, if you have friends to play with. It's a party game, and among the best of the genre IMO. Thanks! This is exactly why I started the thread - this game wasn't really anywhere on my radar. I vaguely remember it just because it was a *very* early game IIRC, but I never did actually play it! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloves | 11,812 Administrator · Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 A few more I remember enjoying, limited to the types of games I think you'd enjoy: Indigo Prophecy (think Heavy Rain) Voodoo Vince (Platformer, Psychonauts vibes (though Psychonauts is better)) Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee (Oddworld!) Otogi: Myth of Demons (Action game, kinda souls-y, kinda Ninja Gaiden-y, made by FROM) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacepup | 2,406 Administrator · Posted January 24, 2023 Author Share Posted January 24, 2023 5 minutes ago, Gloves said: A few more I remember enjoying, limited to the types of games I think you'd enjoy: Indigo Prophecy (think Heavy Rain) Voodoo Vince (Platformer, Psychonauts vibes (though Psychonauts is better)) Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee (Oddworld!) Otogi: Myth of Demons (Action game, kinda souls-y, kinda Ninja Gaiden-y, made by FROM) Thank you for the recommendations. Indigo Prophecy is also on PS2, but the others are exclusive to Xbox unless they had later releases. I know some of the older xbox titles are now on PC, but I can't recall for these in particular. Either way - thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloves | 11,812 Administrator · Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 4 minutes ago, spacepup said: Thank you for the recommendations. Indigo Prophecy is also on PS2, but the others are exclusive to Xbox unless they had later releases. I know some of the older xbox titles are now on PC, but I can't recall for these in particular. Either way - thanks! No prob! I forgot IP was on PS2! AGH! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wongojack | 220 Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 I believe Dino Crisis 3 was exclusive to Xbox. Your enjoyment of that game depends if you like the previous two games of course. Dino Crisis 3 - Wikipedia There is also an exclusive Buffy game: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2002 video game) - Wikipedia 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacepup | 2,406 Administrator · Posted January 24, 2023 Author Share Posted January 24, 2023 Thanks for the recommendations wongojack! I didn't realize there was an exclusive Dino Crisis for Xbox. Same for Buffy - I know there is a PS2 / multi-system release but I believe that is the sequel. Thanks! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DefaultGen | 5,423 Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 Metal Wolf Chaos was ported, but they kind of messed up the graphics and it looks worse in some ways, so the OGX version is still worth playing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacepup | 2,406 Administrator · Posted January 24, 2023 Author Share Posted January 24, 2023 6 minutes ago, DefaultGen said: Metal Wolf Chaos was ported, but they kind of messed up the graphics and it looks worse in some ways, so the OGX version is still worth playing. Thanks! I'm looking for these examples too! Where it was rereleased or something, but if Original is still better, that's good to know! Jade Empire is high on my list as I haven't played it yet (I know... ), and there is a special edition rerelease that I already have. I haven't read yet any *need* to play on original Xbox instead, but you never know. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhyNotZoidberg | 586 Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 Raze’s Hell Panzer Dragoon Orta Bloody Roar Extreme (actually a renamed port of the GameCube’s Bloody Roar) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed Rothchild | 9,563 Editorials Team · Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 Munch and Indigo are ported to newer stuff just fyi No one has mentioned Crimson Skies. It's wonderful, and an exclusive sequel to a another good PC-exclusive 1 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed Rothchild | 9,563 Editorials Team · Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 There's also an Otogi 2. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacepup | 2,406 Administrator · Posted January 24, 2023 Author Share Posted January 24, 2023 29 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said: Munch and Indigo are ported to newer stuff just fyi No one has mentioned Crimson Skies. It's wonderful, and an exclusive sequel to a another good PC-exclusive Yea, I remembered about Indigo and didn't include that in my OP. But I did remove Munch. The goal with this thread was to curate a list of "true" exclusives for Xbox (not all of them, but basically recommended games). Like if there are games you can only play on Original Xbox, or where the experience is *significantly* better than a port of it later on, that's what I'm really looking for here. Thanks to everyone for the suggestions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloves | 11,812 Administrator · Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 1 minute ago, spacepup said: Yea, I remembered about Indigo and didn't include that in my OP. But I did remove Munch. The goal with this thread was to curate a list of "true" exclusives for Xbox (not all of them, but basically recommended games). Like if there are games you can only play on Original Xbox, or where the experience is *significantly* better than a port of it later on, that's what I'm really looking for here. Thanks to everyone for the suggestions! Ooooohhhhh. I see now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nugfish | 652 Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 Besides the 2 Halos, Crimson Skies is my favorite game on the console. