No Power Greater Than X: Xbox Series X (and S) (2020) Review

In April 2020, I ended up buying the Xbox One X, and subsequently did a review/retrospective on, well, the Xbox One as a whole including the One X. I had wanted to do an updated version of it like I did with the Switch around 2021-2022, but ultimately I kind of felt like I would just end up saying mostly the same things I did in my original review. Regardless, it was announced that the system had discontinued production in 2020 (albeit two years later at the start of 2022) in favor of Microsoft’s next console, or should I say consoles - the Xbox Series X and Series S.

To go back a bit, it is safe to say that the Xbox One as a whole didn’t have the smoothest lifespan. The system was announced around the time I started paying more attention to video game news (especially with it being an all new console at the time) and I even ended up watching the announcement with my brother the day it was revealed. 

As you can guess, both me and my brother were less than impressed. The reveal pretty much solely focused on the Xbox One’s “TV” features (to the point where it became a meme) with the only thing related to how the Xbox One served as a next-gen gaming machine was how the next Call of Duty game allowed you to have a dog and how fish moved away from you as you swam next to them (which, y’know, was totally not done in Super Mario 64). 

It didn’t exactly help that the system was going to have DRM features against used games and forcing the user to connect to the internet every 24 hours, with any criticism about it being swept under the rug by Don Mattrick providing the suggestion of “just buy an Xbox 360” on top of the system costing $100 more than the PlayStation 4 at launch while having slightly less power just because Microsoft decided they wanted to push Kinect onto the user. With all that in mind, it is understandable as to why the PlayStation 4 ended up outselling the Xbox One.

But if that was the case, why did I end up buying an Xbox One X - even if it was late into it’s generation? Well, I think for what it’s worth, Microsoft did make a really good effort to turn the Xbox One’s image around. Sure, it wasn’t the greatest success, only selling somewhere around 50-60 million units in it’s lifespan (which is still pretty good, but easily outdone by the PS4’s 117.2 million and Switch’s 122.55 million), but I think once Microsoft stopped pushing Kinect and TV, and instead focused on new features like Backwards Compatibility and Game Pass, as well as offering different SKUs of the Xbox One towards the middle of its life, they did seem to at least start to understand their audience a bit more and where they wanted to go with the Xbox brand as a whole. Moving away from exclusives, but focusing on unique features, different options for hardware, investing in studios, and providing an ecosystem for their products between Xbox and Windows.

This leads to 2019, when rumors began circulating about “Project Scarlett”, the next generation of Xbox, in addition to this next generation coming in two variants - “Project Anaconda”, a higher-end model and “Project Lockhart”, a lower-end model. The former of which was more officially teased at E3 that year, and at the 2019 Game Awards, was revealed as the “Xbox Series X”.

My reaction?

“Well that’s pretty cool I suppose”

I mean, I was definitely interesting in seeing the next “generation” of consoles come out, especially after years of rumors regarding the PlayStation 5 and new Xbox, but I wasn’t necessarily interested in getting either console… at least, at the time. I had a nice PC, I had a Switch, and I was still enjoying both of those on their own merits. And also I couldn’t help but poke fun at the fact that the Xbox Series X looked like a minifridge or literally a gaming PC.

However, it did seem like Microsoft had learned their lesson from the Xbox One’s messy announcement and launch, and the trailer itself was actually really well made from an artistic perspective - a bit mysterious and cryptic, yet balanced out with the showcase of Microsoft’s IPs and of course the console itself at the end. Ultimately, I just wanted to see more from the console, what it could do, and how much power it could pack in this minifridge-like design. And of course I also wanted to see what Sony offered in comparison.

I think I’ve mentioned in the past, however, that growing up, I actually wasn’t that into the Xbox brand as a whole. It’s surprising because my family actually owned an Xbox 360, and for a good time period it was pretty much the only home console in our house, but I guess as a result of my brother getting into Call of Duty and other games that my parents deemed too violent for *me* to play, there wasn’t really a whole lot on the system I wanted to play with the exception of the two Simpsons games we had, Hit and Run and… The Simpsons Game (and a bit later on, Sonic CD and the Sonic Generations demo). Even when I got a bit older (when I was 10-12 years old, preteen ages), I ended up getting a Wii for Christmas in 2011 and as a fan of games like Super Mario, Nintendo games in general, as well as Sonic the Hedgehog, I was definitely more interested in what was on there, and even the PlayStation 3, which while I didn’t own myself, my best friend (even if I only knew him online) had as did my neighbor’s son.

