🔗 Share this article

Following Microsoft's recent announcement of Xbox Game Pass membership updates, including a price increase for the top tier to $30 per month, numerous subscribers are looking for new methods to maximize their membership. For those holding onto their membership or thinking about signing up, here are this week's recommendations.

This weekend's titles feature a beloved JRPG, a charming indie adventure, and a superb puzzle game scheduled to leave the platform soon.

Persona 4: The Golden Edition

Among the top ways to get your money's worth from Game Pass is by immersing yourself in a lengthy, captivating RPG — and Persona 4 Golden fits that bill exactly. Players take on the part of a teenager who has just moved to the sleepy rural town of Inaba. During the day, your objectives include making new friends, working employment, and keeping up with schoolwork. At night, you investigate a chilling string of murders by exploring unique locations based on your friends' inner fears.

With a memorable group of heroes, tactical battle system, impeccable art design, and a plot full of surprises, Persona 4 Golden is regarded as a classic for many reasons. It also boasts a highly engrossing gameplay loop that will have you playing past bedtime, repeatedly.

Sopa: Tale of the Stolen Potato

While big releases like Ninja Gaiden 4 are a key attraction for the service, the subscription also showcases lesser-known games. A great instance of this is Sopa - Tale of the Stolen Potato. Drawing from Spirited Away, this charming independent game is a magical realist tale steeped in Latin American traditions. You follow Miho, who, after helping his grandmother prepare soup, is pulled into a colorful realm populated by potato-nabbing frogs and various quirky animals.

Sopa unfolds like an educational computer title from the 1990s, as Miho solves challenges and aids the realm's residents by gathering an inventory of items. Though it's a bit rough around the edges, Sopa: Tale of the Stolen Potato is a heartwarming small experience that openly showcases its love for South America.

Cocoon: A Puzzle Adventure

Cocoon: A Puzzle Adventure is scheduled to exit Game Pass on Oct. 15, leaving only a few days to experience it via your membership — and you definitely must. Developer Geometric Interactive designed one of the finest puzzle games of recent years in the 2023 release Cocoon. Its core puzzle mechanic revolves around transitioning between worlds within other dimensions, and frequently you'll transport those realms, in the form of vibrant orbs, alongside you.

Although it lacks explicit instructions, everything about Cocoon's puzzles is designed in a highly natural manner, though they can challenge you as well. 2023 was a big period for video games, so it's understandable if Cocoon was a bit overlooked by many players. Let's correct that while we can.