Aaliyah A

Fortnite. We see it in our dreams. We yearn for it in our days. We live for it in the night. A game, no, an experience that has defied expectations for the lifespan of a live service multiplayer game. Over its 7-year lifespan, Fortnite has had 29 seasons. Each season provides an era that Taylor Swift wishes she could mimic. Today, we’re going to look into each season to see which one truly represented the best Fortnite gaming experience. Starting with my least favourite season…

Season X

This season was so controversial it caused a soft reboot of the entire game. After 2 mediocre seasons and a diminishing player base, Fortnite tried too hard to make radical changes to excite people again. As a result, we got an extremely cluttered map and the infamous edition of mechs, which were highly disliked by the entire community. A tragic end to what was a wonderful beginning of this game’s life.

Chapter 3 Season 4

Chapter 3 had one of the strongest beginnings of any Fortnite chapter. Going in, it truly felt like Fortnite would be reborn. However, as the chapter continued, it was evident all the sauce was embedded in their initial chapter. It failed to give a good send-off to the chapter and suffered from being uninteresting in both story and gameplay. It was tough competition, seeing how great season 1 was. But it was still a shame, it honestly may’ve been just as good to just have season 1 run for all of Chapter 3.

Chapter 1 Season 9

Late Chapter 1 was plagued with a strong sense of “what now?”. Their solution? Controversial map changes, such as the decimation of the beloved Tilted Towers and Retail Row and a failure to reinvigorate interest in the story.

Chapter 4 Season 3

By this point, Fortnite was known for each season including some interactive elements with its collaboration. This remained true when they collaborated with Transformers for Season 3. However, it’s theme of ‘the wilds’ with this? Not particularly interesting, unfortunately. Nothing from this season felt like it warranted a season update, especially when it felt like a chore to trek through the wildered areas. The added hostiles were simply annoying above anything. I can’t lie, gunfights swinging from trees were pretty fun.

Chapter 1 Season 8

The beginning of the decline in many eyes…

Fortnite was on a historic run between seasons 2 and 7. Its numbers were at an all-time high and the previous 6 seasons were met with praise and acclaim. All pressure was on Epic Games to keep delivering. Naturally, the pace couldn’t be kept, and their solution was to just try what they had done with the last season and just revamp another map corner. Combined with a dull continuation of the refreshed season 7 story, it just feels like wasted potential and the beginning of terrible times to come.

Chapter 3 Seasons 2-3

I’ve elected to combine these two seasons for the simple fact that these seasons were pretty similar in both content and issues. There were no specific missteps with these seasons, just simply that it wasn’t as good as Chapter 3 Season 1. It took away the exciting gameplay mechanics of the prior season and, whilst wasn’t left wasn’t bad at all, it would’ve been better to leave what was great.

Chapter 2 Season 8

Chapter 2’s final season finally tied back into the original story from season 1. It was good for those who were tuned in, alienating others. It didn’t explain enough for the new players to feel right at home and were left to focus on the gameplay. Which wasn’t to be minded. The battle pass was decent and the Venom mythic helped add to the theme of the season whilst feeling exciting and its own thing. Overall, whilst not a great season. Its spooky theme was a welcome shift in tone and gameplay and was exciting enough.

Chapter 1 Season 6

Whilst I mentioned Season 8 was the beginning of the true dip in quality of Chapter 1, season 6 was the first season to not be particularly amazing. Map changes were serviceable and the Fortnitemares was certainly a welcome event, introducing enemy NPCs, which would be further developed in later chapters.

Chapter 1 Season 1

The one to start it all, giving birth to the game as we know it. Introduced all the iconic weapons and map locations (who could forget the bush). However, it was quite barebones, even for early Chapter 1 standards. No Tilted Towers and lack of battle pass have made it age quite poorly. However, we wouldn’t be here without it. None of us would be. Our lives would all be dramatically different.