Yet, after some thinking, there was a sort of turning point in my opinion on the Xbox brand in 2018. Late in the year, I ended up buying an original Xbox from a thrift store. It was only $10, marked as-is and only lasted about two weeks before the hard drive just decided to die, but it did encourage me to look into the library of what the original Xbox had, and even pick up a few games myself. And by the time it died, I did grow some more interest in the console’s library, and frankly, the Xbox brand as a whole.

One of the main things that led me to buying the Xbox One X in 2020 was actually the backwards compatibility it had with some original Xbox and Xbox 360 games. And especially with the X’s power, it allowed me to experience some of these games with modern enhancements. While I was more of a PC gamer than a console game, I can’t really deny that the One X did seem to have a good amount of power for what was by then being sold for $300, and some games definitely looked really good on the system. It was also through here I discovered Xbox Game Pass, a Netflix-like subscription that allowed players to pay a monthly fee to download and play a variety of different games - making for a really good deal for $15/month for Ultimate (which also includes Xbox Live Gold), and definitely among the biggest features that Microsoft is pushing with the Xbox brand.

I definitely felt like the Xbox One X was a good purchase and I did manage to build up a library for the system, but the system was starting to show its age a bit as the Series X’s release, as well as the Series S’s announcement and same day release, came and went. While Microsoft has been still supporting the Xbox One in terms of software, we are starting to see a few more games only come out on the Series S/X and Windows PCs - Microsoft Flight Simulator being the first major one I remember, and most recently Hi-Fi Rush. Plus, some more recent games that release simultaneously on the Xbox One and Series S/X (among other consoles) don’t play quite as well on the Xbox One, including on the One X.

I’ve been considering getting a Series X since getting a job in March 2022, but playing Sonic Frontiers was what really pushed me to buy one in the past couple months. While the game played fine on the One X, it did have issues with frame pacing that stuck out like a sore thumb on top of the game being capped at 30FPS on the console. In my review I mentioned that I got it on Xbox One X over the Switch since it did seem like a game that would benefit from greater hardware (and there was no physical PC version which is a big sadge, but even with the One X being the most powerful 8th gen console, I could tell that it needed the 9th gen boost.

Unfortunately, trying to actually buy an Xbox Series X has been kind of an ordeal in of itself. As you may know, trying to find either the Xbox Series X or the PlayStation 5 in stores has been fairly difficult since both launched. Even as I seeing the Series S more often in stores like Target, Best Buy and Walmart in late 2021 and throughout 2022, I only really just came across the Series X and PlayStation 5 in stores in the past couple months, with the one exception being that I saw a Series X at a local game store for $100 more than it’s MSRP. Granted, I didn’t really do much shopping in late 2022, but it still stands that I just couldn’t find the Series X in stores anywhere until just recently.

So, why is this? Well, the reason for this is pretty simple. All three of these consoles - the Xbox Series S, Series X and PlayStation 5 - released right in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. When the COVID-19 pandemic started, I was wondering how it was going to affect the launch of the next generation of consoles which was due later in the year. Especially with the onset of a recession I was thinking it would negatively impact the consoles’ sales. 

I was of course wrong about that, but in a way where it pretty much went the opposite direction. Both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles have been reported to be the fastest selling consoles for both brands, but both were released in an ongoing chip shortage, which of course was another result of COVID-19 causing workers to quarantine and work from home. 

This meant that there was an increased demand for chips as computer hardware became required for moving office jobs home (as well as a greater demand for consoles and other devices for entertainment since everything was closed), while factories were also being shut down or seeing a reduction in workforce. Some would blame the stay-at-home orders for this, but let’s be real, I think the fact that large amounts of the workforce getting sick and even dying didn’t exactly help matters much either.

Regardless, trying to find a Series X proved to be somewhat difficult without getting scalped, but I managed to come across them at Target and Walmart, albeit only the bundle that cost an extra $60 that also came with Forza Horizon 5 and the Hot Wheels DLC. Regardless, after a few weeks of wondering if it was worth it, I finally made the decision to reserve the Xbox Series X for pickup at Walmart on March 6, 2023, and picked it up the following day.

And since I’ve spent a good amount of time with it, maybe it’s now time I write a review.

