I am forcing myself to write this week to get back into a rhythm. I did get another theme idea, but to avoid
ending up without one, I'll write about the one I thought about last week: Fortnite, and how many gaming
journalists don't seem to understand what Fortnite has become. Now, before I go further, yes, Epic sucks. If
your reason for detesting the game is Epic, carry on; I have no comments. But if you wish to read further,
we consume content from bad companies all the time, I'm afraid.
This September saw the release of Override, a new chapter in Fortnite. A chapter is essentially a small map
rework, a new battle pass, and a theme, with gimmicks (though this one kept gimmicks from last season). If
the map changes a lot, it is a new season, with its own chapters. The override theme is gaming. And
alongside Fortnite-branded original characters, we also have a big wave of collaborations; Fortnite has had
its share of gaming characters in the game, but one in particular really broke containment on the journalist
circle: Kingdom Hearts.
The points of discussion essentially boil down to skins being soulless husks Epic is selling back to you for
nostalgia; how wrong it is to see Sora with a gun (bonus if you add an image of the Simpsons' "no-no"
chart); and some criticism of capitalism while you are at it. I will not criticize the capitalism of the
thing because you can do that yourself; it's a live service game, and it's very easy to do so, with good
reason. My concern is the other half of the argument, and a fun comment: you do not see the same opinion
from players.
Fortnite is not a cohesive world where multiple timelines collide. It is a toy box. A very corpo-approved
toy box, but one nonetheless. Yes, skins are husks because they are skins; they have to be husks to
fit the mechanic; they don't talk. They just have a special idle pose if you are lucky and do silly emotes.
The fun is in how nonsensical it is.
No player is looking at Sora and asking how this fits into the Kingdom Hearts timeline; that is Sora only in
name and looks, kind of like a fanfic; those you can swap names around freely because these characters got
so big they became their own context. So seeing Sora shooting a rifle, doing the griddy, and then getting
headshot by Peter Griffin is complete and utter nonsense, and that's exactly why it is funny. Besides, this
may be the most protagonism Kairi got on the entire franchise, as a bonus.
So when Ironmouse is flying around, using a Tails sprite, shooting Mega Man's Buster, while Morgana from
Persona 5 follows her around, no one cares; it's stupid. This comes from a player who spent too much time
and money on that game; damn if it isn't funny as hell. It never really stops being a source of
entertainment. The moment Hatsune Miku arrived on the island, people kept posting memes of the Fortnite song
sung by Miku, because it was now real? Just chef's kiss. And that's something that is impossible to
understand unless you are in on the joke- if you enjoy the silly game you play to pass the time and hang out
with your friends.
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