By Claire Lewis on October 5, 2022 at 2:18PM PDT
Apex Legends and its mobile game counterpart, Apex Legends Mobile, have plenty in common, sharing many of the same characters, maps, and weapons. Both games take place in the same universe, there's plenty of overlap when it comes to Apex universe lore, and Respawn developers have confirmed that Apex Legends Mobile is official canon. But there's no denying that the two games have a distinctly different feel to them, owed in part to the unique new gameplay features that are exclusive to Apex Legends Mobile. But many of those features could seriously benefit the original PC and console version of Apex Legends as well, assuming they were implemented correctly.
These features range from the obvious (legends) to more subtle quality-of-life improvements that the PC and console versions of Apex desperately need. Though there are plenty of features exclusive to the mobile game that have no business debuting on console or PC (see: Pack Pieces, items that must be collected in sets of ten to form a single Syndicate Pack, the mobile game's version of an Apex Pack), there are a few that could potentially mesh well with the original game's current meta. Seeing the following features migrate from the mobile game to the console and PC versions of the game would put smiles on the faces of more than a few players, and make for a better gameplay experience.
On console and PC, players can set up to eight favorites in a variety of categories--music packs, quips, emotes, holosprays, transition screens, and legend/weapon skins, to name a few. The same is true in Apex Legends Mobile (excluding music packs, which do not currently exist in Apex Mobile), with one very minor difference that is utterly game-changing: Instead of letting the RNG gods randomly choose one of the legend skins you've favorited to adorn your legend of choice, the mobile game actually gives players a chance to choose which favorited skin they want to wear for the match.
The prompt appears just after legend selection takes place. If the player makes no choice, the currently-equipped skin is used for the match. Oddly enough, the mobile game currently has no "Random Favorite" option for cosmetic legend skins, so there's no way to have the game pick a favorite skin at random the way it does on console and PC. Even more odd, the mobile game's weapon system does have this option, and selecting "Random Favorite" will result in your favorite weapon skins appearing at random, just like on console and PC. This makes the absence of a similar option for legend skins even more perplexing, though the feature may be added to the mobile game in a future update. But far more importantly, Apex Mobile's legend cosmetic system needs to come to console and PC.
One of the mobile game's best features by far, the Seasonal Store allows players to use Seasonal Currency (obtained by completing event challenges or just playing matches) to redeem season-exclusive cosmetics without dropping a dime of real money, and is generally stocked with some seriously cool loot. I often find myself preferring Seasonal Store cosmetics over battle pass cosmetics, and it feels really nice to actually get the opportunity to choose what rewards I receive instead of relying solely on Syndicate/Apex Packs, praying to the RNG gods that I get lucky and unlock That One Skin I've had my eye on forever.
The Seasonal Store's contents change twice per season, with a refreshed inventory appearing alongside the launch of each new battle pass. The previous battle pass' Seasonal Currency expires when this happens and is replaced with a new kind of currency with a new name that can be used to unlock cosmetics from the new Seasonal Shop. Seasonal Currency is earned in a number of ways--from taking part in user surveys and completing event challenges to simply opening Supply Bins, the stuff is anything but hard to come by. There's a limit to how much Seasonal Currency you can collect per match, but it adds up quickly nonetheless, and events like long-term login bonus events can reward you with five-digit sums of Seasonal Currency.
The entire experience is a rewarding one that gives players a bit more control over which cosmetics they unlock, and the amount of effort the developers put into designing Seasonal Shop cosmetics is obvious even at a passing glance. The console and PC versions of the game could definitely benefit from a similar setup. Something about saving up currency and getting to choose which cosmetics you receive feels so much more rewarding than simply logging in once a day and cracking open Supply Bins until a Treasure Pack finally pops out at you, then repeating that just about every day for the duration of the season.
The "Monthly" section recently added to the Apex Legends store on console and PC allows players to purchase a variety of lower-value cosmetic items (banner frames, poses, weapon skins, etc.) in exchange for Apex Coins, the game's premium currency. While it's nice to occasionally snag a cosmetic item from a previous event that I've been hoping to come across again, I think replacing the "Monthly" section of the store with a "Seasonal Shop" section could do a world of good for the game--especially considering the fact that it would give players a reason to keep playing even if they've finished their battle pass or an event reward track early.
I've found that locating decent teammates to play with in Apex Legends Mobile is far easier than it is when I play on console. In my experience, this is mainly due to the fact that the game's lobby chat allows me to quickly connect with players who have the same goals as I do, whether that's reaching a specific rank, playing a specific mode, or completing a specific set of event challenges. It's nice to be able to connect with other players quickly without having to use an external service like Reddit or Discord to locate like-minded players with similar goals.