I’m gonna start by saying that hardware-wise, the Xbox Series X is definitely a step above the Xbox One X and by extension the regular Xbox One and One S (and One SAD for the 5 people who owned that). Which, I mean, should go without saying - this is of course the next generation of hardware - but not only do I mean that in terms of sheer power, but also the “context” of the hardware compared to the eighth generation consoles.

To an extent, I sort of see the 2010’s as a PC gaming renaissance. While PC gaming has always been an option as a platform, it was around this point where I really feel like PC hardware was pretty rapidly becoming more powerful and more affordable. Graphics cards like the 750 Ti were released which were a lot more budget friendly, and in 2017 AMD actually tried to compete with Intel with their Ryzen architecture that proved to be a lot more powerful and effective as a “budget” CPU than their previous FX line. I had stated in my 2017 “Thoughts on PC Gaming: Revisited” (which was a follow up to a previous editorial I wrote on a pony forum site) that while PC gaming’s upfront cost was still more expensive than consoles, the gap was definitely closing, and becoming more budget-friendly.

The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One had released around the start of this, both of which donned Jaguar CPUs which, let’s face it, ended up showing their age fairly quickly - even as soon as 2014 (the year after both consoles released), games would often have to sacrifice resolution and graphical detail in order to get their games just to run at 30FPS (let alone 60) - something that even many budget PCs were able to pull off just fine. While both systems targeted 1080p, many major titles would end up running at 720p or 900p just to achieve a playable, stable framerate. As we know now, both of them basically had to make mid-generation upgrades only 3-4 years in with the PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X, especially as 4K TVs were starting to become more popular and affordable.

Going onto the 9th gen, however, both the Xbox Series consoles as well as the PlayStation 5 for that matter use a custom CPU based off of AMD’s Zen 2 architecture - which, alone, is a lot more capable and in-line with current PCs. While the difference between the Series X and PlayStation 5 isn’t too massive, the Series X does appear to be slightly more powerful - sporting a 3.8GHz CPU and a 12 TFLOP GPU, versus the PS5’s 3.5GHz and 10.3 TFLOP GPU.

Both of which also sport internal SSDs, with the Series X’s having more capacity at 1TB versus the PlayStation 5’s 825GB. Regardless, it definitely makes a difference when compared to the One X’s mechanical hard drive. Booting up the Series X feels pretty much instantaneous, whereas the One X seems to take about a minute or so.

But while I’m focusing on the Series X, I figured I would at least take a few looks into the Series S as well. Even… if I don’t own one myself. The Series S also has a Zen 2-based CPU, running at 3.6GHz, a 4 TFLOP GPU, 10GB GDDR6 RAM, and a 512GB SSD. Obviously this is the more budget-oriented system, and going in line with Microsoft’s strategy to offer different variations of hardware, it definitely isn’t as powerful as the Series X. However, it’s still definitely a massive upgrade from the original Xbox One or Xbox One S. Or, again, the SAD.

That being said, going from the One X to the Series S is a bit… questionable. The CPU is definitely better, since the One X still sports the Jaguar CPU with 2.3GHz, and the Series S also has the advantage of an internal SSD over the One X’s internal HDD, but the GPU in the One X appears more powerful than the Series S at 6TFLOPS, and also happens to have more RAM - 12GB. Granted, that’s 12GB of GDDR5 RAM instead of GDDR6, and I don’t know if that makes a performance difference, but it’s still worth mentioning.

The thing to keep in mind though is that the Xbox One X is the most powerful eighth gen console, whereas the Series S is more of the ‘standard’ ninth gen console, if that makes sense. Looking into articles comparing the two, the Series S won’t support One X enhancements, but it does actually seem to maintain more stable, sometimes even higher frame rates than the One X. The CPU definitely makes a massive difference here - the One X was a console that targeted higher resolutions but was still bottlenecked by the aged Jaguar CPU, whereas the Series S seems to be targeting better performance with the better Zen 2 architecture but a lesser graphics card.

Of course, it’s also worth mentioning that the Series S lacks a disc drive, which may be a turn off for some still holding onto physical copies of games from the 8th gen. Admittedly, this was one of the two main reasons I just waited it out for the Series X rather than going for the Series S when I started seeing it more available. That, and I was also upgrading from the One X so waiting for the Series X just made more sense on that factor.

