If you've been looking for some new manga to add to your shelf, the latest Amazon sale is actually quite tempting. For a limited time you can get 50% off select manga when you buy another at full price on Amazon. Only certain editions and volumes apply for popular manga like Berserk and One Piece, but there are some really good collections and deluxe editions included in this promotion as well. You can check out the full list of manga included in this sale for yourself or dive into some of the best things I managed to find below.

One thing to note about this sale is that it's a little bit different from how Amazon has handled BOGO promotions in the past. You will need to manually clip the coupon before you can get access to the discount, rather than simply adding two eligible items to your cart. You can do this by clicking the giant 'apply promotion' button at the top of the sale page or redeeming the coupon code on one of the sales pages.

Amazon Buy 1, Get 1 50% Off Manga Sale

One of the major downsides of this sale is that there aren't that many first volumes available. The One Piece series, for example, only has volume 35, 26, and 20 included in the sale. So you can't realistically get started with that manga at a discount. And for the manga that does include a volume 1 in the sale, the second volume is almost never included. The only exception to this is the Elden Ring manga titled The Road to the Erdtree.

If you're a fan of Elden Ring, both volume 1 and 2 of the official manga are included in this promotion. The story follows Aseo, a Tarnished who begins his journey through the Lands Between as he tries to become the next Elden Lord. There are a total of five volumes available in the series, but only the first two are included in the sale. With the 50% discount applied, you can currently get copies of volume 1 and 2 for only $16.55.

Another manga based on video games that's worth picking up in this sale is the Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask / Link to the Past Legendary Edition. It contains two full volumes of the Legend of Zelda manga that follows the story of Link that appeared in each of those games. This is the only volume included in this sale, however, so you'll need to find something else to buy with to get the full discount.

With Halloween just around the corner, I also wanted to highlight some of the Junji Ito collections featured in here. Ito crafts some of the most horrific manga stories imaginable in the best way and these collections are a great way to enjoy them. Included in this sale is the most recent release: Moan, which just came out earlier in October.

Do You Need to Be a Prime Member?

The good thing about Amazon's buy one, get one sales is that you do not need to have an Amazon Prime membership to take advantage of the savings. You do need to be signed into an Amazon account to actually claim the coupon, but a Prime membership is not required after that. If you don't have Prime, however, you will be subject to the usual $35 minimum order for free shipping.

In so many ways, Ninja Gaiden 4 is exactly what I wanted it to be. It’s a collaborative effort between Team Ninja and Platinum Games, two of my all time favorite developers; it builds off the combat from Ninja Gaiden 2, which has the best action of the series in my eyes; and it comes packed with small touches that make it a bit more approachable without sacrificing the tough-as-nails difficulty that longtime fans like me expect. But while I’d even go so far as to say this combat system is among the very best I’ve ever seen, Ninja Gaiden 4 stumbles in many other areas – from its bland new lead character, to its uninspired level design, to its predictable story that falls completely flat. The action is still so good that a lot of those shortcomings get deflected like bullets against Ryu Hayabusa’s sword, but others slip through that defense and wound what is otherwise an incredible revival for the Master Ninja.

Story has never been a selling point of the Ninja Gaiden series, so it didn’t come as a surprise to me that Ninja Gaiden 4’s plot was one of its weakest elements. It introduces us to our new protagonist, Yakumo, a skilled ninja of the Raven Clan whose initial goal to kill a priestess of the Dark Dragon instead quickly turns into a mission to escort her to a handful of magic seals in an effort to really for realsies kill the Dark Dragon for good this time.

What follows is an extremely predictable 10-hour campaign with attempts at big emotional moments that fall flat because the legwork to make you care about these characters is never done. There is some banter that happens between Yakumo, his handler, and the other members of his little Raven Clan squad, but it’s never charming or endearing, and certainly never develops to a point where I ever got a real sense that these characters were actually close. Yakumo primarily communicates with grunts, growls, acknowledgements of the mission objectives, and angry threats, and as a result just comes off as a lame edgelord most of the time.

You do get to play a couple of chapters as Ryu toward the end, and while these are a welcome reprieve, they also feel like a huge missed opportunity. His levels have him retracing Yakumo’s steps, fighting through the same environments, mostly the same enemies, and the same bosses, but this time with fewer combat options since Ryu only has access to one weapon, a far less interesting Gleam Form to replace Yakumo’s Bloodraven Form, and just four returning Ninpo super attacks. Imagine Dante’s missions from Devil May Cry 4, except he doesn’t get any new weapons, his playstyle is almost exactly the same as Nero, and there’s none of the cool Dante trash talk.

I am willing to forgive an action game for a lot if the action itself is good, and fortunately Ninja Gaiden 4’s combat isn’t just good, it’s phenomenal. It’s incredibly fast, the enemies are intelligent and won’t let you do the same thing over and over again, there’s a great deal of flexibility that allows you to change up your approach to each fight, it looks slick as hell, and it has that trademark Team Ninja fluidity mixed with the over-the-top craziness that Platinum Games is renowned for. It just checks every single box.

The secret sauce here is enemy aggression. Enemies are absolutely ruthless in Ninja Gaiden 4. They don’t politely wait their turn as they attack from off screen, hit you with unblockables, grab you if you try to turtle up, armor through your regular attacks, and overwhelm you with sheer numbers. It’s a style of combat that is totally unique to this series, and that suffocating pressure from enemies is what makes every combat encounter such a thrilling fight for survival.

All of that may sound brutal, but Yakumo’s own toolset is extremely powerful as well. You have the iconic Flying Swallow technique that allows you to zip towards an enemy, potentially slicing their head off in just a single hit; the Izuna Drop air combo that ends in a flying piledriver that will instantly kill most enemies in a single blow; the plethora of powerful unlockable attacks for each weapon; and most importantly, ultimate techniques that let you absorb essence from defeated enemies to charge up a flashy combo that is completely invulnerable, can hit multiple enemies, and does extremely high damage.

None of this is new to Ninja Gaiden 4, and in fact is just a basic overview of what’s always been great about the combat in this series. But it’s important to talk about because my biggest concern coming into Ninja Gaiden 4 was that it would feel less like Ninja Gaiden and more like a Platinum Games game – not that there’s anything wrong with that, it’s just not what I’d want out of a return I’ve been waiting 13 years for. Fortunately, that’s not the case. This is a Ninja Gaiden game through and through with a light touch of Platinum flavor to enhance it even further.

That flavor mostly comes in the form of one big addition to the combat system: Yakumo’s Bloodraven Form. By holding down the left trigger, Yakumo will transform his weapon into a slower, more extravagant version with a completely new set of moves and the ability to break an enemy’s guard or interrupt their super attacks. These attacks are sick as hell, and definitely bring to mind some of Bayonetta’s Wicked Weave heavy attacks, especially the Rapier that turns into a huge drill, or the staff that turns into a giant hammer.

But more than being cool to look at, they add a new dimension to combat that forces you to be reactive to how the enemies are dealing with your offense. If you go into autopilot and spam light attacks, enemies will block your strikes and deliver a damaging counter of their own. But if you notice that they’re flashing white and shrugging off your attacks, you can hit them with a Bloodraven Form attack to not only deal big damage, but also open them up to even more punishment after breaking their guard.

Bloodraven Form moves are tied to a meter that drains pretty quickly, adding an extra layer of resource management I enjoyed. These blood infused attacks are also generally pretty slow, which makes them a bit risky to try and interrupt a faster armored attack. So you need to decide whether to risk wasting your meter by pre-emptively using a blood attack to try and catch an armored move during its initial animation, whether to risk your health by trying to wait and react to one of their slower and more telegraphed armored moves, or or whether to use the meter defensively instead to try and perfectly block otherwise unblockable techniques. Whatever the case, having multiple different options to deal with a challenging combat encounter is crucial in a game like this, and Ninja Gaiden 4 is stacked with options to play around with.

