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Following Microsoft's latest announcement of Xbox Game Pass subscription changes, featuring a price increase for the Ultimate Tier to $thirty per month, many members are seeking fresh ways to maximize their membership. For those keeping their membership or thinking about joining, we present our latest picks.

This weekend's titles include a acclaimed Japanese role-playing game, a charming indie journey, and a brilliant puzzle game scheduled to depart from the service shortly.

Persona 4: The Golden Edition

One of the top methods to maximize value from your subscription is by immersing yourself in a extensive, captivating role-playing game — and Persona 4: The Golden Edition fits that bill perfectly. You step into the role of a teenager who has just moved to the quiet countryside of Inaba. During the day, your goals involve forming friendships, working employment, and keeping up with studies. At night, you work to solve a disturbing string of murders by exploring unique locations based on your companions' deepest insecurities.

With a unforgettable cast of characters, strategic battle system, flawless visuals, and a plot packed with twists, Persona 4: The Golden Edition is regarded as a masterpiece for good reason. It also features a highly engrossing gameplay loop that will keep you up late into the night, repeatedly.

Sopa: Tale of the Stolen Potato

Although big releases like Ninja Gaiden 4 are a primary selling point for Game Pass, the platform also showcases smaller games. A great example of this is Sopa: Tale of the Stolen Potato. Drawing from Spirited Away, this charming independent adventure is a fantasy journey steeped in Latin American traditions. Players follow Miho, who, after assisting his grandmother make soup, is transported to a vibrant realm populated by potato-nabbing frogs and various quirky animals.

Sopa unfolds similar to an learning-focused computer title from the 1990s, as Miho tackles puzzles and helps the realm's residents by collecting an inventory of items. Though it's a bit rough around the edges, Sopa: Tale of the Stolen Potato is a sweet little experience that proudly showcases its appreciation for the region's culture.

Cocoon

Cocoon is scheduled to leave the service on Oct. 15, giving you only a short time to experience it via your membership — and you absolutely must. Developer Geometric Interactive designed one of the finest puzzlers of this generation in 2023's Cocoon. Its core gameplay element revolves around transitioning between realms inside other worlds, and frequently you'll carry those worlds, in the shape of colorful orbs, alongside you.

Although it lacks direct instructions, everything about Cocoon's challenges is built in a highly intuitive way, yet they will challenge you as well. 2023 was a massive year for video games, so it's no surprise if Cocoon: A Puzzle Adventure was a bit missed by many players. We should rectify that while we can.