WRUP: It’s (even more) officially Spooky Season, and this weekend, we’re ready to meet the Illusive Man

Look, I know September is one of the mostly accepted starts of “Spooky Season” — (or should I say, “SpooOoOOo00ky Season”? — but not everyone accepts it as the start. October, though? No one can argue against October as the official start of Spooky Season. You just can’t!

But we’re not here to discuss Spooky Season. We’re here to tell you what we, the staff of Blizzard Watch, are up to this weekend. So please join us for another edition of WRUP – What aRe yoU Playing? Anna Bell kicks us off this week.

Anna Bell: This weekend I’m going camping with my daughter’s Girl Scout troop. I’m pretty excited, even though it’s starting to get a bit chilly at night.

In gaming, I’m basically killing time until Episode 4 of The Long Dark launches on October 6th. We’re visiting a new map, which involves a prison, and the release trailer shows a new flashbang mechanic for dealing with timberwolves — not to mention the mysterious woman on the phone. Can’t wait to watch Mark Meer chew some scenery. You know, because he’s starving? Survival game joke?

Andrew Powers: I’ve been playing Deltarune Chapter 2 with my son on the Switch. Good to get the kids into RPGs. He’s better at the combat than I am, and I can solve simple puzzles and feel like I’m smart. We also watched Star Wars Visions on Disney+. Each episode is its own story, and some are way better than others, definitely worth checking out.

Christian Thoma: Planet Zoo is getting the North America Pack expansion on Monday, so I’m going to be loading it up again in preparation. I’ve unpacked my PS4 and will be playing 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim at Red’s recommendation. To celebrate Fat Bear Week, Bear & Breakfast is available in a demo again so I’ve been working my way through that, and I’ve been enjoying Hoa on the Switch while watering my lawn.

Phil Xavier: I’m reading 2666 by Roberto Bolaño.

I’ve also started playing a fun little game called Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore, which asks a simple question: what would happen if you took the general aesthetics and gameplay elements from the SMT/Persona series, and blended them together with characters, music, and a few other systems from the Fire Emblem series? Well, this. This would be the result.

It’s not a mind-blowing game by any means; it’s just a silly, fun little diversion for the fan who’s craving a bit more SMT, Persona, or Fire Emblem — or all of them. But it doesn’t really compare to the mainline games from any of those series; not even close. Still, it’s not a bad game! I’d rate it 7/10: enjoyable, if you don’t take it too seriously or expect too much.

Cory Taylor: It’s time to build upon and expand Beavertopia! New Beaverton? Beaverville? I’m sure I’ll settle on a name soon enough.

Any free time I’ve had that hasn’t been spent raiding or running my M+ for the week has been spent making improvements to my Beaver cities in Timberborn. I have plans to dynamite myself a nice lake so that my beavers who are scavenging metal from the collapsed ruins of the previous human civilization will have some nice views while they work. I am nothing if not a benevolent city planner.

My raid night will definitely consist of trying to beat Sylvanas on Heroic for the second time, and then it’s going to be a battle of try not to get yeeted off of the platform as we attempt Mythic Remnant of Ner’zhul for the first time. It’s nice to finally have some forward momentum in the raid after a few weeks of no progress.

Ted Atchley: I’m going to be away from my gaming computer this weekend with a previous commitment on Friday night and most of Saturday, but I should still be able to make it to my weekly DnD game with my fellow Blizzard Watch writers. If I do get some gaming time. I will be taking on the New World Queue Boss. I have yet to successfully log in, but I have high hopes I’ll finally get back to Aeternum killing boars, wolves and my unfortunate former crewmates. I might even find some hemp to make a fishing pole! On Sunday, I will attempt to recover from Friday and Saturday’s long hours with some sportsball. My favorite team is 3-0 and I’ll be cheering them on once again. #KeepPounding!

Matthew Rossi: Started over on Wrath of the Righteous because I went all goody goody Angel Mythic Path last time and this time I wanted to try out different options, like Aeon, or Azata, or even Demon. This led to me deciding to actually play the game as male (the first male protagonist in a video game for me in close to ten years) and so, I’m now playing an Oread Bloodrager named Hears the Deep, and no lie but I kind of love the maniac. He’s like if you were playing an Earth Genasi in D&D, then decided to go Barbarian but with added Sorcerous powers and it’s a ton of fun so far. If I weren’t already committed to playing a bunny rabbit in the upcoming Witchlight game, I’d seriously play this guy.

Liz Patt: Weekend? Didn’t we just have one of these like… yesterday? And how is it October ALREADY?!

I’ve got two characters going in D2R — a Sorceress that I’m soloing with, and an Assassin who makes one part of a dynamic leveling duo (a friend of mine is the other half on a druid)! It’s been really fun, although stash Tetris is still a Thing even with three extra tabs. Outside the realm of Blizzard, Hades has also fully recaptured my attention and it’s been hard to put down, so I’m pretty sure at some point my life will become an ARPG. Yogg willing. Add in weekly D&D with the Blizzard Watch crew, planning out my Witchlight character, and work/more work/side of work, and I’m a Very Tired Liz.

Joe Perez: Back on my MTG stuff again. Innistrad: Midnight Hunt just released, and with it some very sweet new Werewolves. I’ve been… exceptionally lucky with pulls, and have completed a commander deck based around Tovolar, Dire Overlord. I’m hoping I can get into a commander game this weekend with some friends and take the deck through the paces.

Also I booted up Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (the remaster) and am starting to make my way through the game. This will kick off the time of year where I play through ALL of the Legend of Zelda games on consoles in timeline order. I try to do this once a year, and it is always a blast

Mitch “Mitch” Mitchell: I’m thiiiiis close to beating Sekiro, and I’m still not quite sure how to summarize my experience. “Not what I expected,” maybe? It’s not bad, but goodness, the difficulty is all over the place. I’m not sure what I’ll play when I’m done, but I’m thinking of maybe going back to some of the Soulsborne titles and being a completionist.

Oh, and my girlfriend beat Mass Effect 1 last weekend! I’m hopeful we’ll get started on Mass Effect 2 — largely considered everyone’s favorite entry — because I cannot wait to see how it goes! (Especially since she insists on being all Paragon-y.)

Anna Washenko: FIRE EMBLEM FOREVER.

Deb Montague: I haven’t done anything different than last week other than going 0-6 in the weekly mount run. Discovered some guild members did not have the Brewfest Kodo or Ram so we’ve been running them through Coren in an effort to rectify that. My low level tank has received a couple of trinkets, raising her ilevel by 12. These special events are great for getting your low level characters specific gear. I don’t want to spend dedicated time on her but the XP from Coren is decent. I’m practicing my glare for when the Horseman refuses to drop that horse.

That’s this week’s WRUP! Thanks for coming by, and be sure to let us know what you’re playing this weekend!