Three Game Pass Games We Are Enjoying This Weekend (October 3-5)

Over the last few weeks, we've been running regular suggestions for the games we are enjoying on the Game Pass service. It's an opportunity for us to spotlight hidden gems or just discuss our preferred titles. For this week, however, we have to kick things off by addressing the elephant in the room: the latest anti-consumer updates to Game Pass.

On Oct. 1, the company revealed a bevy of changes to its subscription service, the most significant coming to the service's Ultimate tier — that provides the largest game library plus day-one access to latest releases from Xbox Game Studios. The new price is $30 a month, up from $20. Understandably, subscribers were not happy, and numerous voices on social media and in discussion forums about their plans to terminate their plans.

It's the end of an era for the service as the former “best deal in gaming” has ended. Now, gamers have to contemplate if $360 a year for the premium plan is worth it to them, especially as everything else in life gets more expensive.

If you're keeping your subscription, or seeking justifications to keep it active, read on for our current picks. They include one of the best exploration-platformers of all time, a 2025 Game of the Year contender, and a delightful JRPG sequel. Or, should you prefer to cancel Game Pass, refer to instructions on how to change or cancel your membership.

The Lost Crown: A Prince of Persia Adventure

Should you decide to keep your Ultimate membership, you might require more excuses to justify it. A strong argument for the higher fee is that you’ll now have access to a collection of Ubisoft titles. You’ll get plenty of Assassin's Creed games and Far Cry titles for your $30 a month, but the best perk is Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.

The 2D Metroidvania brilliantly leverages the franchise, taking it back to its platforming roots in a trap-filled labyrinth that’s a exciting to explore. Pair that with some of the deepest, most varied combat the genre offers, and it creates 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.

Blue Prince

This investigative puzzle title Blue Prince debuted to strong sales and a dedicated community on PC platforms, but console adoption was buoyed at launch by membership programs (it was also available on PlayStation Plus). Player recommendations combined with its ease of access eventually helped the game reach 2 million players.

Checking out a game for several sessions to discover if it's your jam or not is one of the core appeals of the service, and those seeking immersion in a mystery should check out Blue Prince. You play as the heir to an estate and large inheritance, but provided that you can locate the hidden chamber. The challenge? The building's design is ever-shifting, making Blue Prince a procedural game with new information to discover every day. After several sessions with it and have been gradually uncovering mysteries and hints surrounding the mystery at the heart of its manor, and I'm eager to discover how it develops as I uncover more.

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

Am I recommending Ni No Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom simply since the version included on the service is the Prince's Edition version and that creates thematic harmony with our preceding two recommendations? That remains unconfirmed. What I can share, however, is that Ni No Kuni 2 is excellent sequel to a top role-playing game of all time. Despite the whimsical Ghibli aesthetic and focus on younger characters, Ni No Kuni 2 addresses heavy topics, beginning with an seeming act of violence on a modern-day city before quickly transporting the main character (a world leader) into an other world where they find themselves involved in a historical power struggle. Unlike its predecessor, the combat is more action-focused — think more like a action RPG than a turn-based title — and features a truly complex and detailed simulation in which you have to manage a realm. While called the Prince's Edition, but that sounds more like king shit to me.