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhyNotZoidberg | 586 Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 Ah I completely forgot to mention The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkTone | 987 Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 Conker, splinter cell, shenmue 2, and if there's multiplayer fusion frenzy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkchylde28 | 1,546 Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 It seems like a bunch of people got to my heavy hitter recommendations before I got here, lol! I second/third/etc. recommendations for Fuzion Frenzy, as it was the game that started virtually all of our group game nights when the Xbox was relevant, even though we were usually getting together to play Halo or something else. Similar echoes for Crimson Skies, although I can't attest to the quality of any single player campaign it might have seeing as it was bought specifically to play at game night LAN parties. And while you know about them, if you haven't played them, KOTOR and KOTOR II are an absolute MUST (and you must play through the very first time as light side, as the choices and consequences for doing dark side are so much more fun that you won't ever want to play it any other way afterward--my sister in law can attest to this, as she's only seen the light side stuff when someone else played). In broader strokes, if you've got at least one other person to play with, and preferably locally, I would recommend just about any non-sports game produced for the system that offers a local LAN option, as generally speaking those games always seemed to have more care put into making sure they were well and truly finished, since they needed to be operate flawlessly across multiple different systems simultaneously. We found that even if a game was bad, with more than one person there (and optimally 3-4 or more), there was still fun to be had there, even if it was just riffing on the game back and forth during gameplay. Should you have access to a copy, I would recommend giving Steel Battalion a shot, as it really is a neat experience, even if the difficulty ramps up way quicker than you're ready for, and you lose all progress every time you fail due to permadeath. If you don't already have a copy, know someone you can borrow a copy with, or get a copy for a bargain basement price, I advise against picking it up, even the second edition set with the blue switches, as it tends to be really prohibitively expensive due to the controller. I meant to preorder it back in the day, but didn't have the cash until the last day, then got stuck inside work all day to an unusually busy day and missed it. GameStop was literally next door to where I worked in our mall, which made this all the more annoying. Fortunately, I had made friends with the folks that worked there, and got a random call at home from one of the employees telling me they had a copy I could have for $50 if I got down there right away; apparently some kid had preordered it and paid for it using his mom's credit card, but without her permission, so she made him return it. When it came back, it was missing all the screws that held the controller together, all the inserts, etc., so I got a steep discount. Mech Assault can be a lot of fun, and is basically a requirement for many folks, as it's one of the guaranteed keys to being able to softmod an original Xbox. I would say this about any game, but especially for MechAssault, avoid Xbox Live at all costs (a third party revived it recently, although I can't recall what they called it), as the players of this one were always the most toxic of any game I ever played online with random people. For a chance of pace, Jet Set Radio Future can be a lot of fun. I didn't mess with it too much myself, but my best-Xbox-friend of those days loved it after going nuts for Jet Grind Radio, and it was always a lot of fun just watching him play with it and enjoy himself. For another change of pace, if you ever liked stuff like Myst, Syberia and Syberia II were a decent amount of fun. They weren't fantastic games by any means, but I ended up picking them up on the cheap and definitely got my $20 a pop worth of fun out of both. Lastly, while I can't recall any of the titles (as they were all owned by my friend), I'd say to try out just about any of the light gun games, if you've got the CRT required to play them. I honestly don't recall any of the titles, but apparently this video shows and talks about every such game available for the original Xbox, so it ought to give you a good idea of what's available and what might tickle your fancy within this genre. Hope you have some unexpected fun! 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacepup | 2,406 Administrator · Posted January 25, 2023 Author Share Posted January 25, 2023 Thanks for the detail. I'm very aware of KOTOR but I do already have those on PC (1 and 2). If there is any *significant* reason why these are better on original Xbox, let me know, but otherwise, I'll prob play on PC. I've actually started KOTOR a while back and just never finished. Trust me, it's on my list to get back into. Steel Battalion is def an interesting one. Fortunately, for a short period, I actually got to play this with the whole huge controller / equipment set. That was a treat ha! I didn't beat it by any means, and only had a brief while to play on that equip as it wasn't my own, but it was a neat experience nonetheless! Jet Set Radio is another one I've played on PC - not sure if that differs from JSRF on xbox or not tbh! If there is unique content on xbox version, that would be interesting. Syberia was ported to PC as well and is actually super cheap right now. I hadn't picked it up but based on your recommendation, I may grab on steam. Thanks for the suggestions everyone! Edit: Bought Syberia and Syberia 2 on Steam for under $3 total hah! