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Over the last few weeks, we have been sharing regular suggestions for what we're playing on Game Pass. This is a chance for us to spotlight hidden gems or just discuss our preferred titles. This time around, though, we have to kick things off by tackling the obvious issue: the latest unfavorable changes to the Game Pass subscription.

Starting October 1, the company revealed a series of adjustments to the service, the most significant coming to the Ultimate plan — that provides the most games available plus day-one access to new games from Xbox Game Studios. The new price is $30 monthly, up from $20. Understandably, users expressed dissatisfaction, and numerous voices on online platforms and in comment sections about their plans to terminate their plans.

This marks the conclusion for the service as the former “best deal in gaming” has ended. Now, players must consider if the annual $360 cost for Game Pass's top tier is worth it to them, especially as daily expenses gets more expensive.

If you're keeping your subscription, or looking for reasons to continue justifying it, check out this week's recommendations. These feature a top-tier Metroidvanias of recent years, a 2025 Game of the Year contender, and a charming role-playing game follow-up. Alternatively, if you're inclined to cancel your subscription, refer to instructions on modifying or ending your Game Pass subscription.

The Lost Crown: A Prince of Persia Adventure

If you do happen to stick with your Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, you might require more excuses to justify it. The best case for the higher fee is that it includes to a suite of Ubisoft+ Classics. You’ll get multiple Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry games for your monthly payment, but the standout benefit is Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.

This side-scrolling adventure makes fantastic use of the series, returning to its origins in a trap-filled labyrinth that’s a thrill to mantle around. Pair that with exceptionally rich, diverse battle mechanics the genre offers, and you have the recipe for a top-shelf Metroidvania. Pair it with both Hollow Knight: Silksong and The Rogue Prince of Persia and you’re already breaking even on three months of your subscription cost.

Blue Prince

The first-person puzzle game Blue Prince launched with strong sales and a committed player base on Steam, but its console player base was supported initially by subscription services (it also appeared on other services). The word of mouth alongside its ease of access led to the game attract two million users.

Checking out a game for a few hours to discover if it's your jam or not is one of the core appeals of Game Pass, and anyone looking to get lost in a mystery should explore Blue Prince. You take the role of the inheritor of a property and large inheritance, but only if you can find the mansion's secret room. The catch? The building's design is ever-shifting, making Blue Prince a procedural game with fresh clues to uncover regularly. After several sessions with it and have been drip-fed secrets and puzzle clues surrounding the mystery at the core of the story, and I'm eager to discover where the game goes as I progress further.

Ni no Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom - The Prince's Edition

Is this suggestion Ni No Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom simply since the edition available on Game Pass is the Prince's Edition and that makes it tonally consistent with our preceding two recommendations? I'll never tell. What I can share, though, is that Ni No Kuni 2 is delightful follow-up to one of the best JRPGs of recent memory. Although featuring charming animation-style visuals and emphasis on youthful protagonists, Ni No Kuni 2 addresses serious themes, opening with an seeming act of violence on a modern-day city before quickly transporting the main character (the literal president) into an alternate dimension where they end up smack in the middle of a historical power struggle. Unlike its predecessor, the combat is more action-focused — think more like a Tales game than a turn-based title — and includes a genuinely deep and detailed simulation in which you have to manage a kingdom. While called the Prince's Edition, but it feels more like king shit to me.