Surprise! Game Pass nets five new games today, as the rest of July is confirmed

We knew about one game being added to Game Pass today – the day-one launch of Solasta: Crown of the Magister (Console, Cloud and PC) – but we had no notion of the other four. Microsoft have delivered a nice Tuesday treat in the form of Last Call BBS (PC), Yakuza 0 (Console, Cloud and PC), Yakuza Kiwami (Console, Cloud and PC) and Yakuza Kiwami 2 (Console, Cloud and PC). 

Let’s scrabble together some information on each of these for you. The expected game, Solasta: Crown of the Magister, is a turn-based tactical RPG that bases itself on the SRD 5.1 ruleset for Dungeons & Dragons. If developers Tactical Adventures are to be believed, it’s one of the most faithful adaptations of Dungeons & Dragons that you can get on the modern generation of console. 

It’s been designed to adapt to your playstyle, so if you’re in for a purely storytelling experience, or you want to get sweaty in online co-op, it has a difficulty setting for you. What impresses us most is how much it avoids looking like a table-top adaptation: the battlefields are expansive and toy with verticality, making this every part the video game RPG. Reviews have been positive on PC, but expect a console review from us soon. 

Last Call BBS is a little harder to describe. Unfortunately only available for PC owners, this imagines a fictional computer called the BBS, which has been left on the bar-top by a friendly barkeep, allowing you to play through its full catalogue of games. It’s effectively an emulator for a computer that never existed, set in a future universe that – again – doesn’t exist. It has Solitaire, of course, but it also has a game that looks like a Airfix simulator, as you create your own models; another that hands you a circuit board and then lets you build what you want; and an unpronounceable game that gets you creating what we think are circuits again, but out of flesh. Yeah, we don’t know what’s going on either. 

Outside of these new arrivals, we are very pleased to announce that Game Pass has been bolstered by yet more Yakuza games. Our resident Richard Dobson will be visibly oscillating with joy, as his favourite series gets the home it deserves. You’re getting Yakuza 0, Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza Kiwami 2, which – we believe – are the three first games in the series if you are playing through chronologically. So, if you’ve been holding back from playing the series, today is a fine day to remove that hold. You can play the series as nature intended it, in the correct narrative order. 

What’s more, Microsoft have announced all of the games that are coming in July, so we can give you a comprehensive overview of what you will be getting. DJMax Respect V (Cloud, Console, PC), Matchpoint: Tennis Championships (Cloud, Console, PC) and Road 96 (Cloud, Console, PC) are all arriving on the 7th July. 

Escape Academy (Console, PC), My Friend Peppa Pig (Cloud, Console, PC), Overwhelm (PC), PAW Patrol The Movie: Adventure City Calls (Cloud, Console, PC) and PowerWash Simulator are all due on July 14th, and As Dusk Falls (Console, PC) is coming on July 19th. Not bad at all. 

Are you taking it upon yourself to complete the full Yakuza series? Let us know in the comments or on our social channels.