One departure from previous games is that instead of individually upgrading your weapons and having each improvement come with new moves and increased power, this time around you must buy all of your upgrades a la carte. Universal upgrades that affect every weapon cost Ninja Coin, which is a currency gained primarily from completing side missions, optional Purgatory challenges, and as a reward for completing a chapter. Weapon specific techniques on the other hand must be purchased with Weapon EXP, which is gained simply by fighting enemies. The better you perform, the more Weapon EXP you get. I enjoyed always having something new to unlock the whole way through, even though I do think Ninja Gaiden 4 is a little stingy with your starting set of upgrades.

Baseus recently released a new "ultra mini" variant of its Picogo MagSafe power banks, and it certainly lives up to its name. Right now you can save 40% off the 5,000mAh Qi2-certified model when you apply coupon code "NCC6Q5A5" in cart, dropping the price to just $29.99 with free shipping. Baseus makes solid power banks and I recommend them as a less expensive alternative to Anker.

Baseus Picogo Ultra Mini 5,000mAh Qi2 MagSafe Power Bank

Black Friday deals are arriving at Best Buy sooner than you'd think. The tech retailer put out a press release this week to announce a new Halloween savings event as well as the rest of its holiday shopping calendar for 2025.

According to the schedule, early Black Friday deals will begin at Best Buy on October 31 and will run through November 19. Following that, the full Best Buy Black Friday sale will kick off Thursday, November 20 — one full week before Thanksgiving.

Despite the lack of details, we can look at last year's Best Buy Black Friday ad to get an idea of what to expect in 2025. Last year, some of the best early deals were on popular Apple devices, headphones, TVs, and major appliances. You can likely expect something similar this year with Best Buy offering similar discounts, likely on previous generation tech in those categories. This will probably include the Apple Watch Series 10 and the 10th generation iPad, but nothing has been confirmed yet.

Early deals are generally a good time to find deals on older tech at Best Buy, with many of the best discounts saved for the official Black Friday sale down the line. This makes it a surprisingly good time to buy a TV if you aren't looking for the latest model. Best Buy will usually have some great deals on TCL and Hisense TVs before Black Friday.

Battlefield 6 is giving fans some of the most cinematic FPS action they’ve seen in years, but one of its hard-to-reach Recon skins has the community in stitches.

Die-hard fans of military shooters like Call of Duty and Battlefield have spent the last few years arguing about what place — if any — goofy skins have in their favorite video games. Although EA and Battlefield Studios’ latest has largely dodged the conflict with its commitment to a more grounded approach to cosmetics, it’s not managed to emerge from the wreckage completely unscathed.

A Song of Ice and Fire has been solidified as a defining work of fiction over the past 27 years. George R.R. Martin’s fantasy book saga ascended into the zeitgeist through an ongoing series of bestselling novels and HBO's adaptation of unprecedented success. And its pop culture prevalence persists thanks in part to HBO's excellent follow-up series, House of the Dragon and the upcoming Knight of the Seven Kingdoms spinoff.

With House of the Dragon Season 3 and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms both coming out in 2026, now is a great time to dive into the source material and visit Westeros through the lens of its architect. For those who’ve yet to read A Song of Ice and Fire novels (and its companion books), we’ve put together this guide on how to read all the Game of Thrones books in chronological order.

Jump to:

• Game of Thrones books in chronolgical order
• Game of Thrones books by release date
• Upcoming GoT books

How Many Game of Thrones Books Are There in the Series?

George R.R. Martin has published five novels in his A Song of Ice and Fire saga. He’s working on two future volumes in the series: The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring. And while those books are still in the works from Martin, fans continue to worry that they will never actually be finished.

Martin has published several ASoIaF companion works as well, including three Dunk & Egg novellas (collected in 2015’s A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms), three Targaryan-focused novellas (collected and expanded upon in 2018’s Fire & Blood), and a world compendium titled The World of Ice & Fire. More on all of these below.

Game of Thrones Book Sets

If you're a fan of physical media, one of the best ways to enjoy the Game of Thrones books is as a set. There a few different book sets that you can buy to get all of the books all at once, but the most display-worthy set is the leather-bound version that was meant to sit upon a shelf.

How to Read the Game of Thrones Books in Chronological Order

With series newcomers in mind, these brief plot synopses contain only mild spoilers such as broad plot points and character introductions.

1. Fire & Blood

Fire & Blood, the source material for HBO’s House of the Dragon, is a history of the House Targaryen 300-year reign in Westeros. Unlike the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Fire & Blood isn’t told from the perspective of characters involved in the plot; rather it’s framed as a recounting of the Targaryen dynasty by a character named Gyldayn, an archmaester of the Citadel who lived toward the end of the Targaryen reign into Robert Baratheon’s.

While this sets Gyldayn’s act of writing around the start of A Song of Ice and Fire (ASoIaF), the actual events recounted in the archmaester's history begin 300 years before A Game of Thrones and span roughly 150 years – the second 150 years of the Targaryen reign are expected to be covered in Fire & Blood Volume 2.

Fire & Blood spans the lifetimes of six Targaryen rulers, beginning with Aegon I Targaryen and his conquest of Westeros. Within these 150 years, The Dying of the Dragons (aka The Dance of the Dragons) occurs, which is the tale told in HBO’s House of the Dragon.

Fire & Blood includes and expands upon three ASoIaF novellas previously published by Martin: The Princess and the Queen, or, the Blacks and the Greens (2013), The Rogue Prince (2014), and The Sons of the Dragon (2017).

The recently published The Rise of the Dragon, meanwhile, is a condensed and illustrated version of Fire & Blood.

2. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is a collection of three novellas starring a hedge knight named Ser Duncan the Tall (Dunk) and his squire Aegon V Targaryen (Egg). Their adventures are set roughly 90 years before the events of A Game of Thrones, and will serve as the basis for the next Game of Thrones TV adaptation, also called A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.

It’s not essential reading, as it’s not part of (or even set during) the mainline novels, though the novellas are great for anyone looking for further adventures and/or new perspectives in the Seven Kingdoms.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms compiles three novellas: The Hedge Knight (1998), The Sworn Sword (2003), and The Mystery Knight (2010).

3. A Game of Thrones

The book that started it all in 1996, A Game of Thrones is the first ASoIaF novel. It's the reader’s introduction to the world of Westeros, its surrounding regions, its prominent families, and many of the colorful characters that comprise the series’ heroes and villains.

A Game of Thrones is set during the reign of Robert Baratheon, following Robert’s Rebellion and the end of the Targaryen dynasty. It sets into motion the War of the Five Kings, during which five men stake their claim to the Iron Throne. Political scheming, backstabbing, familial strife, and bloodshed follow – themes common throughout the entirety of ASoIaF.

The story is told through points of view that alternate from chapter to chapter. Excluding the prologue, the point-of-view characters in A Game of Thrones are Eddard Stark, Catelyn Stark, Sansa Stark, Arya Stark, Bran Stark, Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister, and Daenerys Targaryen, whose story unfolds across the Narrow Sea in the eastern continent of Essos.

Martin’s novella Blood of the Dragon is largely repurposed material from the Daenerys chapters in A Game of Thrones, hence its exclusion from this list.

4. A Clash of Kings

A Clash of Kings continues the War of the Five Kings. The pronounced kings rally their banners, the Lannisters attempt to solidify their power in King’s Landing, Jon Snow marches north of the Wall with the Night’s Watch, and Dany navigates a foreign land.

