Long before their current multiplatform strategy, there was a time when Xbox put a lot of effort into having a wide range of games that you couldn't play on Playstation or Nintendo.

If we set aside the Big Three of Halo, Gears, and Forza, what do you consider to be the best Xbox 360 console exclusive, and what about it makes it so good?

*This is console exclusives, so games that were also available on PC but not PS/Nintendo such as Witcher 2 and Metro 2033 are eligible.

**Games that were exclusive during that generation but later ported/remastered such as Shadow Complex and Dead Rising are also eligible.

Bioshock was a timed exclusive that I got on X360. If it doesn't count, then Tales of Vesperia which was a full exclusive outside Japan, I put hundreds of hours in it until it RROD'd my X360. A blast in more than one sense!

Lost Odyssey, great JRPG and better than FF12 imo. Currently replaying on emulation but would love a PS5 port (Blue Dragon as well)

Tengai Makyō: Ziria-Aka Far East of Eden Ziria. The last game in the once popular RPG series that sat behind DQ as one of the most popular series in Japan. A remake of II was on 360. Full 3D. Series was fantastic.

Lost Odyssey. A lot of people like to say this was the true Final Fantasy of that era. I say it was The Last Story, but maybe it's both . Either way, great game that looks fantastic even now. Good story. A combat system that even a modern game like Clair Obscur 33 can say thank you to.

Blue Dragon. Sharing the same art as Dragon Quest and Dragon Ball and a huge marketing push in Japan plus an anime. MS hoped this would be the next DQ. It was not. However, it's a great RPG. You essentially have Personas in the shape of ,you guess it, blue dragons. Each party member's Dragon offers their own skills. The game goes in some places you don't expect. Also familiar. Nobou's OST as always, is amazing.

Alan Wake. Not only one of the best games from that gen, but also one of the greatest games ever made.

Some good stuff here that’s still some great options.

My pick would have to be Prey! Followed by Ace Combat 6, Fable 2, Command & Conquer 3, and Left 4 Dead 2

Prey was such a cool FPS that was a next gen experience from the portals to the use of anti-gravity, and Tommy was a great protagonist. The weapon variety and graphics hold up incredibly well to this day. 

Project Gotham Racing

I miss that series, great racing.

I would’ve included them in my list, but I feel like the first 2 games were better on the OG Xbox imo. I do miss that series too though! 

If Alan Wake still counts then Alan Wake cause it was a perfect blend of Story and gameplay like the Xboxs horror version of the Uncharted series, a really great ratio of control to cutscene and story told over the top of gameplay and for some reason, unlike Aloy in Horizon, Alan talking to himself doesn't annoy the fuck out of me.

Dead Rising was originally a 360 exclusive as well, and the first one is still the best one.

Mowing down crowds of zombies while on the clock with time based missions was all new to me, and added a lot of replay value.