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nugfish | 652 Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 18 hours ago, darkchylde28 said: Should you have access to a copy, I would recommend giving Steel Battalion a shot, as it really is a neat experience, even if the difficulty ramps up way quicker than you're ready for, and you lose all progress every time you fail due to permadeath. If you don't already have a copy, know someone you can borrow a copy with, or get a copy for a bargain basement price, I advise against picking it up, even the second edition set with the blue switches, as it tends to be really prohibitively expensive due to the controller. I meant to preorder it back in the day, but didn't have the cash until the last day, then got stuck inside work all day to an unusually busy day and missed it. GameStop was literally next door to where I worked in our mall, which made this all the more annoying. Fortunately, I had made friends with the folks that worked there, and got a random call at home from one of the employees telling me they had a copy I could have for $50 if I got down there right away; apparently some kid had preordered it and paid for it using his mom's credit card, but without her permission, so she made him return it. When it came back, it was missing all the screws that held the controller together, all the inserts, etc., so I got a steep discount. I bought Steel Battalion CIB a few years ago and I've talked myself into putting it together on a couple different occasions, but immediately became overwhelmed once starting to take everything out of the box. looks really good, but whew... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkchylde28 | 1,546 Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 12 minutes ago, Nugfish said: I bought Steel Battalion CIB a few years ago and I've talked myself into putting it together on a couple different occasions, but immediately became overwhelmed once starting to take everything out of the box. looks really good, but whew... Don't be intimidated, as it's really not complicated, at least not once you actually have the pieces totally out. Both side pieces have a little cable that plugs into the center one and, IIRC, two little metal brackets which go together, lined up with the center part, and which you run screws down through to lock everything into place. It might be only one screw per side, but either way, you just plug in the electrical connections between both sides and the center, then lock them together with screws. There's another cable that either comes out of the center piece and goes down to plug into the pedals or vice versa, and a regular Xbox controller cable that goes into the console. It absolutely can be played just sitting on a couch with everything perched on your lap and your feet down on the pedals, but it really benefits from being set stably on a solid surface, like a table, while sitting in a chair that gives you plenty of reach for the pedals, just like driving a car. The only thing that's weird about it is the "clutch" pedal, which is actually a pedal to kick one of the mech's legs out to the side to basically keep it from tipping over when it gets hit, you walk over uneven terrain, etc. For me, the only thing harder than dealing with that weird third pedal was the eject button, which I nearly always forgot to reach for when I got into trouble, causing me to almost always have to start the game over from scratch. While I can't speak for the sequel, as I never picked it up nor played it, the original Steel Battalion is definitely a very neat experience, and one well worth having so long as one doesn't have to end up paying through the nose for it. If someone is picking up a copy because they want to go for a full set Xbox collection, ok, buy it, but if someone just thinks it's neat, it's really not worth the $350-400+ they're going to have to shell out, as if it were, there's be a lot more games that used that controller. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMR | 521 Posted January 26, 2023 Share Posted January 26, 2023 (edited) I always liked Galleon. It controls like crap, but it was still a pretty cool semi open world style game. I liked Gunvalkyrie also. Edited January 26, 2023 by CMR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkTone | 987 Posted January 26, 2023 Share Posted January 26, 2023 When I first heard about MWC I had to Google it, because it sounds made up. Still need to play it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drxandy | 3,235 Posted January 26, 2023 Share Posted January 26, 2023 a lot of em are also on PC buttttt Armed and dangerous - Lucasarts published but made by the guys who did mdk (shiny studios) wacky weapons, Monty Python type humor, but a shooter. Some of the weapons are heckin funnnnnny. Overall Very silly and good dialog. Kung Fu chaos - maybe didn't age so well but regardless of offensive stereotypes the spirit of it is goofy and kinda a power stone style fighter with a lot of movie references, they were trying to be corny but it looks kinda questionable Big yasss on voodoo Vince All the sega stuff, jet set radio future, gunvalkyrie, panzer dragoon orta, crazy taxi 3, house of the dead 3 with guns, shenmue 2, otogi's, PSO, outrun, toe jam and earl Games from rare ltd: grabbed by the ghoulies, conker, Tecmo games: ninja gaiden's, dead or alive's (volleyball is practically a dating sim) Kotor and Kotor 2 are on everything now but those were always high up on the recommends, but with new versions the loading time is probably much better, it felt like it took forever back in the day but not as long as Morrowind lol I would also have said fable but that's got the anniversary edition on 360 Breakdown was interesting, first person vomiting in the first 10mins haha Brute force - squad shooter but i beat it back in the day and enjoyed it, would be fuzzy but I liked it for what it was worth Oddworld's Quantum redshift - futuristic racing, team that did the wipeout series Chronicles of Riddick - decent fps Blinx 1 and 2 are cute and one of the first games I remember having a rewind option, which was really cool at the time Games I haven't played but look good - Phantom dust, metal wolf chaos, arx Fatalis, call of Cthulhu, curse the eye of ISIS, Deus ex invisible war, dino crisis 3, ummm 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now