In the battle royale scene, cross and delight of an industry that has been able to reinvent itself at an incredible pace, Apex Legends certainly remains one of those few names that have made it. In fact, few projects can afford to continue to remain on the crest of the wave for over 4 years, which Respawn Entertainment's video game managed to do instead. The development team, led by a veteran like Vince Zampella, has fully embraced the philosophy of modern gaming, which sees software as a service, without renouncing its identity as a great narrator of great stories. A right mix of formulas has allowed the battle royale to survive in a market dominated by very few excellences, thanks to continuous support, which is obviously the reference point for such products. And so, after Broken Moon, it's time to reveal another piece towards maintaining the game. And this piece is the new Legend, to which the development team has been working to make it available very soon.
Over the last few days we have witnessed a presentation of the development team, and now, with the embargo expired, we are ready to tell you everything we have seen. So take a nice drink, set aside the mouse and keyboard (or the pad) for a moment and get ready to find out everything about Catalyst, the new Legend of Apex Legends.
Welcome Catalyst
The new Legend of Apex Legends is called Catalyst. The character's real name is Tressa Crystal Smith, is 29 years old and comes from Boreas. Catalyst is defined by Respawn Entertainment as a tech witch and "she loves crystals more than she loves other people", the development team revealed to us during the event. The girl is transgender, a not insignificant detail when video games have become a reality that they must communicate to their entire audience. One more step towards the representation of every single person, which has already been addressed by Ubisoft with Rainbow Six Siege and by The Last of Us: Part 2.
“Catalyst is happiest when it can relax. Apex games are new to her, but she intends to participate so she can protect her loved ones.” The attitude, or rather, the character of the new Legend, is very different from that of the other characters. And the development process was also different. “We thought a lot about player representation. The world is full of diverse people and with Catalyst we have worked with transgender women and developers who have made a similar transition, to be as close to reality as possible.” Respawn Entertainment has also been working on feedback gathered from everyone involved in the creation process.
As for the "tech witch" aspect, everything was described by Respawn Entertainment as a reference to her clothing, her crystal rituals and the character's personality. This is also reflected in one of the skills available to the character, which includes for example the Dark Veil and the Spiked Strip. The introduction of Catalyst also led to the creation of new VFX, with the team working closely with the developers of the concept art. A good example of all this work can be found in the lore trailer, which revealed all the movements, moves and abilities of the new legend.
Most of Catalyst's gameplay focuses on the control phase. “It is an ideal Legend for anyone who wants to play long distance, keep the enemy away and focus on rotation”, the words of Ot Harrison, game designer who worked on the new character.
All the news of Eclipse
However, the event we attended allowed us to get in touch with all the details of Eclipse, the new season of Apex Legends. This is the fifteenth important update to the game, which in addition to Catalyst introduces a series of decidedly interesting innovations. One of the most important certainly concerns Gifting. “We have people who would like to give something to their friends, who maybe have just started playing”, the words of Evan Nikolich, who has actively worked on this feature. With the arrival of season 15 it is now possible to pay homage to your friends with some items present in the store.
Thanks to Eclipse, the ability to customize your Legend with stickers has also been added. It is one more step towards the total customization of one's character, with a decidedly important level of freedom for the end user. All these novelties obviously come together with Broken Moon, the new map of Apex Legends, which will be one of the most important changes and one of the weight additions regarding Eclipse: find all the details at this address.
