Fortnite Chapter 2 - Season 8 Arrives: All The Major Changes Detailed

Today marks the first day of Fortnite Chapter 2 – Season 8, giving players the chance to explore the battle royale island after the mothership blew up and the tiny 'Kevin' cubes rained down on the land. The island is now distinctly different, including some major changes that'll catch you off guard if you don't know what to expect.

One of the additions with this new chapter are Punch Cards, dozens of which will be offered this season to help rake in XP. Every Punch Card is a unique series of challenges with certain XP values, each challenge representing a 'punch' in the cards. Completing the full Punch Card questline will offer the most XP.

These Punch Cards will, based on what we've seen and what has leaked, revolve around various characters introduced with the new season, including the glittery Fabio Sparklemane horse, the cartoony Toona Fish, and Kor. Though you don't have to finish these quests, they will offer a considerable boost in points to redeem for rewards.

The Kymera customizable alien skin didn't go over so well during Season 7 — many players said they weren't interested in it and it was rare to see someone playing with the skin in battle. Perhaps more popular will be Season 8's novelty skin: Toona Fish. The cartoon version of the popular fish skin is greyscaled.

Players will acquire colors while playing, including while looting chests, and can then use those colors to customize the blank cartoon fish's appearance.

Another fun addition to the game are Shadow Stones and Shadow Floppers, both the result of the island's cubes. The Shadow Stones can be found in the rubble caused by the Mothership and cubes; if you eat one, you'll turn into a shadow for a while, a familiar experience to those who played past seasons.

Meanwhile, there are now Shadow Floppers that act like shadow stones; these can be randomly pulled from the water while fishing at fish holes. Epic notes that the loot llamas, which are rare, now get stunned and become motionless if you cause them damage, making it easier to open them.

The new reality in which players find themselves includes Cube Monsters; these beings exist in areas called 'The Sideways' and will try to attack you when you near them. The various cubes are creating Sideways Anomalies in The Sideways regions. As a result, each match will see one of the POIs covered in the Sideways, making them what Epic calls Sideways Zones.

The corruption caused in these regions impacts everything in them, including the weapons. Eliminating the Cube Monsters will result in Cube Monster Parts. These dropped items can be used with the game's crafting system to upgrade your items to Sideways weapons. These items have a superpowerful state that causes bonus damage near the overheating point.

The game's new season is expansive and joined by many smaller changes, including the return of popular items like the Burst AR, as well as some small changes to the dynamic nature of the gameplay. Players will notice, for example, that cars' headlights now automatically turn on when driving through a shadow and that the battle royale island looks more beautiful than ever — the crashed Mothership pieces aside.