Much has been said about Microsoft's decision to increase the monthly price for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate – and rightly so, a 35% price hike is massive whatever your currency.
However, even at the newly elevated price point, I still feel it's great value for money (just a bit less so than before). You're getting more than 400 games to play across Xbox Series X/S or Xbox One, over 200 PC games, Xbox Cloud Gaming, EA Play, Ubisoft Classics+, and store discounts, while Fortnite Crew will be added from November. And this is all for about a quarter of the price per month of one AAA game.
The Outer Worlds 2
Obsidian already has arguably the best Fallout game in its catalogue, with Fallout: New Vegas shading both III and IV with its premise, factions and sheer depth. It felt like Bethesda and BioWare got together to have an RPG baby – and that's very much to Obsidian's credit.
But The Outer Worlds was all original and a chance for the studio to carve its own niche, while also applying what it learned in creating a Fallout sequel. And it mostly worked.
An original IP, it took the Fallout-style gameplay engine and put it in a familiar but new environment – space (well ahead of Bethesda's own Starfield). The humour and style was spot on, but it's only issue was scale. It didn't have the scope of New Vegas, so while fun it felt a little short.
Not so its follow-up, The Outer Worlds 2 is considerably larger, has far more to do, new ideas and interactions, plus an equally dark sense of humour that helps it tick many boxes. It's also more keenly put together this time around, with what I believe to be a tighter control on FPS combat.
The game perhaps jumps into the lore a little too quickly for franchise newcomers, but with the original also available on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, you can always binge the two back to back anyway.
Ninja Gaiden 4
Ninja Gaiden is back and nothing has been lost in the 13 years since its immediate predecessor originally released.
Once again crafted by the superb Team Ninja, albeit with the help of PlatinumGames, the latest sequel has ramped up the thrills and, in no small part, difficulty levels to present one of the most visceral action games of 2025.
Let's not forget that this is from the same studios that brought us the equally challenging Nioh, Bayonetta, and Nier: Automata games between them, and as such its grasp on combat mechanics is exemplary. The way you can flow between movements – including the new Bloodraven form available to new protagonist Yakumo – is simply divine.
Admittedly, the plot is a bit hackneyed – as these things often are – but the fast-flowing pace and rock hard boss battles will keep you occupied enough not to care.
The Keeper
Double Fine is behind one of my favourite platformer of all time, Psychonauts 2, and every game it produces has something different and special about it – The Keeper is no exception.
Odd and uniquely styled, it puts you in control of a lighthouse on legs, which sets out on a journey of discovery across a strange and desolate landscape. You have only a seabird to accompany you, and a few tricks up your brickwork to help solve puzzles along the way.
Even walking is a task, at least initially, with the lighthouse wanting to topple one way or another as you travel on newly formed crab / spider legs. But once comfortable with traversal, you soon find a world of exploration and intrigue – with a few surprises for good measures.
Perhaps the biggest takeaway is just how beautifully crafted the game world is – and beautiful, full stop. It feels like you're playing on a fine artist's canvas, with stunningly-stylised graphics playing as much a part in telling the story as the wonderful musical score. There's no dialogue in The Keeper, but the narrative is engrossing regardless.
This is Double Fine at its best, and an absolute must-have on Game Pass.
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