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Following Microsoft's recent news of Game Pass subscription changes, including a cost hike for the Ultimate Tier to $30 per month, many members are looking for new methods to maximize their membership. If you keeping their subscription or considering signing up, here are our latest recommendations.

This weekend's titles feature a beloved Japanese role-playing game, a charming independent adventure, and a superb puzzle game scheduled to depart from the platform soon.

Persona 4: The Golden Edition

Among the top ways to get your money's worth from your subscription is by diving into a extensive, captivating role-playing game — and Persona 4 Golden matches that description exactly. Players take on the role of a teenager who has relocated to the sleepy rural town of Inaba. During the day, your objectives involve forming friendships, working employment, and managing studies. At night, you investigate a chilling serial murder case by exploring strange dungeons themed around your companions' deepest insecurities.

With a memorable group of heroes, strategic turn-based combat, flawless art design, and a plot packed with surprises, Persona 4: The Golden Edition is considered a masterpiece for good reason. It also boasts a incredibly engrossing cycle that will keep you up late into the night, repeatedly.

Sopa - Tale of the Stolen Potato

Although major releases like Ninja Gaiden IV are a key attraction for the service, the platform also highlights smaller games. A perfect example of this is Sopa: Tale of the Stolen Potato. Drawing from Spirited Away, this charming indie game is a magical realist journey steeped in Latin American culture. You follow Miho, who, after helping his grandma prepare soup, is pulled into a colorful world populated by potato-nabbing frogs and other eccentric creatures.

Sopa: Tale of the Stolen Potato unfolds similar to an learning-focused PC game from the 90s, as Miho tackles puzzles and aids the realm's inhabitants by collecting an assortment of items. Though it's a bit rough around the edges, Sopa is a sweet little experience that openly showcases its love for South America.

Cocoon: A Puzzle Adventure

Cocoon is scheduled to leave the service on October 15, leaving only a short time to play it via your membership — and you definitely should. Studio Geometric Interactive designed one of the finest puzzlers of this generation in 2023's Cocoon. Its central puzzle mechanic focuses on transitioning between worlds inside additional dimensions, and frequently you'll carry those worlds, in the form of vibrant orbs, with you.

While it lacks direct guidance, everything about Cocoon's puzzles is designed in a very intuitive manner, yet they will test you as well. The year 2023 proved a massive year for video games, so it's understandable if Cocoon: A Puzzle Adventure was a bit overlooked by the masses. Let's correct that while we can.