While modern technology has improved video games as a medium tremendously, it also means some people occasionally get left behind. For gamers without internet access or more commonly poor-quality internet service, many aspects of modern games can't be enjoyed by them.
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Luckily, as video games have improved as a whole, so have single-player experiences that don't require internet access. Despite almost launching as an online-only console, the Xbox One is now home to a wide selection of fantastic games that don't require an internet connection to enjoy.What are the best offline Xbox One games?
Updated August 7, 2021 by Mark Sammut: The Xbox One might be "old news" by this point but it remains a popular piece of hardware, especially since its library can largely be played on the Xbox Series X/S. New games are still constantly coming out on the generation eight system, providing an incentive to keep the console around. As it remains quite difficult to pick up an Xbox Series X/S or PS5, many people are opting to play through older games they might have originally missed. As fun as online can be, sometimes someone just wants to game alone. Consequently, this list has been expanded to include a few more offline Xbox One games.
20 Cuphead
Cuphead, a game that has since branched out to other consoles, was originally a crown jewel for the Xbox. The beautifully animated run-and-gun boss rush game inspires nostalgic feelings in more than just the art department. The game is challenging, often even unfair, but it rarely gets to a point that the player feels the urge to put the game down. There's just something so addictive about running into a boss over and over looking for that big win.
Cuphead is a perfect offline Xbox One experience. All of the content is available on download or with a physical copy. It even has couch co-op, a rarity in the gaming scene today. It's a budget game with a perfectly proportioned experience. It's worth playing on a rainy day.
19 Ori And The Will of the Wisps
Ori and the Blind Forest is a Metroidvania title that boasted a gorgeous art style, great music, and incredible level design. While other Metroidvania's have a habit of feeling bloated and overdone, Ori stayed its welcome at the perfect length and knew when to pull at the player's heartstrings. It wasn't a surprise to see a sequel get greenlit: Ori and the Will of the Wisps.
In terms of new Xbox titles, Will of the Wisps has everything great about the first title but with an even better art style and narrative. The game is gorgeous, plays great, and tells an emotional story without much dialogue. Although the title is also available on Nintendo Switch, it was originally home to the Xbox and plays the best on that platform. With no online features, it's an ideal game to play without the internet.
18 Sunset Overdrive
Insomniac Games' Sunset Overdrive has been somewhat forgotten since debuting in 2014 as an early Xbox One exclusive. A PC port introduced the game to a wider audience, but it still firmly exists in the shadow of Insomniac's other recent releases such as Marvel's Spider-Man and Ratchet & Clank. Set in a city where grind rails are just the best way to travel, Sunset Overdrive gets movement spot on, crafting an experience where the basic action of traversal is inherently enjoyable.
Colorful visuals and a lighthearted tone enhance the sense of chaos presented by Sunset Overdrive's gameplay, even if the comedy can be a bit hit and miss. Fans of the studio's other projects should not skip this one.
17 Divinity: Original Sin 2
Top-down CRPG's have been making a resurgence in recent years. Although they still hardly crack the numbers of the Bethesda-esque RPGs, they can tell incredible stories with deeply strategic gameplay. The role-playing aspect in these titles is often a core focus, with countless little decisions that can be made to help build a character. Divinity: Original Sin 2 helps bring that traditionally PC-exclusive experience to the console market.
D:OS 2 improves much on its predecessor. While its combat is still ingenious in terms of combos and usage of the environment, the writing finds a great balance. No longer is the player failing exposition checks and getting beaten unconscious by text. For those looking for a fantasy RPG to play alone, it's hard to beat this game.
16 Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
FromSoftware can be credited with games that helped define a genre and a generation of action RPGs. Souls-likes only exist because the team did incredible work in the past. However, Souls games benefit from online interactions and PVP. This is not the case with Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, a single-player action-adventure game that pushes players to the limits in terms of difficulty.
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Sekiro is a game with great atmosphere and natural storytelling, like the other Soulsborne titles. However, Sekiro is a very refined experience by comparison, with a set character and a set of skills that doesn't develop too drastically over the course of the game. The player has to get good with Sekiro's moves if they want a chance of beating the game. This title was great enough to win Game of the Year at the Game Awards in 2019, and it's worth playing anytime.
15 Wasteland 3
Everything said about Divinity: Original Sin 2 applies to Wasteland 3. However, the game was absolutely designed with consoles in mind, as it was released simultaneously on both platforms. Wasteland 3 throws the player into post-apocalyptic America and is part of a task force created to help maintain order. Of course, the players are fully independent in whether or not they decide to follow through with this mission, but that's just part of the fun.
Wasteland 3 has incredible character customization and role-playing. The player can create multiple custom characters to integrate into the world. The traits given can range from useful to just kinda wacky, and there are plenty of options for min-maxers and role-players alike. It's a great game to play and will provide hours of single-player content.
14 Assassin's Creed Odyssey
Assassin's Creed Odyssey is not only one of the best games in the series, but it's also one of the best games of the current console generations. Join Kassandra or Alexios on this epic journey across Greece where adventures and mythology mix. This game is packed full of content, able to easily sustain over 60 hours of gameplay if not way more.
The base game itself has tons of content plus plenty of DLC content as well. The only part of the game that would require the internet is the story-maker that was added well after release and doesn't have any relevance to the main game.
13 The Outer Worlds
A 2019 release, Obsidian's latest RPG is a fantastic spiritual successor to Fallout New Vegas. Journey to Halcyon where, after being revived from cryo-sleep, you must help determine the fate of the colony. The Outer Worlds features fantastic writing and characters and is a must-play for any fan of open-world RPGs.
The game is on the shorter end of RPGs, running between 20-30 hours for a playthrough, but every moment of that is an awesome ride. Also one of the companions, Pavarti, is the most wholesome character to ever be in a video game and everyone should share an adventure with her.