Excluding the prologue, the point-of-view characters in A Clash of Kings are Catelyn Stark, Sansa Stark, Arya Stark, Bran Stark, Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister, Daenerys Targaryen, Theon Greyjoy, and Davos Seaworth.

5. A Storm of Swords

The third ASoIaF novel, A Storm of Swords, essentially brings the War of the Five Kings to an end, save for some lingering claimants and conflicts.

As the war dies down in the Seven Kingdoms, the Stark children navigate crises near and far while Jon Snow ventures with wildlings beyond the Wall. In the East, Dany learns to lead.

Excluding the prologue and epilogue, the point-of-view characters in A Storm of Swords are Catelyn Stark, Sansa Stark, Arya Stark, Bran Stark, Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister, Daenerys Targaryen, Davos Seaworth, Jaime Lannister, and Samwell Tarly.

Martin’s novella Path of the Dragon is largely repurposed material from the Daenerys chapters in A Storm of Swords, hence its exclusion from this list.

6. A Feast for Crows

Picking up after the events of the previous novel, A Feast for Crows runs concurrently with the fifth novel, A Dance with Dragons. Several of the series' most beloved characters – Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister, Daenerys Targaryen – are saved for the following book, which focuses on the characters at the Wall and across the Narrow Sea. In their absence, Feast focuses on new and returning characters politicking in King’s Landing, the Iron Islands, and Dorne as winter arrives in Westeros.

"It dawned on [Martin] that the book had become too big to publish in a single volume,” the author published in an afternote for A Feast for Crows. As such, the story was split into two books (Feast and Dance) with each book telling “all the story for half the characters, rather than half the story for all the characters.”

Excluding the prologue, the point-of-view characters in A Feast for Crows are Sansa Stark, Arya Stark, Jaime Lannister, Samwell Tarly, Cersei Lannister, Brienne of Tarth, Aeron Greyjoy, Victarion Greyjoy, Arianne Martell, Asha Greyjoy, Areo Hotah, and Arys Oakheart.

Martin’s novella Arms of the Kraken is largely repurposed material from the Iron Islands chapters in A Feast for Crows, hence its exclusion from this list.

7. A Dance with Dragons

A Dance with Dragons brings back the beloved point-of-view characters missing from Feast and picks up after the events of the third book, A Storm of Swords. As Martin notes in his prelude to A Dance with Dragons, Feast and Dance “are parallel… divided geographically, rather than chronologically.” However, it does eventually move beyond the events of Feast, making it the novel set furthest in the ASoIaF chronology.

In a Dance with Dragons, a new Lord Commander runs the Night Watch, Dany navigates the burdens of power, the Greyjoys move east, a Martell flies too close to the sun, Brienne reunites with an old friend, Arya continues her training, Tyrion's on the lam, and a new claimant to the Iron Throne appears.

Excluding the prologue and epilogue, the point-of-view characters in A Dance with Dragons are Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister, Daenerys Targaryen, Bran Stark, Arya Stark, Theon Greyjoy, Quentyn Martell, Davos Seaworth, Barriston Selmy, Asha Greyjoy, Cersei Lannister, Jaime Lannister, Jon Connington, Victarion Greyjoy, Areo Hotah, and Melisandre.

A Dance with Dragons was published in 2011. Readers have been waiting 11 years for its follow-up, The Winds of Winter (more on this below).

Bonus: The World of Ice & Fire

The World of Ice & Fire is a companion compendium to the ASoIaF novels. It’s a great coffee table book, full of illustrations and a deep history of Martin’s world dating back to the arrival of the First Men in Westeros during the Dawn Age (some 12,000 years before A Game of Thrones).

The Winds of Winter

Martin has two novels left to publish in his planned seven-book A Song of Ice and Fire saga. The sixth (and next) book, The Winds of Winter, will pick up after the events of A Dance with Dragons.

Martin has already published several blogs about and preview chapters from Winds, revealing there will be point-of-view chapters from Tyrion, Cersei, Sansa, Arya, Theon, Barriston Selmy, and others.

The author said with The Winds of Winter, ASoIaF will move "further and further away from the television series." More recently, Martin said the novel, despite being "13 years late," is "still a priority," and admits he doesn't feel great about missing deadlines and disappointing fans. He previously said he was 75% done with Winds and predicted it will be over 1,500 pages.

A Dream of Spring

The final ASoIaF book is to be titled A Dream of Spring, should Martin complete and publish it.

Fire & Blood Volume 2

In addition to writing the mainline saga, Martin has confirmed he is working on the second volume of Fire & Blood. The Targaryen history is planned as a two-part series, with this second volume presumably covering the second 150 years of the family's 300-year reign.

Future Dunk & Egg Novellas

Martin has also expressed his desire to write additional Dunk & Egg novellas. He said these wouldn’t be published until he completes work on Winds of Winter, though “it has always been [his] intent to write a whole series of novellas about Dunk and Egg, chronicling their entire lives.”

The fourth Dunk & Egg novella (unfinished as of 2024) is set in Winterfell, according to Martin, and involves “a group of formidable Stark wives, widows, mothers, and grandmothers that I dubbed ‘the She-Wolves.’” He added, “The final title, when I finish the story, will be something different. There's also another Dunk & Egg novella that I've got roughed out in my head, with the working title ‘The Village Hero’. That one takes place in the Riverlands. There's no telling when I will have time to finish either of these, or which one I will write first. I don't expect I will know more until I've delivered The Winds of Winter.”

Martin has “notes and fairly specific ideas” for other Dunk & Egg adventures in addition to the tentatively titled She-Wolves and Village Hero. Martin even provided potential titles for these stories in a comment on his blog: The Sellsword, The Champion, The Kingsguard, The Lord Commander, “and several more in between.”

An HBO series following the duo's adventures is in the works, with Season 1 being an adaptation of the first novella, The Hedge Knight. Development on A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is being led by Steve Conrad (Prime Video's Patriot), and the show is expected to premiere on Max and HBO in 2026.

For more, check out the best fantasy books reading list or pick up one of the best reading lights.

Jordan Sirani covers games, shows, and movies as a freelance writer for IGN.

Ahead of the holiday season, Amazon just dropped the price on a current generation LG OLED TV. Right now you can order a massive 77" LG Evo C5 4K OLED Smart TV for $1,996.99 with free delivery. The 77" size is rarely discounted to under $2,000 and if you simply cannot wait until Black Friday (for example, you want to get it in time to watch Ohtani in the World Series), then you won't find a better price on a comparable TV. The C5 is LG's current generation 2025 model.

77" LG Evo C5 4K OLED Smart TV for $1,997

Humans like to consider themselves the top of the food chain, and while that idea might work on Earth, we barely scrape by in the galactic gladiator competition. The Predator franchise, which began with the classic Scwarzenegger film in 1987, is all about the "Yautja" - towering trophy-seeking hunters from space who travel to different worlds for lethal competition and have been known to kidnap species for hunts back on their home planet.

Two initial Predator films in 1987 and 1990 created a baseline for the Predator saga. Since Xenomorphs from the Alien moves are also a cinematic scourge for humanity, it made perfect sense in the 2000's to create a shared universe with two Alien vs. Predator flicks. In the following decade, directors such as Robert Rodriquez, Shane Black, and Dan Trachtenberg all put their spins on the franchise.

With Predator: Killer of Killers now streaming and Predator: Badlands arriving later this year, it's a better time than ever to binge the original sci-fi classics. If you want to watch every Predator movie in order, we've got you covered! Below you'll find the full timeline of the Predator movies and where to watch them online.

Jump to:

• How to watch in chronological order
• How to watch by release order

You can also check out our guide to the Alien movies in order to incorporate the whole timeline.

How Many Predator Movies Are There?