Regardless, I gotta say that the Xbox Series S and X both have surprisingly good hardware for their respective prices. While the graphical leap may not be anything to write home about, the Zen 2 architecture definitely feels like it lends itself to better optimization and less compromises from developers, and even three years later both consoles still feel very suitable for next-gen gaming. Granted I kind of feel like it helps that PC hardware in general has sort of stagnated, but between both my actual PC and the Series X, I do feel that the Zen architecture still manages to hold up and performs a lot better at this point than the Jaguar architecture did in 2016.

I’ll even go as far as to say that, as someone who primarily played on PC throughout the eighth gen (and even now to a slightly lesser extent), building a PC that performs the same if not better than the Series X for only $500, let alone the Series S for $300, doesn’t seem like it would be an easy task. Obviously I’m not saying the Xbox Series S/X is going to kill the PC platform or anything because, I mean, that’s fucking stupid, but it’s more that I am genuinely impressed with the hardware and overall power and performance that you get for their respective price points.

One criticism I do have for the Xbox Series consoles in terms of hardware though is regarding how they handle storage expansion. While you can still use regular external hard drives (I’m still using the 2TB one I got for my Xbox One X when I bought that), most of the ‘Xbox Series S/X optimized’ games can only be installed either on the system’s internal hard drive or on one of the Xbox Series proprietary “Storage Expansion” cards.

Which on its own would probably just be a mere annoyance, but the problem lies in how these Expansion Cards are priced. Since release, there’s only been one manufacturer of these cards, that being Seagate, and the asking prices for them are completely ludicrous. The *minimum* that you can get is a 512GB expansion card for $139, literally the same price if not more for what you can pay for a 2TB external SSD now. This is especially an issue with the Series S, since you’re limited to digital games on a relatively small 500GB hard drive, and with how big games are nowadays, that fills up quickly. 

Now, I don’t know if Microsoft made some sort of exclusivity deal with Seagate in manufacturing these, but without any real alternative, you’re basically stuck paying these hefty price tags for Xbox Series expansion cards. Thankfully, like I said, this only applies to “Xbox Series S/X optimized” games, and even then there are exceptions, but this is definitely a problem that, if no measures are taken, will snowball once game development becomes more purely focused on the Xbox Series consoles. This basically feels like Microsoft repeating Sony’s mistake with the PlayStation Vita and its proprietary memory cards.

When it comes to the design of the consoles, like I said, when the Xbox Series X was revealed I did participate in the memes about how it looked like a minifridge (which Microsoft themselves even got on), but I gotta admit that seeing it in person, it definitely has grown on me. It’s not the most interesting console design out there, but it’s simple in a way that just… works. The system’s overall sleek and solid, and manages to display a level of subtle beauty with just the main physical features of the system. The Power button lights up when the console is turned on, contrasting the “black” color of the rest of the system that sort of helps it stand out. 

My only real complaint is that the ventilation holes on the top do look a bit weird and out of place (although the layer of green underneath creates a cool aura when looking at it from an angle), but otherwise, I actually find myself liking the Xbox Series X’s design from a place of simple sleekness. At the very least, I would definitely consider it more attractive than the “this will be consoles in 2013” look of the PlayStation 5. And also a lot more practical from what I’ve heard from various PS5 owners.

I’m a bit more mixed on the Series S’s design though. If I thought the ventilation holes on the Series X looked a bit odd and out of place, the giant black ventilation circle against the white body definitely looks weird on the Series S. And whereas I felt the Series X had a good sense of simplicity while feeling sleek… I don’t know if it’s just the plain white color, but the Series S just looks overall pretty flat and bland to me. It kind of looks like the massive limestone cube in a way.

The controller for the Series S/X is really good. It isn’t necessarily as innovative as the PS5’s DualSense with it’s haptic feedback features, and Microsoft definitely goes for a more “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” vibe here… but I think that’s for a good reason. Aside for the weird chunky Duke controller for the OG Xbox, I think it’s generally agreed upon that Microsoft is really good with making controllers. The Xbox 360 controller was still my main PC controller for a good few years, and the Xbox One controller felt like an improvement upon that - taking what worked well about the 360 controller and just refining and modernizing the design.