12 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
The (almost) undisputed game of the year from 2015, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is as long as it is deep. This RPG epic is packed full of amazing stories and combat systems that any RPG lover would enjoy.
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Don't let the three deter you, this game is pretty easy to pick up without having played the other two titles, both of which are good but not nearly as good as this one. The game has no online features and plenty of gameplay to keep you entertained for hours.
11 Gears Of War 5 (Campaign)
Following the decent but unspectacular Gears of War 4, the Xbox first-party property came back in a big way with its fifth numbered entry. Gears 5 shifts focus to Kait Diaz and also opts for a more open level design, dropping the Gears in areas that can be freely explored. The gunplay is as smooth and impactful as ever, while the story has a strong sense of mystery and sets up the next chapter in the saga well.
Only Gears 5's campaign can be played offline, providing roughly 10-15 hours of content. Horde and Escape cannot be accessed since they utilize cloud gaming.
10 Resident Evil 2
One of the truest video game remakes, Resident Evil 2 recaptures the magic of the original version into an incredibly modern horror game. This adventure sees Leon and Claire battle through the zombie-infested Raccoon City as they try to uncover the mystery of what happened.
Resident Evil 2 is gorgeous looking and incredibly scary. Every enemy feels like a threat and the Tyrant is a menacing force that follows you endlessly. This game is much shorter than some of the other titles on this list but it is incredibly worth playing and experiencing.
9 Grand Theft Auto 5 (Story Mode)
Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto 5 has been a staple of the gaming charts for over half a decade; while a lot of its success can be credited to its online component, that's not to say GTA 5's single-player has become obsolete.
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When looking for an offline Xbox One game, GTA 5's story is a hefty, entertaining, and engrossing option. Los Santos is an absolute marvel to experience, while the campaign's three protagonists each produce moments that will stick with players. GTA 5 might require someone to sign in before starting the game, but they should be able to play offline after that point.
8 Devil May Cry 5
After the polarizing DmC: Devil May Cry, Capcom steadied the ship by returning to the original timeline. Devil May Cry 5 marked a significant return to form for the franchise, and the game also took plenty of risks. Gone are the anime-style visuals in favor of more realistic graphics, while Dante is presented as a secondary character who shares the spotlight with Devil May Cry 4's Nero and a new figure named V.
Along with offering plenty of variety, DMC 5's combat is fast-paced, precise, and (naturally) stylish. Each character's moveset is unique and fully developed, allowing the rather long campaign to never become boring.
7 Control
The Twin Peaks-inspired third-person shooter is a wild ride through sci-fi insanity that gets crazier and more interesting with every mission. The game sees Jesse Faden enter the Federal Bureau of Control, the federal agency in charge of dealing with incidents that defy the laws of reality.
The bureau has been evaded by an enemy called the Hiss and she must deal with them to find her brother. This puzzle/shooter mystery is a bonkers adventure that is filled to the brim with lore. The game has tons to offer through its 15-20 hours of gameplay and shouldn't be overlooked just for being weird.
6 Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
The first great Star Wars game in a very long time, this game features one of the best stories in modern Star Wars. Following a padawan who survived the Jedi purge this action-adventure blends together the gameplay styles of many fantastic games.
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The exploration feels like Tomb Raider and the combat can be described as "Souls adjacent." Fighting through storm troopers to try and survive being found out and to complete the journey to becoming a Jedi knight. This challenging title is appealing to Star Wars fans of all types and a great game even if you don't enjoy that universe.
5 Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition
One of the best "Metroidvania" style games to come out in recent years, this gothic 2D platformer has a beautiful art style to wrap together with its challenging combat and interesting story. This game is difficult, but it never feels like the game is cheating you.
The puzzles and exploration of the game are very interesting and complex without being difficult to the point of halting progression. The game's follow-up Hollow Knight: Silksong is currently being developed so get your homework done now and play this fantastic title.
4 Stardew Valley
This Harvest Moon–inspired title is the best version of the farm simulator games that exist, and Stardew Valley is fantastic for everyone of any age. This title features every aspect from fishing to farming to mining to kindling relationships. The art style and the world are incredible, taking on a 2D style.
Stardew Valley has incredible depth and possibilities when it comes to how a player goes about earning a living and breathing life back into this small town. This game could easily absorb someone's life and entertain them for hours upon hours while they perfect their virtual farm.
3 Dishonored 2
Seeing a sequel improve upon the original in every aspect is a rare treat and Dishonored 2 fits that bill. Taking place some years after the first game, the story sees Emily usurped as the emperor and having to find a way to get back her place of power and her father.
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This game combines magic powers, stealth, and puzzle-solving into an amazing blend of gameplay. Regardless if you have played the original or not, this game is a fantastic time for anyone who enjoys stealth games.
2 Rogue Legacy
One of many Rogue-"lite" games that have been released during the current console generation, Rogue Legacy is a phenomenal 2D combat platformer where anyone can be a hero. Members of a long family line must brave the castle, eventually dying, but gaining gold and upgrades along the way.
Each family member has their own pros and cons, allowing for each run-through to be unique and still allow for some progress to be made. Even though the game requires a ton of dying, the upgrade system rewards every attempt, to avoid the feeling of bashing your head into a wall.
1 Red Dead Redemption 2 (Story Mode)
Similar to GTA 5, Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption 2 can also be played without internet, although this is mainly for physical copies and on Xbox Ones designated as home consoles. Even more so than Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption 2 presents a powerful and satisfying story that requires roughly 50 hours to complete, and that can easily balloon to double that size.
Set in 1899, Rdr2 follows Arthur Morgan, an outlaw who has been part of the Van der Linde gang for most of his life. Morgan's development is fantastic, as is the journey the game takes players on.
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