Most Ambitious Xbox RPGs

For a long time, console-based RPGs were the domain of Nintendo and PlayStation, but that all changed in 2001 when Microsoft launched the Xbox and strove to bring PC-quality RPGs to home markets for the very first time.

Many RPG franchises that got their start on PC got their console debut via the original Xbox, which in turn welcomed millions of new fans and elevated said franchises, but there were many other ambitious RPGs released on the Xbox.

Several of these RPGs attempted to tell enthralling, epic narratives, adapt IPs in ways never done before, and create engaging gameplay mechanics to make players want to revisit these digital worlds. While not every RPG on the Xbox succeeded in these goals, they nevertheless created lasting memories and sought to raise the genre's potential.

Limitless But Boring Potential

Not every ambitious RPG is well-known or even financially or critically successful, but despite those flaws, the game itself can still be remembered for how it attempted to innovate and stand out among other RPGs, with one such game being the Xbox exclusive Metal Dungeon.

A sci-fi turn-based RPG set in a world centered around magitechnology, Metal Dungeon is a fairly impressive sixth generation RPG right from the start, as it immediately begins by having players create their own characters with unique classes, gear, and stats with a character creation system that was fairly advanced for its time.

Metal Dungeon doesn't have much of a story to speak of, with the game instead focusing on players repeatedly engaging in combat encounters throughout its 100 levels of randomly generated maps, which was an impressive feat for a 2002 game but quickly became stale due to how repetitive and dull the game was.

9 The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age

The Forgotten Story of Peter Jackson's LOTR

The early 2000s was arguably the best era to be a fan of The Lord of the Rings, as not only were people able to grow up watching Peter Jackson's incredible film trilogy, but they were additionally able to play fantastic games based on the original books and the films such as The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age.

Another third-person, turn-based RPG, The Third Age is set in the same iteration of LOTR as Peter Jackson's films, with players following the journey of Gondorian knight Berethor as he searches for Boromir and inevitably takes part in epic conflicts such as the Battle of Helm's Deep.

With how well-received Peter Jackson's film trilogy is, it was risky for EA to make an RPG that would build upon and even change some events of those films and follow brand-new characters, but EA Redwood Shores, later known as Visceral Games, managed to pull it off with The Third Age becoming a commercial success.

Marvel Comics's First Console RPG

When people typically think of RPGs, fantasy or sci-fi worlds are typically the settings that first come to mind, but Raven Software chose to go beyond RPGs norms and took a risk when they chose to develop a game based on Marvel Comics with X-Men Legends.

Unlike other Marvel games, X-Men Legends isn't based on any particular comic book storyline, film, or show but rather features an original story primarily following the young mutant Alison Crestmere a.k.a. Magma as she joins the X-Men and aids them in fighting Magneto and the Brotherhood of Mutants.

X-Men Legends can additionally be played in up to four-player co-op, a feature that's not seen too often in RPGs, but the game's design and gameplay paid off as Legends went on to receive a sequel and inspired Marvel and Activision to create Marvel: Ultimate Alliance.

7 Pirates of the Caribbean

Nathaniel Hawk's Trade-focused Adventure

Oftentimes, the most ambitious aspects of games appear during development with only a few innovative features and qualities appearing in the final product and a similar instance appeared during the development of Akella's Pirates of the Caribbean RPG released for PC and Xbox.

Akella's Pirates of the Caribbean is actually just a sequel to the Russian RPG Sea Dogs, with its few connections to the 2003 film being its name, the 18th century Caribbean setting, and a brief appearance of the Black Pearl at the end.

The game is even called Sea Dogs II: The Pirates of the Caribbean in Russia, and while it's a decent sequel to the Russian RPG, it's not the Pirates RPG that many fans of the Disney movie or ride were hoping for, as Nathaniel Hawk doesn't have much of a character and most of the game is centered around exporting cargo.

6 Otogi: Myth of Demons

FromSoftware's Underrated Xbox Exclusive

FromSoftware is famous today for its Soulsborne and Armored Core titles, but in the 1990s and early 2000s, the Japanese developer took more risks and was arguably more experimental with its games, with one of its more underrated and innovative early titles being the action RPG Otogi: Myth of Demons.

