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With so many people working from home and practicing social distancing in 2020, we could all use plenty of distractions. It’s hard to go wrong with a good Stephen King book. King has built a career writing spooky page-turners that frequently clock in at over 1000 pages. Just one of his books can sustain most readers for days. His entire back catalog could take months or more.

For the budding King fan, perhaps the easiest way to take in the best and most important books of his prolific career is to focus on the Dark Tower saga. In addition to the seven core novels that make up the story of wandering gunslinger Roland Deschain, many of King’s most iconic books tie into the Dark Tower in some way or another, forming an entire literary multiverse. Read on to learn which books you should read to fully appreciate the Dark Tower mythos.

Warning: Very vague spoilers follow about certain connections between books.

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Stephen King’s Dark Tower Series: Book Reading Order

Much like with the Star Wars movies, Stephen King fans frequently debate the best order in which to read his Dark Tower-related books. While the core Dark Tower books are numbered sequentially, it can be much harder to know when and where to branch out to the rest of King’s work.

We’re proponents of reading these books in more or less the same order they’re published. The Dark Tower is a story that grew in the telling. King certainly didn’t have any inkling of the full scope of this story when he began it, or how much events in his own life would influence its execution, and it’s best appreciated with that perspective in mind.

Salem’s Lot (1975)

Salem’s Lot is King’s second published novel, and after all these years it remains one of his best and most terrifying works. It certainly set the tone for much of King’s work to come, focusing equally on supernatural horror and the ordinary, mundane evil that lurks behind closed doors. It’s a story that steadily builds a sense of dread as an intrepid few try to save their idyllic small town from being overrun by vampires.

Salem’s Lot eventually pays off in a significant way where the Dark Tower books are concerned. One character in particular, Father Callahan, has a big part to play later in the series.

The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger (1982)

The Gunslinger is where the Dark Tower saga truly begins. This is the book that introduces Roland Deschain, last of the fabled line of gunslingers and a man obsessed with finding the fabled Dark Tower and saving his dying world. As Roland pursues the mysterious Man in Black across an endless desert, he encounters strange creatures, unholy demons and a boy inexplicably ripped from 20th century America. King released a revised version of the novel in 2003, one rewritten to more closely align the story with later sequels.

Pet Sematary (1983)

Pet Sematary’s connection to the Dark Tower mythos is pretty tenuous – sort of a “Six Degrees of Roland Deschain” situation. Assuming you do read Pet Sematary, there’s a fascinating cameo to be found in 1994’s Insomnia, a book with a much clearer link to the Dark Tower series.

Still, we feel this book belongs on any good Stephen King reading list solely because of its quality. It’s among King’s best and most emotionally harrowing novels. It’s also quite possibly the scariest book he’s ever written. Suffice it to say, you don’t want to read those Wendigo scenes while locked away in a remote cabin in the woods.

The Talisman (1984)

The Talisman is notable for two reasons. It’s a collaboration between King and fellow horror luminary Peter Straub. It’s also the rare King book that veers more into fantasy than horror. The Talisman follows a boy named Jack Sawyer who sets out on a quest to find an artifact capable of curing his mother’s cancer. That journey weaves in and out of a parallel reality called “The Territories.”

While this story’s direct ties to the Dark Tower books are only really made apparent in the 2001 sequel The Black House, even in 1984 The Talisman was notable for delving deeper into the King multiverse and the concept of parallel worlds that exist as distorted mirrors of our own.

It (1986)

It is easily one of King’s most well-known works. It’s also among his longest, chronicling a battle between a group of social outcasts and a demonic entity haunting the town of Derry, Maine across multiple time periods. It never really forges a firm connection to the Dark Tower books, but it’s still worth reading for two reasons. One, it’s an essential King novel that many regard as one of his best. Two, it does offer a fuller sense of the true scope of King’s multiverse and the forces that keep it in balance.

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The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three (1987)

The Drawing of the Three is the second installment of the Dark Tower books. Here, a wounded Roland encounters a series of doorways leading to New York City, offering the chance of new allies in his quest and a shot at redemption.

The Stand (1990)

If you only read one other King novel as a companion to the Dark Tower series, it should probably be The Stand. Widely regarded as one of the greatest works of post-apocalyptic fiction, The Stand is set in a world ravaged by a superflu known as Captain Trips. The few survivors rally around one of two ringleaders, the benevolent Mother Abigail and the demented Randall Flagg.

