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Following the company's recent announcement of Xbox Game Pass membership changes, including a cost hike for the Ultimate Tier to $30 monthly, many members are looking for new methods to get the most from their membership. If you holding onto their membership or thinking about signing up, we present this week's recommendations.

This weekend's games feature a acclaimed Japanese role-playing game, a delightful independent adventure, and a superb puzzle game scheduled to leave the service shortly.

Persona 4: The Golden Edition

One of the top methods to maximize value from Game Pass is by immersing yourself in a lengthy, captivating role-playing game — and Persona 4: The Golden Edition matches that bill exactly. Players take on the part of a high school student who has relocated to the sleepy rural town of Inaba. By day, your goals involve forming friendships, taking on part-time jobs, and keeping up with studies. By night, you work to solve a disturbing serial murder case by exploring strange locations themed around your friends' inner fears.

With a memorable cast of characters, strategic turn-based combat, flawless art design, and a storyline packed with surprises, Persona 4 Golden is regarded as a classic for many reasons. It also features a incredibly addictive gameplay loop that will have you playing past bedtime, night after night.

Sopa - Tale of the Stolen Potato

Although major titles like Ninja Gaiden IV are a key attraction for Game Pass, the platform also showcases lesser-known indie gems. A great example of this is Sopa: Tale of the Stolen Potato. Inspired by the animated classic, this enchanting independent game is a magical realist journey rooted in South American traditions. Players join Miho, who, after assisting his grandmother prepare soup, is transported to a vibrant realm populated by potato-stealing frogs and other quirky creatures.

Sopa: Tale of the Stolen Potato plays out like an educational PC game from the 1990s, as Miho tackles puzzles and aids the realm's inhabitants by collecting an inventory of items. Even if it's a bit rough around the edges, Sopa is a sweet small game that openly celebrates its love for the region's culture.

Cocoon

Cocoon: A Puzzle Adventure is scheduled to leave Game Pass on Oct. 15, leaving only a few days to play it via your membership — and you definitely should. Studio the creators designed one of the finest puzzle games of recent years in 2023's Cocoon. Its central gameplay element focuses on transitioning among worlds inside other worlds, and often you'll carry those worlds, in the form of colorful spheres, alongside you.

Although it lacks explicit instructions, everything about Cocoon's puzzles is designed in a highly intuitive way, yet they can challenge you as well. 2023 was a big year for games, so it's understandable if Cocoon was somewhat overlooked by many players. Let's rectify that now.