I have a question

I have been playing from launch, I pre-ordered. There has been a price hike for game pass subscriptions so I canceled mine. I still have the game and Xbox live but I can no longer play. The game just wants me to re-subscribe to game pass. Internet says game pass is not required to play as long as you have Xbox live subscription. Can someone please explain this all clearly. But I a way that states I can play without a game pass subscription. Thank you