New Games 2025: November Week 3 Spotlight

Welcome back to another packed week of gaming releases. November continues to prove itself as one of the year's strongest months for diverse launches, from roguelites demanding tactical precision to family-friendly platformers and sprawling RPGs that promise dozens of hours of exploration. Before we break down this week's new games 2025 lineup, make sure to catch our esports predictions and analysis covering the latest tournament action across Dota 2 and Counter-Strike 2. This week also brought some explosive developments in ongoing industry litigation that you'll definitely want to hear about.

Game Releases

Forestrike

Platforms: PC, Nintendo Switch

Release Date: November 17, 2025

The martial arts roguelite genre just gained a fascinating new entry with Forestrike, which introduces a mechanic that could reshape how players approach failure in the genre. You play as Yu, a martial artist on a mission to free the Emperor from an Admiral's corrupt influence, but the journey requires more than just skilled combat execution.

The game's defining feature is "Foresight," a system that allows players to rehearse encounters within Yu's mental fortress before committing to the real fight. Think of it as a consequence-free training ground where you can experiment with approaches, learn enemy patterns, and develop strategies without the typical roguelite punishment of permanent setbacks. Once you've mastered the encounter mentally, you face it for real where mistakes carry actual weight.

This creates an intriguing design philosophy that bridges the gap between roguelite unpredictability and tactical preparation. Each run generates randomized world maps filled with Inns for rest and Masters who offer wisdom and permanent technique upgrades. The further you progress, the more abilities Yu acquires from five eccentric Masters, letting you combine and experiment with movesets to find optimal combat flows.

The ultimate challenge lies in achieving victory without relying on Foresight at all, essentially mastering the game to the point where your intuition matches what the mental rehearsal would have shown you. The combat system emphasizes efficiency and precision when facing overwhelming numbers, turning each encounter into what the developers describe as "puzzle-like battles" where positioning and technique selection matter as much as execution.

The pixel art presentation delivers handcrafted animation against atmospheric fantasy backdrops, creating a visually distinctive world inhabited by unique characters and magical elements that ground Yu's journey in a cohesive aesthetic vision.

SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide

Platforms: PC, Nintendo Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X/S

Release Date: November 18, 2025

Bikini Bottom faces ghostly chaos as two of the ocean's biggest egos collide. When the Flying Dutchman and King Neptune clash, their supernatural conflict unleashes spectral mayhem throughout the undersea world, and only SpongeBob and Patrick can restore order to their hometown.

This latest platforming adventure lets players switch seamlessly between the series' most notorious duo, combining their unique movement abilities to navigate challenges. Patrick brings brand-new mechanics to the table, including grappling and burrowing skills that expand the traversal options beyond previous entries. The game leverages these complementary abilities to create platforming puzzles that require understanding when to use each character's strengths.

The narrative takes players through iconic locations like Neptune's Palace and Mount Bikini while facing off against epic boss encounters featuring the Flying Dutchman, King Neptune, and even Hibernation Sandy. The entire cast from the original show returns to voice their characters, maintaining the authentic atmosphere that fans expect from licensed SpongeBob games.

This represents another entry in the franchise's surprisingly solid track record of platformers that manage to capture the show's humor while delivering competent gameplay mechanics. The ghostly theme provides a fresh angle on familiar characters and locations, potentially offering enough novelty to engage both younger audiences and nostalgic adults who grew up with the series.

Of Ash and Steel

Platforms: PC

Release Date: November 24, 2025

Ambitious open-world RPGs from smaller studios often promise the moon and deliver a crater, but Of Ash and Steel arrives with some bold claims about its scope and design philosophy. The game offers over 45 hours of main story content backed by two major faction storylines that provide exclusive quests and rewards depending on your alignment choices.

The combat system draws inspiration from challenging action RPGs, featuring three distinct battle stances, multiple weapon types, and active skills that demand mastery rather than button-mashing. You play as Tristan, a cartographer whose destiny extends far beyond mapmaking, and the game emphasizes that you're not starting as some legendary warrior. Progression comes through understanding stamina management, perfecting parry timing, and discovering which combat approaches match your playstyle. The customization spectrum ranges from agile rapier specialists to heavily armored knights, with plenty of hybrid options in between.

