With Valentine’s Day on the horizon, Pokemon Go players will be feeling the love with new challenges, bonuses, themed Pokemon, and the debut of flower Pokemon Flabébé, Floette, and Florges. The flower-themed Pokemon will have five different colors available, with three of them region-locked and another two available as a rare encounter.

The Valentines Day event will begin on February 10 at 10 AM in players’ local time, and run through to 8 PM on February 14. For the duration of the event, players will benefit from double Lure Module duration and double Catch Candy, as well as Buddy Pokemon bringing players gifts more often.

The event comes with a new Global Challenge, which will unlock a reward if all players worldwide reach a cumulative total of 70,000,000 Gifts sent. If the goal is reached, an additional bonus of 3x Transfer Candy will be in place for the remainder of the event.

On a smaller scale, trainers will be able to participate in two new Valentine’s-themed Collection Challenges, which will unlock encounters with a female Frillish and a male Frillish.

As with all Pokemon Go’s themed events, the main way trainers will be interacting the game’s Valentine’s celebrations is through the themed Pokemon that will pop up more often in the wild. Expect lots of pink, with Pokemon like Chansey, Luvdisc, Miltank, Audino, and Alomomola popping up more often, as well as paired Pokemon like Plusle and Minun, and Volbeat and Illumise.

With #PokemonGOValentines nearing, it’s almost time to catch more than just feelings—it’s time to catch some more Pokémon! 🙂

Blooming into the world of Pokémon GO are…

🌸 Flabébé
🌸 Floette
🌸 Florges

💌 Learn more: https://t.co/Ya7iB3vk6z pic.twitter.com/uLY67OGjXY

— Pokémon GO (@PokemonGoApp) February 7, 2022

A new Pokemon is also debuting with this event–Flabébé, which can be evolved into Floette and Florges. Trainers in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa will get a Flabébé with a red flower, blue flowers will be appearing in the Asia-Pacific region, while the Americas will get a yellow Flower Flabébé. All regions will be able to catch the rarer white and orange flower Flabébés if they’re lucky.

Along with these new arrivals, poodle Pokemon Furfrou will be getting a cute new Heart Trim form. To change your Furfrou’s trim, use the Change Form button in Pokemon Storage, and choose from available trims at a cost of 25 Furfrou Candy and 10,000 Stardust per change.

Players who are able to evolve Kirlia into either Gallade or Gardevoir during the event will be able to unlock the special charged attack Synchronoise.

For the full list of bonuses and Pokemon that will be available through wild encounters, raids, and field research during the event, check out the full Pokemon Go blog post.

Read MoreGameSpot – Game News

With the Steam Deck’s release coming up at the end of February, testers have their hands on the device and are revealing more about how it’ll play. One tidbit coming out from a number of YouTubers testing the Steam Deck is that the handheld device’s battery life will be heavily reliant on what settings are used to play, as reported by PC Gamer.

Officially, Valve has said that the Steam Deck will provide 2-8 hours of batttery, depending on the game and settings being used. Tests from YouTubers Gamers Nexus and The Phawx have shown this range to be generally accurate, though both managed to run the battery down in less than two hours, and neither managed to reach the 8-hour upper limit.

In a battery strain test, Gamers Nexus managed to run the battery down in 87 minutes by running Devil May Cry 5 with an uncapped framerate and Vsync disabled. With a 60fps framerate cap and Vsync enabled, DMC5 lasted around 2 hours instead, scraping the lower end of the Steam Deck’s official battery life.

Similar tests run by The Phawx showed that the Steam Deck gets considerably better batttery life when playing less demanding games like indie or older titles, with Dead Cells running for around six hours with Vsync enabled. The Phawx failed to reach the advertised eight-hour upper run time with any game, despite testing various options.

On the plus side, it looks like the Steam Deck will charge fairly quickly, with Gamers Nexus’s test showing the device charging to 80% in around 100 minutes while turned on and running idle. Like other devices using lithium-ion batteries, the Steam Deck slows its charging rate at 80% to preserve the battery, and takes about three hours to reach a full 100% charge.

While the tests showing the Steam Deck running out its battery in under 90 minutes are an extreme case with settings players don’t have much reason to use on the handheld device, it’s a reminder that the Steam Deck is fundamentally different to handheld consoles like the Nintendo Switch. With the Steam Deck functioning more like a mini-PC that players can theoretically load any of their PC games onto, players will have to be more mindful of how their game settings will impact battery life.

