Xbox just released a bunch of games on Game Pass, and at least two of them are bangers
In connection with his Xbox Tokyo Game Show 2024 broadcast, Microsoft made a few surprise additions to Game Pass on Thursday: Vintage Square Enix role-playing games Legend of Mana And Trials of Manasurreal roll-em-up We love Katamariand a cute and hilarious looking new co-op game called All you need is help are all available now.
Additionally, it was revealed that the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster series, which includes the first six Final Fantasy games, is now finally available on Xbox – but it is not included in the Game Pass releases, you will have to buy it.
The choices for the new Game Pass additions are certainly Legend of Mana And We love Katamari — two wild, in-depth analyses of the back catalog that deserve an immediate spot in your download queue.
Legend of Mana is a unique action RPG from 1999. The fourth game in the Mana series, it features a bold open-ended, non-linear structure that allows you to generate regions and quests as you play. Criticized at the time for not having as strong a story as the 1993 SNES classic Secret of Manait now looks far ahead of its time. It’s a fascinating curiosity worth sampling in this faithful 2D remaster, new today on Xbox.
Trials of Manawhich has never been released outside Japan before, is the 1995 sequel to Secret of Mana — but the version added to Game Pass is the 2020 3D remake, which received mixed reviews.
We love Katamari coming to Game Pass in remastered form: We love Katmari Reroll + Royal Reverieto give it its full title. This is the 2005 sequel to Katamari Damacymade — somewhat against his will — by original creator Keita Takahashi. But Takahashi’s ambivalence about the project comes through in unexpected, self-referential, and delightful ways, as the Prince struggles to meet the screaming demands of fans while wandering the world rolling up giant balls of stuff. If anything, We love Katamari is even better than the indelible Katamari Damacy.
Finally, All you need is help is a new slapstick cooperative puzzle game from Q-Games, developer of the PixelJunk series. It features four player-controlled furry cubes that work together—or at least try to—to do things like assemble themselves into a tetrominoe array, or push a bunch of soccer balls into a goal. It looks like a lot of fun.
All of these games are available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC via Game Pass, except We love Katamariwhich is only available on the console Game Pass.