Both Flagg and the world of The Stand become integral to the latter half of the Dark Tower saga. Just be sure to read the “Complete and Uncut” version of the novel first published in 1990, as opposed to the relatively shorter original version from 1978.

The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands (1991)

The Waste Lands is the third chapter in the Dark Tower saga, one far larger in terms of both page count and scope than its predecessors. This volume offers a much fuller sense of the ruined world Roland inhabits and the forces holding it together. It’s also the one book in the series to end on a major cliffhanger, which made the six-year gap between Books 3 and 4 all the harder to bear.

Insomnia (1994)

Insomnia is a bit of an odd duck in the King lineup. It’s among his longest books, but it’s also slow-paced and fairly uneventful in its first half. Rather than featuring King’s typical tortured writer protagonist, it revolves around a retired widower named Ralph Roberts. However, the novel rewards the patient reader with a much more exciting climax and a very meaningful Dark Tower connection that really pays off in the final leg of the saga.

The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass (1997)

The fourth Dark Tower book shakes up the formula in a big way. The first and third acts continue the journey of Roland and his allies, resolving the cliffhanger from The Waste Lands and tying into The Stand in a very direct way. But the middle act unfolds as a lengthy flashback to Roland’s formative years. Wizard and Glass greatly fleshes out his past and the history of the fallen kingdom of Gilead, while also shedding more light on what Roland lost in his drive to find the Dark Tower.

Hearts in Atlantis (1999)

Hearts in Atlantis is a collection of several novellas. While the entire book is worth reading, in terms of Dark Tower relevance you need only concern yourself with the opening tale, “Low Men in Yellow Coats.” This story introduces kindly Ted Brautigan, an elderly man with psychic powers being pursued by sinister forces. Yes, both Ted and said forces have a direct link to the Dark Tower books.

Black House (2001)

Black House is the second collaboration between King and Straub, a sequel to 1984’s The Talisman starring a now-adult Jack Sawyer. As mentioned before, this sequel is far more overtly tied to the Dark Tower books. In fact, it does more than any of the core Dark Tower stories to flesh out the Crimson King, the central villain of the saga.

Everything’s Eventual (2002)

Everything’s Eventual is another short story collection that falls under the Dark Tower umbrella. In this case, there are two tales essential to fully appreciating the saga. The title story, “Everything’s Eventual,” introduces Dinky Earnshaw, another psychically gifted character with a key role to play in the tail end of the Dark Tower story. “The Little Sisters of Eluria” focuses on Roland himself, showcasing one of his adventures early on in his quest to find the Dark Tower. This story is also reprinted in some versions of The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger.

The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla (2003)

It would be another six years before King followed up on Wizard and Glass, in part because of a serious car accident that put his writing career on hiatus. But the work did finally resume. Wolves of the Calla is a clear homage to classic Akira Kurosawa and Sergio Leone movies, with Roland and his band recruited to protect a village from marauding “wolves” who regularly appear to steal away innocent children.

The Dark Tower: Song of Susannah (2004)

King didn’t keep fans waiting long after the release of Wolves of the Calla, with the penultimate book in the series following a mere six months later. This is where the saga begins to culminate, as connections to many of King’s previous stories become clear and Roland and friends begin preparing for their final push to the Dark Tower. This is also where the series starts becoming much more self-aware and meta, to the chagrin of some readers.

The Dark Tower: The Dark Tower (2004)

Following another short gap, King finally wrapped up a two-decade-long saga in the seventh and final Dark Tower book. Here is where Roland’s quest comes to an end, but not before the book introduces another key character that will make Insomnia readers glad they put in the time on that book. The ending to the series is nothing if not controversial, though King deliberately structures the book in such a way that readers can stop early if they prefer a cleaner, happier conclusion.

The Dark Tower: The Wind Through the Keyhole (2012)

Though the main saga ended in 2004, King revisited Roland’s world with this spinoff book. While set before Wolves of the Calla, we think The Wind Through the Keyhole is better appreciated as an epilogue to the series. Its unique “story within a story within a story” structure gives the book a whimsical feel that helps offset the grim tone of the main books.

The Dark Tower in Other Media

The Dark Tower saga may be rooted in the prose world, but it’s also expanded into other media in recent years. Both the Dark Tower comics and the live-action movie are worth consuming as companions to the novels.

Marvel Comics first journeyed into this universe with 2007’s The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born. Basically an adaptation of the flashback portion of Wizard and Glass, The Gunslinger Born helps visualize a world that previously only existed in prose form and in a handful of painted illustrations. That initial series was followed up by four more comic book miniseries that continue where the flashback leaves off and explore more of Roland’s formative years. That story culminates in The Dark Tower: The Battle of Jericho Hill, which chronicles the titular battle that destroys the kingdom of Gilead and sparks Roland’s quest for the Dark Tower.

