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After the company's recent news of Xbox Game Pass membership changes, featuring a cost hike for the Ultimate Tier to $30 monthly, many subscribers are seeking fresh ways to maximize their subscription. For those holding onto their membership or considering signing up, here are this week's recommendations.

This weekend's titles include a beloved Japanese role-playing game, a delightful indie adventure, and a superb puzzle game set to depart from the platform shortly.

Persona 4 Golden

Among the best ways to maximize value from Game Pass is by diving into a lengthy, captivating role-playing game — and Persona 4: The Golden Edition matches that bill exactly. You take on the role of a teenager who has relocated to the quiet countryside of Inaba. By day, your goals include forming friendships, taking on part-time jobs, and managing studies. By night, you work to solve a disturbing string of murders by venturing into strange dungeons based on your friends' inner fears.

With a unforgettable group of heroes, strategic battle system, flawless art design, and a plot full of surprises, Persona 4: The Golden Edition is regarded as a masterpiece for many reasons. It also features a incredibly addictive 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 primary selling point for Game Pass, the subscription also showcases smaller games. A perfect instance of this is Sopa: Tale of the Stolen Potato. Drawing from the animated classic, this charming independent adventure is a magical realist tale steeped in South American traditions. You follow Miho, who, after assisting his grandma prepare soup, is pulled into a vibrant world filled with potato-nabbing frogs and various quirky animals.

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

Cocoon

Cocoon: A Puzzle Adventure is scheduled to leave the service on October 15, giving you only a few days to experience it via your membership — and you definitely should. Studio the creators crafted one of the finest puzzlers of this generation in the 2023 release Cocoon: A Puzzle Adventure. Its central puzzle mechanic revolves around moving among realms within other worlds, and often you'll carry those worlds, in the shape of vibrant orbs, with you.

Although it lacks explicit guidance, everything about Cocoon's challenges is built in a highly natural manner, yet they can challenge you as well. 2023 was a massive year for games, so it's understandable if Cocoon was somewhat missed by the masses. Let's rectify that while we can.