The best games on Xbox Game Pass right now (August 2024)

You could call the Mafia games GTA clones, and you wouldn’t be completely wrong. They both share the same open-world structure and third-person gunplay in a sandbox environment, but Mafia sets itself apart with a fantastic 1930s setting and plot. The Definitive Edition is a complete remake of the PS2-era classic that brings the visuals up to a modern level so you can really feel like an old-timey gangster.

Xbox snagged Still Wakes the Deep as a day-one get for Game Pass, so you know there’s something special here. From The Chinese Room, developers of Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, and Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, this horror adventure places you on an abandoned oil rig in the North Sea. Or, at least you will wish it was abandoned. A monstrosity from the sea has found its way on board and you have no way to fight back and no way to call for help. All you can hope to do is run, hide, and try to find some way to escape the rig with your life.

Perhaps one of Capcom’s most unique games of the last decade, Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess might turn you off because of its cumbersome name. However, if you give it a shot, you’ll see there’s something very special here. This game is one part 3D action game where you run around and fight enemies with stylish sword combat, but also part strategy or tower defense game. While you’re attempting to restore your world to life, you will rescue villagers who you can recruit and assign roles to help defend the Maiden you’re escorting. When the action begins, you can pause time to reposition and change their roles to suit the situation. It’s worth a look if only to see this new blending of genres.

Is 15 years too long to wait for a sequel? That depends on how good the original game is — and Double Fine’s Psychonauts was certainly one of the best in its genre. Psychonauts 2 is finally here, and the familiar formula is back, sure to please fans of the old game while making an excellent introduction to the zany, heartfelt world of Psychonauts. The story picks up soon after the first (and a VR side story that was later released), following a boy named Raz, who has left his circus family to train his psychic powers with the acclaimed Psychonauts organization. Raz’s specialty is entering minds and sorting out hidden traumas so that people (heroes and villains alike) can move on in healthy ways. He uses various psychic powers to defeat literal doubts, fears, and panic attacks while navigating worlds chock-full of collectibles and currency that allow him to upgrade or modify abilities. The platforming in Psychonauts 2 is not only excellent but insanely inventive, incorporating every kind of movement you can imagine in ways that make the cartoony world both fascinating and emotionally moving (but not too challenging). Combat sometimes seems like an afterthought as a result, but there’s plenty to do for all kinds of gamers. Take a look at our Psychonauts 2 beginner’s guide to get started.

Hollow Knight wears its Super Metroid and Dark Souls influences on its sleeve, but manages to provide an experience all its own. You control a silent, nameless knight, who is tasked with exploring the vast, insect-ridden kingdom of Hallownest. Like any good Metroidvania, Hollow Knight has a vast, interconnected map that you’re free to explore. Although certain areas are locked off in the early game, you’ll quickly begin running from one corner of the map to the other. The title’s open design teaches you by showing. Rather than holding your hand, Hollow Knight asks you to explore and find answers for yourself, resulting in one of the most satisfying experiences of this genre. With Hollow Knight: Silksong on the horizon, now is a great time to play the first game.