Over the last few weeks, we've been running weekly recommendations for the games we are enjoying on Game Pass. This is a chance for us to highlight underrated titles or simply to talk about our preferred titles. For this week, though, we need to begin by addressing the elephant in the room: Microsoft's recent unfavorable changes to the Game Pass subscription.
On Oct. 1, Microsoft announced a series of adjustments to its subscription service, the most significant coming to the Ultimate plan — which offers the most games available plus day-one access to latest releases from Xbox Game Studios. The new price is $30 a month, up from $20. As expected, users expressed dissatisfaction, with many being vocal on online platforms and in comment sections about how they were going to cancel their plans.
This marks the conclusion for the service as the former “best deal in gaming” is no more. Instead, players must consider if the annual $360 cost for the premium plan provides value to them, particularly when daily expenses gets more expensive.
Should you maintain your membership, or looking for reasons to continue justifying it, check out this week's recommendations. They include a top-tier exploration-platformers of all time, a potential award-winner from 2025, and a charming role-playing game follow-up. Alternatively, should you prefer to cancel your subscription, refer to instructions on modifying or ending your membership.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
If you do happen to stick with your Ultimate membership, you’re probably going to need more excuses to justify it. The best case for the higher fee is that it includes to a collection of Ubisoft titles. You’ll get plenty of Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry titles for your $30 a month, but the standout benefit is Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.
The 2D Metroidvania brilliantly leverages the franchise, returning to its origins in a trap-filled labyrinth that’s a exciting to explore. Combine this with some of the deepest, most varied combat the category includes, and you have the recipe for a top-shelf Metroidvania. Pair it with both Hollow Knight: Silksong and The Rogue Prince of Persia and the value becomes clear on a quarter of your annual fee.
The Blue Prince Mystery
This investigative puzzle title Blue Prince launched with impressive numbers and a committed player base on PC platforms, but its console player base was supported initially by subscription services (it also appeared on PlayStation Plus). The word of mouth combined with its ease of access led to the game reach 2 million players.
Checking out a game for several sessions to discover if it's your jam or not is a key advantage of Game Pass, and anyone looking to get lost in a mystery should explore Blue Prince. You play as the heir to an estate and large inheritance, but provided that you can find the mansion's secret room. The catch? The mansion's layout is constantly changing, making Blue Prince a procedural game with new information to uncover regularly. After several sessions with it and have been gradually uncovering mysteries and hints related to the enigma at the core of the story, and I'm curious to see how it develops as I progress further.
The Prince's Edition: Ni no Kuni 2
Am I recommending Ni No Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom simply since the edition available on Game Pass is the Prince's Edition and that creates thematic harmony 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 a top role-playing game of all time. Despite the whimsical Ghibli aesthetic and emphasis on youthful protagonists, Ni No Kuni 2 addresses serious themes, opening with an apparent terrorist attack on a contemporary metropolis before quickly transporting the main character (a world leader) into an alternate dimension where they end up smack in the middle of a violent Medieval-era coup. Compared to the first game, the battles are real-time — think more like a Tales game than a turn-based title — and includes a truly complex and detailed simulation in which you have to manage a realm. While called the Prince's Edition, but it feels more like king shit to me.
