The Video Game Library Newsletter - Vol. #032
You're gonna want to add some of these to your Christmas lists!
Welcome back to The Video Game Library Newsletter!
We’re officially in the final stretch of 2025, and the publishing world clearly didn’t get the memo about winding down for the holidays. This is one of the most packed weeks we’ve seen all year. Luckily a few new volunteers this month have been amazing at helping me keep up!
The lineup is pretty evenly matched across North America, Europe and Asia, covering everything from German FFXIV lore expansions to Russian comic book crossovers. We’ve got Kelly Gay taking the helm of the Master Chief’s latest adventure, Third Editions teasing From Software and Square Enix history books, and Dark Horse giving TLOU fans a 600-page gift to put under the tree.
Whether you’re hunting for that perfect last-minute gift, expanding your game studies collection, or just keeping tabs on what’s hitting shelves around the world, this week’s newsletter has something for everyone.
Let’s dive in.
📰 News & Highlights
Two months after the original Japanese release, the long awaited second collection of FFXIV short stories has arrived in both English and German as Final Fantasy XIV: Chronicles of Light - Vol. II. Nearly 300 pages adding to the expanded lore of Shadowbringers, Endwalker, and Dawntrail. Square Enix has spoiled us this year!
Also getting the English translation treatment is Pokécology An Illustrated Guide to Pokémon Ecology. This one released in Japan earlier this year, and Pikachu Press is set to deliver the English edition next year.
Halo: Edge of Dawn is a sequel to Halo Infinite and is the latest release in the ongoing “A Master Chief Story” series, officially hitting store shelves this past week. While the first 3 books were written by Troy Denning, series veteran Kelly Gay takes up the mantle this time, and the audiobook lineup of Steve Downes, Jen Taylor and Debra Wilson is very very cool.
Taking away Best Adaptation at this year’s Game Awards, the TLOU franchise is still making waves. So, as you can expect, fans were excited this week when The Last of Us: Part I and Part II Scripts was released by Dark Horse. Over 600 pages of dialogue that tells the story of TLOU I and II, but also the DLC “Left Behind”.
From TokyoPop this week, Far Cry: Cull The Herd #3 hit comic book shops this week. The third in a 4-issue run, this series will be collected in the Cull The Herd graphic novel early next year.
We’ve been working really hard at getting all of the GameDev collection from Apress catalogued on our site, and it’s great to see the series continue. This week’s release was Next-Generation Gamemaking: A Beginner’s Guide to GameMaker from Robert Ciesla. It’s a beginner-friendly guide to making 2D games in GameMaker, covering physics, debugging, and exporting to many platforms.
Next up is a new GameStudies book from Routledge. Authored by Fei Victor Lim and Weimin Toh, Designing Learning with Digital Play: A Multimodal Perspective links digital play to learning, showing how games build literacy and social skills, and offers frameworks to teach with it.
For those who were lucky enough to get their hands on the Mega Man Hand-Drawn Game Guide this week from Nintendo Force, you likely saw in the book a hint at Mega Man 2! Phil will be starting this one in January, and plans on working on it for the full year.
For fans of Darren Hupke’s work through Pixels and Polygons, Retro Game Zine Quarterly - 2026 Q1 is up on Kickstarter now, and as of writing this, is just a few dollars shy of its goal. Head on over there, and if this type of premium zine interests you, show it some support!
It doesn’t seem like that long ago that The Art of Blasphemous - Complete Edition was announced, and already it has hit fan collections across Spanish and English speaking markets that to GamePress. At over 300 pages, this revised and expanded artbook includes visual material from all 3 DLCs; The Stir of Dawn, Strife & Ruin, and Wounds of Eventide.
A few big announcements coming out of France this week, mostly thanks to the annual Advent Posts made by French publisher Third Editions. The biggest news from this announcement was their upcoming new series dedicated to major video game studies. And what better one to start with than L’Histoire de From Software.
And following that up, Third Editions then went on to announce very exciting L’Histoire de Square Enix. These guys have put out a ton of books on popular Square Enix RPGs, so I have no doubt this one will be great! Both are slated for February.
Later on in March, we’ll also see Pierre Lovati’s La Saga Final Fantasy VII Rebirth release. This is the long-awaited follow up to his 2023 La Saga Final Fantasy VII Remake.
Heading over to our friends at Pix’n Love Editions, the cover of their upcoming Pix’n Love #44 has been revealed, celebrating Metroid Prime. These mooks are generally released twice a year, but never on the same schedule, so TBD on a release date for this latest one.
Translated into Spanish by the team at Games Tribune (GTM), El Arte De Clair Obscur Expedition 33 released this week, and the socials are on fire with photos of the book hitting fan shelves across Spain. It off\fers over 350 pages of works from the GotY-winning title. A blog post has shared other distributions as well including USA, Canada, UK, Germany, Italy, Ukraine and China, but we are still awaiting some of the details around these.
Also, courtesy of Games Tribune, a gorgeous trilogy of wraparound covers for their January Issue of GTM have been revealed. Love seeing Octopath Traveler get a spotlight like this. I’ve only been hearing amazing things about it, and while I’ve only ever finished the first entry, that’s the one I’d choose.
Our weekly RBA Italia release in Italy this week is none-other than Uncharted: La Grande Avventura su PlayStation. Written by Clara Castaño, this one explores the evolution of Naughty Dog’s legendary franchise, from the PS3 to PS5, and its feature film adaptation.