While some not-always-appropriate shenanigans occasionally take place in the lobby's chatroom, things are generally pretty tame--it seems the word filters and/or moderators are doing their job. Bringing this feature to the platforms Apex originally launched on would benefit all involved, especially for players who rarely have a premade squad of friends to team up with and must rely on random teammates the majority of the time.
Although the mobile game's automatic looting mechanic is still in need of a bit of polish, having the option to turn on a feature that would see all applicable hop-ups and gear automatically attach themselves to my weapons would be a nice addition to Apex on console and PC. Manual looting is an onerous task, especially for console players looting deathboxes (god help you if this is occurring in a PC lobby). So it would certainly be nice to be able to crawl up to deathboxes and have all relevant loot automatically stick itself to my person instead of spending precious seconds frantically rooting through one box only to find it empty before getting shot at when I attempt to loot the next one. Automating the process would make deathbox looting far less risky, especially for console players, who already have limited mobility to contend with. It would also make a nice accessibility feature for players with physical disabilities that affect motor controls.
While both games could benefit from a "Favorite Legend" system that works the same way as the favorited cosmetic skins mechanic, one thing the mobile game does have on standard Apex is a better, more visible legend-selection page. Similar to the console and PC versions of Apex Legends, Apex Legends Mobile allows players loading into a battle royale match to request a specific legend, ideally preventing teammates who get to select a character before you from "stealing" your legend of choice by signaling that you'd like to play a specific one if possible.
The game does this well enough on console and PC, showing players which legend their other teammates have preselected via a portrait on the bottom of the screen, but frankly, it's easy to miss. The mobile game, on the other hand, blacks out that entire portrait with a speech bubble that says, "I want to select [Legend Name]." It's nearly impossible to miss, and it has the intended effect of making me feel like a jerk for picking a legend my teammate wants to use.
Now, I'm not saying you should comply with a teammate's request every single time--especially if you're playing pubs, it shouldn't matter too much. But if you're unfortunate enough to be stuck playing Ranked without a premade squad, you're better off letting a teammate have your legend of choice if at all possible. You can't control your teammate's skill level, but you can improve your chances of winning by not gambling on a random squadmate's ability (or lack thereof) to play well as a different character--especially given the fact that the game's AI will assign you a legend at random if your selected legend is unavailable and you're not quick enough to select another before time runs out.
That's something both games could benefit from: the ability to create a favorite legend list for the game to choose from when your chosen legend is taken and you don't select another one quickly enough. There is absolutely nothing worse than loading up a match and getting up to grab a snack, only to return and discover your chosen legend was taken, resulting in the game making the choice for you and assigning you your least-favorite option. Bonus (negative) points if that legend's abilities are game-breakingly bugged at the time.
Apex Legends Mobile offers a user feedback questionnaire at least once a month. Players who participate are rewarded with in-game currency and get a chance to share their thoughts on the game with its developers. The user feedback surveys are often surprisingly complex, and frequently ask open-ended questions that allow players to respond freely and in detail.
The developers of the console and PC versions of the game recently held a series of Reddit AMAs that also allowed a direct conversation to take place between devs and players, but that's not quite that same as making development decisions based on statistical analyses from regular polling that comes directly from one's players. (It also seems the AMAs and other direct developer-player engagement may have led to the harassment of Respawn employees in recent days.)
Regular user surveys would give Respawn a better opportunity to listen to its players, and give players the ability to air their grievances in a manner that will actually be taken into account--an action that, in itself, may reduce the collective anger of some parts of the Apex playerbase (though there is, nevertheless, no excuse for any type of developer harassment).
Third-person mode is actually already a feature in the console and PC versions of Apex Legends, but only as an Easter egg that can be triggered in the Firing Range. It makes for incredibly good fun when you have a few friends with you and friendly fire is activated, but that's all it's good for at the moment.
The mobile game, meanwhile, has proven that there's an appetite for third-person play among Apex's playerbase, and that it can be implemented successfully. Still, just because a feature works on mobile doesn't mean it will translate well to console and PC. The addition of a permanent third-person mode could lead to a whole host of problems from legend/weapon imbalances to matchmaking issues and an increase in bugs. Third-person mode would not make for a beneficial addition to Apex Legends, at least in its current state.
But it would make for an absolutely firenew LTM.