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After Microsoft's recent news of Xbox Game Pass subscription changes, including a price increase for the top tier to $30 per month, numerous subscribers are looking for fresh ways to maximize their membership. For those keeping their membership or considering signing up, here are this week's picks.

This weekend's games feature a beloved Japanese role-playing game, a delightful indie adventure, and a superb puzzler scheduled to leave the platform soon.

Persona 4: The Golden Edition

One of the best ways to maximize value from your subscription is by immersing yourself in a extensive, captivating role-playing game — and Persona 4 Golden matches that bill exactly. Players step into the part of a high school student who has relocated to the quiet countryside of Inaba. By day, your objectives include making new friends, taking on part-time jobs, and managing schoolwork. At night, you investigate a disturbing string of murders by exploring unique dungeons themed around your companions' deepest insecurities.

With a unforgettable cast of characters, strategic battle system, flawless visuals, and a plot full of twists, Persona 4 Golden is regarded as a masterpiece for many reasons. It also boasts a incredibly addictive cycle that will have you playing past bedtime, repeatedly.

Sopa - Tale of the Stolen Potato

While major titles like Ninja Gaiden IV are a key attraction for Game Pass, the subscription also highlights lesser-known indie gems. A great example of this is Sopa: Tale of the Stolen Potato. Drawing from Spirited Away, this charming indie adventure is a fantasy tale steeped in South American culture. Players follow Miho, who, after assisting his grandma make soup, is pulled into a colorful realm populated by potato-nabbing frogs and other eccentric animals.

Sopa plays out like an learning-focused computer title from the 90s, as Miho tackles challenges and aids the world's inhabitants by collecting an inventory of objects. Even if it's a bit unpolished, Sopa is a heartwarming little experience that openly celebrates its love for South America.

Cocoon

Cocoon is set to leave the service on Oct. 15, giving you only a short time to play it via subscription — and you absolutely must. Developer Geometric Interactive crafted one of the finest puzzlers of recent years in 2023's Cocoon. Its core gameplay element focuses on transitioning among worlds within additional dimensions, and often you'll transport those realms, in the shape of colorful spheres, with you.

While it lacks explicit instructions, everything about Cocoon: A Puzzle Adventure's puzzles is built in a highly intuitive manner, though they can test you as well. The year 2023 proved a massive period for games, so it's understandable if Cocoon: A Puzzle Adventure was a bit missed by the masses. We should correct that while we can.