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After the latest price increase for Game Pass Ultimate, the initial uproar has calmed down. While it may not be considered the top deal in gaming now, the platform has introduced several high-profile day-one games lately, such as Ninja Gaiden 4 and The Outer Worlds 2. These titles only enhance a vast collection of hundreds games perfect for weekend marathon sessions.

Our current recommendations feature a therapeutic action game, an prize-winning independent masterpiece, and a must-play HD-2D RPG.

Sniper Elite: Resistance

From time to time, everyone needs a bit of catharsis. Over two decades, the Sniper Elite series has delivered precisely that. Rebellion Developments' enduring shooter line offers players ultraviolent mayhem against Nazi forces. This year, Rebellion released Sniper Elite: Resistance, a timely new entry to the series. Although it doesn't revolutionize the formula, Resistance is a polished dose of immersive sim World War II open environments packed with Nazi targets. The sniping is as visceral and gratifying as always, featuring the series' trademark killcam showing every bullet's effect in graphic, explicit detail. It's a violent thrill for any peace-lover looking to unwind in the safety of a virtual world.

Resist 1000x

1000xResist tells an critically acclaimed story touching on life after a pandemic life, family trauma, and much more. It examines these themes through a science fiction perspective; you assume the role of Watcher, a member of multiple clones of Iris, the sole person left of a pandemic that wiped out humanity. Watcher and her fellow clones delve into Iris's memories from when Earth was ravaged by that terrible plague, along with memories of her school and family life, both of which were bearable for a young person. Watcher discovers Iris is not what she appears, and the story develops from there. If all that mystery isn't enough to hook you, the game does start with a murder. Is there a more compelling start than this?

Octopath Traveler 2

Yes, finishing a extremely long RPG in only nine days is a tall order, but if any game deserving trying the effort for, it's Octopath Traveler 2. Square Enix's HD-2D gem is leaving Game Pass at the end of November (along with the first game, also available). However, with a holiday in the midst, at least for those in the U.S., it's technically achievable. Octopath Traveler 2 features 8 protagonists, every one representing a different genre. There's a procedural story about a priest looking into the murder of his church's head priest. A trader aiming to solve poverty through the force of capitalism stars in a frontier-inspired adventure. There's even a enigma about an apothecary with memory loss (since all great RPGs require a character with an unknown past, of course). Some of these stories connect in surprising, intriguing ways, while you progress through a gorgeous 19th-century inspired setting. And the combat is excellent — “number go up” boiled to its essence.