3 Game Pass Games We're Playing This Weekend (Oct. 10-12)

Following the company's recent announcement of Xbox Game Pass subscription changes, including a cost hike for the top tier to $30 monthly, many members are looking for new methods to maximize their subscription. For those holding onto their subscription or thinking about signing up, here are this week's picks.

Our selected titles include a beloved JRPG, a charming indie adventure, and a superb puzzle game set to depart from the service soon.

Persona 4 Golden

Among the best methods to maximize value from Game Pass is by immersing yourself in a extensive, captivating role-playing game — and Persona 4 Golden matches that bill perfectly. Players take on the role of a teenager who has just moved to the sleepy rural town of Inaba. During the day, your objectives involve making friendships, working employment, and keeping up with schoolwork. At night, you investigate a chilling string of murders by venturing into unique dungeons themed around your friends' deepest insecurities.

With a memorable cast of characters, tactical battle system, impeccable visuals, and a storyline packed with surprises, Persona 4: The Golden Edition is considered a masterpiece for good reason. It also boasts a incredibly engrossing gameplay loop that will keep you up past bedtime, repeatedly.

Sopa: Tale of the Stolen Potato

Although major titles like Ninja Gaiden IV are a key selling point for Game Pass, the subscription also highlights smaller indie gems. A great example of this is Sopa: Tale of the Stolen Potato. Drawing from Spirited Away, this charming indie game is a magical realist tale rooted in Latin American culture. Players join Miho, who, after helping his grandma make soup, is transported to a vibrant world populated by potato-stealing frogs and other eccentric creatures.

Sopa: Tale of the Stolen Potato plays out similar to an educational PC game from the 1990s, as Miho solves puzzles and helps the world's residents by gathering an assortment of objects. Though it's a bit unpolished, Sopa: Tale of the Stolen Potato is a heartwarming little experience that proudly celebrates its appreciation for South America.

Cocoon: A Puzzle Adventure

Cocoon is set to leave the service on October 15, giving you only a few days to experience it via your membership — and you definitely should. Studio Geometric Interactive designed one of the best puzzlers of this generation in 2023's Cocoon: A Puzzle Adventure. Its central gameplay element revolves around moving among worlds inside additional worlds, and often you'll transport those worlds, in the shape of vibrant orbs, alongside you.

Although it doesn't have direct guidance, everything about Cocoon's puzzles is designed in a highly natural manner, though they will test you as well. 2023 was a massive year for video games, so it's understandable if Cocoon: A Puzzle Adventure was somewhat overlooked by the masses. Let's correct that while we can.