The Series S/X controller continues upon that trend. At first glance, it’s definitely very similar to the Xbox One controller, but again, there are some refinements. The body is more “flush” with the top and shoulder buttons, and the textured grip on the back feels more pronounced on the Series S/X. The D-Pad on the Series S/X controller uses a concave “shield” style which surprisingly feels pretty good, very clicky but in a good way. There’s also a “share” button below the Start and Select/Option buttons for taking screenshots or videos. This wasn’t something I thought too much of at first, but as someone who does like to share screenshots and videos to social media, it’s definitely way more convenient than having to hit the Xbox Home button then pushing one of the face buttons to get a screenshot or video. Overall, the Series S/X controller is a pretty minor change from the Xbox One controllers, but since the Xbox One controller was really good as it is, I don’t really feel like the Series S/X controller really needed to change much on that front. Just take what worked about the Xbox One controller, and add some touches. On top of that, the two controllers are cross-compatible, so if you do upgrade, you can take your controllers with you if you want.

Now, to segue into the next topic, a common criticism of the Xbox brand recently is the complete lack of exclusives. Pretty much all of Xbox’s major titles, between their major first/second party games like Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5 and their published titles from their smaller/indie studios like Ori and the Will of the Wisps and Psychonauts 2, come out simultaneously on PC, in some cases even coming to other consoles like the Switch and even PlayStation 4/5. 

This has been the case since midway into the Xbox One’s lifespan and continues to carry over to the Series S and X. Frankly, if you are looking for a console with a large amount of exclusives… the Xbox consoles definitely aren’t for you. Some would definitely argue that there’s really no point to the Xbox Series S/X, when you could just build a PC to play most if not all Xbox exclusives out there.

Thing is, I don’t entirely agree with that line of thinking for a few reasons. For one thing, when it comes to PC releases specifically, you do have to understand that PC gaming is still a separate market than consoles in general. Like I said, I mained PC throughout the eighth gen, and while I have broadened my horizons, it is still more of my go-to. 

But now that I’ve gotten a bit older, do more work at my PC and sometimes just want to relax on my bed, it is very understandable as to why there is still such a market for console gaming. Many people just prefer the simplicity and convenience of a console, being easier to set up and get going. Sure, PC gaming has gotten easier over the years, but I still wouldn’t consider it to be at the same place of convenience as consoles are, and I’m not sure it ever *will* be. PC definitely has a ton of advantages, but it’s also harder to build a PC and maintain it versus just buying a console and plugging it into your TV with the only hassle being waiting for software to update. 

I could go deeper than that, but I feel like that’s a discussion for another time. Regardless, PC still serves a different market than consoles, and while there may be some overlap (me included), it is understandable as to why Microsoft would be more willing to deliver their games to more people. I mean, even Sony has become more willing to share their own major titles to PC in recent times with games like God of War, the Isomniac Spider-Man games and The Last of Us Part 1 (even though that port was apparently pretty dog shit), so it does feel like the industry is catching onto this.

Plus, I could definitely go on about how the gaming industry has, in my eyes at least, started to move away from exclusive games outside of Nintendo, and that I do feel it is a bit overstated how much of a part they play in selling consoles, but I’ll just leave those points at that so I don’t ramble on too much.

Well, okay, but I still haven’t answered the actual question - why buy an Xbox Series S/X if console exclusives aren’t really a factor? Well, this is of course going to differ from person to person, but when it comes to the Series X in particular, there were two major points of interest for me - one, as discussed, the Series X’s power for it’s MSRP, and two, the system’s various features.

Of course, being a direct upgrade from the Xbox One, many of that system’s features carry over here as well, including stuff like Xbox Game Pass, the system UI and backwards compatibility. Some features don’t carry over, like the Xbox One’s ability to plug in your cable box allowing you to watch it through there, but considering TV features of that sort were a complete joke I can’t exactly blame them for wanting to shift their focus elsewhere.

The backwards compatibility aspect is one I wanted to highlight here though. I think most people can generally agree that this was one of the Xbox One’s best features. I will say that I do remember when the feature was first being rolled out that there were people talking about performance issues when playing 360 games on the Xbox One, but if that was truly the case, it’s definitely been vastly improved at this point.

On that note, the Series S and X are both backwards compatible with all Xbox One games. If you have a digital collection of Xbox One games from the previous generation, then they will transfer directly over to the Xbox Series S and X, to my knowledge, without any problems. If you have a physical collection, you can also use those discs on the Series X, although you won’t be able to use them on the Series S, for the mere reason that it lacks a disk drive. The only exception to this is any Xbox One games that require Kinect, since the Xbox Series S/X lack Kinect support, but that’s only really an issue for the 5 people who still use the Kinect.

