I kind of have to admit, I really got into Fortnite on a whim of curiosity. I gave it a try a while back towards the end of Chapter 3 last year but didn't really stick with it until this chapter. Originally I wanted to see the new UE5 engine update because I have a thirst for cool new tech and it did absolutely deliver on that front! Fortnite is now one of the best looking games I think have ever seen period, and the way the new Nanite/Lumen tech completely changes lighting is genuinely insane. I still can't believe this is running on modern hardware in real time, the kind of things it pulls off that previously were only possible with long render times in something like Blender.
But beyond the technical side of things, I think the fact that I did actually give in and buy the battle pass and a few extra skins on the shop, and stuck around to finish almost all of it says something about just the cozy casual nature of Fortnite. It's the only battle royale game I think I can enjoy because Fortnite understands how to create a comfortable environment for the player to actually engage in and want to keep going even after crappy losses, both through its progression system always leading you towards a goal (if you pay for the pass at least), and also because Fortnite's gunplay has a shockingly long time-to-kill ratio that most other shooters on the market don't come close to. It's kind of hilarious that Fortnite of all things might actually understand why Halo's combat felt so satisfying and unique of all things, because Fortnite's combat is almost anything but reaction times. Getting shot at first doesn't guarantee you a loss as long as you can actually out-maneuver and position yourself in a way that can beat the other player, and it's a flow that just never really got old for me no matter how many hours and rounds I played.
Honestly the only reason the score isn't higher is because comparing this to what I did play of the Vibin' season, Chapter 4 felt rushed. The UE5 engine update looks incredible graphically, but stability-wise the game was a mess the entire season. Weapons and abilities continually got temporarily removed and put back in (then repeat for some things) because of bugs and glitches, which was a constant running theme in general. Mantling over small ledges and fences was straight up disabled for over half of the season in a map that was designed around that kind of movement, and a lot of that period of time also had significant almost game-breaking issues like a random coin flip for whether your sprint key would actually function or not. The game may look amazing, but I frankly kind of wish that Epic would've held off on the update if it would mean that the game was more stable for more of the season.
I may have bought the battle pass, and Doomguy being in Fortnite may be really funny, but honestly most of the pass really sucked ass. Some of the worst cosmetics the game has had in years because they're all just so incredibly generic and lacked a consistent theme or style.
There was also some gross new FOMO stuff that was really icky, like actually removing weekly quests at the end of the week which was so blatantly a higher-up decision to try and keep up "player engagement" when it really does anything but (a lesson I really wish Bungie would learn by now). Thankfully it's something that they backtracked on towards the end of the season and so far the new season looks like they're keeping the feedback in mind and not making the same mistakes, but it's always something to be kind of wary of with these live service games even if I do think that Fortnite may be one of the very few out there that I truly do enjoy and don't mind.
But beyond the technical side of things, I think the fact that I did actually give in and buy the battle pass and a few extra skins on the shop, and stuck around to finish almost all of it says something about just the cozy casual nature of Fortnite. It's the only battle royale game I think I can enjoy because Fortnite understands how to create a comfortable environment for the player to actually engage in and want to keep going even after crappy losses, both through its progression system always leading you towards a goal (if you pay for the pass at least), and also because Fortnite's gunplay has a shockingly long time-to-kill ratio that most other shooters on the market don't come close to. It's kind of hilarious that Fortnite of all things might actually understand why Halo's combat felt so satisfying and unique of all things, because Fortnite's combat is almost anything but reaction times. Getting shot at first doesn't guarantee you a loss as long as you can actually out-maneuver and position yourself in a way that can beat the other player, and it's a flow that just never really got old for me no matter how many hours and rounds I played.
Honestly the only reason the score isn't higher is because comparing this to what I did play of the Vibin' season, Chapter 4 felt rushed. The UE5 engine update looks incredible graphically, but stability-wise the game was a mess the entire season. Weapons and abilities continually got temporarily removed and put back in (then repeat for some things) because of bugs and glitches, which was a constant running theme in general. Mantling over small ledges and fences was straight up disabled for over half of the season in a map that was designed around that kind of movement, and a lot of that period of time also had significant almost game-breaking issues like a random coin flip for whether your sprint key would actually function or not. The game may look amazing, but I frankly kind of wish that Epic would've held off on the update if it would mean that the game was more stable for more of the season.
I may have bought the battle pass, and Doomguy being in Fortnite may be really funny, but honestly most of the pass really sucked ass. Some of the worst cosmetics the game has had in years because they're all just so incredibly generic and lacked a consistent theme or style.
There was also some gross new FOMO stuff that was really icky, like actually removing weekly quests at the end of the week which was so blatantly a higher-up decision to try and keep up "player engagement" when it really does anything but (a lesson I really wish Bungie would learn by now). Thankfully it's something that they backtracked on towards the end of the season and so far the new season looks like they're keeping the feedback in mind and not making the same mistakes, but it's always something to be kind of wary of with these live service games even if I do think that Fortnite may be one of the very few out there that I truly do enjoy and don't mind.