I grew up playing FPS shooters like Doom, Quake, Tribes, Team Fortress, Counter-Strike, etc, but I had avoided Fortnite for awhile because it just seemed like a kid’s game, whatever. Then my oldest son started getting into it and we’d play matches together, and suddenly I felt out of my element. The addition of building mechanics adds in a whole other element that you don’t really have to think about in other games. Granted, it’s not realistic being able to build shit that quickly, but whatever, it’s a game. And seeing some of the skill involved with these people running/gunning/building elaborate forts and the sort of battles that play out between two people gets insane sometimes.

Another interesting aspect of it is all the cross-marketing that goes on, you’ve got almost every major franchise represented in some way, shape, or form. It reminds me of Ready Player One. It sounds dumb, but Fortnite is probably the closest thing to a Metaverse that we currently have. I mean, hell, Emperor Palpatine somehow returned in between the movies in Fortnite (a dark day for Star Wars fandom).

It is a game flooded with child players that lost its identity when it stopped being a tower defense and instead copied PUBG but with other licensed IPs.

The game itself is fine I guess, if you dont ever interact with its insufferably annoying community.

It's fun to fire up every now and then and check out what's new. I mostly play indie games, deckbuilders, etc., so I don't care about graphics so much.

I will say they did monetization right - free to play with absolutely no pay to win elements.

I am not a fan of the genre. But a friend I met playing EverQuest back in 99 started to play it because his 6 year old son wanted to play, so I started playing. I enjoyed playing with them, then my own son started to play with us too.

Were this not the case, I would never have played. My friend died in ‘22 and I mostly stopped playing. His son still calls me to play. But other than that I play other games.

If you like the genre, it is a good game. You can play 100% for free unless you needs skins (there are a number you get for free)

Any free online game is gonna be ruined by its community. Do yourself a favour and look for a game you actually like and pay for it.

The graphical shortcomings might have something to do with there being 100 players in the match at once.

This chapter/season added jetpacks, which are very fun.

It was better when it was co-op against AI zombies.

I enjoyed it like 3-5 years ago, but since then it shifted significantly towards kids and that was probably a morally respectable move given how many kids are playing but I don't like it anymore. Graphics is top-notch, don't confuse your subjective dislike of the style with it being unfinished or underdeveloped.

It has a bright and cartoony aesthetic, which isn't inherently bad. Objects are easily readable, and the style is very flexible for adding all sorts of characters from various settings. The style also ages better than attempting photo realism.

Otherwise, yeah sure it's a shooter which happened to catch on for the younger audience especially, and the increase of social areas and events gave it more varied content.

I played it for about 10 minutes, it's not really for me. I don't think about it much, but I understand why someone might like it. Just because it isn't for me doesn't mean it's bad. People that getting really riled up about it existing or being popular give the same aura as 12 year olds vocally making fun of things 10 year olds are into to prove how mature and sophisticated they are in comparison.

It's fun and it's free.

Don't give a damn about communities and YouTubers and what other people think - that will never help you with anything, ever. Simply check out if you like the game by yourself.

For me, I couldn't get behind the battle royale thing.... It's just too much pressure. Don't get me wrong, I like intense gunfights, but for a win to be only when you're the last team standing of everyone on the server using only the random loot you found ... that's a lot of pressure.

On the graphics front, things have changed a lot over the years:

I actually think it looks pretty decent personally and it keeps getting better. It's not Hunt Showdown: 1896, but it's still pretty nice visually (just more of an animation than photorealism focus).

It's fine.

Never tried it, never will. There are too many games out there fighting for my attention, and fortnite never wins that fight.

opionions

I started playing it last year because my nephew wanted someone to play (apart from his friends at school). I kept playing it on a regular basis (I had bought the base game years ago, but have not paid anything since). I enjoy the colorful graphics which run fine even on my 10+ old gaming PC. Some rounds are short and you're dead within minutes but often I reach top ten, but even then the rounds aren't taking that long (20 to 30 minutes), which is something I like about the game, because I barely take the time to have hour-long gaming sessions any more. Despite its looks skill makes a difference when it comes to aiming and movement (most special weapons are movement skills). I mostly play the no building mode because I can't manage shooting and building at the same time.