I never thought I would get a Victory Royale that easily in the latest season of Fortnite. What happened was I played one match on the season premiere (March 16, 2021). And then today (March 17, 2021 - Happy St. Patrick's Day, by the way), I played one match. But it was the second match of the day (the third match played in the new season so far...), I was able to reach 1st place.
No, really!
(Achievement says "Won One: Legacy Updated!" meaning that this was my 1st Victory Royale in the new season of Fortnite)
When that achievement icon blinked on screen, I was amazed. In fact, I went as far as screenshotting the victory on my Nintendo Switch, as shown on this blog post!
Best of luck to everyone else on this new season of Fortnite!
March 16, 2021 marked the start of Season 6, Chapter 2 of Fortnite - a battle-royale game with over 350 million players worldwide, as of May 2020.
The previous chapter had players like myself wonder what's in store for the next update. In fact, I found myself going on Fortnite every single day until the previous chapter's finale. So, how was my experience? Well, I have the screenshots, courtesy of the Nintendo Switch!
THE BUILD-UP
February, and even going into the first half of March, was spent wondering what the mysterious Zero Point sphere might do, in the event that it ... well, I had my theories.
(Taken from my gameplay on Nintendo Switch)
Some of my theories were:
The sphere would explode, taking the whole island with it, thus creating some sort of apocalypse, one similar to the infamous "World's End" event back in 2019, which had players speculating whether or not the game would go back online. OR,
The sphere will change the island into some other world, thus kicking off the new season.
To be fair, my second theory was partially right. The sphere did change the island ... but not in the way that I had expected.
Anyway, as time went on, I couldn't help but look up at the sky every so often to see how the Zero Point ball was faring.
(The character I'm using in this gameplay is Venom - one of the skins from the previous season with the Marvel heroes and villains.)
Every once in a while, the Zero Point sphere would pulse, especially the strains that cling to different parts of the island like meat hooks.
I had so many questions in mind on how the season would end. My imagination ran wild for a good while, as I played throughout the season.
JUST DAYS BEFORE...
If you don't know the story thus far, Agent Jonesy is the guy in the trailers that had rounded up characters from The Walking Dead,Halo, Predator, and so on. It was then when they've introduced a gameplay feature where you can hunt players down - or be hunted by other players - and earn gold bars from completed bounties. The season mainly circled around the Mandalorian from the Star Wars franchise (and the Disney+ series of the same name).
So when Agent Jonesy tries to obtain information about "the Seven," he is denied access.
(We hear this in two different audio files when the game is launched on two different days.) Soon, he decides to take matters into his own hands.
THE NIGHT BEFORE...
I was lucky to get into a solo match before Fortnite's scheduled downtime, which was 12:00 AM ET on March 16 (since I'm in CT - central time - that meant 11:00 PM CT).
There was no doubt that the Zero Point energy was going berserk. My job at that time was to take as many screenshots on the Switch as possible because that was probably the last time that I would see the island in such a state, such a landscape - with the Zero Point crystals sticking out of the ground, and illuminating and humming with vibrant energy.
My solo match was hard-fought to where I was literally "hunting" my opponent. Although I had managed to place 2nd in the match, these last few minutes of gameplay before downtime was totally worth it!
NEW SEASON. NEW CHAPTER.
The next day. March 16, 2021. I was hoping for the best in the latest update on Fortnite.
But first ... I had to download the update on my Nintendo Switch.
About an hour later, I launched the game.
The first thing you see ... a cinematic of Jonesy defying orders, and running past dueling characters to get to the Zero Point sphere.
He throws an orb at the sphere, and a large asteroid hits the ground, revealing a mysterious character in black and red known as the Foundation.
The stranger reluctantly agrees to help Jonesy control the Zero Point energy.
Now, this is where things get exciting!
As promised, the game does let you play in this single-player mode where you're tasked to close up the portals with the orb, while changing into various characters (while Jonesy is accidentally changed into a butterfly for some reason).
For me, the gameplay mechanics were simple: run and close portals. Though, closing portals is easier for PC players, because that part was a little tricky when I had to move my thumb on the right joystick just to close it up "like a zipper."
Plus, time was obviously at the essence, so I was struggling to close up the portals, as instructed by Jonesy.
As for the rest of the gameplay, you're teleported from place to place; and the next thing you know, you're flying up to a tower, and then racing up it. On top, you'll find the Foundation struggling to contain the Zero Point energy.
After throwing the orb at the Zero Point sphere, everything fades to white.
Afterwards, the trailer to the new season plays.
As you can tell, the theme for the new season is "Primal," meaning that there's a wild vibe to the game world. While I wasn't too crazy about the new theme, I was still looking forward to trying it out.
GAMEPLAY IN NEW SEASON
The gameplay was like usual, with only changes to the landscape, along with newer weapons which you can somehow craft into different ones.
(I guess they brought back the crafting stations from the previous seasons...?)
I had a little trouble with the crossbow weapon, but a little practice will take the edge off it after a while.
While I was able to place 7th in my first match in the new season, I was surprised to get 3 accomplishments during the match.
So, yes, Season 6, Chapter 2 is up and running on Fortnite; and I can't wait to play some more!
