The Wrapp: Revisiting beloved classics and chasing that Bloodborne feel

The setting

After the milestone 100th edition of The Wrapp, the team's weekly weekend gaming roundup is back to its usual format — sharing what everyone plans to play over the coming days. This time around, though, most of the team isn't looking forward to new releases. They're heading backwards, back into long-standing favourites that the 100th special dredged up from their back catalogues.

The hardware highlight: 8BitDo's FlipPad

The main forward-looking item this week is hardware rather than software. One editor recently got hands-on with the FlipPad from 8BitDo, the peripheral maker known for its retro-styled controllers. The plan is to stress-test what the device can do — specifically, bringing retro experiences to modern platforms. As the editor notes, this kind of retro-modern pairing has been done before, but the FlipPad approach promises to feel far more nostalgic. Full impressions are expected once the testing is done.

Where the team is playing this weekend

• Six Ages 2 and Pokémon Go City Safari, Lisbon. One editor is still reeling from last week's 100th Wrapp, which sent them spiralling into their back catalogue. The weekend belongs to Six Ages 2, with a real-world detour to Lisbon for the Pokémon Go City Safari event — so expect plenty of PoGo playtime too.

• Tencent HQ and Delta Force's anniversary. Another team member has been in Shenzhen for the past few days trying out new games at Tencent's headquarters, and heads to Chongqing this weekend for the big Delta Force anniversary festivities. It's been a run of exciting, sleepless nights — and, in their words, tennis elbows that are "super worth it." Previews will follow once they're back.

• Wuthering Waves. One editor has been fighting the urge to dive back into Wuthering Waves, held back mainly because Shorekeeper — a needed unit for their Havoc Rover team — hardly ever returns to banners, and they'd forgotten she actually did return recently. But last week reminded them of the joys of sprinting up a sheer cliff face, so Verina will have to hold the team together a bit longer.

• Tearscape, chasing the Bloodborne vibe. A self-confessed Bloodborne devotee keeps returning to that game whenever they're at a loose end, because it's "so darn good." Mobile has struggled to capture that style of combat — Pascal's Wager tried and didn't quite manage it — but Tearscape appears to replicate the vibe at least. And so long as the gameplay is reasonably fun, the vibe is all they need.

Where things stand

It's a quiet week for launches and a loud week for comebacks: the news cycle is dominated by hardware testing (FlipPad), live events (Pokémon Go City Safari in Lisbon, Delta Force's anniversary in Chongqing), and replays of proven favourites. The one open thread to watch is the FlipPad — its retro-modern performance review is the piece most likely to land in the coming days.