The last time I touched Xbox was with the 360, and only because I needed to test used games to sell on eBay. But I've wanted to try out modern Xbox to see if things like GamePass and what exclusives they do have is worth it. Especially since on the used market, Xbox One games can be cheaper than PS4 games. With the loose justification of buying Conkers Bad Fur Day as my target price I bought Rare Replay and a Xbox One.
Console Hardware
The Xbox I got was the Original Xbox One, mostly because it was cheap, and because I got the Halo 5 version. I don't play Halo, but I love the aesthetics and blue accents. I wanted the Xbox One S since it's smaller and I like the design better. But I had a hard rule of "not buying white" and the color variants aren't as appealing.
From first boot to getting my games installed, I can tell a lot of care an attention went into the hardware and the UI. Might be my imagination, but the interface feels snappier than it does on PS4. And the store is actually usable and not bloated like Sony tends to do later into a console life cycle. I wish there was more customization to the menu, but there is a clear aesthetic which Xbox wanted to have for their console, and I can respect that.
The Xbox One controller has now become the "default" controller for me. Everything targets it, and since it now has a functional d-pad (looking at you 360), it's good. I prefer the musher feeling of a Nintendo D-Pad and shoulder buttons (or bumper as Xbox calls them). But it's a solid controller and with using AA batteries rather than LiPo, it'll last as long as I take care of it.
I really like the overall package. The only thing I wish I could do is test the HDMI In on the system. But I am pretty sure it's broken or defective. No a problem for a Games Box, but it is annoying.
Games
I got my Xbox One for one game, Rare Replay. And if I am honest, it plays fine. While I will praise Xbox for not mucking about with the interface there is no denying that this is a game box from 2013. Games play just as well as they do on PS4, and has the same level of support as the PS4 does.
I feel it's interesting that all games even disc ones install to the system. As I know not all games on PS4 like LittleBigPlanet 3 still run parts of the game from the disc itself.
Overall the quality of Xbox One was about as much as I expected it to be. No worse than PS4, and maybe better at times.
Game Pass
Nah the big draw for me was two thing, Game Pass and Backwards Compatibility (which is the next section).
Game Pass to me has always been the much needed revival of game rentals. For a modest fee, you get access to a treasure trove of games from just about everyone. And I got to try just about every game I wanted to try for my system. To build a list of games I wanted to play/try.
Unfortunately for Xbox, many of the Game Pass games I've played, like Nickelodeon All Stars 2, Physconaughts 2, and Persona 3 Reloaded, are games I feel I want to play on other consoles or PC's. I liked them, but I don't want them to be tied down to the system. While other times they offered me experiences to stay away from, or confirmed that they were games I wouldn't like.
But there are a few games which I honestly didn't think of or needed to play myself which I will be populating my Xbox with, and maybe even moving over to Xbox for. Like Sunset Overdrive, Halo 5, and Forza Horizons 5. Heck I tried Assassin's Creed Origin's and honestly I prefer to play it on Xbox rather than PS4. Plus the benefit I can have all the original games on one system is really tantalizing. Especially since the original 4 games can be found at bargain bin pricing at any good thrift store.
Backwards Compatibility
Which neatly brings me to Backwards compatibility. Like the native games, disc games are installed via the web rather than run off of disc. And I am fine with that. And it runs soooo well. Honestly I feel it's worth owning an Xbox One for the Backwards Compatibility alone.
Sure not every game works. But most of the ones you'll want to play are here. I've been replaying the crap out of Saints Row 2, and finally getting the chance to enjoy Saints Row 1. Or at least I was until the Xbox Servers went down.
Online
Now I've always known Xbox as the online gaming console. For the guys looking for achievements and playing Call of Duty with friends. But that's not me. I just want to play Rare Replay and other single player games.
But man has online gaming on consoles gotten bad since I last checked on PS3. I couldn't even start EA's Star Wars Battlefront II, with them demanding I make an account with them (or link my Xbox one to theirs). Most Xbox games I played almost expect you to be playing online and have that lobby menu thingy along side it. Guys I just want to play Halo, I don't even have the friends to even try co-op with.
Nope, but what killed any recommendation for this system was when Xbox's servers went offline, and my Xbox immediately turned into a brick. Sure I could look at things. But no game I installed would boot, not even my disc games and the system won't work unless I am signed in. Even my backwards compatible games refused to load a save until I remounted the "cloud storage".
On PS4 or Switch this isn't an issue, but if it was, one could make a Guest account, or an offline account. But that's not possible on Xbox. It's required that any account on any Xbox has to have a Microsoft account attached with it. Even for kids.
This wasn't a requirement on 360, and I remember Microsoft being a laughing stock of E3 2013 with their whole, "online only thing" and "Discs being locked to a single console". And while we didn't get the latter, I am shocked that the Xbox community is OK with the former.
But I wouldn't blame Xbox for this, as this decision has corporate Microsoft's hand prints all over it. Mandatory log in are now apart of even Windows 11. Ads taking up the lower third of your screen is also being baked into other aspects of Microsoft's software too.
Conclusion
And what's tragic is that this strong arming is hurting the end user experience on their hardware. I can't in good faith recommend an Xbox to friends or family, especially since if they want their kids to play Minecraft, they have effectively two choices. Let Microsoft track their kids and their every movement, or give their kids access to daddy's credit card since they have to use his account.
But as I said, I don't blame the Xbox team for this, I blame corporate Microsoft.
And for the services and continuing support for what is a 10+ year old console at this point. I am extremely impressed. Xbox One is still an extremely viable system in 2024 and I don't feel it's been outright abandoned like other systems of it's age, like the Wii U.
Honestly who I would recommend an Xbox to is the same demographic I use to see playing Xbox, teenagers. It's cheaper than a PC, plays almost all of the same games, and if they want to play online they'll need to jump through the same hoops.
And unlike Sony or Nintendo, who've destroyed their previous game console's library during the transition to newer hardware. I feel I can at least trust that Microsoft will continue to bring forward their game library to whatever they do next.
Yes Sony has more exclusives. But that's quickly becoming a very short list, as they've languished in the years which the PS4 has had dominance.
So If you don't want a PC which is the only other hardware with a larger game catalogue, or don't want to deal with the shoehorned in third party drm for every publisher. Then the Xbox isn't a bad platform to invest into, especially if you want to explore new games you want to try that's available on Game Pass.