Read MoreGameSpot – Game News

After releasing in Korea at the end of 2019, MMORPG Lost Ark will be available in western markets from February 11, with Amazon on board as a publisher. The game is free-to-play, relying on microtransactions for revenue. Here’s everything you need to know about getting into Lost Ark.

Players will be able to download Lost Ark for free from Steam or the game’s website from February 11, though the game is already available for those who have unlocked early access by purchasing one of the game’s Founder’s Packs. You can find more details on getting into Lost Ark early here.

For players who don’t pick up a Founder’s Pack, the game will be fully free-to-play from February 11. While Korean MMOs are particularly notorious for predatory microtransactions, the western release of Lost Ark has modified the way its microtransations work in order to cater for those cultural differences.

Those changes include making sure that microtransactions are optional–in other words, giving players ways to earn the same content through regular gameplay if they choose, even if the process is fairly grindy. Players will also be able to trade any purchased items through the in-game economy.

The biggest microtransaction Lost Ark players should be aware of is the Crystalline Aura, a kind of monthly subscription that confers a number of useful buffs onto players including free fast travel, extra Bifrost slots, and reduced cooldowns and crafting time for the Stronghold. All

Lost Ark will also offer more conventional microtransactions, unlocking skins, pets, and other cosmetic items for players with cash to burn. However, as it’s being published by Amazon, players with active Prime subscriptions can keep an eye out for freebies through Prime Gaming. The first of Amazon’s free bundles is live now, offering a free Crystalline Aura, an Amethyst Shard pack and a Battle Chest bundle.

To celebrate its launch, Lost Ark has also made use of Amazon’s ownership of Twitch, using the streaming platform to give away even more free loot to prospective players.

If you’re ready to jump into Lost Ark now, or when the game launches for free on February 11, check out our Lost Ark guide for beginners.

Read MoreGameSpot – Game News

Fortnite and Star Wars are teaming up once more with new Book of Boba Fett skins based on the Disney+ series’ secondary characters, Fennec Shand and Krrsantan. The surprise drop also includes a new emote, glider, and more to round out your Star Wars collection, as well as the return of some past Star Wars skins, too. Here’s everything you need to know about the new Fortnite Fennec Shand skin and Krrsantan skin.

Fortnite – New Book of Boba Fett skins

Following the launch of Boba Fett as a Fortnite skin on December 24, 2021, two more characters from the series are now in the game: Fennec Shand brings her Mythosaur Signet back bling, while the This Is The Way emote and Fennec’s Ship glider come as additional options if you’ve got V-Bucks burning a hole through your e-wallet. Krrsantan meanwhile comes with the Hutt Clan Symbol back bling. Here’s a full price breakdown:

Fennec Shand skin (with back bling) – 1,500 V-BucksKrrsantan skin (with back bling) -1,500 V-BucksFennec’s Ship glider – 800 V-BucksThis Is The Way emote – 200 V-BucksMe loading up my V-Bucks balance: “This is the way.”

If bought separately, all of that would add up to 4,000 V-Bucks, or about $30. However, you can also get all of those items in a bundle for 2,300 V-Bucks while they’re in the Item Shop. The new characters come alongside a return of some–but definitely not all–Star Wars cosmetics.

The Stormtrooper and Boba Fett are both back and making their 2022 debuts, but the likes of Rey and Kylo Ren are still absent, leaving fans hoping for a May The Fourth return to the in-game store. We’ll have to wait and see about that one, though. It’s been years since we last saw them for sale.

Read MoreGameSpot – Game News

Fortnite Creative Mayhem is back to entice you to play more Creative mode, and you need not be compelled by the gameplay itself. There are three free Valentine’s Day-themed rewards up for grabs, though you may already have fulfilled the requirement for unlocking one of them, assuming you logged into the game during late January/early February. Here’s how to earn free new Fortnite cosmetics this month, including the Mace of Hearts Pickaxe.

Free Fortnite cosmetics – February 2022

Creative Mayhem is a much broader Creative mode-driven tournament meant to add a bit of variety to the lives of players who tend to only play battle royale. Between now and 6 AM PT / 9 AM ET on March 12, you can jump into a particular Creative map and compete to submit one of the best speedrunning scores in the complex obstacle course.