On top of that though, any OG Xbox or 360 game that was backwards compatible on the Xbox One, is also backwards compatible on the Series S/X. The same rules with Xbox One backwards compatibility still apply, but the point still stands - if you owned any compatible OG Xbox/360 games on the One, they’ll remain playable on the Series S and X. It is also worth noting that any Xbox One X enhancements to any Xbox One game on the Series X, albeit not on the Series S, likely due to One X technically having a more powerful GPU and more RAM, although interestingly I have come across a few posts and articles saying that One X enhancements with OG Xbox and 360 games will work on the Series S, at least targeting 1440p over 4K.

But going with the trend of Microsoft enhancing their older, backwards compatible titles on newer hardware, the Series S and X actually add a few features to backwards compatibility. One of the biggest, at least in my perspective, is FPS Boost. Various games from the Xbox One, 360 and OG Xbox that ran at 30FPS on those systems, are now equipped to run at at least 60, or in some cases, 120FPS if your TV supports it, on the Series S and X. Microsoft does have a list of all games that support FPS Boost, some of which only support Series X and not Series S, but among them that I was most interested in were Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Generations.

If you weren’t already aware, Sonic Unleashed particularly is one game that’s pretty much always suffered from inconsistent, unstable framerates on both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and while the One X did manage to maintain a mostly stable 30FPS, the Series S and X finally manage to get the game running at a consistent 60 - something that hasn’t been achieved by any official method of playing the game. Especially since, well, Unleashed doesn’t have a PC port.

With Sonic Generations it isn’t quite as significant since that game at least had a 60FPS PC port and even then was mostly stable with hitting 30 on consoles… but good lord, playing them both on the Series X definitely feels like a world of difference. I mean, as a PC gamer, I definitely knew 60FPS was significantly better than 30, but god damn, even I underestimated how much of a difference it makes when playing the games back-to-back on the One X and Series X for this review. It definitely is the best way of playing Unleashed, and even for Generations, the Series S and X manage to provide a good alternative to the admittedly kinda unstable and poorly aged PC version.

One thing that does relate to this though is also Smart Delivery. While this mostly applies to newer games that are compatible with both the Xbox One and Series S/X, some games like Ori and the Will of the Wisps and Overwatch were also retroactively updated to take advantage of the Series S/X hardware with some new enhancements.

So, what is smart delivery? Well, it’s hard for me to put directly into words that make sense, but let me use an analogy. Let’s say you bought a later PS1 game, like one of the Madden games or something along those lines, that came out simultaneously with a PS2 version. Now, let’s say you only had a PS1 at the time of buying it and not a PS2 (hence, the PS1 version), but a few months later, you end up buying a PS2. Of course, you can still play the PS1 version on the PS2 through backwards compatibility, but aside from some cleaning up of the image, it isn’t really taking advantage of the PS2 hardware.

But let’s say, you put the PS1 disc into your PS2, and instead of playing the PS1 version, your PS2 automatically upgraded it to the PS2 version without you needing to buy a PS2 copy. But, you could still use the PS1 disc to play the PS1 version on your PS1.

That’s basically what Smart Delivery does with the Xbox Series S/X. When you buy a game, you’re essentially getting two copies in one - one for the Xbox One, and one for the Series S/X - which changes depending on the console you’re playing on. If you played a supported game on the Xbox One, then bought a Series S or X, you will be able to play the game with any Xbox Series S/X enhancements made to that version. But, if you wanted to keep your Xbox One in a different room, you will still be able to play the non-upgraded version of that game. 

Of course, since the graphical leap from the PS1 to PS2 is more significant than the Xbox One to Series S/X, the analogy isn’t quite the same, but you get the general idea. It’s definitely a very interesting feature, and I have noticed a difference when playing certain games on the Series X versus the Xbox One.

I mentioned earlier that Sonic Frontiers was sort of what pushed me to get a Series X. On the Xbox One X, the game is capped at 30FPS with a dynamic 1800p resolution without any option to change settings (and unfortunately, the game’s 30FPS mode has frame pacing problems regardless of the system). Whereas, on the Xbox Series X, the game offers two different modes - one that runs at 60FPS with dynamic 1800p, and one that runs at 4K with 30FPS. Yeah, it is a shame that the Series X doesn’t manage 4K60 (which I’m kinda willing to blame on spotty optimization considering the game’s development), but the resolution in 60FPS is high enough where that’s not really much of an issue in my opinion. In addition, you end up seeing more details in the landscape on the Series S and X that you do on the One X, which is also a plus. This definitely does feel like a game best played on newer hardware, and although I initially bought the game for One X, I can still enjoy the improved performance and extra graphical detail when playing it on the Series X.

