It is difficult while gaming continues to jump forward leaps and bounds to stay relevant after only a few years, so as many original XBOX games hit twenty years of age, it is a long stretch to say the graphics of any cutscenes featured in the games hold up. However, through excellent writing and animation ahead of its time, many of the XBOX games manage to do so.
6 The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
One of the most infamous franchises in gaming reached the level it has today because of Morrowind. The grand, sweeping adventure of hero vs evil God is a classic one, and the lore used throughout the game is reminiscent of Dungeons & Dragons in a way that will drive any nerd crazy. But while the game is sweeping, the scale immense, and the lore incredible, there is also the insane cinematics.
While there aren’t many of these properly animated cinematic scenes in the game, they set the tone for the style of the world the game is set in. Morrowind is legendary and known throughout the gaming world because it was one of the first games that really immersed gamers so thoroughly in a world. The cinematics do not look modern-made, but they look incredibly impressive for the time.
5 Jade Empire
Jade Empire is another RPG that took place in a beautiful fantasy world, which was based on Chinese Mythology. The player was the last spirit monk in a world populated by both humans and magical creatures. Not only did the style of Jade Empire represent incredible mythology that hadn’t been well-explored in gaming up to that point, but it also featured incredible writing and cutscenes.
Not only did this game have so much lore that it even had a language completely invented for it, but there was also a variety of moral choices that players could make through the game. This, combined with the excellent graphics in the cutscenes and an excellent brand of writing used helped this become one of the best stand-alone games of the XBOX era.
4 Fable
One of the most legendary games to come out of the original XBOX console, Fable follows the adventures of the Hero of Oakvale, from his father being killed by bandits and his sister stolen all the way to his final confrontation with Jack of Blades. The legendary adventures and grand, sweeping story, are spread across many years as the hero ages.
Not only does Fable feature some of the most interesting stories and moral choices (and consequences) in early video gaming, but it also has incredible cutscenes filled with the emotion and power of the story. Through great writing and great music, as well as animation that lives up to the quality of the other aspects of the game, Fable has gone down as one of the best XBOX games.
3 Halo 2
There are so many things to say about how much the Halo franchise means to the XBOX and the other consoles that followed it. But while the first Halo game was a majestic moment for the shooter genre, it was Halo 2 that perfected the art of making a Halo game, and it was the story and villains of Halo 2 that helped drive the franchise to the top of its power.
Master Chief’s adventures trying to stop the Flood were simple but made complex by the interweaving stories being told and the characters inside them. The cutscenes still look good today, the writing was smart and witty, and the laundry list of enemies faced through the game made it a massive deal and a hugely memorable entry for the franchise even now.
2 Half-Life 2
It would be remiss to leave out what is still considered by many to be one of the greatest games of all time, partly due to the Valve game engine which was ahead of anything else being used for game graphics at the time. Half-Life 2 was praised on release as a massive leap for shooters, and it is still fondly remembered because of how many other games it helped to inspire.
The story of Gordon Freeman taking on the Combine is rendered almost irrelevant in the memories fans have of this game, as the unique gameplay puzzles and shooting combination takes precedence. But the graphics of the cutscenes in Half-Life 2 are ahead of anything else from the XBOX era, and the writing helped to elevate the game above almost any other shooters being released either then or now.
1 Conker: Live & Reloaded
It is undeniable that cutscenes graphics make up a big part of how well the game is remembered by fans. Games that are ahead of their time in look will often be the ones remembered for the longest. However, sometimes there are more important concerns that help to elevate a game, such as the writing.
In the case of Conker: Live & Reloaded, which was a remaster for the XBOX generation of Conker’s Bad Fur Day, the humorous, adult-focused writing was a big part of what made the game a massive success. The witty writing, improved graphics focus, and lovable leading squirrel helped to make this one of the best-remembered games for the second generation of consoles in a row.
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