“Maybe this would be the good time to dive again in,” I assumed, “everybody shall be on a degree taking part in discipline with all the new additions”. I used to be very fallacious. I ought to have recognized this from the second that I made it right into a foyer and realised that I had no thought find out how to get right into a recreation.
The ‘Recreation Mode’ field that contained the likes of ‘Solo’, ‘Duos’, ‘Squads’ and the odd particular occasion again within the day was simply an empty rectangle, with not one of the aforementioned choices sitting there. After round 5 minutes of looking the menus (keep in mind that the font is significantly tiny on Swap) I ultimately discovered the choice to pick out a recreation mode. I couldn’t imagine what I noticed.
![Fortnite Switch](https://images.nintendolife.com/e4b92ceff60b7/fortnite-switch.900x.jpg)
If, like me, you might have additionally been on a Battle Bus hiatus for the previous few years, you won’t have seen the sport mode display for some time, so take a look on the screenshot above. I used to be on the lookout for one thing that vaguely resembled a ‘Solo’ match and I used to be met with a wash of phrases I did not perceive, movie star faces I did not recognise and extra tie-ins than a phase-ending MCU film might dream up.
I do vaguely keep in mind the announcement that you’d be capable to make your individual islands in Fortnite, however I used to be not anticipating the sheer quantity of choices that are actually current. I ultimately managed to search out the ‘Battle Royale’ mode within the ‘Standard’ part of the Browse display. Goodness is aware of how lengthy I might have been trying if I had simply began aimlessly scrolling by way of the sensory overload that hit me upon arrival.
With that first hurdle out of the best way, I obtained myself right into a recreation (after a fairly prolonged load time) and began some precise taking part in. On the floor, that is fortunately the identical outdated Fortnite — you drop onto an island with 100 different poor souls, frantically acquire the perfect weapons that you could after which set about dispatching your competitors to be the final man standing. But it surely did not take me lengthy to grasp that just about every little thing else has modified.
![Fortnite Wilds](https://images.nintendolife.com/69866004b8b31/fortnite-wilds.900x.jpg)
In Fortnite’s defence, I have not been maintaining with the in-game storyline (yep, there is a plot) over the previous 4 years, so I did should do a short on-line refresher course after I realised that I knew exactly not one of the map’s places. The likes of Dusty Depot, Tomato City and Deadly Fields are all gone, changed by equally alliterative drop spots like Lazy Lagoon, Coney Crossroads and Rocky Reels. And the Battle Royal map is now completely huge.
Because it seems, the unique map — often called the Athena Map or Athena Royale — has been blown up and put collectively once more a handful of occasions since I final performed. The island as we presently discover it’s an amalgamation of a number of totally different worlds all pulled collectively (I believe) and is called Asteria (possibly?).
Both means, I went about my first few video games as I all the time used to: Discover a comparatively distant spot, filter anybody who selected to land close to me, after which spend the remainder of the sport simply edging the storm boundary whereas trying to keep away from as a lot fight as doable. I had no thought the place I used to be more often than not, however getting all the way down to the ultimate few survivors remains to be a fairly heart-racing expertise.
What took me some time to get my head round is simply how full of stuff the sport has change into. Again within the day, there was the odd quest or mission so that you can maybe stumble throughout whereas taking part in a match, however now the world is stuffed with XP bonuses, weapon modifiers, ‘Seize Factors’, gold bars, job presents, NPCs, bounties, and so on. I might hold itemizing them, however the vital factor is, most of these items I had completely no thought what to do with.
Even the issues that I assumed to be primary have modified. Suppose you realize what chests are? A few of them require keys now. Know find out how to drive a automotive? You may should hold it topped up with petrol, apparently. It’s nonetheless a really enjoyable time, however I can not assist however suppose that the simplicity of the unique “100 gamers begin, one stays” format has been barely misplaced.
However maybe that is the purpose. From my temporary return to the sport, it’s obvious that Battle Royale is not the be-all and end-all of Fortnite anymore. The opposite recreation modes, whereas overwhelming in quantity, have managed to create a platform for nearly any type of play expertise possible. These vary from normal recreation modes with a twist just like the ‘No Construct’ battles the place it is the identical recreation however (you guessed it) you possibly can’t construct to different, much less combat-based targets that really feel nearer to Fall Guys than any semblance of the web shooter that I performed all these years in the past.
![Spider-Man Miles Morales Fortnite](https://images.nintendolife.com/822c62b957397/spider-man-miles-morales-fortnite.900x.jpg)
Has Fortnite actually change into a platform for gaming somewhat than a recreation in and of itself? Possibly. Am I not certain what is occurring in 90% of my Battle Royale matches? Undoubtedly. But it surely did nonetheless convey me a superb time, albeit one the place I watched Ariana Grande pull a shotgun on Spider-Man earlier than viciously dabbing over his dematerialising corpse…
Are you continue to taking part in Fortnite or did you additionally cease some time in the past? Tempted to dive again in? You possibly can fill out the next polls after which hop off the bus within the feedback to tell us.