WRUP: A weekend of wonder and nightmares

Hello and happy… oh goodness, happy Saturday! This is WRUP — What aRe yoU Playing? — and we like to use this space to chat about all the cool stuff we have going on in our lives this weekend. Why? Because it’s fun! Sometimes, it’s nice to celebrate the little things.

Read on below to see everything your friendly neighborhood Blizzard Watchers are up to.

Nick Marino

• Spider-Man 2
• Baldur’s Gate 3
• Nightmare Before Christmas 30th Anniversary

I’ve already got a few hours into Spider-Man 2 and it’s been really fun so far. I’m not sure why there was so much complaining about how it looked visually or about the state of the web-swinging/ movement system because it’s holding up well, in my opinion.

I’ve also started a Dark Urge run in Baldur’s Gate 3 after I completed the game on my custom character. I missed a few WRUPs so I didn’t get to add on to the gushing compliments BG3 already received but so far it’s my game of the year. It has its issues with quest/story pacing but the pros have blown apart the cons overall.

The last time a Nightmare Before Christmas was in theaters, I was in high school actually working my first job at a movie theater. I didn’t get to enjoy it, or the scam that was (is?) 3D, but I’m looking forward to seeing it on the big screen.

Christian “Kalcheus” Thoma

• Slay the Princess
• The House in Fata Morgana
• Barbie

I was all set to dive into Slay the Princess when it released today but it’s been delayed until Monday. But I’m still going to mention it because I’ll be thinking about it all weekend. Instead I’m going to play The House in Fata Morgana — although it’s more like read it because it’s a straight visual novel.

The movie Barbie is out on Blu-Ray so we’ll be watching it again this weekend so I’m making sure I have plenty of Kenergy for that.

Joel Davis

• Spider-Man 2

Spider-Man 2 just released…. so…. I will not exist for a while as I dive headfirst into that.

Too many games, too little time. But I must always make time for Spider-Man.

Phil Xavier

• World of Warcraft
• Hearthstone
• Diablo 4
• Vampire Survivors

I’m back to WoW after a 10-month break! And I’m loving the game at the moment — so much so that, despite the fact that I’m also playing two other Blizzard games in Diablo 4 (loving my Druid on Season 2!) and Hearthstone, WoW is taking the lion’s share of my gaming time.

…but I’m still finding some time to play Vampire Survivors, which just had an update yesterday with new content!

Mitch “Mitch” Mitchell

• Nightmare Before Christmas 30th Anniversary
• Rocky Horror Picture Show
• Family get-together
• Friend get-together
• BG3
• Mario Wonder?
• Monster Hunter Now

My weekend starts with a Nightmare Before Christmas showing — the last time I saw it in theatres, I was in high school and it was (I think) the first time it showed up on the big screen in 3D. Or it was one of many. Either way, it’s been a while and it’ll be a fun start to the weekend. Rocky Horror is also on our list for this weekend, but we need to find a show with a shadow cast that isn’t also sold out.

Saturday is a double-header of social gatherings, with a celebration for my mom’s birthday and a friend’s engagement party shortly after. Once that’s all settled, we’ll probably finally sit down and play some video games. Baldur’s Gate 3 is perpetually on our list now, and Mario Wonder has me pretty excited. In between, I’ve been playing a whole lot of Monster Hunter Now and loving every second.

Sara Hanson

• Garden maintenance
• Diablo
• Headless Horseman
• Family IT support

It was the first weekend in a while where we didn’t have a bunch on and the weather was ok, so the first few hours of Saturday was cleaning our terrace so it will be usable this summer for al fresco ’stuff’™.

Tomorrow I have to drive down the coast to see my folks, drop off some paperwork for them and the trade off for the ‘free’ lunch is to fix any IT problems that have arisen since I was last there. Such is the fate of anyone who works in It, even if your job is not strictly speaking support.

Around that I have some 10.2 guides to update, some study to do and a daily Headless Horseman run to try for Arfus and then to continue levelling in Diablo 4 Season 2 – as of last night I was L46 and ticking along nicely. I will probably farm up some seeds of hatred, do a couple of strongholds then the first capstone dungeon to move into WT3.

Rob Flanagan

• Diablo IV: Season of Blood
• Gritty 5k

My plans for the weekend are to progress further into the Season of Blood. My experience of not playing a Necromancer for once has me going ” Why isn’t my Corpse Explosion button working?”, but I am enjoying playing as a rogue.

I will also be participating in the annual Philadelphia Flyers Charities event, the Gritty 5k. Rain or shine, it will be a race dressed as the greatest mascot in sports.

Phil Ulrich

• Diablo 4
• World of Warcraft
• Void Stranger

Most of what I’m doing, if I’m being honest, is being sick — after going out for my birthday last weekend, out of the seven of us who got together, four of us have contracted COVID. (Here’s one for the statisticians: it sniped one person in each couple, plus the one single person.) So I’m really looking for video games that do not require a lot of brain power, and leveling up a new Druid in Diablo 4’s Season of Blood, as well as mindlessly farming stuff for the evoker legendary in WoW, are about all I care to do right now.

However, when I do feel up to something, that something is Void Stranger. If you’re a fan of PC games that do weird subversive things with mechanics and story ala Undertale or OneShot, you might like Void Stranger.

That’s us for this weekend! I hope you all have an excellent couple of days and an equally awesome week to follow. And if you have a moment, why not tell us: What aRe yoU Playing?

Until next time!