RPGs Coming This Week, 11/23/25

Of Ash and Steel  – November 24th (Windows)

Of Ash and Steel is a third-person open-world RPG inspired by old-school titles. You play as Tristan, a simple cartographer whose job is to draw maps, not wield a sword. The crown sends you to explore its fifth island, Grayshaft, so you can refine the region’s maps. What should be an easy assignment quickly turns into a nightmare, and you must learn to survive in a province filled with the kingdom’s exiles and outcasts.

You must master the game’s mechanics and choose the weapon and combat stance that suits you best. As you gain experience, Tristan grows with you. The game does not guide you step by step; you need to read and, most importantly, listen to the characters around you since everything they say matters.

Join one of the two major factions and complete its unique storyline to significantly influence the world and its people. The game features more than 300 quests and 30,000 lines of dialogue, which allows you to learn everything about the Kingdom of the Seven! Rediscover the joy of exploration and let curiosity guide you. If you listen carefully to the villagers, you will uncover many interesting locations to explore, so pay close attention…

You can play the demo right now on Steam to get a first look at the game before release!

by Adem Yilmaz

Solo Leveling: Arise Overdrive – November 24th (Windows)

Solo Leveling: Arise Overdrive is a new action RPG inspired by the Solo Leveling webtoon. Don’t confuse it with the free-to-play Solo Leveling: Arise, as this title is a completely separate project developed by a different team. In this game, you play as the E rank hunter Sung Jinwoo as he rises to become the world’s strongest hunter, an S rank. You can experience both the original story from the webtoon and new adventures created exclusively for the game.

In terms of gameplay, you enjoy dynamic animated combat that changes based on your equipped weapons and skills. This approach adds a wide variety of animations and allows you to craft your own combat style. You can grow your character through a skill tree that branches into eight different jobs, letting you build your progression as if you were inside the game. You can also take on four player co op raids to defeat powerful Commanders and push further into the game. Most importantly, you can craft and wield iconic weapons from Solo Leveling, including the legendary Demon King’s Daggers.

If you want early access to the game, you can purchase the deluxe edition on Steam.

by Adem Yilmaz

Detective Instinct: Farewell, My Beloved – November 26th (Switch, Windows)

It was only a matter of time until something like Detective Instinct: Farewell, My Beloved came around. Since the early command-selection adventure games on the Famicom, there’s been a small but passionate fanbase keeping the flame alive. With the western success of evolutionary descendants like Phoenix Wright, that audience has grown to the point that the question of localizing the Famicom Detective Club remakes and Emio — The Smiling Man was, more or less, a certainty.

And so we come to Detective Instinct, which I would describe as a pure fanmade love letter to ADV games old and new. There’s so much that is cool about it, I almost don’t know where to begin. For one, the aesthetic choices go hard; god bless Armonica for bringing back the lost art of pre-rendered backgrounds. Of course, the 2D character sprites are expressive and vibrant, and the sketched cutscenes feel like a callback to Cing (RIP). The music’s great and well-suited to the vibe from what I’ve heard so far.

In terms of story, the premise of a girl going missing on a train is simple yet compelling on its own, and I’m curious to see where it ultimately goes. If you’re also curious, well, a demo for Detective Instinct is available on Steam.

by Gio Castillo

The Use of Life (Exiting Early Access) – November 26th (Windows)

JRPGs often catch flak for their linearity and limited decision-making. I bring this up not to reheat that tired criticism but because The Use of Life is decidedly a break from that norm. It’s a “choose your own adventure” game where your choices (and dice rolls) do actually affect story events and even the character’s personality. The game doesn’t assign a value judgment to your “way of life” and the ending you ultimately get. Pretty cool.

When The Use of Life entered early access a few years back, its creator put out four articles discussing the behavioral psychology behind the game. The series goes into concepts like motivation and reinforcement theory and how they influenced in-game systems like equipment, skills, and stats. I find the ideas fascinating and the transparency quite admirable. Overall, The Use of Life looks like a thought-provoking gem of a JRPG.

by Gio Castillo