Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. It's been 12 decades since my last confession.
Somehow, as much of a game collector I am, physical media fanatic and all, lately the only game that's got me hooked to play daily is a free one - Fortnite. You know, that game where familiar characters from media end up showing up in if there's enough demand. What other video game could you have Sabrina Carpenter, Sonic The Hedgehog, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, and Bugs Bunny be in the same band together? That just sounds like a fever dream.
What's that, Father? When did this start? Well, I'll tell you.
I only started playing at the end of April because during that period, I was a Chappell Roan simp (she's gorgeous) and my cousin showed me the Fortnite trailer of Chappell Roan being added to the game. As a Chappell Roan simp at the time, I thought "Wow, never gonna play that, despite the pretty lady!" and ran off to play another Yakuza game. But eventually, curiosity got the best of me. There is no entry fee, per se, to play Fortnite. All the other items for sale are mere cosmetics and music tracks you can use for the Guitar Hero-style mode in the game, which is fucking awesome by the way. Eventually, I realized that the main hook for the store is skins. "I don't want to keep using the weird default characters!" I said in my head as a I plop my debit card down to my PS5 controller. "I need to look cool so I need to buy skins!" I said as I searched through the Fortnite store.
Funnily enough, I just missed the Chappell Roan music pass and ended up with Laufey - a singer I had never heard of before the game. I didn't know who Laufey was or how to pronounce her name correctly (Turns out it's Lay-vay). By sheer exposure of the music in the main menu of the game, I ended up enjoying her songs 🎶like a mad, mad womaaaaaan🎶. That's when I realized, "man, is this how I find new music now?" The answer is yes, Ralph, it is.
I believe it's the fear of missing out on certain skins people like that add to the flair. Sure, people play with the default skins and don't pay a dollar to play the game because that's what it is after all - a free-to-play game. Paying for cosmetics doesn't add anything gameplay-wise. It just adds to the fun/absurdity of seeing Batman shoot down Olivia Rodrigo - a dream I had, that's for true.
I suck at regular battle royale - only winning a handful of times in the 5 months of constantly playing the game. You can say it's a skill issue - it is - but regardless, I'm having fun. If I were a streamer like I was in a past life cycle, I would be streaming this whenever I can much to the chagrin of my companions in multiple streaming groups. I'd have just kept on shooting and eliminating other players until the inevitable elimination coming to me because I got cocky.
Speaking of chagrin of friends, ever since I started this addiction, I haven't really played other video games as much as I have with this. As of this writing, I have nearly 400 hours, which is close to my hours in GTA V. It's not out of a lack of trying. Compared to last year, I finished nearly a dozen single player games like Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Ghost of Yotei, and Assassin's Creed: Shadows. This year, I don't recall finishing a game yet because I've been too intertwined in Fortnite. I've bought several games to try and kick me out of this addiction but with how low maintenance Fortnite is and how I don't need to have my focus into thinking of a plot compared to some games I've played, it's a quick and easy way to get a high.
What's that, Father? 12 Hail Mary's? Thank you, Father.
