Must Play Game Pass Titles
Not an #ad, but we do love Game Pass!
As a college student, I don’t have a lot of spare cash lying around. Thankfully Xbox Games Pass offers a ton of games at a pretty low (at least for now) price. Twenty bucks a month vs seventy dollars a game seems like a solid trade-up when you don’t have that money to toss around. While there are a lot of pretty obvious choices I could have put here, such as the Mass Effect trilogy, the Dead Space remake or original trilogy, Control, every Gears of War game, the list goes on! I chose to go with a few of the ones I have spent time with recently.
Roboquest
If you took the fast-paced and fluid gameplay of something like Apex Legends and gave it a shot of Dead Cells roguelike nature you would get Roboquest. As best as I can recall this is the first roguelike I finished. For people like me who prefer to play games on the easiest difficulty, you should feel right at home. If you like your games ball-bustlingly difficult, this game can be scaled for that.
Weapon drops are random, there is a pretty big skill tree that stacks with each run and the pathways you can choose to get to the end are pretty branching. Several runs in and I was still finding new things to enjoy. You can also play this one in co-op for extra chaos!
If that wasn’t enough to convince you to give it a shot, the team behind Roboquest announced that they are doing a full-fledged cross-over with Dead Cells! That was enough to get me to redownload the game even after beating it several times.
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name
I was an idiot child when the original Yakuza games came out. The first one I ever got to play was Yakuza: Like a Dragon. This spin-off from that universe continues the story of everyone’s favorite brooding good guy Kiryu. While in hiding from the Yakuza after his mainline game story Kiryu is pulled back in against his will to take on various figures, including some from his past as someone actively tries to force him out of hiding.
The gameplay, to its credit, is beat melee focused, allowing you to button mash or mix up attacks to your heart’s content. I loved the 28-ish hours I spent with this game and if the older games ever get English dubbed (or if I can manage to focus on subtitles) I am so eager to play more. I appreciated that I didn’t HAVE to do any side stuff if I didn’t want to but I was engrossed in the game so much I didn’t mind it.
Persona 3 Reload
While this isn’t a series exclusive to Xbox, this is the first title in the series I have ever rolled credits on. It has easily become a top 10 to 15 favorite game of all time for me. The story is encapsulating, dealing with themes of life and death and living with the consequences of one’s actions.
Listen, I got so into this game I had a DAILY schedule early into the game where I would get out of school and certain days go to work repeatedly throughout the week to raise stats and money to get better weapons. The rest of the week was spent with various characters experiencing the spectacular social aspects of the game. Getting to know the characters and watching them get closer as friends made the game impactful. If you get the good ending like I did it makes that even more meaningful.
Unlike with the original Persona 5, I didn’t mind the combat and exploration in the Dark Hour. The turn-based aspect worked here well, and I never felt like I was underpowered. I was glad to be able to sprint through each floor of the Tartarus as fast as I pleased. I loved this game so much that I bought Persona 4 to give it a shot, I’m getting Persona 5 Royal, AND as soon as I have the spare cash I want to get a physical copy of Persona 3 Reload to make sure I always have access to this exquisite game.
Thirsty Suitors
Have you ever wanted the Tony Hawk games to feel more like Persona? Thirsty Suitors blends the two styles pretty well. Jala traverses the world on a skateboard and can do tricks at will but when in combat she will hurl insults that result in a variety of attacks and using the right one makes all the difference. The game tells a story about making amends and embracing your heritage while maintaining what makes you unique. It wasn’t an obscenely long game, clocking in at about eight hours when I played it. It was refreshing to see someone put the effort into rebuilding relationships and realizing that they were the problem sometimes. And even though I don’t share Jala’s heritage, I feel like many people can relate to her story.
Have a Nice Death
Everyone deals with burnout, even Death himself. (However, I have never had to go fight every higher-up in the company I am a CEO of because of it.) Those higher-ups are called the Sorrows and while Death has been teetering on the edge they have been running rampant in the world making Death’s job all the more difficult.
What got me most about this game was how cute and unique every character feels while having a roguelike that seems a tad more forgiving than some of the others I have tried. Yes, I still die a lot, but every run builds to something more, and permanent unlocks that occur as you progress help you get further and further into the story.
The gameplay was fast and frantic and I loved getting to fling a scythe around. Other powers fed into this and I found myself aiming for my favorite loadout as much as possible. This one places pockets of toxic gas and you can do multiple when it replenishes and it helps out a lot with bosses. Like Persona 3 Reload, I want to grab a copy of this to make sure I’m able to play when it cycles off Game Pass.
Mafia
Mafia tells the amazing story of a man pulled into the world of organized crime by happenstance. He happens to be on a break when some of the boys from the Salieri family make him their getaway driver. Next thing Tommy knows, he is driving for the mafia full time and eventually one of its most trusted members in that family. Naturally, that’s when it all goes to hell in a handbasket.
It’s a spectacular story that while set in a ‘technically’ open world, it doesn’t fall prey to the open world filler. You can look for collectibles or partake in side activities if you want, but the story here is iconic and I get why so many people call it their favorite in the franchise. I’m excited to give the second game another chance.
As the Xbox Game Pass catalog is expansive, there are many other games I just don’t have the space to talk about here. Please go check out The Gunk, Dungeons of Hinterberg, Flintlock, and Hellblade 2 and so many others! Check the store to grab the copy to keep as well, often games on Games Pass are discounted and it helps the devs out a lot, especially the indie ones!
What are some of your favorite titles on Xbox Games Pass right now?