Microsoft announced the next wave of Game Pass games today, September 26, during the Xbox Tokyo Game Show 2024 broadcast, including classic Mana RPGs.
While it has already announced two official waves of games coming to the subscription service in September – the first of which included Age of Mythology: Retold and Train Sim World 5, and the second of which included Wargroove 2 and Frostpunk 2 – this additional update arrives as an unofficial third wave.
Four modern expansions, including Trials of Mana, Legend of Mana, We Love Katamari Reroll + Royal Reverie, and All You Need is Help, were announced on Game Pass during the Tokyo Game Show broadcast (you can read about all the other announcements here). We’ve gathered these and previous waves below so you can check out everything coming to Xbox Game Pass in September 2024.
Xbox Game Pass list for September 2024
- Age of Mythology: Retold (Cloud, Xbox Series X and S and PC)
- Expeditions: A MudRunner Game (Cloud, Console and PC)
- Riders Republic (cloud, console and PC)
- Train Sim World 5 (Cloud, Console and PC)
- Wargroove 2 (Cloud, Console and PC)
- Frostpunk 2 (PC)
- Ara: The Untold Story (PC)
- All you need is lend a hand (console and PC)
- We Love Katamari Reroll + Royal Reverie (console)
- Trials of Mana (console and PC)
- Legend of Mana (console and PC)
Age of Empire, a spin-off of Age of Mythology: Retold, is a real-time strategy game that combines Age of Empire’s beloved roots with expansive mythologies from around the world, allowing players to not only defeat other nations, but also a multitude of monsters.
Another action-packed entry in the long-running series, Expeditions: A MudRunner Game combines camp and crew management with the core gameplay of exploring mountains and valleys in countless off-road vehicles. “Expeditions: A MudRunner isn’t a replacement for the incredibly addictive SnowRunner, but its more untamed wilderness maps make it a worthwhile, complementary experience,” IGN said in our 8/10 review.
The mountain biking, snowboarding, skiing and gliding game Riders Republic launched in 2021 and allows players to explore an open-world sports paradise in single-player or multiplayer modes. It also earned a rating of 8/10 in IGN’s review, where we said, “Riders Republic is an excellent extreme sports arcade sandbox with amazing multiplayer events, an impressive open world, and unfortunate server issues.”
Train Sim World 5 has been available on Game Pass since its launch. “The tracks are yours in Train Sim World 5,” reads the official synopsis. “Take on new challenges and new roles as you master the tracks and trains of iconic cities on 3 new routes. Immerse yourself in the ultimate railway hobby and embark on your next journey.”
Wargroove 2 is a continuation of Chucklefish’s Advance Wars-style strategy released in 2023. IGN’s review of Wargroove 2 gave it an 8/10. We said: “Wargroove 2 is still one of the best tributes to Advance Wars and in every way greater than its predecessor, although little else has changed.”
Frostpunk 2 is the hotly anticipated sequel to the city-building survival game from 11 But Studios. It also scored 8/10 from IGN. “By fundamentally rethinking Ice Age city-building mechanics, Frostpunk 2’s larger scale is less intimate but more socially and politically complex than the original,” we said.
Ara: History Untold didn’t fare as well, with the Civilization-style game only getting a 6/10 from IGN. “While Ara: History Untold is a visually stunning, historical 4X game with an interesting economy, it bogs down well before the halfway point,” we said.
All You Need is Help was removed from Game Pass as part of the Tokyo Game Show event. It’s a cooperative multiplayer game where fluffy cube-shaped creatures work together to achieve their goals. Help them solve puzzles with their friends.
We Love Katamari Reroll+ Royal Reverie is a remaster featuring quality of life improvements and modern modes such as Selfie Mode and Eternal Mode, five modern challenges related to the story of the juvenile king of all space, as well as all modern collectibles to roll up.
The remake of the classic 1995 RPG, Trials of Mana, is coming in 2020 with improved graphics and updated quality of life features. “Trials of Mana is a great remake of a 16-bit classic, but its 16-bit roots are often hard to ignore,” IGN said in our 8/10 review.
Legend of Mana is a similar game coming in 2021 as a remake of the original 1999 game. “Legend of Mana, a beautiful, modern take on a PlayStation classic, retains both the charm and problems of its first release,” he told IGN in our 7/10 review.
Ryan Dinsdale is a freelance reporter for IGN. He will talk about The Witcher all day long.
