-REVIEW-

A gift to gamers from Epic Games expired earlier this month as Chapter 1, Seasons 5-10 came to a close. While it was a short-lived gift, it was much appreciated and will be missed.
From Nov. 4 to – Dec. 3, the gaming company released a version of the game that filled us with nostalgia. After a long wait of almost four years, the best era of “Fortnite” finally returned to gamers in a new season of the game titled “O.G. Fortnite,” and it has been nothing short of a nostalgic, early holiday present to all “Fortnite” fans. It brought back the same map and weapons that were missed during the seasons that came out in between.
In the late 2010s, “Fortnite,” by Epic Games, rose to the top of the gaming world with its unique Battle Royale gameplay that consisted of building, a storm and other elements such as additional modes like Creative, which is a world that the player creates. The game’s simplicity guided it to the top of the charts, and it dominated. The new season is an updated take on the game we grew up with and loved. The “Fortnite” seasons, which typically span three months, but this one was only a month long.
“O.G. Fortnite” brought back these memories and simplicity throughout these seasons. Some of the favorite weapons such as the Scar, Pump Shotgun and Tactical Shotgun returned. Epic Games balanced the number of weapons for each category, such as the shotguns only getting two or three in the loot pool, which kept the simplicity level missing in recent chapters. All the original locations brought back fresh faces and dropping into them brought back long forgotten memories. The season was short but was a callback to the past. Each season brought out something new that sparked so many memories. Every tiny detail added up and made the month-long season one that is remembered for years to come.
Although some parts were missing, it was still as perfect as Epic Games could make it. They kept mantling and tactical sprinting, which were brought to the game in previous chapters, which added a new element of change and fun to the season. Epic Games was smart and brought back an audience right in time for their next big project: Chapter 5.
Chapter 5 of “Fortnite” brought out three new game modes in “Lego Fortnite”, “Rocket Racing” and “Fortnite Festival”. Each mode kept the game fresh and new and brought in different ways to have fun. “Lego Fortnite” uses a survival style mixed with building, similar to another game, “Minecraft”. “Rocket Racing” is a racing game mode with cars and mechanics from “Rocket League”, but still has its main differences. “Fortnite Festival” is similar to “Guitar Hero” and is a game in which players hit buttons to play a certain instrument by themselves, or with others. All these modes came out alongside another fresh face: a new map. The Chapter 5 map is vibrant and massive, with new options such as the train and weapon modifications. It stayed close to the original plan of keeping it simple, with very few weapons per category.
“Fortnite’s” recent return to the top of the charts and brought back dormant players. The game’s return even sparked people getting so smart that they found ways to play on school computers, sparking the district to restrict the game. Although “O.G. Fortnite” is gone and Chapter 5 is underway, the game rebounded in a way only “Fortnite” can. This end may also not be the last time we see the original chapter, with Epic Games teasing the return in 2024.

Kicking it off was season five on Nov. 2. The map was the same as it was years ago, providing an invitation for original players and younger people who never had this experience. Popular locations such as Paradise Palms and Lazy Links returned to the game, and major locations such as Tilted Towers, Retail Row, Pleasant Park, Greasy Grove and more also brought back the nostalgic feeling lacking in the past chapters. These locations showed the simplicity of the original game with compact towns and buildings to push the combat to one spot.
After many years, weapons such as the Scar, Pump Shotgun and Tactical Shotgun were introduced back into the game. These weapons were missed and the idea that players got to play with the same weapons from years ago was appealing. These guns were staples back when the game began, so to be able to pick them up for the first time in years brought back a sense of nostalgia. The old weapons were simple but full of damage, with the ability to defeat an enemy in mere seconds. Now it took longer, but might’ve been a good thing with the change of gameplay in the years since the original chapter.
Over the past few years, one of the main problems the game had was overcrowding the loot pool, but now it has the perfect balance. Epic Games balanced the amount of weapons for each category, such as the shotguns only getting two or three in the loot pool. Again, this level of simplicity differed from recent chapters of the game where you could find legendary weapons, which are just weapons that deal more damage, right when you got into a game. They also made it harder to get these higher rarity weapons, adding more excitement to the gold tint of a legendary weapon and feeling a surge of excitement through the body. Epic Games listened to the community’s concerns with the amount of Shield Potions being dropped, so they bumped up the rate which helped and made it more enjoyable in the later stages of the game.
As season five brought back a record of 44.7 million players during its first week, the game updated the following week with season six. The map only gained one key location in the floating island over Loot Lake which was lackluster. However, new weapons such as the Double Barrel Shotgun and the Six Shooter joined vehicles like the Quadcrasher to make another fun week. The Quadcrasher is a four-wheeler type of vehicle which is a way to bring mayhem to the game and continue a trend of enjoyable vehicles to traverse the map while messing with friends at the same time.

One of the key pieces that “Fortnite” used during the season was the mobility. The Grappler was one of the best ways to quickly rotate around the map and get out of the storm, which is the boundary that pushes in the map and ticks away at damage. They also kept ways of mobility brought to the game in recent chapters like mantling and tactical sprinting. The mobility of this chapter felt fresh but also made it easier for higher-skilled players to take advantage of lower-skilled players. Since the original chapter, players gained skill and felt it wasn’t as “authentic” as before. As “Fortnite: progresses to new chapters that aren’t O.G., this idea of mobility will play a factor in how the game functions.
Then for seasons seven and eight, Epic Games decided to bring them out together, in only one update. In the past, season seven was one of the least favorites, but after the season left, it was remembered as one of the best. Back in chapter one, it was simple and didn’t follow the format of updating the game weekly. Now, looking back to the past, the simplicity yet again remained key and showed its power.
Gameplay-wise, a favorite, the Stormwing, also added fun in the skies during seasons seven and eight with another way to fly around and mess with players. Key weapons such as the Flint Knock Pistol and the Minigun also returned. Locations such as Frosty Flights returned, however, multiple locations didn’t make it such as Happy Hamlet, Polar Peak and Lazy Lagoon. These missing points of interest were disappointing, but at least players still got this map back.
The final update was again a combination of seasons nine and ten. The only new location was the meteor in the sky, which was frozen in place. Neo Tilted and Mega Mall were missing, even though they were in the game in the past. This was yet another questionable aspect and hole in the “Fortnite” map, similar to what I felt during the season seven and eight updates.
Also, another favorite weapon, the Heavy Sniper, returned to the game alongside Junk Rifts and Airstrikes during the nine and ten updates. I missed this sniper in recent years, so to get it back brought a different side of me. There was also a big surprise with the Big Bang Event which took place on Dec. 2. Similar to the original End Event, when a black hole formed, but this time opened up new worlds that had games such as Lego and Rocket League in them. This new surprise set up the next chapter for “Fortnite” and kept the game fresh yet again. Now there was a way to enjoy the original battle royale game they love, but also new, fun modes to expand the game.
Overall the season brought lots of enjoyment back to the game. The gameplay feels authentic, the weapons feel the same but also different and the experience is what I looked forward to for years. The past chapters and seasons lacked, so to get the thing that was on everyone’s wish list back was a highlight of 2023. Although O.G. “Fortnite” has now ended, Epic Games teased the return of the game in 2024.