I dropped into Fortnite late last week - that rare game where you genuinely do drop in - and I had a lovely time as ever. But I had a wistful time too. It felt like something had changed - slowly, slowly and then quickly - and it took me a few days to work out what that might be.
What had happened was I'd appeared in this beautiful, detailed world, where every blade of grass was gorgeously lit and luxuriously curved. And the world itself was filled with distractions. Visit three named areas to get XP? I couldn't help but visit three named areas - everywhere had a name. But not just a name, everywhere also had a gimmick, a bit of storytelling, a possibility to lure me away to do this or that and to lose myself in some new novelty.
This is wonderful, and I would never complain about this. But - to then sort of complain about it - it made me realise that something was missing. To put it another way, I played Fortnite back in the very early days of Battle Royale, and I think some part of me will always be trying to work out whether it was better back then or better now.