Being in it to win it isn’t required to earn your free cosmetics, however. For that, you’ll just need to sign up and play at least 30 minutes on the map Synthrace Qualifier. The Creative Code for the map is 7266-3680-0768. After signing up, you’ll immediately earn the Love Reigns emoticon, and after 30 minutes played on the map, you’ll unlock the Mace of Hearts pickaxe.

Ride that synthwave all the way to some Fortnite freebies.

Free Heart’s Desire wrap

But wait, there’s more–as in, more free stuff. Due to recent server outages, Epic is gifting all players a heart-themed wrap so long as they logged in between January 27 and February 3. The Heart’s Desire wrap features a mix of light red and dark red hearts and can be applied to boats and weapons.

All players who logged in between January 27 and February 3 will receive the “Heart’s Desire” wrap for FREE as compensation for the server outages lately! pic.twitter.com/HDPZ4GZhg3

— Shiina (@ShiinaBR) February 8, 2022

This comes unrelated to Creative Mayhem, but we’re grouping it in here because it would go nicely with the other heart-themed items from the live event. Get your Fortnite free stuff while you can!

Read MoreGameSpot – Game News

So much of the story in Pokemon Legends: Arceus revolves around the mysterious god-like Pokemon, it’s only natural that the game isn’t truly over until you come face to face with Arceus itself. This represents the end of the second main quest that begins after you’ve wrapped up the main story and seen credits, and it’s such a quest it’s likely to more than double your total playtime. Here’s how to finish the quest The Deified Pokemon and catch your very own Arceus.

Spoilers follow.

A New Day Dawns and The Remaining Plates

Before you can start the final quest, The Deified Pokemon, you have to solve a mystery surrounding the elemental plates you’ve been gathering the whole game. The game will point you in the right direction when you start playing after the credits roll, with the quest called A New Day Dawns. That quest will send you looking for the remaining elemental plates, across a variety of quests. The game mostly guides you along these with clear waypoints and a variety of new boss battles, most encapsulated under a quest called Seeking The Remaining Plates.

This will ultimately result in a lengthy battle with Volo, the toughest battle in the game up to this point. He’ll come at you with level 68 Spiritomb, Roserade, Togekiss, Arcanine, Lucario, and Garchomp. That battle will be tough enough, but then he’ll immediately follow with a two-phase fight against Giratina–first in its crawling form, then in its flying form. There won’t be any break to heal your Pokemon between Volo’s Pokemon and the two phases of Giratina, so it’s essentially a fight against eight Pokemon in all.

You’ll need to bring a strong set of Pokemon to counter this gauntlet. Cresselia, one of the Pokemon you caught while gathering the plates, is invaluable for this fight since it has access to both Psychic and Fairy-type moves. Dialga or Palkia (or both) can also be great additions, for their combination of Water-type moves and Dragon-type to take on Giratina. You may also want to consider bringing the Alpha Blissey you can find near the waterfall in the Obsidian Fieldlands, since its high health and defensive moves can give you a chance to catch your breath and use healing items.

The legendary Pokemon Arceus

Keep in mind that since this is a multi-phase battle, you’ll need to carefully plan out your Strong and Agile moves. Using a Strong move will leave you that much more vulnerable for the next Pokemon Volo sends out, and he’ll usually cater his choices to find ones that are Super Effective against your current Pokemon. Also consider buying the Max Revive recipe and crafting a few so that you can revive fallen Pokemon. The second phase of Giratina will also use a move that obscures your vision, so be prepared to take some hard hits while your own attacks occasionally miss.

Once you’ve completed the fight against Volo, you’ll get the final plate, called the Spooky Plate. More importantly, a cutscene will trigger showing your Celestica Flute turning into the Azure Flute, which has the power to summon Arceus.

But not so fast. When you use the new Azure Flute, you’re given a message on your Arc Phone to “Seek out all Pokemon.” And you know what that means!

Gotta catch ’em all (no really though)

As you may have guessed from the not-subtle hint, you’ll need to capture all the remaining Pokemon before the Azure Flute will summon Arceus. That will mean capturing almost every Pokemon in the game, which is no simple task.

