Xbox Game Pass Adding Surprise Game on February 20

gamerant.com:

Xbox Game Pass has confirmed that the critically-acclaimed action-RPG Tales of Arise will be joining the lineup on Tuesday, February 20. Tales of Arise was previously leaked for Xbox Game Pass when it was accidentally mentioned in the announcement revealing the February 2024 new games. For one reason or another, the announcement was then updated to remove any mention of Tales of Arise.

With Tales of Arise scrubbed from the announcement, subscribers still had one other game to look forward to on February 20. First-person narrative adventure game Return to Grace is coming to Xbox Game Pass on February 20, though it earned mixed reviews at the time of its original release last year. While subscribers can check out Return to Grace on February 20, they can now also look forward to Tales of Arise that day.

Tales of Arise released in 2021 to rave reviews from critics, with many praising it as potentially the best Tales game to date. Critics had many good things to say about Tales of Arise's story and combat, with the game earning an impressive 87 overall rating. Tales of Arise takes an average of 40 hours or so to complete, so Xbox Game Pass subscribers are getting serious bang for their buck with the beloved action-RPG.

Any Xbox Game Pass subscribers that come away impressed by Tales of Arise once it hits the service on February 20 may want to consider picking up its DLC as well. The Tales of Arise: Beyond the Dawn DLC wasn't nearly as well-received as the base game, but it should still appeal to those that enjoy the base game. Barring any surprise announcements, the Beyond the Dawn DLC will not be part of Xbox Game Pass, though, so anyone interested will have to purchase it separately.

While Xbox Game Pass subscribers wait for Tales of Arise to hit the subscription service on February 20, they have plenty of games to tide them over. There have been many high quality new additions to the Xbox Game Pass lineup in February 2024, with February 15 seeing the addition of two