🔗 Share this article

Following the company's recent announcement of Game Pass membership updates, featuring a cost hike for the Ultimate Tier to $30 per month, many members are seeking new methods to get the most from their subscription. If you holding onto their subscription or considering signing up, we present this week's picks.

This weekend's games feature a beloved Japanese role-playing game, a delightful indie journey, and a brilliant puzzler set to leave the platform soon.

Persona 4 Golden

One of the best ways to maximize value from your subscription is by diving into a extensive, captivating role-playing game — and Persona 4 Golden fits that bill perfectly. You step into the part of a teenager who has relocated to the sleepy countryside of Inaba. During the day, your goals include forming friendships, taking on part-time jobs, and keeping up with studies. At night, you investigate a disturbing serial murder case by exploring strange dungeons based on your friends' inner fears.

With a memorable group of heroes, tactical battle system, flawless art design, and a storyline packed with twists, Persona 4 Golden is considered a classic for many reasons. It also boasts a incredibly engrossing cycle that will have you playing late into the night, night after night.

Sopa: Tale of the Stolen Potato

While major titles like Ninja Gaiden IV are a primary attraction for Game Pass, the subscription also showcases smaller indie gems. A perfect example of this is Sopa - Tale of the Stolen Potato. Inspired by Spirited Away, this charming indie game is a fantasy journey rooted in Latin American culture. You join Miho, who, after helping his grandmother make soup, is transported to a vibrant world populated by potato-nabbing frogs and other eccentric animals.

Sopa plays out like an educational computer title from the 90s, as Miho solves challenges and aids the realm's residents by collecting an inventory of items. Even if it's a little rough around the edges, Sopa: Tale of the Stolen Potato is a heartwarming small experience that proudly showcases its love for the region's culture.

Cocoon: A Puzzle Adventure

Cocoon: A Puzzle Adventure is set to exit Game Pass on October 15, leaving only a few days to play it via subscription — and you absolutely must. Developer Geometric Interactive crafted one of the finest puzzlers of this generation in the 2023 release Cocoon: A Puzzle Adventure. Its central gameplay element focuses on transitioning between realms within other dimensions, and often you'll carry those realms, in the shape of vibrant spheres, with you.

Although it doesn't have direct instructions, everything about Cocoon's puzzles is built in a highly intuitive way, though they will challenge you as well. The year 2023 proved a massive year for video games, so it's no surprise if Cocoon was a bit overlooked by the masses. We should correct that while we can.