You’ll need 237 Pokemon in all, and it will be the first 237 in the Pokedex. You do not need to capture the four Pokemon that have special unlock conditions: Phione, Manaphy, Darkrai, or Shaymin.

Once you’ve captured all 237 Pokemon, you can return to the Temple of Sinnoh and play your Azure Flute to reveal a new path. Once you climb those stairs you can take part in a boss battle against Arceus.

This boss battle will be similar to the Noble Battles. You’ll get a special new Mysterious Balm and you’ll need to dodge its attacks and look for opportunities to toss Balms at it. Once you’ve completed the battle, you’ll capture Arceus, the final Pokemon, and you’ll be given the Legend Plate.

For more about Pokemon Legends: Arceus, check out how to complete The Sea’s Legend quest for Manaphy, how to complete the Red Chain quest, and how to catch Shiny Pokemon. Plus, make sure to read our Pokemon Legends: Arceus review.

Read MoreGameSpot – Game News

Activision has released the roadmap for Call of Duty: Warzone‘s upcoming Season 2. The new content will arrive on February 14, featuring limited-time modes, bomber planes, and new tactics revolving around chemical warfare.

Chemical Warfare Tactics

As revealed in the Season 2 cinematic trailer, the Nazis have developed a chemical weapon known as Project Nebula. This Nebula V gas is set to bring a new tactical element to Warzone, with Nebula V being used for new ammo types and very toxic bombs.

Season 2 will introduce the new Nebula V Ammo as a Field Upgrade in Warzone. Activision describes this new ammo as being no stronger than regular bullets, but the bullets will emit a poisonous gas cloud when an operator is downed by them. This will make it harder to revive fallen teammates, as anyone attempting to revive or standing within a few feet of the downed player will face gas exposure. The effects of this exposure include coughing, blurred vision, and a slight amount of damage over time.

Season 2 roadmap

One of the rarest items in Season 2 will be the Nebula V Bomb, which is a locked briefcase full of deadly gas with an explosive charge. Once activated and set down in front of an operator, it will detonate after a fixed countdown and cannot be disarmed or destroyed. The bombs initial explosion will deal a high amount of damage in a small radius, where the gas lingers for two minutes before eventually dispersing.

Players looking to get their hands on one of these new gas bombs should watch for Caldera’s newest vehicle threat. Armored transport trucks will be deployed and carry Nebula V around the island. These steel trucks will move around Caldera on a remotely looping path, attacking players within its immediate vicinity with machine-gun turrets. As a second line of defense, the armored vehicles will drop mines it drops behind it, as well as call in aerial support if they drop to low health. Taking down one of these armored transports sounds like a tough time, but destroying them will drop incredibly valuable items, including the chance to loot a new Nebula V Bomb.

New armored transport trucks

To counter the new gas threats in Caldera, Raven Software is introducing the Portable Decontamination Station, which is a portable device that filtrates air for several seconds. This equipment protects anyone inside from both the gas from the circle collapses or the new Nebula V gas threats. However, the equipment can also be risky to use, as these devices are marked on the map, allowing everyone to see where they are currently activated. Additionally, these portal stations can be destroyed by explosives or ballistics.

More points of interest

The Chemical Factory location

Players will be able to explore new points of interest on Caldera. Keeping with the gas theme, the Chemical Factory and Chemical Weapon Research Labs are being introduced in Season 2. The Chemical Factory is said to have high-quality loot, and there will be seven of the Chemical Weapon Research Labs to explore. One notable change with these new locations is the addition of armed NPCs. Seemingly taking a page from games like Fortnite, these new areas are said to be guarded by squads of soldiers.

New aerial combat

Bomber planes are also arriving to Caldera for the Vanguard-themed playlists, and these new aerial vehicles are going to offer players new ways to be devious on the map. The bomber has an aerial strike capable of taking out players and vehicles. Bombers can also destroy loadout drops. Players looking to protect their loadout drops can destroy the bombers with the standard fighter planes or one of Caldera’s AA Guns.

Limited-time modes

Season 2 will feature two limited-time modes with Caldera Clash and Rebirth Iron Trials.

