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Following Microsoft's latest announcement of Game Pass subscription changes, featuring a cost hike for the top tier to $30 monthly, numerous members are seeking fresh methods to maximize their subscription. For those keeping their membership or thinking about joining, we present our latest picks.

Our selected games feature a acclaimed Japanese role-playing game, a charming indie journey, and a superb puzzle game scheduled to leave the platform soon.

Persona 4 Golden

Among the top ways to get your money's worth from your subscription is by immersing yourself in a lengthy, captivating RPG — and Persona 4: The Golden Edition fits that description exactly. You step into the part of a high school student who has just moved to the sleepy rural town of Inaba. By day, your goals include making friendships, working employment, and managing studies. At night, you work to solve a disturbing serial murder case by venturing into strange dungeons themed around your friends' inner fears.

With a memorable group of heroes, strategic battle system, flawless art design, and a plot packed with surprises, Persona 4 Golden is regarded as a masterpiece for good reason. It also boasts a incredibly engrossing cycle that will keep you up late into the night, night after night.

Sopa - Tale of the Stolen Potato

Although big titles like Ninja Gaiden 4 are a key attraction for the service, the subscription also highlights smaller indie gems. A perfect example of this is Sopa: Tale of the Stolen Potato. Inspired by Spirited Away, this enchanting indie game is a magical realist tale steeped in Latin American culture. You follow Miho, who, after helping his grandma make soup, is pulled into a colorful realm filled with potato-stealing frogs and other eccentric creatures.

Sopa: Tale of the Stolen Potato unfolds like an educational PC game from the 90s, as Miho tackles challenges and helps the realm's inhabitants by gathering an inventory of objects. Even if it's a little rough around the edges, Sopa: Tale of the Stolen Potato is a heartwarming small game that openly showcases its appreciation for the region's culture.

Cocoon

Cocoon is set to exit the service on Oct. 15, leaving only a few days to play it via subscription — and you absolutely should. Studio Geometric Interactive designed one of the best puzzlers of this generation in 2023's Cocoon. Its central gameplay element focuses on transitioning among realms within other dimensions, and often you'll carry those realms, in the shape of vibrant orbs, with you.

While it doesn't have explicit guidance, everything about Cocoon: A Puzzle Adventure's puzzles is built in a very natural way, yet they will test you as well. 2023 was a massive period for games, so it's understandable if Cocoon was somewhat overlooked by many players. Let's rectify that while we can.