There are a total of eight movies in the Predator franchise — four in the mainline series of films, two Alien crossovers, one prequel, and one anthology film. A new mainline Predator movie is set to release later in 2025.

Predator Movies in (Chronological) Order

1. Predator: Killer of Killers (2025)

Killer of Killers is an anthology film featuring different iterations of Predators doing what they do best across three different timelines. The first two timelines, set in the Viking Age and Feudal Japan, take place hundreds of years before even the prequel Prey. The third timeline, however, is set after World War 2, after Prey and before the original Predator. I'd argue Killer of Killers is best enjoyed with context from the original movie, but the animated anthology can be watched at any point in a Predator marathon.

Read IGN's review of Predator: Killer of Killers

2. Prey (2022)

Prey is a prequel and therefore designed to be watched after everything else (especially Predator 2) but if one is truly looking to take in the Predator franchise in chronological order this is the place to begin. Set in 1719, across the the Great Plains, Prey follows a young Comanche woman, Naru (Amber Midthunder), who gets more than she bargains for when she accompanies her brother on a hunt and winds up in the crosshairs of a (more primitive) Predator. Determined to prove herself, Naru sets her sights on taking the alien stalker down in this fresh and thrilling take from the three-decade saga.

Read IGN's review of Prey

3. Predator (1987)

It all started with 1987's Predator, directed by Die Hard's John McTiernan and starring heyday Arnold Schwarzenegger, along with Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura, Bill Duke, and Shane Black (who would direct his own Predator film many years later). Predator is an awesome action classic where a near-unstoppable military rescue team gets their asses handed to them by a terrifying invisible force in the jungles of South America. When the attacker is revealed to be an alien hunter out on its own version of a sinister safari, Schwarzenegger's Dutch must figure out how to ambush and defeat a monster light years ahead of him in tech and tactics.

4. Predator 2 (1990)

A few years later, Predator returned to multiplexes for more massacres and mayhem, but this time with a complete change of cast and setting. Taking place amongst a near-future heatwave/crimewave -- 1997 Los Angeles -- Predator 2 follows cops played by Danny Glover, Bill Paxton, Ruben Blades, and María Conchita Alonso as they attempt to not only deal with a bloody Cartel war on the streets, but a badass alien Predator too, stalking the cityscape for victims.

5. AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004)

After 14 years -- with novels, comics, and video games keeping the franchise flames lit -- Predator came back in a huge way with a full crossover movie, merging with the Alien saga, which hadn't been dormant but definitely struggled to find its footing in the '90s. Alien vs. Predator, from Resident Evil/Event Horizon's Paul W. S. Anderson, was a big hit, injecting new life into both sci-fi/horror properties. Set in "present day" America, AVP introduced a nasty bit of history connecting the Yautja and Xenomorphs. Namely that Predators had been conducting hunts on Earth for centuries using humans as breeding bodies for Xenos, and then hunting down the Xeno swarm for "right of passage" sport. Sanaa Lathan, Lance Henriksen, Raoul Bova, and Ewen Bremner star.

Read IGN's review of AVP: Alien vs. Predator

6. Aliens vs Predator: Requiem (2007)

The sequel to AVP, Aliens vs Predator: Requiem, picks up right where AVP left off, so timeline-wise this is all the same battle. Not as successful as its predecessor (hence it being the final crossover film) Requiem delivered an Alien-Predator hybrid, known as the "Predalien," as it attacked a small Colorado town and a Predator "cleaner" being dispatched to take down this new monstrosity.

Read IGN's review of Alien vs. Predator: Requiem here.

7. Predators (2010)

The only Predator movie to not take place on Earth, Predators, from Robert Rodriguez, looked to shake up the formula a bit by bringing audiences to a distant planet, a Yautja game reserve. With a killer cast including Adrien Brody, Walton Goggins, Laurence Fishburne, Topher Grace, and Alice Braga, Predators showed fans how humans, specifically "established killers," are abducted and used for sport between two warring Yautja tribes.

Timeline-wise, this is a tricky one. It's never clearly stated when this all happens. Meaning, the Earth year. But it's easy enough to just assume it's 2010, when the movie was released. Or, in the very least, based on the characters, the early 21st Century. So Predators can fit into your chronological viewing plans here, at number six, or you can save it for last.

Read IGN's review of Predators

8. The Predator (2018)

Despite Predators being a modest hit it would still be eight years before a new Predator film hit the big screen and with 2018's The Predator, director/co-writers Shane Black (Iron Man 3, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) would take the franchise back to its original formula (which he himself starred in) by presenting a squad of unstable soldiers -- played by the likes of Boyd Holbrook, Trevante Rhodes, Keegan-Michael Key, Thomas Jane and Game of Thrones' Alfie Allen -- who take on a pair of rampaging Predators and thwart their Yautja schemes (which involve DNA splicing). The film ends with a tease for more, while alternate/unused endings featured time traveling versions of both Alien's Ellen Ripley and Rebecca "Newt" Jorden in a new grab for crossover gold.

Read IGN's review of The Predator

How to Watch the Predator Movies by Release Date

If you're looking to watch all the movies in theatrical release order, the correct list is below:

1. Predator (1987)
2. Predator 2 (1990)
3. AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004)
4. Aliens vs Predator: Requiem (2007)
5. Predators (2010)
6. The Predator (2018)
7. Prey (2022)
8. Predator: Killer of Killers (2025)
9. Predator: Badlands (2025)

The Future of the Predator Franchise

Predator: Badlands, in theaters November 7, 2025, will star Elle Fanning and feature Predator as the protagonist, according to director Dan Trachtenberg. The movie's first teaser appears to show Elle Fanning's character "rebooting" like a Weyland-Yutani synth, pointing to a connection with the Alien movies.

The more recent official trailer suggests even more Alien references, while also showing off the surprisingly communicative Predator himself. In a conversation with IGN, Trachtenberg also mentioned James Bond and World of Warcraft as references for the new movie, so in my opinion, it's shaping up to be something special.

Matt Fowler is a freelance entertainment writer/critic, covering TV news, reviews, interviews and features on IGN for 13+ years.

If you want a gaming PC that can follow wherever you may roam, a gaming laptop is likely your best bet. While desktop parts will usually still beat out a gaming laptop, the best of them offer excellent performance in the latest games. Best of all, some models are able to offer peak performance while still remaining thin and light, like the Razer Blade 16, which is my pick for the all-around best gaming laptop of 2025 so far. As of April 15, these are back in stock after Razer had briefly taken down the direct link to buy the Razer Blade 16 and other laptops, replaced with "Notify Me" buttons, ahead of when tariffs were supposed to kick in.

TL;DR – These Are the Best Gaming Laptops:

The first thing I always recommend to people hunting for a new gaming laptop is to consider is what PC games they actually hope to play. The second is what settings they hope to play them at. These two questions can guide your purchase to higher- or lower-end hardware and what trade-offs you're willing to make. Now more than ever, gaming laptops come in every shape and size, from thin and light devices like Asus' ROG Zephyrus G14 to moderately heavy powerhouses like the Gigabyte Aorus Master 16. Larger performance-driven laptops (like the ones that come with a 4K display) achieve their enhanced performance with more powerful, and power-hungry, components, which means sacrificing on portability, battery life, and fan noise.

There are countless to choose from a ton of different gaming laptop brands, and finding the best for you can be more than a little daunting. I've tested dozens over the years, and I have a deep understanding of what it takes for a laptop to ascend to greatness for different types of gamers and can confidently say: These are the best gaming laptops of 2025 so far.