Caldera Clash is more of a twist on Team Deathmatch, as it pits two teams of up to 48 Operators in a Deathmatch with events and power-ups. Activision says this mode is an evolution of Clash from Verdansk ’84, and it allows players to drop in with their custom loadout. Each kill earns their team a point, with the first team to reach a set number of points, or the team that has the most points when the time limit expires claiming the win. This mode features three power-ups with Contracts, Buy Stations, the Domination Capture and High Value Target events, as well as other features from the original Clash.

Rebirth Iron Trials is set to arrive later in Season 2, which brings Verdansk’s previously introduced “hard mode” to Rebirth Island. This is a duos mode with 20 squads of two, and uses a similar circle collapse size and speed as the previous Iron Trials mode. Activision says this mode is built for the most hardcore members of the community, but players of all skill levels should try this mode if they want a change of pace. Claiming an Iron Trials victory will award a unique animated calling card.

The new features for Season 2 sound like they have the potential to shake up the Warzone. Activision also says Season 2 will include a number of quality-of-life changes to continue to improve the state of the battle royale. Call of Duty’s publisher is currently being acquired by Microsoft, pending regulatory approval, but the deal isn’t expected to go through until later this year.

Read MoreGameSpot – Game News

Year 5 of Destiny 2 will bring with it an overhaul to the Void subclasses that players have been using for years. Coinciding with the release of The Witch Queen DLC, what Bungie refers to as “Void 3.0” will be implemented, essentially making it so Void works similarly to how Stasis has operated since it was introduced with the launch of Beyond Light. As part of a new vidoc and accompanying preview event, Bungie has now shared more details on just how Void 3.0 works, including some of the new customization options that will be available.

Like Solar and Arc, Void subclasses have largely been unchanged for years, aside from some balance alterations along the way. Beyond Light’s new Stasis subclass was a dramatic rethinking of how a subclass could work, giving you more things to unlock and more ways to engage with and customize the loadout you’re taking into the field beyond just weapons and armor. Those customizations change your Stasis abilities and unlock new ones, and Void, Arc, and Solar subclasses will all be getting updated to that Stasis style, with Void being the first of the three to get that treatment.

As with Stasis, you’ll earn Aspects and Fragments to customize your subclass–offering more flexibility than the current arrangement, where you’re basically picking from three alterations on the same Super and an accompanying set of melee/ability tweaks with no flexibility. Fortunately, the changeover to this new system won’t involve losing everything you have–any Void grenades or melee attacks you’ve already unlocked will be there for you to use right away.

Based on what we’ve seen so far, Bungie is spreading out Void abilities across the three classes to some degree. If you really want to focus on turning invisible, you’ll still need to be a Hunter, but with Fragments and Aspects, you’ll at least get a little taste of that you-can’t-see-me lifestyle as a Warlock or Titan. Suppressor grenades, too, will be available to everyone if you use the right loadouts.

Bungie’s new vidoc revealed some of the Fragments and Aspects that will be available, although you could be forgiven for missing them–blink and a few likely passed you by. Fragments, which are used to provide buffs (sometimes at a cost), include:

Echo of Exchange – Melee final blows grant grenade energy.Echo of Remnants – Your lingering grenade effects (Vortex Grenade, Void Wall, Void Spike, and Axion Bolt) have increased duration.Echo of Reprisal – Final blows when surrounded by combatants grant Super energy.

We also got a look at Aspects, which are class-modifying customization options, for Warlocks. Those included Chaos Accelerant, which lets you hold to overcharge your grenade; the exact effect varies by type–Axion Bolt gets an additional seeker, Vortex Grenade’s vortex increases in size and lingers for longer, Scatter Grenade’s submunitions track nearby targets, and Magnetic Grenade releases a short-range Void blast. Another, Child of the Old Gods, causes your rift ability to create a Void Soul. Damaging an enemy with your weapon causes the Void Soul to go to the target and both do damage and weaken them. While these enemies are “drained,” you’ll get grenade and melee energy if you have a healing rift equipped or health if you have an empowering rift. If you kill an enemy being drained, you also get class ability energy.

Upgrading your Void subclass will be done by spending new currencies at the Tower; there won’t be a long, drawn-out series of quests in order to start unlocking new options. Beyond that, there’s a fair amount about Void 3.0 we still don’t know. Bungie seems to be deliberately saving some reveals for the launch of The Witch Queen itself, but stay tuned for more as we approach its launch. In the meantime, check out all we’ve learned about Witch Queen’s campaign and Savathun’s throne world, how many Exotics to expect, and how crafting works.

