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After Microsoft's recent announcement of Game Pass membership updates, featuring a price increase for the top tier to $30 monthly, numerous subscribers are seeking fresh ways to get the most from their membership. For those holding onto their subscription or thinking about joining, here are this week's picks.

Our selected titles feature a acclaimed Japanese role-playing game, a delightful independent adventure, and a superb puzzler scheduled to depart from the platform shortly.

Persona 4: The Golden Edition

Among the top methods to get your money's worth from Game Pass is by diving into a extensive, captivating role-playing game — and Persona 4 Golden fits that description exactly. You step into the role of a high school student who has relocated to the sleepy rural town of Inaba. During the day, your goals involve forming new friends, taking on part-time jobs, and keeping up with schoolwork. By night, you investigate a chilling string of murders by venturing into strange locations themed around your companions' deepest insecurities.

With a unforgettable cast of characters, strategic turn-based combat, flawless visuals, and a plot packed with surprises, Persona 4: The Golden Edition is considered a classic for good reason. It also boasts a incredibly 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 key attraction for the service, the subscription also showcases lesser-known games. A perfect instance of this is Sopa: Tale of the Stolen Potato. Inspired by Spirited Away, this enchanting independent game is a magical realist journey steeped in Latin American traditions. Players follow Miho, who, after assisting his grandma make soup, is transported to a colorful world filled with potato-stealing frogs and other quirky animals.

Sopa unfolds like an educational PC game from the 1990s, as Miho tackles challenges and helps the realm's inhabitants by gathering an inventory of items. Even if it's a bit unpolished, Sopa is a heartwarming small game that proudly showcases its love for the region's culture.

Cocoon: A Puzzle Adventure

Cocoon: A Puzzle Adventure is set to leave the service on Oct. 15, leaving only a few days to play it via your membership — and you absolutely must. Developer Geometric Interactive crafted one of the best puzzle games of this generation in 2023's Cocoon. Its core gameplay element focuses on transitioning among realms within other worlds, and frequently you'll carry those realms, in the shape of vibrant orbs, with you.

Although it lacks direct instructions, everything about Cocoon: A Puzzle Adventure's puzzles is built in a highly intuitive manner, though they can challenge you as well. 2023 was a big period for video games, so it's understandable if Cocoon was somewhat overlooked by the masses. Let's correct that while we can.