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Following the latest price increase for Game Pass Ultimate, the earlier commotion has calmed down. Although it might not be considered the absolute best deal in gaming anymore, the service has welcomed several high-profile launch day releases lately, including Ninja Gaiden 4 and The Outer Worlds 2. These additions further enrich a vast library of numerous games perfect for weekend marathon sessions.

Our current recommendations feature a therapeutic action game, an award-winning indie masterpiece, and a essential HD-2D RPG.

Resistance: Sniper Elite

Every so often, we all require a little catharsis. Over two decades, the Sniper Elite series has provided exactly that. Rebellion Developments' enduring shooter series presents players ultraviolent mayhem targeting Nazi forces. This year, Rebellion released Sniper Elite: Resistance, a timely new entry to the series. While it doesn't reinvent the gameplay, Resistance remains a polished serving of simulation World War II sandboxes filled with Nazi objectives. The long-range combat is as brutal and gratifying as always, with the series' trademark killcam showing every bullet's impact in gory, testicle-crunching clarity. It's a bloody excitement for every peace-lover wanting to let off steam in the security of a digital space.

1000xResist

1000xResist tells an critically acclaimed story touching on life after a pandemic existence, family pain, and much more. It examines these themes through a science fiction lens; you play as Watcher, a member of multiple clones of Iris, the only person left of a pandemic that eradicated human life. Watcher and her sister clones delve into Iris's memories from when Earth was ravaged by that horrific disease, as well as memories of her school and home life, neither of which were easy for a teenager. Watcher discovers Iris is not all that she seems, and the story unfolds from there. Should all that mystery fails to hook you, the game does begin with a murder. What could be a more compelling opening than this?

Octopath Traveler II

Yes, finishing a extremely long RPG in only over a week is a challenging task, but if there's any game worth attempting the grind for, it's Octopath Traveler 2. Square Enix's visually striking gem is departing Game Pass at the end of November (as is the original game, also available). However, due to a holiday in the middle, at least for those in the U.S., it's technically achievable. Octopath Traveler 2 features 8 protagonists, every one embodying a different genre. There's a procedural story about a priest looking into the murder of his cathedral's head priest. A merchant aiming to eradicate poverty through the power of capitalism stars in a frontier-inspired narrative. There's even a enigma about an apothecary with memory loss (because all great RPGs require a character with an mysterious past, naturally). A few of these plots connect in surprising, intriguing ways, while you progress through a gorgeous Industrial Revolution inspired setting. And the combat is superb — stat-focused gameplay distilled to its purest form.