Read MoreGameSpot – Game News

Lost Ark’s head start period is supposed to be live now, but as pointed out by both players and the official Lost Ark Twitter account, that’s not exactly the case.

Players who have purchased one of the game’s Founder’s Packs on Steam are supposed to get a three-day head start ahead of the game’s official, free-to-play launch on February 11. But it seems there’s currently an issue with being able to download the game, with users getting “connection time out” errors. GameSpot has independently confirmed the issue, which seems to occur even if you’ve pre-installed the game prior to the head start launch.

Thank you for the reports regarding game downloads timing on Steam.
Steam is aware of it and is actively looking into the issue and we will update players as soon as we have additional information.

— Lost Ark (@playlostark) February 8, 2022

The official Lost Ark Twitter has confirmed the issue and is working with Steam to resolve the problem. The account will offer updates as they become available.

In the meantime, players on the game’s subreddit are not taking the launch woes well.

The game is currently doing huge numbers on Twitch, as player are patiently waiting for the chance to log in and play. Amazon is celebrating Lost Ark’s launch in a number of ways, including a Twitch competition where streamers are competing to conquer the game’s challenges and unlock in-game rewards for their viewers.

Read MoreGameSpot – Game News

Apex Legends Year 3 has come to an end, with Year 4 kicking off with Season 12: Defiance. Year 3 introduced Apex Legends’ strongest roster of playable characters to date–not in terms of in-match balance or storytelling, but in regards to the chaotic and joyful fun they brought to the Apex Games. Say what you will about Fuse, Valkyrie, Seer, and Ash, but those four embody the best part of Titanfall 2‘s legacy, in that a first-person shooter doesn’t have to make practical sense on paper in order to be really fun.

When developer Respawn releases new playable characters for Apex Legends, they traditionally contribute three things to the game: a new story, a new change to the meta, and a new way to have fun. Every legend has done this, though most focus on one of the three areas upon their release.

Season 5’s Loba, for example, changes the meta in creating a safe way to acquire loot, and also introduces a new way to have fun in easily locating high-tier loot and stealing it away before other players can grab it for themselves. But she was (and largely continues to be) principally a vessel for story–her addition was heavily tied to Revenant’s backstory, leading to the introduction of interaction quips and Apex Legends’ first and best Quest, The Broken Ghost. And her relationship/love triangle with Bangalore and Valkyrie has been one of the dominant story threads throughout Year 3.

None of which is a bad thing–that’s just who Loba is. Of the three pillars that Apex Legends’ characters traditionally embody, she’s primarily a new avenue for Respawn to tell more story, not drastically shake up the game’s meta or add fun in a new and unforeseen way.

In our recap of Apex Legends Year 1, we dove into the introduction of Octane, Wattson, and Crypto. It was a year with characters principally geared toward attempting to shake up the meta, especially in regards to Wattson and Crypto. The next year, we talked about Apex Legends’ transformative Year 2, which added Revenant, Loba, Rampart, and Horizon. It was a year when Respawn was exploring intriguing ways to tell stories in a constantly evolving service game, best seen in Revenant and Loba’s introductions and storylines. We got a bit of that with Rampart and Horizon too, but those two legends are largely designed around affecting the in-match meta.

Year 3 was a drastic shift in comparison to Apex Legends’ first two years. Its four characters impacted the meta in several ways and have introduced new avenues for more stories. But most of them are principally geared towards finding new ways to have fun in a battle royale game.

Season 8: Mayhem added Walter “Fuse” Fitzroy, a character who’s all about throwing as many grenades as fast as you can as often as you can. On paper, he’s absurd for what Apex Legends is–a game where mastering the gunplay is the most important aspect for achieving victory. Someone who picks Fuse can easily carry half a dozen grenades and toss them with near pinpoint accuracy in a matter of seconds. As I’m typing it out, the idea of a character in a battle royale being able to do that sounds bad for the overall balance of the game. It doesn’t make any sense. And yet, Fuse isn’t overpowered–his abilities aren’t strong enough to get him to the top of many tier lists, and he isn’t often used in high-tiered Ranked matches and competitive play. He is really fun to play, though.