1. Razer Blade 16 (2025)

Best Overall Gaming Laptop

Let's get this out of the way: The Razer Blade 16 isn't the most powerful RTX 50-series laptop. Instead, this notebook earns my top pick because of sum of its parts. The team at Razer understood that a huge cross section of laptop gamers carry their machines with them every day, and flat-out making it nicer to use while also being powerful can dramatically enhance the use experience. As an extra, if you're willing to invest in Razer's laptop cooling pad, you can unlock the full wattage for performance that goes toe-to-toe with other RTX 5090 laptops.

Make no mistake: The Razer Blade 16 is still a gaming beast. In my review, I threw everything and the kitchen sink at it and there was nothing it couldn't run well on its crisp 1600p OLED screen. While running those games and benchmarks, the system stayed surprisingly quiet. This is a gaming laptop you could use in a school library without attracting attention.

It's true that a high-powered RTX 5080 like the Gigabyte Aorus Master 16 also recommended in this guide will get you similar, if not better, performance. What most other laptops can't offer, though, is the Blade 16's level of portability and noise.

Measuring just 0.59 inches at its thinnest point, it's a marked improvement from its predecessor and, well, most gaming laptops with such powerful hardware. It also weighs only 4.7lbs; you won't forget it's there, but it won't leave your back and shoulders sore from lugging it around. That portabilty makes it more appealing as a daily carry, so I didn't second guess taking it with me every day even when I might not actually need it.

The Blade 16 does a great job of feeling like the premium product it is. The chassis is milled from a single block of aluminum and feels solid and robust. It also helps with heat dissipation, but solid engineering ensures that the keyboard never gets more than warm while gaming. Its screen is also excellent with impressive factory calibration and multiple professional color modes that allow it to be used for creative applications straight out of the box. It's per-key RGB keyboard is completely programmable, complete with SOCD (Snap Tap) and macro support to better emulate a dedicated gaming keyboard.

On top of that, it also offers great battery life while gaming. Thanks to the new advancements in how the RTX 50-series handles power management, you can play games for around two hours instead of one or less like last generation.

The Razer Blade 16 is an excellent laptop that, while pricey, is something special in this space. If you want a great gaming laptop that will impress you with its portability, look no further.

2. MSI Thin A15 AI

Best Budget Gaming Laptop

3. Gigabyte Aorus Master 16

Best High-End Gaming Laptop

4. Asus Zenbook S 16

Best Work and Gaming Laptop

5. Asus TUF Gaming A14

Best Gaming Laptop for Students

The Razer Blade 18 embodies decadence in the world of gaming laptops. This is a machine that pushes the envelope and offers a true desktop replacement experience. And that's fitting, because if you're after high-performance 4K gaming on a laptop, you're going to need a next-level rig. Just prepare your wallet, because this type of experience doesn't come cheap.

The Razer Blade 18 features a massive, 18-inch IPS display with a peak resolution of 3840x2400. That's actually higher than 4K but – hold onto your hats – it's able to push that resolution with a rapid 240Hz refresh rate that's perfect for ulta-smooth gameplay. It's not OLED or mini-LED, but this screen gets plenty bright and offers vibrant, well-calibrated SDR colors.

There's another reason to consider this laptop if you're into competitive esports: It's one of very few gaming laptops that comes with dual resolution modes. With Razer Synapse you can choose between the native resolution above or drop to 1920x1200 and boost the refresh rate all the way to 440Hz for the ultimate in responsiveness and motion clarity. While the picture isn't as crisp, at 18 inches, the impact of dropping to this resolution is much less impactful than on a full-size gaming monitor.

To power all of this, the system can be equipped with up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 GPU, 64GB of DDR5 memory, and up to 4TB of storage to hold all of your games. It also comes outfitted with the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX, which cinches the on great gaming performance. On top of all that, the system comes with Razer's thermal hood design for improved thermals and a great set of speakers with impressive volume.

Just don't plan on gaming for very long without its monster charging brick. But at 7.1lbs for just the laptop and another pound or two for its charger, it isn't likely that you'll be taking this on the go very often. Believe me – I tried, and you feel it right away. I reviewed the Blade 16 for IGN and our official Blade 18 review is upcoming, but I can say with confidence: If you want a 4K gaming laptop with the ability to replace a desktop and can be taken on the move, this is the one to choose.

The Asus ROG Zephyrus lineup is considered by many to be the MacBook of Windows laptops. It has the clean, streamlined looks that many people associate with Apple's line-up, a fantastic display, and impressive performance. Best of all, it comes in at only 3.5 pounds, so you can carry it all day, every day without ever feeling weighed down.

I'm currently using the 16-inch version of this laptop, the G16, as my daily driver and it's similar in all but screen size and a few extra ounces. If I could go back, I would choose the G14, and here's why: Even though the G16 is amazing in its own right, it hints at the kind of portability that the G14 offers in spades. There's an elegance to its design – the aluminum chassis with a glossy slash along the lid – that's minimalist and alluring.

The understated design highlights the gorgeous display. Asus outfits the G14 and G16 with its ROG Nebula OLED displays, which are incredibly vibrant and tuned to look amazing straight out of the box. While this might be the "MacBook of Windows," don't sell this laptop short: It can be outfitted with up to and RTX 5080 and drive that beautiful display up to 120Hz. It can definitely handle heavy workloads, but make no mistake, this is lightweight ultrabook is still centered on gaming.

Its svelte design comes with some natural trade-offs you should know before pulling the trigger. Its thin chassis leaves less room for cooling so, like other thin and light laptops of this type, it can't quite hit the high wattages bigger laptops can. I'd recommend sticking to the RTX 5070 or RTX 5070 Ti to get the best bang for your buck.

It used to be the case that "Apple" and "gaming" didn't belong in the same sentence, but that's just not the case anymore... as long as you have the right MacBook to get the job done. The MacBook Pro 16 is officially the best way to enjoy gaming on the go for diehard Apple users.

The MacBook Pro 16 is ostensibly for power users and you could be forgiven for thinking that it's exclusively a tool for creative professionals. But don't underestimate this powerful, lightweight machine: The very same qualities that make it great for creatives also make it the best choice for gaming.

With the introduction of the M4 and M4 Max, Apple's Pro 16 is finally able to play games at a level that won't leave you pining for Windows. Apple's silicon is all-around fast, and that applies to its built-in graphics as well. While a lot will depend on the games you're playing, you won't be forced to turn settings to a minimum as a given anymore. Games can look good and play at enjoyable frame rates, all while giving you access to the Apple ecosystem you depend on.

Now, all of that comes at a comparatively steep price. I wouldn't recommend picking up the Apple MacBook Pro 16 exclusively for gaming, but if you're also eyeing it for your own creative or professional endeavors, you can pull that trigger with confidence knowing that your inner gaming doesn't need to be left out in the cold any longer. We'll eventually be testing the MacBook Pro with the new M5 chip that was recently revealed, which alleges to improve the graphic performance 1.6x, but for now, this is the portable Apple machine to beat.

The Nintendo Switch-era has been a frustrating one for Pokemon fans. The evolutionary line from Sword and Shield, to Pokemon Legends: Arceus, to Scarlet and Violet was one of slow but steady progress as Game Freak refined its ideas for how capturing, exploring, and battling should look in a fully 3D world. But this era has also played host to a major downhill slide in terms of overall polish, appearance, and performance across those three games. Pokemon Legends: Z-A, I’m happy to report, puts an end to that slide on basically all counts. It continues to successfully experiment with Pokemon’s gameplay by translating its carefully cultivated turn-based battle system into an action-based one. And it does so while scaling back its ambitions for a massive world to a more manageable size, resulting in a tighter, more polished, and far more fun Pokemon than we’ve seen in several years.

