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After Microsoft's recent news of Game Pass membership updates, featuring a cost hike for the top tier to $30 monthly, numerous members are looking for new methods to get the most from their membership. If you holding onto their membership or thinking about signing up, here are our latest recommendations.

This weekend's games include a beloved JRPG, a delightful indie adventure, and a brilliant puzzle game set to leave the platform soon.

Persona 4 Golden

Among the top methods to maximize value from your subscription is by diving into a extensive, captivating role-playing game — and Persona 4: The Golden Edition fits that bill 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 involve forming new friends, working part-time jobs, and managing studies. By night, you investigate a disturbing serial murder case by venturing into strange dungeons based on your companions' inner fears.

With a memorable cast of characters, tactical turn-based combat, flawless visuals, and a plot packed with twists, Persona 4 Golden is considered a masterpiece for good reason. It also boasts a highly engrossing gameplay loop that will keep you up past bedtime, repeatedly.

Sopa - Tale of the Stolen Potato

While major titles like Ninja Gaiden IV are a primary attraction for the service, the subscription also showcases lesser-known games. A great example of this is Sopa - Tale of the Stolen Potato. Drawing from the animated classic, this enchanting independent game is a fantasy journey steeped in South American traditions. You join Miho, who, after assisting his grandma make soup, is pulled into a vibrant world populated by potato-nabbing frogs and other eccentric animals.

Sopa: Tale of the Stolen Potato plays out like an learning-focused PC game from the 1990s, as Miho tackles challenges and aids the realm's inhabitants by gathering an inventory of items. Even if it's a bit rough around the edges, Sopa is a sweet little experience that proudly celebrates its love for South America.

Cocoon: A Puzzle Adventure

Cocoon is scheduled to exit the service on Oct. 15, leaving only a short time to experience it via your membership — and you absolutely must. Developer Geometric Interactive designed one of the finest puzzle games of recent years in 2023's Cocoon: A Puzzle Adventure. Its central puzzle mechanic focuses on moving between worlds within other dimensions, and frequently you'll transport those realms, in the form of colorful orbs, with you.

While it doesn't have direct guidance, everything about Cocoon's challenges is built in a very intuitive manner, though they can challenge you as well. 2023 was a big period for video games, so it's understandable if Cocoon was a bit missed by the masses. We should correct that while we can.