Do you like books? Developer Digital Tales thinks you might like books. So, they’ve stuffed about as much iconic literature as possible into a single Metroidvania, and they’re going to release it at the end of the month.

Apparently not satisfied with putting players in charge of a single age-old character, the game has you play as eight at once, with the ability to change formation to navigate the environment and take advantage of each character’s unique abilities.

The characters can be set up in five different formations “column,” “wheel,” “line” and “standard” – standard meaning that four characters are standing on each other’s heads, which seems like an odd way to walk around to me, but who am I to second-guess a group of cultural icons?

The characters you play include both historical figures and literary heroes – and also Count Dracula, because I guess we never did quite overcome the cultural effects of the Twilight novels.

Along with Dracula, players will control Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, Sun Wukong from Journey to the West, The legendary King Arthur and Robin Hood, Cassandra from Greek Mythology, along with both Queen Victoria and Nikola Tesla from, you know, real life.

History books are books too, what can I say?

These eight will set off across five different “thematic worlds,” unlocking new abilities as they complete their quest to banish evil. While there’s no full list of bosses, press materials show that the heroes will face off against Frankenstein’s Monster, Medusa, the Big Bad Wolf, and some unidentified giant purple dragon.

The multi-character gameplay and literature-combining theme are both unusual for a Metroidvania, but these twists on the traditional formula might be enough for the title to gain an audience. It just remains to be seen how many people will end up giving Bookbound Brigade a chance.

Bookbound Brigade will released for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Windows PC via Steam. It will cost $19.99, and its release date is Jan. 30, 2020.

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