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After the latest price increase for Game Pass Ultimate, the initial uproar has calmed down. While it might not be considered the absolute best offer in gaming now, the platform has welcomed a number of high-profile day-one games lately, including Ninja Gaiden 4 and The Outer Worlds 2. These additions further enrich a vast library of numerous games ideal for weekend marathon sessions.

Our current picks include a cathartic shooter, an award-winning independent masterpiece, and a must-play HD-2D RPG.

Resistance: Sniper Elite

From time to time, we all require a little release. For 20 years, the Sniper Elite series has provided precisely that. Rebellion Developments' enduring shooter series presents players ultraviolent carnage against Nazi targets. This year, Rebellion released Sniper Elite: Resistance, a well-timed addition to the franchise. While it doesn't revolutionize the formula, Resistance remains a polished dose of simulation World War II open environments filled with Nazi objectives. The sniping is as brutal and gratifying as always, featuring the series' trademark killcam displaying every bullet's effect in graphic, testicle-crunching detail. It's a bloody excitement for every pacifist looking to unwind in the safety of a virtual space.

Resist 1000x

1000xResist tells an critically acclaimed narrative exploring life after a pandemic existence, generational pain, and other deep themes. It examines these subjects through a science fiction perspective; you play as Watcher, a member of multiple clones of Iris, the only survivor of a pandemic that wiped out humanity. Watcher and her fellow clones delve into Iris's recollections from when Earth was ravaged by that horrific plague, along with memories of her education and home life, neither of which were easy for a teenager. Watcher learns Iris is not all that she seems, and the plot develops from there. If all that intrigue fails to hook you, the game does begin with a murder. What could be a more gripping start than that?

Octopath Traveler 2

Admittedly, completing a gazillion-hour RPG in only over a week is a tall order, but if any game deserving attempting the effort for, it's Octopath Traveler 2. Square Enix's HD-2D masterpiece is departing Game Pass at the end of November (as is the original game, which is also included). But, with a break in the midst, at least for players in the States, it's technically doable. Octopath Traveler 2 follows 8 characters, every one representing a distinct genre. You'll find a investigative tale about a priest looking into the death of his cathedral's archbishop. A merchant striving to solve poverty through the power of capitalism stars in a frontier-inspired adventure. There's even a mystery about an apothecary with memory loss (because all great RPGs require a character with an mysterious background, naturally). Some of these plots connect in unexpected, fascinating ways, while you progress through a stunning 19th-century themed world. And the combat is excellent — “number go up” boiled to its purest form.