One particularly notable design choice involves completely removing quest markers and hand-holding navigation. Of Ash and Steel expects players to actually listen to NPC dialogue, read books and notes for world context, and mark interesting locations on their map manually. This old-school exploration philosophy rewards curiosity and attention to detail, deliberately embracing the friction that modern games typically smooth away.

The island setting features diverse biomes to explore alongside profession systems that include fishing, hunting, blacksmithing where you can craft unique weapons, and alchemy. Your choices and actions affect both NPC opinions and the world state, with faction alignment determining how different storylines unfold. Character relationships evolve based on your reputation growth, creating a reactive world that acknowledges your progression.

Whether Of Ash and Steel can deliver on this ambitious vision remains to be seen, but the commitment to player agency and traditional exploration mechanics positions it as a counterpoint to the increasingly streamlined approach dominating mainstream RPG design.

Constance

Platforms: PC

Release Date: November 24, 2025

Metroidvanias built around unique traversal mechanics live or die on how well they integrate their central gimmick into moment-to-moment gameplay. Constance centers its entire design on paint-based mechanics that let you dive into surfaces, slice through air and enemies, and maintain a constant flow state across its interconnected world.

You control Constance through a non-linear world structured around gradual ability unlocking, discovering secrets, upgrades, characters, and side quests as you expand your movement vocabulary. The brush serves as your primary tool for both combat and traversal, but using these techniques comes at a cost. Your paint becomes corrupted with use, and reaching full corruption triggers negative effects that force careful resource management.

The game introduces an "inspiration" system where you collect materials during exploration to sketch enhancements in your journal. These sketches customize Constance's capabilities and can be upgraded into more powerful artworks using gathered materials. This creates a crafting and upgrade loop that ties directly into your playstyle development.

Death mechanics offer an interesting choice between persevering through the immediate challenge at some cost or retreating to a safe point to explore alternative paths. This removes some of the frustration that metroidvanias often create when players hit difficulty spikes in areas they're not quite ready for.

The world design connects explicitly to Constance's mental health journey, with each biome representing different aspects of her psyche and personal history. Playable flashbacks explore themes around personal struggle, creativity, work-life balance, and inner purpose, adding narrative weight to the exploration and combat mechanics. This thematic coherence between gameplay systems and story could elevate Constance beyond typical metroidvania fare if executed well.

Happenings in the Gaming World

Explosive Courtroom Documents Surface in Krafton vs Unknown Worlds Trial

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The ongoing lawsuit between Krafton and Subnautica developer Unknown Worlds just got significantly messier. A document titled "Litigation Help" authored by Unknown Worlds co-founder Charlie Cleveland surfaced during the November 19 trial, containing remarks that Krafton alleges include racist characterizations of Korea and Korean people.

The document, which has since been removed from Scribd but was detailed by multiple outlets including Game Developer, IGN, and Wccftech, allegedly referred to Korea as "the Joe Pesci of countries" and included statements describing the nation as "charming until they're incredible [sic] nasty." Cleveland testified that these weren't his personal opinions but rather transcriptions of advice from former Nexon CEO Owen Mahoney.

Additional passages allegedly called Korea "small and nasty" and predicted that the Delaware court would view Krafton as "a bunch of Sadistic Korean assholes." The document also suggested Krafton CEO Changhan Kim would lose his position over the lawsuit and referenced plans to start a new company and rehire staff if the co-founders were terminated.

These revelations follow earlier allegations from the Unknown Worlds co-founders that Krafton assembled a "special task force called 'Project X'" to execute a takeover and that CEO Kim used ChatGPT to brainstorm ways to avoid paying a $250 million revenue-dependent bonus promised during the acquisition.