Marvel continued to publish more Dark Tower miniseries after that, exploring more of Roland’s hidden years leading up to the original Dark Tower novel and then adapting both The Gunslinger and The Drawing of the Three. Unfortunately, Marvel stopped at that point, never adapting the entire saga. The franchise rights have since shifted from Marvel to Simon & Schuster’s imprint Gallery 13, but so far no further adaptations have been greenlit. A shame, but the comics are still well worth reading for anyone hungry for even more of this fantasy universe.

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As for the movie, it’s an extremely flawed but still interesting attempt at distilling the plot of multiple Dark Tower books into one streamlined film. Originally the plan was to release a trilogy of movies with two seasons of TV airing in-between. Those plans appear to have shifted slightly. Amazon is currently developing a Dark Tower TV series focused on a young Roland, one seemingly unconnected to the 2017 movie or Idris Elba’s version of Roland. Instead, Sam Strike (Leatherface) will star as Roland, and Michael Rooker (The Walking Dead) and Jasper Pääkkönen are reportedly playing the villains of the first season.

For more on the world of Stephen King adaptations, check out IGN’s breakdown of all the Stephen King Easter eggs in Hulu’s Castle Rock and our recap of every Stephen King remake so far.

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Bethesda has delayed the release of Fallout 76‘s Wastelanders update due to COVID-19. In a statement, Bethesda confirmed that developers are now working from home, and this has impacted the April 7 release of the Wastelanders update on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Wastelanders is a much-anticipated update, as it introduces NPCs to the game.

Working from home has affected Bethesda’s ability to perform “final testing” on Wastelanders. As such, Bethesda has moved the release date by one week, to April 14.

“We’ve done everything we can to minimize the delay and can’t wait for everyone to play, Bethesda said, adding that the developer is especially thankful for Fallout 76’s Private Test Server players for their help during this time.

“We know this is a stressful time, and we can’t thank you enough for all the support you’ve given each other and us. We’re humbled to have such an incredible community that has stuck with us through ups and downs. It means the world to us, especially in times like this,” Bethesda added.

Bethesda also has confirmed that when Wastelanders releases on April 14, it will include new special events. Bethesda previously announced that Fallout 76 would also finally come to Steam on April 7 alongside the Wastelanders update, but it’s unclear if that’s still happening given the delay.

Fallout 76 launched to a pretty rocky start, and Bethesda has been implementing several large content updates since the game’s release in order to address player concerns. Prior to the announcement of Wastelanders, Fallout 76 saw new quests added in Wild Appalachia, a battle royale mode in Nuclear Winter, and challenging team-based raids.

In GameSpot’s Fallout 76 review, Edmond Tran wrote, “Bethesda has stated it intends to continue supporting the game for a long time, but at launch, Fallout 76 is a poor experience. There are echoes of the series’ admirable qualities, but look past that facade, past the cute Vault Boy animations, past the familiar radio tracks, and you’ll find no heart–just an inconsequential wasteland doomed to be nuked over and over again.”

A new Max Raid event has begun in Pokemon Sword and Shield. The event runs until 4:59 PM PT on April 27, and during that time, Gigantamax versions of Charizard, Duraludon, Copperajah, and Garbodor will be appearing more frequently in Max Raid dens.

All four Gigantamax Pokemon are available in both Sword and Shield, but five-star versions of the Raids are exclusive to certain games. Sword players can encounter five-star G-Max Duraludon and Copperajah, while Shield players will find five-star G-Max Charizard and Garbodor.

Gigantamax Pokemon are normally incredibly rare in Sword and Shield, making these events a good chance to add them to your collection. To refresh your Raids, you’ll first need to either connect your game online via the Y-Comm or go into Mystery Gift from the menu screen and select Get the Wild Area news. You can read more about the event on the official Pokemon website.

In addition to the new Max Raid event, there’s still a little time left to grab some free items in Sword and Shield. Until the end of the month, you can claim 20 Battle Points, a Bottle Cap, and three TR94s–which teach the Ground-type attack High Horsepower–via Mystery Gift. You can see all the free Sword and Shield gifts expiring soon in our roundup.

