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After Microsoft's recent news of Xbox Game Pass subscription updates, featuring a cost hike for the Ultimate Tier to $30 monthly, numerous members are seeking fresh methods to maximize their subscription. If you holding onto their subscription or considering signing up, here are this week's picks.

This weekend's titles include a beloved JRPG, a charming indie adventure, and a superb puzzler set to leave the platform soon.

Persona 4 Golden

One of the best ways to maximize value from Game Pass is by diving into a extensive, engaging role-playing game — and Persona 4 Golden matches that bill perfectly. You step into the part of a teenager who has relocated to the sleepy countryside of Inaba. By day, your goals include making new friends, taking on employment, and keeping up with studies. By night, you work to solve a disturbing string of murders by venturing into unique locations based on your companions' deepest insecurities.

With a unforgettable cast of characters, tactical turn-based combat, flawless art design, and a storyline full of surprises, Persona 4: The Golden Edition is considered a masterpiece for many reasons. It also features a highly engrossing cycle that will have you playing past bedtime, repeatedly.

Sopa - Tale of the Stolen Potato

Although major releases like Ninja Gaiden 4 are a key selling point for Game Pass, the subscription also showcases smaller games. A great example of this is Sopa - Tale of the Stolen Potato. Drawing from Spirited Away, this charming independent adventure is a magical realist journey steeped in South American traditions. Players follow Miho, who, after helping his grandma make soup, is transported to a colorful world filled with potato-stealing frogs and various eccentric animals.

Sopa: Tale of the Stolen Potato unfolds similar to an educational computer title from the 1990s, as Miho tackles challenges and aids the realm's residents by collecting an assortment of objects. Even if it's a bit rough around the edges, Sopa is a sweet small experience that openly celebrates its love for South America.

Cocoon

Cocoon: A Puzzle Adventure is set to exit Game Pass on Oct. 15, leaving only a few days to play it via subscription — and you absolutely must. Developer Geometric Interactive designed one of the finest puzzle games of recent years in the 2023 release Cocoon. Its core puzzle mechanic revolves around transitioning between worlds inside other dimensions, and frequently you'll transport those worlds, in the shape of colorful orbs, alongside you.

While it lacks explicit instructions, everything about Cocoon's puzzles is designed in a very intuitive manner, though they can challenge you as well. 2023 was a massive period for video games, so it's understandable if Cocoon was a bit missed by the masses. Let's rectify that now.