Today, several games were shown during Microsoft's Inside Xbox event, the first of a series of events that are being planned over the next few months. With a first-party event planned for July, the focus was on third-party games coming to Xbox Series X, and while the Assassin's Creed: Valhalla "gameplay" reveal was the star attraction, there was a surprising number of next-gen horror games featured in the showc

Microsoft's premiere RPG franchise is Fable , with the first three Fable games all launching to various degrees of success. But despite their popularity, Microsoft has squandered the IP in recent years, releasing misguided spin-offs instead of proper sequels. However, rumors indicate that the Fable franchise will soon be coming back in a big way on Xbox Series X. According to various reports, Fable 4 is in active development at Playground Games , with the game set to be a major return to form for the series. There's a chance that Fable 4 could even be revealed as early as next month's Xbox 20/20 July presentation, so fans of the franchise should be sure to tune in just in c

After the success of P.T. inspired psychological thriller Layers of Fear in 2016, horror game extraordinaire Bloober Team followed it up with the cyberpunk-themed psychological thriller, Observer for PC, PS4, Xbox One , and Nintendo Switch earlier this year. It's next game, Observer: System Redux is effectively a next-generation port, taking the original game and updating it with enhanced visuals and gameplay, as well as brand new story content . Observer: System Redux is coming to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X in the fourth quarter of 2

Although its current window of release is unknown, Techland's Dying Light 2 is one of the bigger games known about so far. It was delayed from its spring 2020 window, instead likely releasing sometime this fall. And when it does, it has been confirmed to be a cross-gen release on PS5 and Xbox Series

Playable on: PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC

The Mafia trilogy is easily one of the best story-driven, open-world trilogies of all time. While opinions may be mixed on Mafia 3 , most people absolutely adore Mafia 1 and 2 for good rea

When I say this game aspires to be Paper Mario , I'm not talking about a few little touches here and there. From the second you load up Bug Fables, you will know that this is a Paper Mario game in practically every way except the name. Each character is a flat 2D model with big fat black outlines walking around a 3D world. The art style looks simplistic, as if it was drawn by a crayon-wielding kindergarten class, yet it's bursting with life and personality. Even the music evokes the soundtracks of Nintendo's games, with songs that reminded me of Final Fantasy games, Donkey Kong Country , Earthbound , and of course, the Paper Mario ser

In between battles, your party of three will travel to various locations that will require some platforming and puzzle-solving to obtain the next artifact. Each character has a special ability that can be used to get past hazards and giant gaps. Vi's "Beemerang" can be thrown to activate switches and cranks as well as gather items that are out of reach. Kabbu can use his horn to move objects and cut through grass. Leif can use his ice magic to freeze water and enemies so they can be used as platforms. Figuring out which abilities need to be combined to traverse Bugaria's harsh landscape was never very challenging, but it still managed to be a fun part of the g

Whenever Fable 4 is planning to hit shelves, Xbox needs to highlight that it's coming out the gate strong and delivering what the fans want. It needs to show it has the system selling names, the exclusives, and the groundbreaking ideas to hang alongside the likes of Sony and stake itself a bigger claim in the generation to come. Microsoft has already shown that the Series X has groundbreaking technology and its marketing thus far has been wonderfully open and honest. All it needs now is a killer game that shows off exactly what the console can do, and Fable 4 seems to be exactly t

An ambitious, inventive genre that traces its origins to the early days of text-based adventures like Zork and Microsoft Adventure game Exploration Guide , open-world gaming has become one of the most prevalent genres in all of gaming. Covering all sorts of genres and niches and giving birth to some of the most important games of this generation, open-world gaming usually allows for dozens—if not hundreds—of hours of playt

Project Gotham Racing was a launch title for the original Xbox and earned a great deal of acclaim at the time of its release, spawning three sequels that all earned strong reviews as well. Project Gotham Racing 4 , the most recent entry in the series, also earned strong reviews from critics and fans alike, but for one reason or another, Microsoft has abandoned the IP. Perhaps Microsoft made this decision so it could focus exclusively on Forza , but it would still be nice to see Project Gotham Racing make a comeback on the Xbox Series X. If nothing else, it would help give racing fans on Xbox some variety so that they have more than just new Forza games to look forward to every y