Playing games alone is always a good time when something is immersive. players can easily get lost in a virtual world mentally when five minutes turns into five hours and experiences like this are amazing as they can be rare.
Playing with friends can also be great, and it goes beyond pure multiplayer sessions too. Bonding over campaigns is something that can get overlooked. For those itching to enjoy video games, especially RPGs, with another person, these are some great picks to look at on the assorted Xbox family of consoles.
8 Diablo 3
Despite a new sequel, Diablo 3 is still a great action RPG a decade later. Even though Diablo 4 is here, that’s not going to stop fans from playing this game as well. With so few games in the series, they all get supported by a dedicated PC crowd especially. It’s a rare occurrence in the industry and this series is like the poster child for keeping dedicated players engaged.
With tons of classes to choose from, multiple reasons to replay the game, and the ability to play with three other players locally online, or offline, Diablo 3 is the gift that keeps on giving.
7 Tom Clancy’s The Division 2
Players can engage with three other players online in the campaign for Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 which is split up into different co-op modes. As the story is rather hard, even if one grinds, it is recommended to always partner with at least one person on missions.
Then there are the raids which are smaller missions, but they offer greater rewards due to their challenge levels. A total of eight players can get together in a raid to fight off hordes of soldiers and bosses.
6 Elden Ring
All of the Soulslike games offer players the opportunity to make things easier via co-op. They are all worth recommending for the hardcore action RPG fans out there. The best one to focus on for now though is Elden Ring. It, unlike the other games, offers more freedom with its open world.
Players can invite two others to join them for boss battles or exploration fun. It is truly a sight to be seen and it will be interesting to see if FromSoftware continues its open-world adventures with the next game.
5 Stranger Of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin
As a new beginning, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is a retelling of the first game in the Final Fantasy series. Players control Jack, one of the Crystal Bearers in a land that is now ruled by darkness. He and his comrades must reawaken the power of the Crystals to help revive the world.
To get into the story deeper would ruin things, but let’s just say it gets wild toward the end. Players can team up with two other players online in this action RPG with Soulslike elements.
4 Marvel’s Avengers
Marvel’s Avengers is the looter equivalent to Destiny 2 except with melee action instead of shooting. It was an original tale separate from the MCU versions of these iconic characters like Captain America and Kamala Khan.
Players should jump into this game while they can because support is going to end in September 2023 and this is an always online game. Thankfully, it is cheap on almost every platform now and a lot of the DLC has been made free. For all of its faults, it is at least worth playing through once with three other friends online.
3 Monster Hunter Rise
Monster Hunter Rise is the latest iteration in this long-running action RPG game. Although Monster Hunter Rise began as a Switch exclusive, it eventually received a port to Xbox and PlayStation consoles. The port even came with new features beyond better graphics and frame rates.
The game has a distinct art style that pays homage to classic samurai motifs from Japanese history. Players can team up with three other players online to hunt monsters down. It's another one of those co-op games where multiplayer is almost necessary for survival.
2 River City Girls 2
3D games are great for co-op experiences but the world needs more 2D games, especially old-school brawlers. River City Girls 2 is exactly what the doctor ordered complete with couch co-op offline for four players and two players online play. Oddly, offline players get more love than online players, but this is one game and genre where it’s always better to play on the couch next to buddies.
Players can level up their cavalcade of characters with stat boosts and new moves to give this brawler a new zing. Also, the game does a good job explaining the original’s events, so one doesn’t need to start with it.
1 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge
Fans of beat-em-up games will enjoy Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge, as it even features RPG elements. It one-ups River City Girls 2’s multiplayer features by allowing both online and offline players to connect with six players in total.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge creates a chaotic mess onscreen but in a fun way. Players can control the four main turtles along with Master Splinter, April O’Neil, and Casey Jones. Each character has their own move sets which can be learned through leveling up by traditional means.