You can say similar things about the other legends added in Year 3. Season 9: Legacy added Kairi “Valkyrie” Imahara, a character who can fly–a ludicrous-sounding benefit for a battle royale game where everyone else is regularly limited to fighting on the ground. Season 10: Emergence introduced Obi “Seer” Edolasim, a character who can see enemies through walls via the sound of their heartbeat whenever he wants. And finally, Season 11: Escape brought Dr. Ashleigh “Ash” Reid to the Apex Games, a dangerous simulacrum who can pin targets in place, teleport, and see where firefights are happening anywhere on the map.

Like Fuse, all of these characters sound overpowered. And a few, like Seer and Valkyrie, initially were, prior to mid-season nerfs to their abilities. But these characters largely only feel powerful–in comparison to legends like Wraith, Gibraltar, Pathfinder, Octane, Caustic, or Bloodhound, they aren’t all that strong. What they can do is “cheating,” or at least feels like it should be, but Respawn has done a damn good job of balancing these legends so that they’re not game-breakingly powerful.

As examples, Fuse’s penchant for blowing stuff up is as much a danger to himself as others when he’s fighting indoors. And as quickly as Valkyrie can take to the sky, she’s limited in how she can fight once airborne. Seer, meanwhile, has some of the flashiest abilities in the game, advertising his position for all to see when he uses them. And despite the overwhelming power of Ash’s abilities, she largely needs to rely on others in order to fully act on them, limiting her utility as a solo act. So despite all four feeling very powerful in a given moment, they all possess limitations that prevent them from being unstoppable in every moment. Those instances of strength, however, happen enough to ensure all four characters are fun to use for an entire match.

Because even if he’s not an S-tier legend, it’s hilarious to drop an absolutely bonkers number of explosives on an unsuspecting enemy as Fuse. It’s satisfying to fly over a bottomless pit on Olympus as Valkyrie, circumnavigating an enemy’s well-placed defenses and easily taking a path that would require quite a bit of skill with a different character. It feels like you’re a dangerous predator when you follow the bleeding heartbeats of enemy squads to their hiding place as Seer, only to destroy them while they’re trying to heal. And snaring a foe as Ash is an incredible feeling–almost as good as correctly predicting where your squad is corralling an enemy and teleporting ahead to give your wounded prey a nasty surprise.

Those sensations are what made Titanfall 2 such a superb game. On paper, having a pistol that can lock onto multiple enemies sounds like cheating, the ability to temporarily phase into an alternate dimension sounds absolutely ridiculous, rewinding your place in time can’t possibly be fair, and calling down a ginormous mech should be something that makes you absolutely unstoppable in the confines of a first-person shooter. But none of that is true. All of these mechanics are incredibly fun and deliver on the sensation of making you stronger and more skilled than everyone else, even if that’s not always the case.

So despite it being a year when it felt like Apex Legends’ three Quest storylines didn’t hit all that well (Season 8’s Armageddon and Season 9’s The Legacy Antigen were alright, but Season 11’s Trouble in Paradise ended on a deeply unsatisfying note), we got a mediocre Switch port, and there was a noticeable lack of interesting limited-time modes, I ultimately loved Year 3. It’s been my favorite year of playing the battle royale game because of how well it represented the legacy of Titanfall 2.

No character embodies that legacy more than Valkyrie (which is maybe why she was added during the season that was aptly named “Legacy”). Valkyrie is the best of the post-release characters to be added to Apex Legends, and I’m not just saying that because she’s my favorite to use and is voiced by the immensely talented actor Erika Ishii (Halo Infinite’s Lumu, Deathloop’s Dr. Wenjie Evans, and Destiny 2’s newer Ana Bray). But the winged avenger is a character seemingly designed first and foremost around a very simple but fun concept (in this case, flying) and making it a reality. Though Valkyrie has a strong connection to Titanfall 2’s Viper (she’s his daughter), she hasn’t added much to Apex Legends’ current-day storyline besides being the third point in Loba’s love triangle. And even though she does influence the meta by helping her allies redeploy and move about the map, it’s not so game-changing that it transformed how players needed to think about the game. Valkyrie’s whole identity is tied to the notion that flying is cool, so being able to fly in a battle royale game should be fun.