The lawsuit stems from the dismissal of Unknown Worlds co-founders Charlie Cleveland, Ted Gill, and Max McGuire, disputes over the promised earnout payment, disagreements about Subnautica 2's launch readiness, and allegations that the founders were absent from the sequel's development. The case highlights the messy realities of studio acquisitions and the cultural challenges that can emerge when Western independent developers merge with larger international publishers. Regardless of the legal outcome, the airing of these documents creates reputational damage for both parties that extends beyond whatever financial settlement eventually emerges.

ASUS Ramps Up Production as ROG Xbox Ally X Exceeds Expectations

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Taiwanese hardware manufacturer ASUS delivered surprisingly positive news about its ROG Xbox Ally during the company's Q3 2025 earnings call. The handheld gaming device, developed in partnership with Microsoft, has reportedly exceeded sales expectations, particularly for premium higher-end models.

While neither ASUS nor Microsoft has released specific sales figures, the company described market response as "extremely positive" during the earnings call Q&A session. Co-CEOs Samson Hu and S.Y. Hsu, along with CFO Nick Wu, fielded questions about growth expectations through 2026. ASUS positioned the original ROG Ally as a "market pioneer" in handheld gaming within the Windows ecosystem, stating that creating this category "has proven itself to be highly successful."

The third-generation model launched last month features deeper Xbox integration and has created supply constraints for high-end variants. ASUS is currently working with component suppliers to increase production and meet demand that has apparently caught the company off-guard. For the current quarter, ASUS expects the Ally to contribute approximately NT $3-5 billion (around $96-160 million USD) in sales, with confidence that quarterly revenue can sustain the NT $4-5 billion range (approximately $128-160 million USD) going forward.

The gaming category now represents roughly 41% of ASUS's total quarterly revenue, demonstrating how significantly the company has pivoted toward gaming hardware. The ROG Xbox Ally's success suggests there's substantial appetite for premium Windows-based handheld gaming devices that can run full PC libraries, particularly as Steam Deck has proven the market viability of portable PC gaming. The partnership with Microsoft and Xbox branding likely provides additional consumer confidence compared to purely third-party alternatives.

Take-Two CEO Claims Industry Moving Toward PC While Consoles Remain Relevant

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Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick offered his perspective on platform trends during an appearance on CNBC's Squawk Box, suggesting the industry is "moving towards PC" while maintaining that consoles will never disappear entirely. The comments carry particular weight given Take-Two's upcoming Grand Theft Auto VI release, which remains exclusively announced for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.

Zelnick framed the discussion around redefining what "console" means, arguing that if you consider the concept as the gaming experience rather than the hardware, then "the notion of a very rich game that you engage in for many hours that you play on a big screen" will always have a place. He also suggested the industry is trending "towards open rather than closed" ecosystems.

The timing of these remarks coincides with major platform developments. Valve recently announced the Steam Machine, a console-like device running Linux-based SteamOS that a Valve engineer claimed matches or exceeds 70% of home gaming setups. Additionally, Windows Central reported in late October that the next Xbox will function as a console/PC hybrid, with Xbox President Sarah Bond describing it as "a very premium, very high-end, curated experience."

Zelnick's comments reflect growing industry acknowledgment that traditional platform boundaries are dissolving. PC gaming continues gaining market share while console manufacturers explore hybrid approaches that blend the accessibility of consoles with PC's openness and power. The question isn't whether consoles will survive but rather what form they'll take as hardware distinctions become increasingly arbitrary. When the next Xbox runs Windows and plays PC games while offering a console-style interface, does it matter whether we call it a console or a PC? These semantic debates aside, players ultimately benefit from increased platform flexibility and game availability across different hardware configurations.

That wraps up our November Week 3 coverage. Did any of these releases catch your attention? Still searching for your next gaming obsession? We cover competitive gaming across Dota 2 and Counter-Strike 2 with detailed tournament analysis and predictions. If you want to test your own forecasting skills, try our Pick'ems system where you can predict match outcomes and win valuable items and skins from the Steam marketplace. Check it out and see how your predictions stack up.