Another game with improvements on the Series X that I was actually rather surprised by was Ori and the Will of the Wisps - which on the Series X at least has an option to run at a Supersampled 6K resolution, or 4K 120FPS - which I honestly wasn’t expecting at all, especially the 6K part. Unfortunately I can’t take advantage of 120FPS since my TV is only 60Hz, but even then, I managed to play through the game at a solid 60 with a more crisp image than on the One X.

Also uh… My Little Pony: A Maretime Bay Adventure also supports Smart Delivery. And runs at 4K Ultra HD and 60FPS. Just in case you wanted to know whether you could play My Little Pony: A Maretime Bay Adventure with the absolute best visuals possible.

Another new feature that was added to the Xbox Series consoles is Quick Resume. This isn’t one I’ve taken too much advantage of, but the idea is that if you decide to switch between games while the system is turned on, the game will save your place without having to reload or restart the game entirely. Basically, think along the lines of save states for emulators but of course with modern games on official hardware. There are memory limitations to this of course, with the official Xbox site indicating that only up to three “full-memory Xbox Series X/S titles” can take advantage of the feature at once, but it is still an interesting feature for those who like to hop between games. I’m not really one of those people, but that option is still there.

There’s also dynamic backgrounds, an added personalization feature that offers an assortment of animated backgrounds. There aren’t too many options here so far, though it does include backgrounds resembling the original Xbox’s space theme which is pretty neat.

And of course, the connection with Microsoft’s Windows ecosystem still carries over to the Xbox Series S and X, but Microsoft has started offering a way to unlock “Dev Mode” for the Xbox consoles, which allows individuals to write and execute games and programs as UWP apps. This is largely intended for developers who are interested in porting games to the Xbox platform, but as we all know, people started using it to run emulators. Still, this does show that Microsoft has become more open to, well, opening up the Xbox ecosystem and giving individuals the option to develop games and writing custom programs for a relatively small one-time fee.

That’s… really the model that Microsoft seems to be going for with this next generation of Xbox consoles. Alongside features like Game Pass and whatnot, in a way, they’re kind of bridging the gap between PC and console gaming by incorporating their console hardware with their long-lasting software ecosystem of Windows on PC. And that’s not necessarily a new concept - in a way, that’s what the original Xbox was going for with it serving as a consolized PC of sorts, but between the late Xbox 360 Kinect era and early Xbox One, they kind of lost that vision. It feels like it took the Xbox One’s rough launch as a sign to focus on this idea of diversifying their hardware, making the most powerful console, and opening up the ecosystem to new developers. It’s sort of like what the Steam machines were going for, but more centralized, and honestly that’s for the better. This sort of thing is where Xbox has really found it’s identity, and frankly, for the better.

Sure, while the Xbox Series S or X may not really have exclusives, many games still play very well and look very good on the system, including some major Microsoft published games like Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5. The latter of which was what was bundled with my Xbox Series X and I gotta say, is surprisingly fun. Yeah that’s kind of out of place from what I was going on about beforehand but I figured it was worth mentioning.

I should mention too that Xbox One games that don't have any Xbox Series S/X enhancements still seem to benefit from the greater hardware. Mostly due to the use of SSDs cutting down load times, but also seem to have some performance improvements as well. Sonic Colors Ultimate, which had occasional stuttering issues on the Xbox One X, seems to run smoothly on the Series X.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the Xbox Series X so far. For the price, the hardware and power is really good, and the console itself feels pretty robust and well-built. Games play really well and look really good on the system, on top of having a sleuth of features that really add to the experience in various ways. And, of course, this applies to the Xbox Series S as well.

Would I recommend the Xbox Series S or X? Obviously, to put it the boring way, that’s going to vary from person to person, but if you’re interested in getting one… well, I’d say it’s a good idea. If you’re more of a power user, or just prefer physical games, you’re most likely going to want to go for the Series X like I did. But even the Series S… well, I have run into various people, including a few friends, who have picked them up, and they seem pretty happy with it. I’ve definitely been enjoying my Series X, and if you are interested enough, I would definitely go for it. Especially now that both consoles are relatively easy to find in stores.