I finally bit the bullet and loaded up what is quickly turning into one of the most popular games on the planet, Fortnite. I’ve dabbled in PUBG, but Fortnite is all anyone’s talking about these days, and I felt like I was missing out by not giving it a shot, even if generally this isn’t my genre of game.
I have been…very impressed so far! Personally, I think I might like it better than PUBG, as it feels more polished with a more attractive art style. It’s a bit simpler, minus the building aspect, although it’s fairly easy to catch on to that and it gives the game a new dynamic that PUBG lacks. All in all I understand why people are loving Fortnite, not to mention that it’s completely free, compared to PUBG’s $30 asking price, when both games are more or less in a late-stage beta, at best.
But there’s one aspect of the game that confuses me, something that does not have to do with gameplay itself, but rather the structure of the game.
Namely, why is character customization in Fortnite either non-existent or bad?
I spent about the first five minutes of the game clicking around on my avatar, trying to figure out how to make a custom one, only to realize that it was impossible. Instead, Fortnite drops you into the game with a randomly assigned character skin, unless you purposefully pick one you’ve bought from the store, which is essentially a full body replacement skin like Wukong or a medieval knight, though sometimes individual pieces are sold like snorkels or other accessories. More “low key” skins are just some of the random character models wearing altered outfits, it seems.
This system seems…a little bizarre to me, and far less engaging than PUBG which by comparison, has a more robust character customization system and the ability to outfit your player exactly how you see fit.
Part of the appeal of competitive multiplayer games, for me at least, is how well structured the progression system is. That’s why Call of Duty is always a favorite, but also what was initially appealing about PUBG, as you felt really attached to this character that you were slowly trying to deck out exactly how you wanted them to look. I think PUBG can take things too far with its item drops that are like 1 in 100,000 odds at a specific skirt or something, but I much prefer that customization system to this one.
What bums me out about Fortnite is that this art style is really cool! I would love to be able to design my own custom hero in some sort of creator using this animation style, which reminds me a bit of something Disney/Pixar-ish, cartoony enough to be less creepy than the “realism” of PUBG or GTA Online characters.
But you can’t do that. You can’t unlock new hairstyles or body types or specific pieces of clothing that aren’t ultra-wacky, for the most part. Rather, when you buy skins, you’re buying exactly that, a full skin, and the character that comes with it. I guess that’s…a form of character customization, but not really what I’m looking for.
I’m also not the biggest fan of the item pool, from what I’ve seen so far. I get that Fortnite is a “goofy” game, but I think you have to constrain that a little bit, and there’s just something I find weird about people running around in full sets of plate armor as knights, or next season’s skin rewards, which give players a full-on astronaut suit. I think PUBG strikes the right line between goofy and not too over the top, but Fortnite’s cosmetics are mostly a bit too silly for my liking. But that’s a minor issue compared to the overall lack of detailed customization, which I would think would be a better moneymaker than the system they have in place now.
I understand that in the grand scheme of things, this is a relatively minor issue. The strength of Fortnite is clearly in its gameplay, and these cosmetics don’t affect that in the slightest. But I’m someone who is motivated to grind out items I want, and that’s one aspect of the game I find utterly lacking so far. Maybe I’m not seeing everything available and the overall pool is better than I think, but for now, I haven’t been impressed.
It’s still early in Fortnite’s lifespan, so I’d guess that more detailed customization may be in the cards for the future. But it did strike me as odd as I played the game for the first time yesterday, and I wonder if veteran players have any opinions on the matter.
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