The regent of historical real-time strategy for over 20 years, Age of Empires II is a classic encompassing 1,000 years of human history. You can also load your colleagues into catapults and throw them over enemy walls. Chivalry 2Ī bloody, slapstick slasher played over grand, multiplayer environments, Chivalry 2 plugs a controller into the action of bombastic medieval movies. Critics have noted its unsatisfying combat as a disappointment, but praised its often screenshot-worthy visuals. Trek to Yomi is a short game which dresses the side scrolling adventures of lone samurai Hiroki in a monochrome style inspired by Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. Pentiment’s historical setting overflows with detail but it’s more than a veneer, this medieval world’s social and religious strife neatly corresponding to the themes of its tale. It follows journeyman artist Andreas as he chats his way through medieval Europe’s peasants and priests towards the truth, all of whom talk (via text) in their own style of font depending on their social status. Pentiment is a murder mystery set in a 16th-century Bavarian town, imaginatively rendered in the form of an adventure game. Embellished with stylish documentary films and with thoughtful innovations on the franchise formula, Age of Empires IV is an excellent gateway into historical gaming. Perhaps the greatest historical real-time strategy series of all time, there’s no escaping Age of Empires on this list. The games available on each platform vary, so our picks specify whether they’re only available on PC or restricted to the Ultimate tier of the service. If it wasn’t already one of the best deals in gaming, the expansion of Xbox Cloud Gaming to your browser, phone and other devices cements its status.īelow we’ve collected, in no particular order, the best historical games on Xbox Game Pass. They include expansive strategy games like Crusader Kings III, wartime shooters in the form of Sniper Elite 5 and heartrending adventures like A Plague Tale: Requiem.

Xbox Game Pass provides access to a huge library of games, including a crop of essential historical games.

Best xbox pass games