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After the company's recent announcement of Xbox Game Pass membership changes, including a cost hike for the Ultimate Tier to $thirty per month, many members are looking for fresh ways to get the most from their subscription. For those holding onto their membership or thinking about joining, we present our latest recommendations.

Our selected games feature a beloved Japanese role-playing game, a delightful independent adventure, and a superb puzzler scheduled to depart from the service soon.

Persona 4: The Golden Edition

Among the best ways to maximize value from your subscription is by immersing yourself in a lengthy, captivating role-playing game — and Persona 4: The Golden Edition fits that description perfectly. You take on the role of a high school student who has just moved to the quiet countryside of Inaba. During the day, your goals involve forming new friends, taking on part-time jobs, and keeping up with schoolwork. At night, you work to solve a chilling string of murders by venturing into unique dungeons themed around your friends' inner fears.

With a unforgettable group of heroes, tactical turn-based combat, flawless visuals, and a plot packed with twists, Persona 4 Golden is considered a classic for good reason. It also features a highly engrossing gameplay loop that will keep you up past bedtime, repeatedly.

Sopa - Tale of the Stolen Potato

Although big releases like Ninja Gaiden IV are a key selling point for Game Pass, the subscription also showcases lesser-known games. A perfect instance of this is Sopa: Tale of the Stolen Potato. Inspired by the animated classic, this enchanting indie adventure is a magical realist tale rooted in South American culture. You join Miho, who, after helping his grandmother prepare soup, is pulled into a colorful realm filled with potato-nabbing frogs and other quirky creatures.

Sopa plays out like an learning-focused PC game from the 1990s, as Miho tackles puzzles and aids the realm's inhabitants by gathering an inventory of objects. Though it's a bit rough around the edges, Sopa is a heartwarming little game that openly celebrates its love for the region's culture.

Cocoon

Cocoon is set to exit the service on Oct. 15, leaving only a few days to experience it via your membership — and you definitely must. Developer Geometric Interactive crafted one of the finest puzzlers of recent years in the 2023 release Cocoon. Its core gameplay element focuses on moving among realms within additional worlds, and often you'll carry those worlds, in the shape of colorful spheres, alongside you.

While it lacks explicit guidance, everything about Cocoon's puzzles is built in a highly natural manner, yet they will test you as well. The year 2023 proved a massive period for games, so it's no surprise if Cocoon was somewhat overlooked by the masses. Let's correct that while we can.