German fans saw the release of Elden Ring – Der Weg zum Erdenbaum, Band 9 earlier this week. A gag manga based on Elden Ring, in this volume The Tarnished reaches the Altus Plateau at last, facing reunions, new encounters, and the road to Leyndell.
Another Russian translation from Бомбора on the tail of last week’s announcements. This time it’s Damien Mecheri and Bruno Provezza’s Silent Hill. Тайны туманного города. The covers on these translations are all really cool.
And while not “officially” revealed, some articles have hinted at the Russian release of Una Araña En La Red Del Videojuego. A Spanish publication all about the history of Spider-Man games.
Finally, from Russia, comic book publisher Bubble is has announced at Igromir Comic Con that they’ll be releasing some comics based on Atomic Heart. They’ve shared that, while not a direct adaptation, it will instead be a cross-over with the 4iters series.
This week’s release of Octopath Traveler 0: Official Complete Guide & Art Setting Collection (オクトパストラベラー0 公式コンプリートガイド&アート設定資料集) just makes me want to play it even more!
This week’s Famitsu Weekly cover commemorates the first anniversary (in Japan) of Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium, as well as the latest info on the game’s anniversary event. This issue takes use into January 2026, and promises to reflect back on a big year in gaming.
The lineup of Love and Deepspace characters; Caleb, Zayne, Rafayel, Xavier, and Sylus grace the front cover of this month’s B’s LOG release. Appropriate, since this issue packs otome & mobile-game coverage: Cthulhu Mythos ADV, sins of KALEIDO, Project Sekai 5th, Paradox Live, FGO/Granblue, Twst & UN:LOGICAL interviews, plus a gaming release calendar.
And rounding out the last story, the final Japanese gaming magazine to cover: Dengeki Nintendo - Feb. 2026 (電撃Nintendo 2026年2月号). This issue dives into Animal Crossing: New Horizons on the Nintendo Switch 2, as well as Kirby’s Air Rider and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment.
Did I miss something cool? Want to see this laid out differently?
Drop it in the comments or swing by our Discord to share it with the community.
Let’s keep this celebration of game-inspired books going strong!
📚 Behind the Shelves
Every week, I take you behind the scenes of The Video Game Library. From surprising discoveries to cataloguing challenges, there’s always something new as we dig deeper into this ever-expanding archive of game-related literature.
This week I was reminded of just how big the landscape of Japanese Strategy Guides truly is. While focused mostly on the Famitsu Editorial Department’s releases lately, any one of those books quickly turned into a rabbit hole of 3, 4, 5 more strategy guides for that same game. Spent a few hours each evening this week cataloguing whatever I could find.
Would also like to give a warm welcome to yet another volunteer this week! Fran joins us from the UK and has already hit the ground running with our backlog of Persona 5 manga. Super excited to have them onboard!
And lastly this week, friend and former VGL volunteer, James, tipped us off to a trilogy of books from Geof “DocDoom” Evans. While not immediately obvious, these books are actually deep dives into multi-player on-line World War Two-era flight simulators. I got ahold of Geof Evans who was able to provide us with cover images, and book details that we’ve used to get them officially catalogued. Learned that he was the one who did the cover art as well. I imagine I’ll be doing an interview with him in the new year to learn more about these books, and that niche corner of gaming.
And finally, to reflect back on this weeks shelf additions, we got 3 incredibly generous donation shipments in. Highlights include Video Game Maps SNES - Vol. 3, Indie G Zine Vol. 2 and Vol. 3, and the gorgeous Mega Man Hand-Drawn Game Guide from Phil Summers.
This, as usual, is only a small sample of all the things that have been happening behind the scenes, so take a peek at the site to see everything that’s been added since last week! And while you’re at it, drop your thoughts in the comments below. Your feedback helps shape how we deliver these looks behind the curtain.
💡 Book Spotlights
Every week I like to zoom in on a few standout books from the collection. Sometimes it’s brand new releases, other times it’s older gems that deserve more love.
If you’re looking for deeper dives and not just quick headlines, check out some of these spotlights from this past month:
BOOK SPOTLIGHT - REDO FROM START (USA & JAPAN)
Andrea Pachetti (2025); Microzeit Publishing; Non-Fiction, Game History
"I had originally intended to start with the CRACKER books, but Paul Norman’s eyes….they drew me in."
BOOK SPOTLIGHT - A Brief Legal History of the Video Game (Une Brève Histoire Juridique du Jeu Video)
Geoffray Brunaux (2025); Mare & Martin; Non-Fiction, Game History
"...sets out to recount the history of the video game industry, not through sales numbers or nostalgic releases, but through the courtroom battles that helped define one of the world’s most influential entertainment sectors."
BOOK SPOTLIGHT - The Best Life Adventure Games
Jupiter Hadley (2025); Pen & Sword Books - White Owl; Non-Fiction
"The Best Life Adventure Games isn't just a catalogue. It's a love letter to the art of slow, thoughtful play."
🙏 THANK YOU for Reading
That’s a wrap for this week’s Newsletter. I hope you discovered something new, surprising, or just plain fun.
As always, your feedback helps shape this project - so don’t be shy! Drop a comment below, join the conversation on Discord, or just reply to this newsletter and share your thoughts.
And if you’re enjoying these weekly roundups, please consider supporting The Video Game Library with a paid subscription or forwarding this to a fellow fan. Every little bit helps us keep preserving and celebrating these incredible works - and the passionate people behind them.
Until next week — happy reading,
Dean (Founder, The Video Game Library)