Pokemon Legends: Z-A takes place entirely within the bounds of Lumiose City, a Paris-inspired metropolis that I fondly remember from Pokemon X and Y, the events of which took place five years prior to this new story. A sudden rash of Wild Pokemon invading its city limits has resulted in conflicts between them and the people that live there, and necessitates “Wild Zones” within the city to keep them separate. It’s into this tense environment that you show up via train: a young adult (For real! Not a ten-year-old child! Your peers talk about getting jobs and paying rent! Holy Sharpedo!) with seemingly no agenda or reason to be in Lumiose beyond casual tourism. You’re immediately adopted by a group that refers to itself as Team MZ, which is dedicated to protecting the city by day, and becoming strong enough to do so effectively by climbing the ranks of a local competition every night: the Z-A Royale.

Never before has a Pokemon game’s setting been so integral to its story and themes. The way its characters and story focused so tightly on Lumiose as a place and a community reminded me in many ways of the Yakuza/Like a Dragon series. By not asking you to cross vast distances on a fairly abstract badge-collecting journey all by yourself, Z-A is able to tell the stories of more characters in more detail. You have a crew of pals who hang out at a hotel with you, and who constantly show up in the city to help you out in battle or with whatever else you need. Unlike rivals in past games, they’re given more space to develop as characters and actually have a relationship with you beyond throwaway lines about type alignments.

Z-A is also stuffed with side quests that give you ample opportunity to get to know the inhabitants of Lumiose. Delightfully, most of them aren’t Pokemon trainers. You’ll help a Furfrou groomer teach her Scyther styling techniques, and a perfume maker sample Pokemon odors for her wares. A cafe worker needs you to lure Trubbish away from her cafe, and an electrical worker needs you to chase off Pokemon messing with his elevator (er, “Holovator”). To keep the comparisons to Yakuza going, the vast majority of these side quests are, frankly, pretty silly. They often feature creative or weird scenarios that are resolved by your character, like Kiryu, inexplicably being far and away the toughest person in the room. There are over 100 of these side quests, and they involve all sorts of tasks, such as battles, catching certain Pokemon, teaching Pokemon specific moves, trading, evolving, acquiring certain items, doing parkour, and a lot more. It took me 35 hours to roll credits while mostly staying on top of side quests as they gradually popped up during the campaign, but I still haven’t managed to finish every single one in the post-game.

Also like the Yakuza games (this is the last comparison, I swear), Z-A’s plot is civic-minded. Rather than just being about becoming stronger or filling up a monster encyclopedia, your goal is centered around training to protect the city you now call home. As you grow, you encounter a cast of characters with different ideas about what Lumiose City needs to thrive, some of whom clash with one another. Z-A wrestles with some actual, real-world ideas as it questions what it means when multiple groups of people (or, I guess, creatures) inhabit the same space but have very different needs, and who should be prioritized when those needs conflict. Z-A doesn’t come away with easy answers, but it does provide some pretty interesting metaphors for real-world issues both civic and environmental, and above all else, emphasizes compassion for others in trying to solve them.

(Also there’s a literal benevolent Japanese mafia faction in this game. Okay, now I’m done for real, I promise.)

One sour note in all this is the lack of voice acting. I’ll be honest, I’ve played Pokemon games so often and for so long without it that Z-A not having voice acting didn’t really bother me during all the time I spent running around, doing sidequests, and reading main quest text boxes. Where it did become a problem, however, was during the major story cutscenes, where characters dramatically move their mouths and flail their arms around while absolutely no sound comes out. This wacky pantomime was jarring and immersion-breaking. I don’t know what Game Freak was thinking here. It’s long past time Pokemon caught up to every other story-heavy game and hired some dang voice actors, at least for major cutscenes.

Speaking of Game Freak needing to play catch-up, take a deep breath with me, because we gotta talk about performance.

It’s… fine? It’s fine. It’s actually fine.

On the Nintendo Switch 2, Z-A runs at a smooth and consistent 60 FPS. NPCs and objects do still pop in rather suddenly and a bit too close for comfort, but it’s substantially better than the wonky phasing in and out at spitting distance we saw in Scarlet and Violet. I didn’t see any character animations move at agonizingly slow framerates. I didn’t personally run into any game breaking bugs. None of my Pokemon got stuck in the floor or the wall. The loading screens are almost too fast to read the tips shown on them. Taken all together, I was able to play through the entire game barely thinking about performance, which is so much more than I could say for Z-A’s two predecessors.

That doesn’t mean Z-A looks great, though. One major, oft-pointed-out problem with Z-A is that it takes place entirely in a plain, unattractive city. Most of the time, you will be looking at the same five or six building exteriors, all of which are flat, ugly images with no detail or depth: just some windows and balconies painted onto a wall, Looney Tunes-style. There’s some variety in town, like a Wild Zone that gets covered in snow, a graveyard, and a sandy area, but for the most part, Lumiose is made up of a lot of the same parks, the same cafes, and the same paving stones again and again and again. You can’t go inside most buildings.

But not all of Z-A is aesthetically disagreeable. The building interiors you do get to see are detailed, colorful, cozy-looking, and not repetitive. Character models are more expressive than before, too, and there’s a wider visual variety in NPC designs than ever before thanks to small, long overdue touches like distinct facial features and differently colored outfits within trainer classes. Your own character’s face customization capabilities continue to improve from past games as well. Outfit customization is pretty good, with lots of options to choose from, no gender-locked clothing, and the ability to mix and match colors of jackets, shirts, belts, and other items in certain cases for a wider variety of looks.

While I’ve dinged Lumiose for being visually uninteresting, that’s not synonymous with it being uninteresting to explore. Z-A mostly solves one of the biggest issues I had with both Arceus and Scarlet/Violet: they were both big, empty worlds devoid of real reasons to explore beyond the surface. Those two predecessors tried to capture the vast scale of the Pokemon world, but the actual open areas lacked real detail. Much of their maps consisted of enormous fields full of the same Pokemon and meaningless items sort of scattered randomly around. Their caves were empty tunnels, their mountaintops often barren, and their landmarks rarely offered an interesting reward for visiting. Why even have a giant world if you’re going to make it so boring? Z-A isn’t like that.

By shrinking the world down to a manageable size, Game Freak was able to find the time, or ideas, or whatever it was that was lacking before to fill it with thoughtfully placed rewards. Sometimes those are items such as TMs or collectible Colorful Screws that wait at the end of Z-A’s rather amusingly cumbersome platforming segments. But more often those rewards are rare Pokemon. You see, while most Pokemon are confined to Wild Zones, some monsters do still lurk in the city streets, and they’re genuinely exciting to find. At first, you’ll only see common Pokemon: Pidgeys and Fletchlings pecking around in parks, Kakuna dangling out of trees, maybe a Trubbish munching on some garbage. But explore enough, and you’ll start to find alleyways, courtyards, and rooftops hiding rarer monsters: an Ariados dropping suddenly from a sewer ceiling, Gastly leaping out from a dark corner at night, a single Eevee trotting down a narrow backroad. I squealed once when I saw a single, rare Dratini on a rooftop I’d worked painstakingly hard to reach. It’s moments like these that really flesh out Lumiose and make it such a delight to explore.

In fact, there’s so much to see that I’ve somehow gotten this far into my review without digging into Z-A’s most revelatory change yet: the battle system. Pokemon is an action game now! They threw the last of the turn-based elements out the window! It’s great!

It’s genuinely impressive how well Game Freak managed to translate a familiar system of monsters, moves, status effects, items, and types into a completely different genre. Instead of taking turns, you move your character around the battlefield while the monsters are fighting. Your Pokemon will follow you by default, giving you an indirect and interesting way to control their positioning somewhat and even dodge your opponent’s moves. If you hold down ZL, your Pokemon will instead square up with its opponent and you can select and use moves. If you’re in a battle against a wild Pokemon, you’ll need to do all this while also moving your character out of danger, as they can damage and even knock you out, adding an interesting new layer of strategy to how you position yourself, and thus your monster, for optimal offense and defense.