Set in feudal Japan, Otogi has players embody the undead executioner Raikoh Minamoto as he sets out to wipe out demons that have overrun Japan with his clan's ancestral sword Soul Shrine, other weapons, and magic spells.

The combat of Otogi is incredibly fast and fluid compared to most other games of the time, let alone fellow RPGs, and it also features destructible environments, making Raikoh's journey all the more thrilling to play through, especially compared to turn-based RPGs.

5 Sid Meier's Pirates!

A Perfect Pirate Port

Sid Meier is well-known as one of the most revolutionary game developers of all time, having created the celebrated Civilization series and Sid Meier's Pirates!. While the latter game did initially launch on PC, it received a fantastic port in 2005 for the original Xbox.

Just like the original PC game, Sid Meier's Pirates! has players embody a young pirate captain as they set off sailing around the Caribbean, fighting other pirates and military ships, taking part in sword fights, and even romancing governors' daughters.

However, the Xbox port shrunk the world of Pirates by roughly half and stripped land-based exploration gameplay a bit, but it added improvements to its boarding combat and stealth infiltration missions into towns, as well as implementing a four-player PvP mode, making this a port well-worth Xbox players' time.

4 Jade Empire

A New Style of Combat

The Canada-based developer, BioWare, didn't start releasing games on consoles with the original Xbox, but it arguably made a name for itself as a worthy player in the home console market with its two ambitious Xbox exclusive RPGs, with one of them being the underrated Jade Empire.

One of the last major titles to debut on the Xbox, Jade Empire was a highly experimental third-person RPG at the time as it not only forgoes BioWare's traditional turn-based gameplay for more dynamic, martial arts-inspired combat but was set in a brand-new fantasy, steampunk world based on Chinese mythology and history.

Most BioWare's RPGs are based on western fantasy or sci-fi concepts, so it was risky for BioWare to create a game based on Chinese mythology and history and while Jade Empire didn't sell exceptionally well, it has since become a cult classic.

The Beginning of Bethesda and Xbox's Relationship

Much like BioWare, most of Bethesda's game history prior to 2002 was relegated to the PC, but in 2001, the Maryland-based publisher and developer chose to partner up with Microsoft to launch the first Elder Scrolls title to home consoles, with that game being The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.

A first and third-person RPG set in the coastal, ash-clouded province of Morrowind, Morrowind allowed players to embody a customizable prisoner who sets out on a journey to defeat the oppressive Dagoth Ur while exploring the region and encountering its many extraordinary inhabitants.

Transitioning Elder Scrolls from a PC-only franchise to a multiplatform one was certainly risky, but it was a worthwhile risk as Morrowind went on to sell incredibly well and began Bethesda's long relationship with Xbox, with the developer now being owned by Microsoft and The Elder Scrolls VI suspected to be a limited time Xbox exclusive.

2 Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Star Wars' First Console RPG

BioWare launched two exclusive RPGs for the original Xbox, and while Jade Empire is great, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was far more ambitious, as it was not only BioWare's first Star Wars game and Star Wars' first RPG video game, it was also set 4,000 years before Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace.

Now, the Old Republic era had existed for several years before KOTOR's launch in comics, but KOTOR was the entry point for the larger public to this era and was for many fans, the first time people saw large armies of Sith Lords fight Jedi Knights in a visual medium.

KOTOR not only succeeded in being a great turn-based RPG but established several iconic characters, alien species, and planets that have since become mainstays in the Star Wars franchise, such as Darth Revan, the Selkath, and Korriban.

1 Fable

Peter Molyneux's Lofty Goals

Without a doubt, the most ambitious RPG released for the original Xbox was Peter Molyneux's third-person, fantasy, action RPG Fable, which has since become a mascot exclusive franchise for the Xbox brand, right alongside Halo and Gears of War.

When Fable was being developed, Molyneux claimed that the game would allow players to have children in-game, that plant life would grow throughout the game, intentionally or unintentionally, and that the game would encompass the playable hero's entire life, among other promises.

These concepts lead many people to believe that Fable would possibly be the greatest RPG of its era and, while it was a fantastic RPG, none of these concepts Molyneux described were featured in the first Fable game, but most of them did go on to appear in Fable sequels.