And that’s all Valkyrie is–she is simply a character who is fun to play. The idea of being able to effortlessly take off into the sky and then unleash a swarm of missiles at the press of a button sounds more exciting than, say, setting up slow-to-deploy cover as Season 6’s Rampart. Though, to be fair, no character sounds as fun to play as Valkyrie on paper. That’s why she’s one of Apex Legends’ best characters: She sounds cool to play, and then when you actually do, you realize she’s as cool as she sounds. Couple that feeling with her incredible personality–she’s constantly teasing the other legends for choosing to fight on the ground, confidently flirting, offering a playful wink at the enemies she curb stomps into the dirt, and smugly declaring that the skies belong to her–and you have a character who’s regularly reminding you that you’re as cool as the abilities you possess, even if they aren’t game-changing. And that’s all that Titanfall 2 was, just match after match reminding you that Pilots are the coolest soldiers ever. (Especially in its best mode, Live Fire. Gosh, remember Live Fire? No need to make Titanfall 3, Respawn. Just slowly transform Arenas into a Live Fire copy-and-paste and I’ll be happy.)

Now, compare Valkyrie to Wattson, a character added to Apex Legends in Year 1. Over the latter half of Year 2 and most of Year 3, players have been clamoring for Wattson to get a buff to her kit, which she finally got in Season 11. Here’s the thing: Wattson didn’t need a buff. Despite what players said about her, Wattson ranked highly among Apex Legends’ roster with a killer win-rate. And that makes sense, given her ability to lock down a zone and negate many legends’ abilities. But Wattson never feels strong. It’s not cool to create an electrified fence and see nobody fall victim to it, even if a far-off, unseen team purposely avoided attacking your squad upon spotting the fence and decided it was too much of a hassle to deal with. And it doesn’t feel especially rewarding to place an Interception Pylon to stop incoming grenades and then see an enemy squad shoot the pylon down, even though that means said squad just wasted ammo and is possibly now a sitting duck as they reload. Wattson has unseen power that has permanently shaped Apex Legends’ meta in that it’s now necessary to always have a strategy on hand to quickly bust a bunker–she’s really good (and was made even better in Year 3), but she’s not necessarily fun to play because her ability kit isn’t impactful towards your squad’s success in as obvious a way as that of other legends.

There’s a lot more about Apex Legends Year 3 that I could get into in this recap–like how the 30-30 Repeater, Bocek Compound Bow, Rampage LMG, and CAR SMG likely showcase the new direction for Apex Legends’ firearms; how the Season 9 adjustments to characters’ starting armor kit made for an altogether better battle royale; how Arenas‘ steep skill-ceiling makes the case that Apex Legends needs a permanent mode that’s more approachable for new players; or how Season 11’s Storm Point reveals the dos and don’ts that need to be followed when finalizing the new map for Apex Legends Year 4. But those takeaways seem small in comparison to how Year 3 acted as a reminder that Respawn is capable of taking outlandish concepts that sound overpowered and unfair, and finding a way to make them feel balanced so that players can still enjoy the fun aspects of those ideas.

It’s a sentiment that Respawn seems to be holding onto as it heads into Year 4. Season 12 adds Margaret “Mad Maggie” Kōhere, an “aggressive playmaker” who is enjoyably chaotic to play on account of her preposterous-sounding abilities, like damaging enemies through walls or tossing out a wrecking ball that both stuns enemies and leaves behind speed boosts for Maggie. In the same way Year 3’s legends are all a joy to play, Season 12’s new character puts priority on bringing the fun. (Though, admittedly, Mad Maggie might end up being known as more of a meta-changing legend when all is said and done, given how her tactical ability offers such a clear counter to defensive legends like Gibraltar.)

I don’t want Respawn to abandon the other two pillars of its characters when designing who we’ll see in Year 4. Adding primarily story-driven characters (like Loba) is important for exploring new avenues of delivering the game’s narrative, while introducing characters that are principally geared towards reshaping the meta in some way (like Wattson) ensures the overall gameplay doesn’t grow stale (and I still hold that Apex Legends needs a new support character for that very reason). I just hope Respawn knows a new character doesn’t always need a huge narrative moment or in-match balancing reason to justify their addition–as Year 3 has shown, that stuff can come later if you have an idea for a character that’s just a fun concept to play, and little else.

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