I was concerned, based on early trailers, that all this would amount to just smashing the same offensive moves into opponents with little actual strategy, but that’s far from the case. The indirect movement system, while a little clunky to get used to, introduces an interesting strategic layer of positioning as you play with the flow of dodging and attacking. The moves themselves are delightfully complex in both their variety and the ways Game Freak has changed them to fit the action genre while keeping their spirit alive. Short-range moves, for instance, can be used very quickly, but put you in danger of being hit. Long-range moves take a bit of time to wind up, but you stay at a distance while you do them. Moves like Protect and Detect have been reconfigured to be used almost like a parry. Fire Spin and Sand Trap form areas-of-effect on the ground you can try and lure enemies to stand in, while Spikes throws a bunch of hazards all over the place.

Status effects have been overhauled, too: paralysis slows you down significantly, while confusion sometimes causes your Pokemon to wander off in weird directions. Mega Evolutions also got a revamp that adds even more complex layers including a meter to fill, the ability to Mega Evolve multiple different Pokemon in the same battle, and Plus Moves, which are essentially moves with the power of a Mega Evolved Pokemon but usable by any monster on your team under the right conditions.

One of the best parts of this system is how it still rewards past Pokemon knowledge even in this entirely new framing, with everything working roughly how you’d guess it might. While I hope Pokemon doesn’t fully abandon turn-based battles, I would love it if the Legends spin-off series adopts this action system going forward and continues to refine it – Arceus introduced a revolutionary new system for catching Pokemon, so it feels like a fitting that Z-A has revolutionized the other key half of the series. Besides, I cannot wait to watch the competitive community get its hooks into this and see what meta develops.

Until then, we have the campaign’s own challenges to overcome. Even casual players are likely to breeze through some of it – the Z-A Royale, for instance, has you collecting points by defeating trainers until you get enough to instigate a Promotion Match and move up a rank. These battles are a joke. The Battle Zones you fight through to collect points try to shake things up by allowing you to sneak up on enemy trainers for an advantage attack, or be snuck up on yourself. But it’s trivially easy to sneak up on opponents and knock out their first monster in a single blow, then thrash their second immediately after.

To an extent, that may be intended, as you can increase monetary rewards from Battle Zones by beating as many trainers as possible before daybreak, so you’re encouraged to just Rapidash your way through battles. But the Z-A Royale’s relative ease nonetheless mutes the accomplishment of ranking up, particularly in light of the fact that the story actually forces you to jump a whopping 17 ranks at once at one point. Would the story have been an agonizing 100 hours long instead of a normal 30 hours if Z-A had not done this? Yes. Does it still feel real silly when it happens and make the Royale into a bit of a joke? Also yes.

But it’s not all a walk in the PokePark. You’ll still find challenge in other places, such as Wild Areas, where a powerful Alpha Pokemon can summon a gang of smaller guys to overwhelm you if you’re not careful. Most difficult, and most fun, are the story battles against Rogue Mega Evolved Pokemon. These monsters are big and mean, deliberately going directly after your trainer a lot of the time and forcing you to carefully balance dodging attacks yourself and positioning your Pokemon well to slowly whittle down a big health bar. Some of the Rogue Mega Evolutions have devastating second phase attacks, such as turning the entire arena into a bullet hell, making copies of themselves, or spontaneously popping up behind you for a painful swipe attack. Game Freak really goes out of its way to ensure all its new Mega Evolutions get their moment to shine through these encounters. Just wait until you see Mega Starmie!

If you're looking for a high-capacity power bank for those longer trips, and you want to able to play on your Switch 2 while you're charging it, then this deal is perfect for you. Amazon is currently offering the Iniu 20,000mAh 45W Power Bank for just $19.96 after a 46% off coupon that's automatically applied during checkout. Any 20,000mAh power bank priced under $20 is a good deal, but this one is even better because of the higher 45W power output and the built-in USB cable.

Iniu 20,000mAh 45W USB Power Bank for $19.96

It's safe to say Event Horizon: Dark Descent has been a big hit for IDW Publishing. The first two chapters of the series (which serves as a prequel to the 1997 horror movie) are both going back to print in November 2025, and they're getting some horrifying new cover art to mark the occasion.

IGN can exclusively debut the new cover art to the third printing of Event Horizon Dark Descent #1 and the second printing of Dark Descent #2, both of which form a connecting image. Check them out in the slideshow gallery below, along with an exclusive new page from issue #3:

Event Horizon: Dark Descent is written by Christian Ward and drawn by Tristan Jones, with colors by Pip Martin and colors by Alex Ray. The series explores the events leading up to the original film, showing the dark fate that befell the original crew of the doomed spacecraft. The series is part of the IDW Dark horror imprint, which includes other spinoffs of popular films like Sleepy Hollow, A Quiet Place, and Smile as well as original projects like Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees.

"When I came aboard Event Horizon, I thought it would be a nice, quiet little book that would maybe have a solid little built in following and maybe I could make something that someone down the track would find and be wowed by in a back issue bin and be compelled to find the rest the same way I was with all those rad licensed horror comics back in the late '80s and early '90s..." Jones tells IGN. "If you'd told me then that we'd be opening to not one but two sold out issues, and one of those being sent back to print twice I'd have thanked you for being very kind but definitely scoffed...! So here's me now, genuinely humbled by the response this thing has received release after release, and endlessly thankful for the cult that makes Event Horizon a cult movie turning up month after month and showing their support for this thing! Everyone on this thing has given their all to make the best book we can with this, and it's really great to see it striking such a chord with readers."

Jones adds, "And I'll say this, if you haven't hit your stores and preordered #3 and #4, you're going to want to do that ASAP, because knowing how those issues go and seeing how the response has been is going to make those the ones you'll be kicking yourself for not locking down!"

"I had four goals in mind when I approached Event Horizon: to celebrate the legacy of the movie, to make it accessible to new readers, to make it emotionally impactful, AND most importantly, SCARY as F**K! In short, a book that anyone could enjoy that would move and terrify in equal measure," Ward says. "Seeing the hype and success of Event Horizon: Dark Descent build and build as it finds new readers is so wonderful and so gratifying and I have to thank my co-pilots, Tristan Jones and Pip Martin, without whom this book would not soar nearly as high as it does. Most exciting of all however, is that the best is yet to come. Both issue 3 and in particular issue 4 (did someone say 'Blood Orgy'?) will have readers shedding tears as they read between their fingers and of course, this book answers what happened before the film, now I'm pondering 'what happens after?' So get on board now... it's a long journey to hell."

Both new printings will be released on November 12, with a preorder deadline of October 27. You can preorder these reprints at your local comic shop.

In other news, check out our exclusive excerpt of the Batman 1989 sequel Batman: Revolution and see why Marvel seems serious about ending the new Ultimate Universe.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.

Ever since digital streaming was introduced as an alternative to cable, companies like Disney, Warner Bros, Netflix, and Amazon have been finding new ways to "revolutionize" monthly subscriptions, which has more or less come right back around to the concept of cable. (Only now every "channel" requires its own login and password, and costs at least $7 a month.) As the streaming service war wages on with constant changes, mergers and acquisitions, "bundles" are becoming more common as more streaming services are created, and some of these have gotten creative with including both digital and physical services.

The ability to combine multiple networks and major streaming platforms into a single subscription is becoming simpler than ever (thankfully) and gives better savings over subscribing individually to every service you'd want. Depending on your needs as a subscriber and your interests as a streamer and/or online shopper, the options available should tick many of your boxes.

