Masahiro Sakurai is best known for being TheSmash BrosGuy. If there’s one thing that can overshadow creating Kirby, it’s probablyNintendo’sIP soup fighter that includes Kirby. My boss will probably attempt to put some Kid Icarus reference in here, but I haven’t played it, so I’ll ignore her.
Since taking a step back from updating Smash Bros. Ultimate in 2022, Sakurai has taken to posting game design theory on his YouTube channel,Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games. His bite-sized videos are an enlightening perspective on game development, his career, and the games he loves. And in his most recent upload, in which he discusses ‘game essence’ in action games, he talks aboutApex Legends. I always take the time to check out Sakurai’s videos, but in this, my two interests have crossed paths. My ears pricked up, and I devoured his insight hungrily.
Sakurai defines ‘game essence’ as “the process of taking risks and earning rewards”. He sees risk and reward as two sides of the same coin – you have to get near the Koopa to jump on its head.
He gives multiple examples of the risk/reward game essence of action games in his video, starting with Mario platformers. When crossing large gaps, getting as close to a ledge as possible will allow you to cross the distance safely. However, you risk mistiming your jump and simply running off the edge. The riskier your jump, the more likely it is to pay off. In a couple of sentences, Sakurai infers the thought that went into designing the distance Mario could jump, the distance of gaps in levels, and the addition of any ‘coyote time’ if you mistime your button press. Who knew so much thought went into the platforming in one of the most groundbreaking platformer series ever made?
For Apex, Sakurai discusses weaponry, positioning, and resources. Firing a gun reduces your ammunition, obviously, which comes with an inherent risk/reward factor. But Sakurai also notes that to give yourself the advantage of range, you usually sacrifice ammunition, too. A powerful sniper rifle like the Longbow will have six rounds in a magazine as standard, each doing 55 damage for a body shot. He contrasts this with the enormous drum of the Spitfire, which holds 35 rounds that do 18 damage each. He could go further into the comparison by explaining that the Spitfire’s 162 DPS is vastly superior to the Longbow’s 72, but the latter affords you the distance between yourself and your opponent.
The most extreme example of this trade-off would be the Kraber, which holds just 12 rounds and you may’t pick up more ammo for it. However, it does 140 damage per hit, rising to a whopping 280 if you land a headshot. This is the nerfed version of the sniper, by the way.
This leads us onto Sakurai’s second point, positioning. Despite having less ammunition per magazine, the Longbow affords you safety at a distance. While an opponent may be armed with a Prowler, a close-range SMG that can deal 212 DPS, that’s no use if they can’t get up close to use it. The risk/reward game essence of Apex Legends comes down to whether you pick up a shotgun and try to close the distance, or fire upon your opponent from afar with an assault rifle, hoping to take them out before they reach a range where they can comfortably out-damage you.
There are myriad factors to consider when thinking about Apex’s game essence. The risk versus reward of picking Bangalore over Caustic, an aggressive Legend over a defensive one. As Bangalore, you face the risk of being unable to defend buildings, but reap the rewards of being able to blind opposing teams and create safe rotations into zone.
What about the risks of playing zone versus playing edge, especially in competitive settings? Battle royales already have an in-built ultimatum of whether you farm for kills or play to be the last squad standing – sometimes you may manage both, but more often than not, you have to prioritise one playstyle over the other. Then, there’s the even more meta discussion about which input you use,controller or keyboard. A controller player has aim assist, but a keyboard and mouse player has more precision at range. Bangalore’s smokes also turn off aim assist, which is why most Bloodhounds you see countering her with their scans are toting keyboards. But then they lose that fragging ability against non-Bangalore teams.
I’ve always thought that I loved Apex Legends due to its slick, Titanfall-lite movement mechanics. And I do. But Sakurai’s succinct explanation of what makes this game tick has been nothing short of enlightening. I always knew that I liked the gunfeel in the game, the weapon options, and the countless choices you have to make in each match, but Sakurai explainswhyI like those things.
To take his analysis a step further, Apex enhances this risk/reward game essence to stand apart from its rivals. By increasing the time-to-kill (TTK) and adding a vast number of different abilities attached to different Legends, every interaction with an opponent contains more risk/reward scenarios than in, say, Call of Duty or Halo. At the start of an engagement, you make the choice whether to shoot at your opponent to do damage, or use one of your abilities. For a Bloodhound, the risk of shooting is that you won’t know where your opponent’s teammates are. The risk of using a scan to highlight their positions, however, is the absence of that initial damage and the risk of taking damage yourself, placing you at a disadvantage in the fight.
I often found in Call of Duty or Counter-Strike, that whoever saw their opponent first, won. The TTK was so low that it was a game of reactions rather than tactics. That’s what some people want, but Apex’s larger health pools and lower-damage weapons afford you more options in fights. After your shield has been cracked, do you push on to surprise your opponents, press your advantage, and double down on any damage you’ve already done, at risk of being downed in return? Or do you disengage, reset, and restore your shields, at risk of allowing your opponent the opportunity to do the same, essentially restarting the fight from square one, sans some exhausted abilities.
After all those micro-decisions, the corebattle royalegameplay comes into effect, and you must think about the length of time you’ve been fighting, and whether or not a third party will come in to steamroll both you and your opponent while your resources are depleted. That’s never a problem in Counter-Strike’s 5v5 matches, and in my view takes Apex to the next level.
No one ever doubted that Masahiro Sakurai was a master of his craft, but it’s one thing to create games and another entirely to explain their core essence to others. His YouTube channel teaches the fundamentals of game design in an accessible manner and can even help a player with over 1,000 hours in a game understand why he loves it.
