Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass subscription service saw numerous games added to the arrangement, with these 10 standing out as the absolute best.
Consistently, Microsoft seems to invest more into its Xbox Game Pass subscription service trying to keep current subscribers signed up and convince potential new members to give it a look. Out of all the years, Xbox Game Pass has been available so far, 2022 may in all likelihood be the best to date, with Microsoft exceeding everyone’s expectations to ensure that Xbox Game Pass subscribers always had something new to play.
10. Death’s Door (January)
The concept of mixing Dark Souls-style boss fights with The Legend of Zelda-inspired exploration is the same old thing, yet a couple of games do it very as well as Death’s Door. Death’s Door earned high marks for its challenging combat, engrossing atmosphere, and extraordinary boss fights when it first launched in 2021, however it didn’t come to the Xbox Game Pass service until January 2022.
Xbox Game Pass subscribers had to wait about six months after Death’s Door was first released to play the game through the subscription service, however, many would agree that it was certainly worth the wait and is one of the strongest games on the platform right up to the present day.
9. Tunic (March)
Anyone that partook in Death’s Door would probably get a remove from Tunic as well, as the games share a similar concept of mashing together Dark Souls and The Legend of Zelda. Whereas Death’s Door has a dark and miserable esthetic, Tunic has more upbeat visuals, with players taking on the job of a sword-employing fox who goes off on a grand adventure.
Tunic reviews were mostly positive when the game was released as a day one Xbox Game Pass game this past March, and it was even nominated for numerous awards at The Game Awards.
8. Norco (March/November)
One of the greatest benefits of releasing a game on Xbox Game Pass is that it gives it an immediate audience of players who may never have attempted it otherwise. This has allowed more obscure games to reach new heights, similar to the point-and-snap adventure game Norco.
Norco has been perceived as one of the finest new game releases of the year, and for good reason. It has a sharp sense of humor, and dark themes, and makes great use of traditional point-and-snap adventure game mechanics. Norco bleeds style from its art style to its musical score, and it’s readily available to play for both PC and console Game Pass subscribers.
7. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge (June)
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise has a long history of conveying quality beat-them-up games, with Shredder’s Revenge perhaps one of the best the series has proposed to date. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge is a cutting-edge take on classic TMNT arcade beat-them-up gameplay, with quality-of-life features to assist it with better appealing to present-day audiences.
TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge also supports up to six players in local and online centers, and an encounter’s stunningly better with friends. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge is generally considered to be one of the better action games released all year, and Xbox Game Pass subscribers had the option to play it on day one.
6. Deathloop (September)
After Microsoft acquired Bethesda, it still had to satisfy certain contractual agreements that were made between Bethesda and Sony before the buyout. This meant releasing some Bethesda-published games as planned PS5 console exclusives, as critically-acclaimed first-person shooter Deathloop.
Death loop spent a year as a PlayStation 5 exclusive, yet as soon as the exclusivity window was up, it joined Xbox Game Pass as a day-one game. Deathloop is one of the couples of Xbox Series X-only games on Game Pass, and it’s also one of the better FPS experiences one can have with their subscription.
5. A Plague Tale: Requiem (October)
A Plague Tale: Requiem is one of the highest-rated new game releases of 2022, and so its status as a day-one Xbox Game Pass game was immense for the service. The sequel to clique hit A Plague Tale: Guiltlessness, A Plague Tale: Requiem continues the story of Amicia and Hugo as they battle to survive against supernatural forces and human foes alike.
A Plague Tale: Requiem puts the cutting-edge hardware to great use, showing more than 300,000 rats on-screen at once, all swarming together and chasing players down like literal rat tsunamis. Requiem boasts impressive graphics, various improvements over its predecessor, and an emotional story that stands out as one of the year’s best.
4. Persona 5 Royal (October)
For a really long time, the main Persona franchise was a console exclusive to the PlayStation brand, however well that’s changed. Persona 5 Royal, one of the highest-rated computer games of all time, has finally escaped to different platforms, and it made its Xbox debut as a day-one Game Pass game.
Persona 5 Royal is the conclusive version of Persona 5, giving fans considerably more content to look at than the original release and giving a more full encounter. Significantly more Persona games are making their way to Xbox Game Pass in the new year, as Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Brilliant are both scheduled to join the Xbox Game Pass arrangement in January 2023.
3. Pentiment (November)
Obsidian Entertainment is one of Xbox’s most-consistent first-party studios. It launched the survival game Grounded out of early access earlier this year, and it also released the very much evaluated Pentiment as a day one Xbox Game Pass game.
Described as a narrative RPG, Pentiment uses a remarkable art style inspired by medieval paintings to recount an engrossing homicide mystery story. Obsidian has long been praised for its levels, and Pentiment proves that the studio still has a lot to propose in that arena.
2. Chained Echoes (December)
Chained Echoes has been disregarded this awards season because of releasing so late in the year, however, make no mistake, it’s easily one of the best games of 2022. Chained Echoes plays like a classic SNES-era JRPG, yet with many greater quality-of-life features that strip away things from the class that hasn’t aged well.
It features an endearing cast of layered characters and tells a mature fantasy story while also conveying satisfying exploration and consistently challenging turn-based battles. Xbox Game Pass subscribers who have yet to play Chained Echoes should try it out, especially in the event that they consider themselves fans of classic 16-digit RPGs.
1. High on Life (December)
Justin Roiland’s Squanch Games blown everyone’s mind with comedic first-person shooter High on Life. While professional High on Life reviews have admittedly been really blended, the game has been embraced by the Xbox Game Pass people group, driving it to the highest point of the subscription service’s most-played charts.
High on Life may not be everyone’s favorite, except it’s one of the most successful new Xbox Game Pass additions of the year and Rick and Morty fans will probably observe it to be one of the funniest titles they’ve played in years.