Check out our picks below for the best streaming bundles to consider subscribing to in 2025 to help you save on your streaming bill.

Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max Bundle – $16.99/month (with ads)

A new streaming bundle has entered the arena. Apple TV and Peacock have locked arms for a new offer, the first full bundle we’ve seen from either service. Starting at $14.99/month, the bundle offers over 30% in savings when compared to individual subscriptions, making this a particularly solid deal for two of the more reasonably priced streamers.

Apple TV and Peacock Launch New Streaming Bundle Starting at $14.99/Month

Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Apple TV, Apple Music, Sports, and Beats, made the following statement about the bundle's launch: “From acclaimed originals to can’t-miss live sports, the Apple TV and Peacock Bundle unites the best of entertainment in a simple and seamless experience.”

Apple TV, which recently ditched the plus sign, is best-known for 'prestige' original series like Severance, Silo, and The Studio (they seem to like the letter “S”). The service also seems to be building up its live sports offerings, having become the exclusive U.S. broadcaster for Formula 1. The MLS Pass is a separate subscription available through Apple TV, but the service just announced it will not be required for play-off games.

Peacock, on the other hand, really built its momentum off the NBC slate of sitcoms like The Office, Parks and Rec, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. The service also has a wacky spread of sports offerings, including the Premier League and a spread of NBA games. I don’t think it's a coincidence we’re seeing this bundle launching so soon after ESPN Unlimited, as it seemingly offers a cheaper alternative for more casual sports fans.

Blythe (she/her) is an SEO Coordinator at IGN who, when she isn't following streaming news, spends way too much time in character customization screens and tracking down collectibles.

I've been playing Pokémon Legends: Z-A on my Switch 2 since it was first released and have loved every minute of it. The game takes place entirely in Lumiose City and I've found that it runs beautifully on the new console. Whether you're catching Pokémon in the wild zones or diving into intense battles, everything looks crisp and gameplay is perfectly smooth.

You don't actually need to own a Switch 2 to play Pokémon Legends: Z-A, though. The standard Switch version is now available for $10 less than its Switch 2 counterpart. So if you're a Poké fan who hasn't yet taken the plunge and purchased the latest console, you don't have to miss out on the latest Pokémon adventure. The real question is: How well does the Switch 1 version actually run? IGN had the chance to play the game on both consoles side-by-side and it would seem the older console is quite capable of running the game – with the exception of some frame rate loss. You can check out our comparison below to see for yourself how the two versions of the game stack up against each other.

Should You Upgrade?

Like we noted in our comparison video, the differences between the two versions of the game are noticeable, but not so vast that you really need to upgrade to play the game. If you want the best possible gameplay experience with the sharpest possible visuals, then I'd say it's absolutely worth upgrading to the Switch 2. If you don't want to dish out the $450 for a new console, however, the Switch 1 version of the game will work just fine. The environments will be a little less detailed and some of the Pokémon may look a bit stilted in their movements, but overall the experience will still be fun.

If you're a Windows user that's looking for a PC version of the Apple Mac Mini, then one of the most popular models has dropped in price. Amazon is offering Prime members the AceMagic Vista Mini V1 Intel N150 Mini PC for just $131.34 shipped with coupon code "DEALSLICKV1". This is a great opportunity to pick up a tiny PC that includes the CPU, RAM, storage, and Windows 11 Pro OS for a lot less than the cost of a Mac Mini.

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Xbox itself has made a big deal out of its "Play Anywhere" initiative, and in my experience, it's become one of the best conveniences of playing games across its ecosystem. All first-party Xbox games and a wide range of third-party titles are included in the list of Xbox Play Anywhere games – meaning you can play these games across Xbox Series consoles and Windows PCs if you own them; no need to buy them twice as long as they're on the same Xbox-Microsoft account. Additionally, your saves are compatible cross-platform and exist in the cloud so you don't need to do anything special to pick up where you leave off.

This is important to remember in light of the launch of the Asus ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X – the new PC gaming handhelds that sport the platform's branding. Despite how Microsoft loves to boast in its "This is an Xbox" ads for the handhelds, these are not Xbox systems. The system boots through a modified version of the Xbox app for PC, and has some quality-of-life features other PC handhelds don't have.

However, you are not playing Xbox versions of these games, you are playing the PC versions. Not every game you own on Xbox is going to be available on the ROG Xbox Ally (because again, it is not an Xbox). However, those that are will be conveniently placed under "My Library" on the Xbox Ally, so at least you don't need to do any extra digging to figure out what's playable.

While Play Anywhere helps bridge the gap between Xbox and PC for tons of games, it is not an exact one-to-one translation and it does not apply to all games. There are some PC games you can get through the Xbox app and Game Pass that are also PC exclusives, so it can go both ways. The easiest way to check if something is a Play Anywhere game and/or available across platforms is to check the game's page on the Xbox app. It will have a Play Anyway icon and designation under its name, and will show the available platforms under the "Playable on" header of the Information section (the "Capabilities" header will indicate "Xbox Play Anywhere" if it features it as well).

Play Anywhere does not guarantee a smooth gaming experience, either. Since the ROG Xbox Ally X is a PC, you will be subject to choosing your graphics settings. Modern games, especially those under the Xbox umbrella, tend to be fairly optimized or at least detect your system specs for presets suited for an optimal experience. The ROG Xbox Ally X's Z2 Extreme processor is very powerful and pushes handheld gaming to new technical heights, but – as comes with the territory of PC gaming – performance can vary from game to game. This won't be the same as booting up a game built specifically for Xbox systems. After spending some time with the ROG Xbox Ally, however, it has often given a smooth and seamless experience for playing games under the Play Anywhere banner.

This leads to the conversation of Game Pass – with the recent shake up of new tiers and price increases for Game Pass, it can be confusing what you're subscribing to. PC Game Pass applies to the ROG Xbox Ally X, which gives you access to its PC library, most of which includes the high profile Xbox games already. This includes day-one first-party titles; games such as The Outer Worlds 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, Keeper, and upcoming releases like Fable, Forza Horizon 6, and Gears of War: E-Day are included (barring any changes to subscription plans). Those later games should be able to run with playable settings and performance on the newly minted handhelds, but we're not the ones who can guarantee that.

Note that if you have Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass is lumped under it so the benefits will apply across Xbox consoles and PC if you use multiple platforms.

Xbox Games You Can Play on the ROG Xbox Ally Handheld

As noted above, Play Anywhere is fairly wide-reaching, especially as it pertains to modern games. There are currently 1,532 games under Xbox Play Anywhere that will work across Xbox consoles and PC (including the ROG Xbox Ally handhelds). If you have purchased any of these games on your Microsoft/Xbox account, or if they're within the PC Game Pass library and you're a current subscriber to it (or Ultimate), you will be able to play them.

Asus and Xbox were smart to embrace other PC-based distributors and platforms with the ROG Xbox Ally handhelds – one of its best features is being able to sign into your Steam account and import your Steam library to play on these handhelds. Steam comes pre-installed to make things even easier. While compatibility and performance may vary from game to game, these handhelds being PCs is an advantage Xbox consoles just don't have since it opens you up to a much wider library. That extends to GOG, Epic Games Store, and Battle.net (which need to be installed separately), and again, your mileage may vary with performance, but games you own on those accounts are available.

One of the biggest questions on my mind, however, is how Xbox intends on handling backward compatibility with many original Xbox and Xbox 360 games not having proper PC ports. Xbox has been a great example of modern games preservation with the Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, but moving to a Windows PC-based platform throws a wrench in those gears. We don’t know what the next Xbox console will look like, but if it embraces a Windows-based platform like the ROG Xbox Ally, I hope that Microsoft will do the work to ensure that Xbox’s fantastic back catalog will continue to be playable into the future.