In other Pokemon news, Nintendo and The Pokemon Company shared some more details on Sword and Shield’s first expansion, Isle of Armor, during the surprise Nintendo Direct Mini. In particular, we learned more details on how to evolve the Legendary Pokemon Kubfu into Urshifu, as well as what G-max moves the Galar starting trio–Rillaboom, Cinderace, and Inteleon–will have when they learn how to Gigantamax.

Note from IGN Senior Editor Joshua Yehl: If you’ve suddenly found yourself with a lot of extra time on your hands that you don’t know what to do with, then worry not, because IGN is teaming up with some of our favorite comic book creators to help you out with a list of recommended reads. To kick things off, our first special guest is acclaimed comic book writer Brian Michael Bendis. Even if you haven’t read Ultimate Spider-Man, Powers, or his game-changing Avengers saga, you’ve probably seen his work reflected on screen, given he’s the co-creator of breakout characters Jessica Jones and Spider-Man Miles Morales. Having left Marvel Comics for DC Comics in 2017, Bendis now writes titles like Superman, Young Justice, and Legion of Superheroes, plus he’s spearheading a new imprint called Wonder Comics. He’s a five-time Eisner-award winner and has taught a college course on comics. Suffice to say, he knows a thing or two about good comics, so here’s what he thinks you ought to sink your eyeballs into.

Comic books were, sort of, born out of a traumatized war-torn world. They have always been truthful escapist places in real times of stress. We’ve all experienced that magic on some level. A place where a kid or adult can bury their face in a new comic and just feel… different.

In one of my all-time favorite (not comic) books High Fidelity by Nick Hornsby, the ultimate music fan is offered the opportunity to make his absolute Top Five List. It’s my favorite part of the book, and movie, watching the character start to unravel under the weight of the request. “Top five WHAT? Top five of all time? Top five songs you listen to in the desert?” That is how I felt when IGN approached me to put this list together.

I have 443,221 comics on my best comics of all time list. But I broke it down fast. This list is different from what would be my ultimate ultimate ultimate list. This is specifically things that I think would be healing, fun, inspiring, smart escapism in this weird world we find ourselves in. These books are teleportation vehicles — not only to another world with different rules and experiences for us but an important statement about how amazing comics can be.

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This is not the first time I’ve been personally quarantined with my books. I had a health scare a couple of years ago. A personal one. It was enough for me to take real stock of my feelings about, well, everything (but that’s another column). I know mileage varies for everyone but during and after I was sick I definitely didn’t want to read anything about other people being sick, or viruses, or near-death experiences, or watch… medical shows. I wanted full escapism. I wanted to be transported and taken into a hopeful, better place.

That’s what this list is.

So to my friends working on their pandemic allegories and future dystopias: You are doing amazing work and I love your comics but you’re not gonna see yourself here. Those are for another day.

Also, listen, I’ve been in comics for a while and I know a lot of people and I have been published by almost everyone so some of this is going to stink to high heaven of nepotism but these are really great comics. I met most of my pals in comics because we loved each other’s stuff. It happens.

Check out the list by flipping through the slideshow gallery below or keep scrolling to read it as an article.

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Black Hammer

By Jeff Lemire and Dean Ormston

Building new superhero universes is a feat unto itself. Building universes that speak to a commonality among the audience, a common knowledge that everyone reading can share is a very special thing indeed.

The Black Hammer “age of heroes” has long since passed and the heroes have all been banished from existence by a multiversal crisis. The Black Hammer universe is a perfectly built piece of fiction. It completely transports you away to a place where we can explore our shared love of comics energy. My biggest compliment to this work is, behind the scenes, a great deal of our peers keep showing me their new work and saying, “I think this is my Black Hammer.”

The Classic DC and Marvel Crossovers

There’s a lot of talk about these online this week and there’s a reason why. We know that comics’ secret weapon is the stories that can’t be told anywhere else. After the enormous Avengers: Endgame, [the Arrowverse crossover] Crisis on Infinite Earths, and [HBO’s] Watchmen all being successful huge TV and movie events, most of the audience thinks they have seen it all… Nuh uh.

The classic DC/Marvel crossovers are sadly not in print right now but you can get them online or by ordering them from any quality comic store. They are out there. I spent the last week with my son reading the Batman/Hulk crossover from years ago – Len Wein and Jose Luis Garcia Lopez at his absolute finest – and my 7 year-old son was completely! blown!! away!! May you be the person that first shows someone JLA/Avengers!!! Whaaaaaaat?

These are stories that would flatten any fan of any superhero universe of any age. Plus, if you find The Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans crossover by Chris Claremont and Walt Simonson, you will have one of the best comics ever made. These are the superhero comics for people who think they have read or experienced everything there is to experience with these characters.