Chapter 2 Season 2

Also known as, “the one with Deadpool”. After the surprise success of Fortnite’s soft reboot, they learned their lesson from Chapter One of ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. So this season was fairly mellow, with story interaction remaining simple yet engaging (and of course, Deadpool in the Battle Pass collaboration was pretty cool).

Chapter 2 Season 6

This season decided to pick up the pace and change up the gameplay in an innovative way. The weapons were completely revamped and there was an emphasis on primal creatures and technology in the gameplay. And to their credit, it was pretty cool for the first few weeks. However, it got old fairly quickly and I think everyone wanted their pump shotguns back.

Chapter 4 Season 1

After the snooze-fest that was Chapter 3, Fortnite learnt how to better their approach to the game’s lifespan as they kept it running as they worked on larger-scale plans in the

background. They kept their approach to Chapter 4 simple. Don’t set expectations too high. Just have a fresh map, and new weapons and then develop the Chapter in later seasons. Don’t show all your cards at once. And it paid off. Chapter 4’s launch wasn’t massive, but it was foundational. It paved the way for the rest of chapter 4 to be stronger.

Chapter 2 Season 7

Also known as, “the one with Superman and Rick & Morty”. This season just did everything right and nothing more, nothing less. Good battle pass with some fun collabs, a theme that was both relevant to game lore and engaging for casual players and some, satisfactory map changes.

Chapter 2 Season 1

This chapter had quite an important task. It had to essentially reset the game after a slew of abysmal seasons, and it couldn’t be an abysmal season itself. It had to change just the right amount to feel fresh, but not enough that it felt like a different game and scared off its fanbase. In my opinion, it succeeded. It had a large emphasis on a far simpler story and a fresh map that retained fan-favourite locations. The battle pass was revamped and was received positively, allowing individuals to get the specific prizes they wanted from the pass. This was a make-or-break season for the game, and it pulled it off. Not particularly spectacularly, but adequately.

Chapter 4 Season 4

Also known as, the one with Khaby Lame. It added a fun heisting aspect, adding further development to the gameplay loop in an exciting manner that contributed to the story in a meaningful way to both dedicated and casual players. It delivered on Fortnite Chapter 4’s philosophy of building itself up over time as that by the end of the chapter, whilst not remarkable, it certainly was fun and a worthy continuation of the game.

Chapter 4 Season 2

NEON CITAYYYYYYY!!!!!! (It’s like midnight and I got double English tomorrow, give me a break). Whilst only updating a small portion of the map, it was excellent, adding exciting dynamic to gameplay without feeling too radical or cluttered. Essentially, it was a better Season X than Season X was.

Chapter 2 Season 5

This chapter tied back to the main story without overwhelming players through its theme of bounty hunters, adding extra quest types and options to the game to develop a more exciting gameplay loop. The battle pass had a good mix of originals and collabs, including the Mandalorian this time around, and map changes were satisfactory.

Chapter 1 Season 5

After the hype of the seasons 3 and 4 events…not to mention the real-world inclusion of the marketing of this game, with a real-world global scavenger hunt occurring, season 5 was gearing to be huge. Whilst a great season, it didn’t deliver very much. It took a break from its focus on lore and mystery to push the radical map changes, which was mostly positively received. Instead, this season’s lore was dedicated to a cube flopping around for a few

weeks. Which, in the long run, worked in its favour. However, it was slightly underwhelming at the time.

Chapter 2 Season 3

Also known as, the one in water. Traditionally, water levels are the worst part of any video game. But Fortnite laughs in the face of traditional video games, especially since it is a game where Son Goku can use the infinity gauntlet on Leon S Kennedy and then dance to Billie Eilish. The season’s theme tied heavily into gameplay. The radical change wasn’t too frustrating and added a fun element, assisted by the season’s shorter length. With its only big gripe being a relatively uninteresting battle pass

Chapter 1 Season 7

Also known as, “the Christmas one”. Featured a good radical map change and broke away from a story that was beginning to feel stale. The addition of planes was fun and the Christmas event was exciting. Most importantly, it featured the introduction of Fortnite: Creative, which would be pivotal in Fortnite’s development from then on.

