The Downgrade of Fortnite’s Locker UI in Chapter 5
Fortnite Chapter 5 has undoubtedly brought excitement to the gaming world with its innovative battle royale gameplay, incredible battle pass, and new cosmetics. However, the revamped locker user interface (UI), which supports the Lego, Rocket League, and Festival modes, has stirred up controversy and disappointment among Fortnite players. In this article, we examine the decline in quality of the locker UI in Chapter 5 by outlining the features and functionality and identifying eleven different ways that this essential aspect of the game has worsened.
The Locker UI: What’s Changed
The locker’s main purpose is to allow players to customize their characters by equipping skins and other cosmetics. In Chapter 5, players have to navigate through the new UI, which has made customizing a character slower and more challenging, primarily when using a controller.
10 Ways Fortnite’s Locker UI has Worsened in Chapter 5
- Auto-equipping: Selecting the button to enter an item’s detail menu now equips the item. Each style examined in the detail menu is also equipped automatically.
- Dreadful archiving: The mass-select option for archiving has been removed. Archiving now requires navigating a dropdown menu for each individual item.
- Longer time to favorite: Favoriting an item used to take one button press. Now, players must navigate a dropdown menu for each individual item they want to favorite.
- Inability to return to top: Players can no longer return to the top of their locker menu by pressing Triangle/Y, making unequipping items and randomizing categories more time-consuming.
- Broken locker presets: Emotes, wraps, banners, loading screens, and lobby music have been separated from assigned skins, back blings, pickaxes, gliders, and contrails. Players can no longer assign specific emotes or wraps to a skin preset.
- No shuffle for presets: Previously, players could shuffle their locker presets. This option is no longer available, meaning presets must now be chosen manually.
- Mouse-and-keyboard issues: Although these problems are quite different, mouse-and-keyboard users also face numerous UI problems. One player expressed their frustration, “I want to spend time enjoying the game, not struggling with the locker UI.”
- Decline in ease of use: The overall customization process has become more complicated, discouraging players from experimenting with different combinations.
- Poor accessibility: With too many sub-menus and dropdowns, the new locker UI has made it harder for players with disabilities to navigate.
- Frustrating visual design: The visual design does not enhance the user experience. Players have complained about the unpleasant appearance, saying “The new locker UI is an eyesore.”
One fan commented on Reddit, “Why did they have to mess with something that didn’t need fixing? I loved the earlier locker UI!”
The Future of Fortnite’s Locker UI
It appears that the issues with the locker UI in Chapter 5 are not caused by bugs but are likely the result of an unfinished or rushed development, perhaps due to Epic’s recent layoffs. While improvements may take time, Fortnite players eagerly await much-needed updates to enhance their gaming experience.