(Also, the DC/MARVEL Amalgam Universe, but those are hard to find.)

Girl on Film

By Cecil Castellucci, Vicky Leta, Jon Berg, V. Gagnon, and Melissa Duffy

This original graphic novel memoir from award-winning young adult novelist Cecil Castellucci (illustrated by artists Vicky Leta, Jon Berg, V. Gagnon, and Melissa Duffy) is based on her own coming-of-age journey. Cecil tells you how she fell in love with the art of telling stories and how, well, everything has affected her as a writer. I know Cecil a little but I feel I know her way more than I actually do because this book is so warm and honest.

I feel reading this alone in your quarantine will feel like hanging out with a cool new friend who is into a lot of the same stuff you are. I also think this book will get you off your ass to make something.

Planetary

By Warren Ellis and John Cassady

I got a Warren Ellis addiction. Always have. Decades ahead of the pop culture curve, Ellis and John Cassady introduced us to the adventures of Elijah Snow, Jakita Wagner and the Drummer. Its hook was vaguely ‘X-Files for superheroes’ but that is just the slightest touch of what this book really is. A complete valentine to fiction in the twentieth century filled with all the paranormal secrets and secret, and not secret, histories.

And the entire series is one of the most satisfying reading ‘meals’ in all of comics. Planetary is the most imitated, most essential book of Warren Ellis’s career. More than Authority? YES! And that’s saying something. I could make this whole list about his stuff but this book itself is so entertaining and it takes you to so many places. And it is aging beautifully.

Isola

By Brenden Fletcher and Karl Kerschl

There are so many outstanding new “independent” comics out right now. So many. Once and Future, After Realm, The Three Kings, Bang. Fully realized worlds are popping up on the stands every week. And a lot of them are so beautifully illustrated.

Isola is a representation of this new whole wave and a stunning achievement on its own. Isola by writer Brenden Fletcher and writer/artist Karl Kerschl takes us to a gorgeous mystical land where the queen’s brother enacts a treacherous plot to transform her into a tiger. It takes us all on a colorful journey halfway across the globe to the fabled island of… Isola, gateway to the underworld.

This book is stunning and has that magic quality that no creator can conjure consciously: there’s something about these images that stay with you after you’ve read the book. Images that burn into your retina in a positive way. That’s actually something my friend David Mack can do as well. Comics!

This is also the kind of story that can only be told this way in comics. I have really taken a liking to comics that don’t just seem like storyboards for a Hollywood pitch but a reach to try something new in comics.

Akira

By Katsuhiro Otomo

On a list like this including Akira is like saying you like the Beatles or Nirvana. Way to go out on a limb! But soooo many people say to me, “Oh, I always meant to read that.” Well, there is no better comic book binge-reading meal than Akira. It is completely fulfilling.

Meanwhile

By Jason Shiga

This magnificent graphic novel is truly all ages; it works if you’re 66. It works if you’re 4. Follow the tabs to create your own story in this groundbreaking graphic novel. It’s a Choose Your Own Adventure book. I love Jason’s unique work. I love Demon, I love Fleep. But this one is truly for everybody.

Dial H for Hero / The Wonder Twins

By Sam Humphries and Joe Quinones / Mark Russell and Stephen Byrne

Here’s where I get in a bit of trouble. “Hey, dude, come on! These books were the cornerstone of your imprint at DC comics!!!”

Yes! But we wanted to make The Wonder Twins with Mark Russell and Stephen Byrne and Dial H for Hero by writer Sam Humphries and the amazing Joe Quinones because we wanted this kind of energy in the world. But I did not make these books.

They made them. They made them amazing. These books are so much better than we even hoped for!!

Dial H? Best pitch in comics! What would you do if you could become any superhero for just an hour? Sam and Joe took this crazy idea to dizzying heights!

Everything Mark Russell has bought to comics has risen to this next level. I selfishly wanted a Wonder Twins book by him to see him take these brilliant characters and say something with them… and he did!

On Writing

By Stephen King

Not a comic book. But if you are home and you might be thinking about writing… This is the book for you. If you’re serious about your craft, you should absolutely have Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud, Comics and Sequential Art by Will Eisner, Story by Robert McKee, and Making Comics by Lynda Barry. But for this quarantine, I think On Writing is a Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King that describes his experiences as a writer and his advice for aspiring writers.

This book makes you think about why you are writing what you’re writing from Stephen’s personal anecdotes and ideas. I found it extremely powerful.

Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen

By Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber

“Come on!! You know these guys. This is the Superman office you work in!!” Yes!! But this book is brilliant!! It’s absolutely brilliant. Like Hawkeye and Sex Criminals from Fraction before it… is not. what. you. think.

Also, for those of you who fancy yourselves big ass Matt Fraction fans, may I recommend his short-lived Defenders run. I think it’s as good as Hawkeye and Jimmy Olsen but doesn’t get the same amount of love. Three of Matt’s best all-time jokes are in Defenders.

Justice League of America: The Nail

By Alan Davis

Alan Davis is a master comic creator who embodies everything this list is supposed to be. His entire energy as a comics creator is powerful and uplifting. There are quite a few comic creators who fit this: Tom Taylor, Jason Aaron, Skottie Young, Mike Allred… Alan Davis is always looking deep into the soul of the characters and by doing so always creates something that is so reader-friendly.

This story revolves around what would happen if the Kents got a flat tire and never found baby Clark. Imagining a world without the Man of Steel, Alan has created an alternate history of the DC universe that inspires.

Copra

By Michel Fiffe

Michel Fiffe’s popular self-published series, Copra is a superhero face punch. A look at the superhero genre completely free to fly in any direction it needs to. Everyone I know in comics loves this comic. It’s just so pure and fun and it’s made with such heart.

Mind MGMT

By Matt Kindt

I love this globe-spanning espionage book. What a terrible way to describe a completely innovative genre smash. The story is of a journalist investigating the mystery of a commercial flight where everyone aboard loses their memories, but that is just the “what.” The “how” is something else!!

Matt finds new spaces on the page. New ways to inflict healthy exposition. It’s a real reason to curl up and get lost.

Nextwave

By Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen

Warren Ellis again! But NEXTWAVE!! Nextwave is the most brilliant piece of superhero nonsense I have ever read and I have read an incredible amount of superhero nonsense. This is a Master Class in serious not serious. I don’t actually want to say another word about it because I feel everything you say about it actually ruins a joke. It’s 12 issues by Warren and Stuart Immonen and master ink artist Wade Von Grawbadger at the tippy top of their games. Check it out.

Superman Smashes the Klan

By Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru

This one has such an interesting pedigree and history. Inspired by the 1940s Superman radio serial “Clan of the Fiery Cross,” National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Gene Luen Yang (American Born Chinese) and the powerful art of Gurihiru tells us the story of the adventures of the Lee family as they team up with Superman to, well, smash the Klan. It is a story that seems to need to be a comic. I can’t think of a more powerful medium to tell this. Gene and I do not know each other but we were scheduled to speak to each other at WonderCon. I have soooo many questions for when that day happens.

Monstress

By Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda

Where do I even begin with this amazing work??!! Describing the plot does nothing to describe the feeling of this book. Monstress tells the story of a girl who shares a psychic link with a monster of crazy power, a connection that will transform them both. Every panel is a world build. Every page a richly imagined art deco-inflected steampunk surprise. This world will wrap around you. I’m going to go read it again now!

Oh!! I could have filled this list with the life’s work of Mike Mignola, Jack Kirby, Greg Rucka, Frank Miller, the Hernandez brothers, Alan Moore, Will Eisner, Walt Simonson, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Tom King, George Perez, Möebius, and so many many others but arrgghhh!!! LISTS!!!

Hit me up on social media and let me know what you thought of these. I gotta go make more!!

BENDIS!

We are gathered here today to talk about Guns, Love, and Tentacles, the sharply written Lovecraftian DLC for Borderlands 3 which puts the wedding of Sir Hammerlock and Wainwright Jacobs in the center of its scopes. Though everything about it is exactly what you’d expect from Borderlands DLC – in a good way – it also doesn’t do much to make its few short hours really stand out.

What starts out as an eccentric couple’s wedding on the creepy, remote world of Xylourgos predictably turns into a nightmarish cataclysm of eldritch horrors. So, y’know, just some normal Borderlands stuff. You’ll smack, blast, and meat-bicycle your way through some unique areas like the eerie, possessed town of Cursehaven; the dark, sickening groves of Cankerwood; and the accursed halls of a manor controlled by a cult that worships a Cthulu-inspired God called Gythian. For a series that once had a big problem with the lack of diversity in its exclusively Pandoran environments, Guns, Love, and Tentacles feels like a victory lap of breathtaking views and unique areas.