Chapter 1 Season 2

This was truly when the pieces began to form for how we see the game today. It introduced the battle pass, as well as iconic items & weapons such as the boogie bomb and impulse grenade. I mean, where would those cherished memories of telling my friend I’d drop ammo only for him only to impulse grenade him off the side of a mountain be without them? Most importantly, it introduced the holy land: Tilted Towers.

Chapter 2 Season 4

Dare I say this is the best use of a collaboration in Fortnite history? The Marvel-themed season allowed for a fresh story with a great battle pass with licensed but original skins. Its interactive story through events and exciting gameplay made for a truly unique season. Whilst there have been better seasons since, now have been quite as original.

Chapter 4: OG-

I remember thinking for years ‘If they only brought back the old seasons just for a season or so, it’d be a spectacle unlike any other’. I was not alone in such a sentiment. A return to the older seasons was long requested and was delivered spectacularly. Whilst the initial shorter season run threw people off, by the end people were happy with its length and were satisfied with reliving memories and ready to move on to something new. It featured a great battle pass combining the old and the new, with its only crime being it didn’t start early enough, progressing through seasons 4-8. I think most fans would agree seasons 2-6 would’ve been the best way to go. However, it was still a fantastic time and amazing to see the original map rendered in Unreal Engine 5 so many years later.

Chapter 3 Season 1

Also known as, the one with Spider-Man and The Rock. After chapter 2 set a decent precedent, chapter 3 followed up with an excellent map, excellent gameplay (I can’t tell you the number of hours I spent swinging around the map. I probably could, it was likely less

than the amount I spent writing this) and a great introduction for new players whilst honouring old ones in terms of story. Fortnite lore is complicated, so to get a refresher course delivered to you by none other than The Rock is something. It was also the game’s most technologically advanced season update. The game was converted to Unreal Engine 5 during this time, resulting in improved visual fidelity, animations, graphics, lighting and effects across the entire board, improving the game’s long-term appeal.

Chapter 5 Season 1

Fantastic. A fantastic follow-up to OG. Fantastic starting event. Fantastic map. Fantastic added gameplay loops with the train and the medal collecting. Most importantly, it introduced LEGO Fortnite, Rocket Racing and Fortnite festival. Two completely new games within Fortnite itself unlocked the brand completely. I mean, name one other game where Solid Snake can hit the Buddy Holly riff whilst Daryl Dixon hits the griddy.

Season 3

These last two seasons are interchangeable for me, but I spent a little less time playing in Season 3. However, this is when Fortnite truly took off in popularity. It featured an iconic battle pass remembered today (everyone remembers the horrors of seeing a John Wick with angel wings), and added aspects such as loading screens, contrails and back blings. It introduced the story aspect into the game, building its foundation through mystery.

It added iconic aspects (vending machines, supply llama), LTMs (limited time modes), map landmarks (Lucky Landing) and introduced events, such as the meteor. I mean, ask any young adult where they were on March 20th, 2018. They will tell you; they were watching the meteor event. Or asleep. It was at 2 am in Australia.

Season 4

Season 4 didn’t add a monstrous amount to the game (aside from unlockable cosmetic styles, now a game staple). However, it improved on every single aspect of Season 3.

It had interesting, intuitive story-focused quests to deepen lore. It added further mystery to the lore, especially with the Rocket event surpassing the hype of the meteor event. It had a wide range of map changes, both small and large. It developed on LTM game modes (50v50, close encounters). Most importantly, it was the first example of a brand crossover (with the Avengers: Infinity War film), which would become an extremely integral part of the game’s DNA only a few months later. Bravo, Vince.

Fortnite has had an interesting history of ups and downs. However, we can’t seem to shake it as a society. Maybe we shouldn’t. Maybe the best Fortnite season is the one inside us, the one that cares for people. The one that picks up rubbish in your area of responsibility. The one that stays up until 2 am writing articles about video games when they have 2 major works due very soon. Maybe We Are Fortnite: Battle Royale.

I’ve lost it.