3 best Xbox One games - this generation's must-play titles

Introduction

 

Microsoft's Xbox One console is getting on for two years old now, but in terms of this generation's lifespan it's only really just getting into its stride.
That maturing development process is ably shown by the outstanding games now available to the unashamedly VCR-looking machine and also by Microsoft's show-stopping event at this year's E3.
So if you've got an Xbox One and want to know what the must-play games are for this generation then look no further, we've got you covered.
But let us know what you think. Are there some blockbusters you think need to be on the list? Are there some hidden gems that you feel are missing out?
Hit us up in the comments.

1. Ori and the Blind Forest

 You'd have to be blind to miss this indie fantasy stunner

A top-class graduate of the "Metroidvania" school of action-adventure design, in which an enormous world gradually opens up as you unlock new abilities, Ori is the kind of experience you show a reactionary relative who thinks "videogame art" is a contradiction in terms.
There's the world, to start with - a dreamlike maze of canted-over trunks, thorny caverns and sunlit glades – but it's not just a question of blissful visuals. Ori is a crisp, empowering platformer, with a main character who learns to scurry up surfaces and ricochet away from projectiles, like a spacecraft "sling-shotting" around a planet.
The combat grates after a while, and there are annoying run-the-gauntlet sequences, but this is otherwise one of the generation's finest new IPs on any console.

2. Forza Horizon 2

 

The open road has never seemed more inviting than in Playground's festival of racing

Ever the happy-go-lucky off-roader to Forza Motorsport's sternly authentic simulation, the Horizon series' debut on Xbox One gives you a jaw-dropping play environment with hardly any civilian traffic to worry about – a mix of South France and Italy that's enlivened by dynamic weather and lighting (the engine actually simulates how light is distorted by passage through a 3D atmosphere).
Your goals are simple: accept quests in any order, unlock new cars, force other drivers to eat your dust. The game's 30 fps performance isn't genre-best, and players of the original may feel a sense of deja vu, but this is first-rate automotive entertainment on the whole.

3. Dragon Age: Inquisition

 "Our weapons are fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency and gigantic sidequests."

Inquisition is the proverbial RPG banquet - a 200-hour array of quests, magic-infused scraps, postcard landscapes and well-written character interactions that's perhaps a bit too familiar, at times, but makes up for it with sheer generosity.
It puts you in charge not just of a four-man party of adventurers but also a private army with its own castle and attendant strategic meta-game, tasked with defeating a mysterious demon menace.
The choice of Unreal Engine makes for vast open environments and sexily SFX-laden combat – fortunately, you can pause the latter to issue orders if the onslaught becomes overwhelming. It's a genre giant.