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As usual, the Borderlands staples you know and love have been tweaked to fit the new setting, and in this case it results in some pretty gross aesthetics. For example, chests have a squid-like quality to them and gurgle and slither out juicy, slime-covered weapons, or they open a portal to another dimension and spit out some new items for your perusal. You’ll also have some new tentacle-themed cosmetics to unlock, like character skins and weapon ornaments. It’s a bummer, though, that there are no Lovecraftian weapons to chase. That’s a missed opportunity!

[poilib element=”quoteBox” parameters=”excerpt=It%E2%80%99s%20an%20overwhelmingly%20entertaining%20few%20hours%20thanks%20to%20stellar%20writing.”]The campaign is solid but short – you can blow through the bulk of it in just a few hours. That said, it’s an overwhelmingly entertaining few hours thanks to stellar writing and jokes that land more often than they miss. There are some misses in the level design, too, like a few sections which require platforming – something Borderlands has never been great with. One such section is a boss fight that requires you to jump onto levitating platforms to take down the enemy’s shields and if you make a wrong move you’ll need to start the fight all over again (unless you’re playing with a friend you can use as a spawn anchor).

Fortunately for those of us who’ve been waiting for more DLC since December, there’s plenty to do aside from the main story. Sidequests are mostly entertaining distractions, and there are occult creature hunts to go on for Sir Hammerlock which can be fairly challenging. For rewards, you’ll have eight new legendary weapons to chase for those who want to be best equipped to slay Gythian’s octo-pals with extreme prejudice. On the other hand, some tasks are pretty dry, like picking flowers for your new testicle-eating friend. Yup. That’s a thing.

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On Xylourgos you’ll mainly fight against occult followers of Gythian. These weirdos interact with you and one another in all sorts of interesting ways during combat, like buffing and healing one another, resurrecting fallen allies from the dead as exploding suiciders, or even eating your guns. That’s right: they literally eat your guns, those monsters! Each encounter with these tentacle-loving psychopaths has to be considered before being tackled, because not killing necromancers before taking on everyone else could result in you getting overwhelmed by undead explodey boys. Xylourgos’ mobs are deadly, sometimes annoyingly so, but the end result is some of the most interesting combat encounters we’ve seen in Borderlands.

[poilib element=”quoteBox” parameters=”excerpt=It%E2%80%99s%20more%20Borderlands%203%2C%20which%20is%20great%2C%20but%20it%20feels%20by-the-numbers.”]Aside from the interesting new mobs, though, there isn’t really a whole lot that Guns, Love, and Tentacles does that’s unique. It’s more Borderlands 3, which is great, but it all ends up feeling like a very by-the-numbers expansion that’s fun for a few hours and not especially groundbreaking. Even the formidable bosses aren’t much more than bullet sponges with a bad attitude. But, y’know, when you find yourself shoving your fist into piles of wendigo dung, remember: this is exactly what you signed up for.

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The Bravely series, until now, consisted of two delightful games on Nintendo’s 3DS system. They’re the sorts of games perfect for pick-up-and-go handheld play, which is why I was so excited at the first reveal of Bravely Default II late last year. Not only do I love the Bravely games on 3DS, but Octopath Traveler, made by the same team, is one of my favorite games on Nintendo Switch.

The great news is, based on what I’ve played of the demo, everything I loved about Bravely Default and Bravely Second have made their way to Switch, and even some of what I loved about Octopath Traveler is here, too.

Battle Systems Ready

The real draw for me of the Bravely Default series lies in its battle system. You can either attack, or “default,” which puts your character into a defensive stance and accrues a “Brave Point,” or BP. You can stack these BP up to 4 times and unleash 4 consecutive attacks on one turn. You can also go into “debt” with the BP, but doing so renders your character unable to attack for as many points as you spent.

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In other words, if you attack your foe four times and go into the hole, you have to wait at least four turns until you can attack again. It adds extra strategy to the battles, and once you get a handle on it, it gives them a a satisfying flow. I haven’t come across any major changes to its systems in the demo, but that’s fine because it’s like an old familiar blanket on a cold winter’s night.

Watercolor Miniatures

The best way I can describe the art style of Bravely Default II is to say it’s like someone tilt-shifted a watercolor painting. It’s a cuter version of the gorgeous illustrative work Yoshitako Amano has done for the Final Fantasy series over the decades, and in a lot of ways Bravely Default itself is a cuter version of Final Fantasy.

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The backdrops look like living paintings, and the tilt-shift effect gives it a sense of depth lost in the transition from the 3DS to the Switch. It works incredibly well, and I the extra power of the Switch versus the 3DS allows for some new lighting effects, too. Assign the Vanguard job to one of your party members and watch the light dance and shimmer across the edges of their armor, for example.

