More Exciting Season! This is the Summary of New Content from Hands-On Apex Legends Legacy

Apex Legends’ existence as one of the most consistent battle royale games on the market deserves praise. Although before its debut, this game had some doubts, especially from the role of Electronic Arts as a publisher, it turns out that this game managed to answer all doubts with solid quality. Two years have passed and finally Apex Legends is ready to open a new chapter in its ninth season, which is named Legacy.

Following the official announcement last week that also confirmed the presence of a Legend named Valkyrie, we happened to have the opportunity to join a virtual event with developer Respawn Entertainment. In this event we were given the opportunity to interview the development team and try out Apex Legends Legacy directly with fellow journalists from other media. We have compiled the impressions we got as well as a variety of important new information in this article, so instead of being curious, just take a look at the full summary below.

Actually we can’t share many impressions from our allotted game sessions, because the queue to get a match does take a long time due to the limited number of participants. But at least the main content menu in Apex Legends Legacy has been presented very clearly, namely the presence of a 3v3 Arena mode, a new Legend called Valkyrie, a new Bocek Bow weapon, and a new Olympus map.

The game sessions we got in Arena mode were only obtained from two games in 2 randomly selected maps, namely “Party Crasher” and “Phase Runner”. Before starting the game, there is an option to invite friends to join, although the matchmaking process will still be randomized. The development team through the interview session happened to be considering adding a custom room system in the future to give more freedom.

After choosing which Legend we will play, the match finally begins and each team has the task of winning three rounds ahead of the opponent. He said there would be some kind of Showdown moment that occurred when the match reached nine points, but from our game session we didn’t trigger this moment. If you imagine this is similar to most last-second or decisive moments in various competitive games, a rough example might be Sudden Death in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Each round of the match you will be given a share in the form of currency to buy weapons, materials and other equipment needed to face the opposing team. Every weapon you have can be upgraded including the option to add stock medkits, grenades, and shields which are very crucial to strengthen your character. Different from the usual Battle Royale mode, in Arena mode the character’s abilities or skills are also limited and can only be unlocked with a separate option to buy them. So there is a more strategic approach to the gameplay concept to prepare for each match.

The newest map in Arena mode is also very exciting, with lots of spots to protect yourself as well as strategic places to get a safe shot at the enemy. But this map can also be used by players who rely on snipers, because there are moments where we have to find the best position to counter/counterattack. The course of each match is really filled with non-stop action that demands full focus with small mistakes that can make you a burden on the team. There were many moments where our characters died because the battle atmosphere was really chaotic (and because we haven’t played Apex Legends for a long time lol).

Actually there is also extra content in the form of Bocek Bow in this Arena mode which is said to be obtained by opening loot. It’s just that we didn’t get a chance to get the weapon. But from the description described this weapon has a very high damage output and can finish off enemies quickly, but the attack distance is not that far and the delay of each shot makes it more suitable for veteran players to use.

The new content that is also the focus of this Legacy update is a new Legend called Valkyrie and we are satisfied with the character. Valkyrie reminds us of Pharah from the game Overwatch, where both of them can use a jetpack and need their own timing in order to maintain their position in the air. Just like other Legend characters, Valkyrie abilities in Arena mode are also limited by skills that can be purchased separately.

We also had the opportunity to conduct an interview session with the developer team from Respawn Entertainment. In this inter-media interview session, most of the questions focused more on the 3v3 Arena mode, one of which was how the abilities of Legend characters that were more suitable in standard Battle Royale mode could be switched to Arena mode. Robert West as Senior Game Designer said that there were difficulties in adjusting it indeed, but they then chose to balance it with the Store feature and add a kind of different effect from each Legend character’s ability that can be obtained. The obvious point is to keep each character relevant even if it’s out of fashion that might not fit their role.

As we mentioned above, the developer represented by Robert also said that they might add a custom room feature for Arena mode. Because currently the newest mode can only be accessed through standard matchmaking, which of course still limits the game with foreign players. The discussion then continues on the weapon buying feature that appears at the beginning of each Arena match round, which still requires various improvements in the future. One example is the addition of Quality of Life (QoL) features such as marking favorite weapons so that they can be purchased faster, for example.

Switching to the map in the Apex Legends Legacy Arena mode, Dave Osei as Senior Game Designer provides a variety of important information such as how in this latest mode there will be one more map from the Battle Royale mode added to it. So apart from the two new custom maps, in total the Arena mode will give you access to three maps in total. Dave also does not rule out the possibility of a very unique new map in the future for Arena mode, such as one that has an unusual atmosphere like the map in standard battle royale mode.

Valkyrie, which is one of the main focuses of the update in the ninth season, is also included in the discussion. Ashley Reed, who holds the position of Senior Writer for Apex Legends, admitted that he did not participate in the initial process of creating Valkyrie. But he said that maybe he would relate it to Norse mythology if he got the chance to get involved in the discussion at that time. He also doesn’t rule out the possibility of an attachment between the character and Norse mythology, such as through new costumes, for example, but Ashley can’t make any promises about that.

Some of the other discussions are more focused on specific features and enhancements in the main game base. There is no really new information apart from the developer’s confirmation that what they have designed is indeed the most suitable for the game, except for several other aspects that do require improvements from player feedback. The release of the game on Switch also doesn’t have much effect on the presence of new content, as confirmed by Chad Grenier as Game Director who said that there weren’t many changes to plans apart from adding a new version that they had to work on.

Interested in the Game?

If you are interested in playing the game, Apex Legends is available and can be played for free on PlayStaton 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC. Incidentally, the game also gets the latest version for mobile which will be released in 2022. There isn’t much information shared at this time, but there are plans to launch a series of tests that will start with a Closed Beta this spring. You can steel the summary of the information in our news HERE.

Be sure to stay up to date with other game news on Gamerwk.

Apex Legends

Publisher: Electronic Arts

Developer: Respawn Entertainment

Release Date: 2019-02-09

Console, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series

Free battle royale game made by Electronic Arts and Respawn Entertainment with increasingly dominant popularity every year. Taking some of the typical gameplay elements from the Titanfall series, Apex Legends offers fast-paced shooter gameplay that is exciting and thrilling. Not to mention that this game also presents a large selection of Legend characters with their own unique abilities.