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After the recent price increase for Game Pass Ultimate, the initial uproar has calmed down. Although it might not be seen as the top deal in gaming anymore, the platform has welcomed several big-name launch day releases recently, including Ninja Gaiden 4 and The Outer Worlds 2. Those additions only enhance a massive library of numerous games ideal for weekend-long marathon sessions.

Our current recommendations feature a therapeutic shooter, an award-winning indie masterpiece, and a must-play 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' long-running shooter series offers players ultraviolent mayhem targeting enemy targets. This year, the studio released Sniper Elite: Resistance, a well-timed new entry to the franchise. While it doesn't reinvent the formula, Resistance is a polished serving of simulation World War II open environments filled with enemy targets. The sniping is as brutal and gratifying as always, featuring the series' trademark killcam showing every bullet's impact in gory, explicit clarity. It's a bloody excitement for any peace-lover wanting to unwind in the safety of a digital space.

Resist 1000x

1000xResist tells an critically acclaimed story exploring life after a pandemic life, generational trauma, and much more. It examines these themes through a sci-fi perspective; you play as Watcher, one of multiple clones of Iris, the only person left of a global outbreak that wiped out humanity. Watcher and her fellow clones explore Iris's recollections from the time Earth was ravaged by that terrible disease, as well as experiences of her school and family life, neither of which were bearable for a young person. Watcher learns Iris is not what she appears, and the story develops from that point. If all that intrigue isn't enough to hook you, the game does start with a killing. What could be a more gripping opening than this?

Octopath Traveler II

Admittedly, finishing a gazillion-hour RPG in just nine days is a challenging task, but if any game deserving attempting the grind for, it's Octopath Traveler 2. Square Enix's visually striking masterpiece is leaving Game Pass at the end of November (as is the first game, also available). But, with a holiday in the middle, at least for those in the U.S., it's theoretically doable. Octopath Traveler 2 follows 8 protagonists, every one embodying a different genre. There's a investigative tale about a priest looking into the death of his cathedral's archbishop. A merchant aiming to solve poverty through the power of commerce stars in a frontier-inspired adventure. There's even a mystery about an apothecary with amnesia (since all great RPGs need a character with an unknown past, of course). A few of these stories intertwine in surprising, intriguing ways, while you progress through a gorgeous 19th-century inspired setting. And the battle system is superb — stat-focused gameplay boiled to its purest form.