A Story Like… Well, Many Others

If you’re familiar at all with JRPG tropes, there are no surprises here, at least as far as the demo is concerned. The entire series has played it very safe in the story department, and I’m completely OK with that. For me, the allure of Bravely, or really any RPG on a portable system, is how easily I can pick it up and put it down. What feels grind-y on a console or PC feels like a fun time-waster on a handheld. Grinding to pass the time is a lot like a fun but mindless smartphone app you pull out on the bus or when you’re at the doctor’s office waiting for an appointment.

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As pointless as it seems, given this is only a demo, I spent most of my first hour with Bravely Default II just grinding outside the town. It’s borderline therapeutic to me to rinse and repeat, building up levels and improving my gear, and I know I’ll spend most of my time in both the demo and the full game doing just that.

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The Bravely Default II demo is available right now on the Nintendo eShop and it’s surprisingly robust. There are some missing features, sure, and the framerate has a tendency to drop from time to time, but the core of the game is there and it’s pretty meaty for a demo. It’s also a little harder than I expected, something it warns you of at the start, but that just makes it feel all the better, like a good JRPG should. If you can tear yourself away from Animal Crossing to check out a good ol’ fashioned turn-based RPG with some novel systems, I cannot recommend it enough.

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Seth Macy is IGN’s tech and commerce editor and just wants to be your friend. Find him on Twitter @sethmacy.

At the same time as Fallout 76‘s big Wastelanders DLC expansion goes live on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, developer Bethesda outlined two new events coming to the online action-RPG on April 7.

The first one, titled Riding Shotgun, sees players protecting a Brahmin-led caravan from the ruthless Blood Eagle gang. Those that manage to protect one (or both) will receive some loot, XP, and Caps for their troubles. But also during the journey, players are tasked with collecting lost items from the Blue Ridge Caravan Company’s previous attempts to get the convoy up the steep cliffs of the Savage Divide. Protect the caravan and secure the lost supplies, and you’ll be rewarded handsomely with “better rewards” for the effort.

Radiation Rumble is the second event, and it requires much more strategic planning as it tasks players with performing two jobs at once: defending scavengers in one place while collecting ore from another. Players will need to protect a bunch of scavengers from mysterious, glowing creatures. In addition to providing protection, you will also need to gather as much irradiated ore as possible to earn “gear, supplies, reputation, XP, Caps, or even legendary items.” This event is recommended for level 50-plus players.

Both events go live at the same time as Fallout 76’s Wastelanders expansion launches on all platforms. The big update introductions a bunch of additions and adjustments, most notably the inclusion of NPCs to flesh out the game’s otherwise barren world. Wastelanders is a free update for all players.

In other Fallout 76 news, Bethesda recently dropped a patch for the game that makes some behind-the-scenes preparations for Wastelanders. In addition to this, the update makes plenty of worthwhile tweaks, like stabilizing the game to prevent crashes, correcting visual effects, and more.

Remedy Entertainment, the studio behind Control, Max Payne and Alan Wake, has signed two multi-platform publishing deals for next-gen games – and says both are set in the same franchise.

In a statement from the company, it was revealed that the unspecified publisher “will fully fund game development costs” and that Remedy will see a “50% share of the net revenue” from sales, whilst retaining the intellectual property of the aforementioned games.

The statement also went into some detail about the games that are part of this agreement. The first is a “AAA multi-platform game” which appears to be the unannounced third project alluded to in Remedy’s financial report, which we reported on earlier this year. According to the statement, this game is in pre-production right now. As for the second project, this is a “smaller-scale project set in the same franchise.”

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With Remedy now in *ahem* control of the Alan Wake IP and actively teasing a crossover in Control’s upcoming DLC, could we be seeing more of Bright Falls in the future? Or could it return to Control and The Oldest House – after all, the developers think their latest game is “just the start” for the franchise.

Later in the statement, the strategy of the partnership is referred to as “creating and developing (Remedy’s) own IP’s into long-term franchises,” which would suggest that the studio is not quite ready to leave its compelling worlds behind.

Both games mentioned will launch on PC and next-generation consoles in “the next few years.” Remedy’s Control won our coveted Game of the Year prize last year, so make sure to check it out ahead of the studio’s forthcoming projects.

Control’s first expansion, The Foundation arrives today on PC and PS4, and we’ll have a review for you later today.

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Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.