Xbox Game Pass gets one of 2021’s best games today

The next batch of titles coming to Xbox Game Pass this month was just revealed. Leading the pack of games being added to the subscription service today is Tales of Arise, a critically acclaimed RPG from Bandai Namco Entertainment that Xbox previously leaked was coming to the service.

Tales of Arise was released in 2021. The latest entry in a long-running RPG series, it follows a slave and girl inflicted with a curse as they rise up against the kingdom of Rena. It sports real-time RPG combat, and is one of few games to score a five-star rating from Digital Trends.

“Tales of Arise is a game I would recommend for anyone looking for ‘the future’ of the JRPG genre. This game could easily be Bandai Namco’s Final Fantasy 7,” De’Angelo Epps wrote in our 2021 review. “It feels tailor-made for the era and pushes the barriers for RPGs thanks to complex combat, weighty storytelling, and gorgeous visuals.”

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An expansion titled Beyond the Dawn continued the story last November, but that’s not included in this Xbox Game Pass release.

Microsoft accidently — and briefly — listed this game in the headline of the Xbox Wire post about the previous batch of Xbox Game Pass titles. It didn’t come to the service until today, February 20, though. Here’s the full list of confirmed titles coming to Xbox Game Pass between February 20 and March 5.

Tales of Arise — February 20
Return to Grace — February 20
Bluey: The Videogame — February 22
Maneater — February 27
Madden NFL 24 for Xbox Cloud Gaming — February 27
Indivisible — February 28
Space Engineers — February 29
Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun — March 5.

As is typically the case, some games are also leaving Microsoft’s game subscription service this month. On February 29, Xbox Game Pass will lose both Soul Hackers 2, a solid sci-fi RPG from Persona-maker