Starting today, Respawn is introducing a new way for Apex Legends players to experience the story of the popular battle royale in-game. The new Apex Chronicles add in new challenges and small quests that occur in public matches and follow a short story for an individual legend, all while rewarding players with battle pass stars and cosmetics.
Described as "bite-sized story events," these chronicles will require players to choose a specific legend, hop into a non-ranked public match, and follow a path that leads to various story beats for the current chapter. More chapters will unlock over time, resulting in one longer questline for the featured legend. The first story, "Old Ways, New Blood," follows Bloodhound as he tries to rescue an injured prowler and can be triggered upon finding a white raven on World's Edge.
The folks at Respawn have also taken measures to ensure the experience of trying to complete and enjoy Bloodhound's story in the middle of a warzone isn't ungodly frustrating. For one, any Bloodhound players in the game will be given separate paths to follow for the quest, meaning it's highly unlikely you'll run into and murder each other on your journey. If you're still unfortunate enough to die before completing the chronicle, you'll be able to continue from a checkpoint in the next match.
Completing the chronicle rewards you with a variety of Bloodhound-themed Apex packs along with battle pass stars for finishing each individual chapter. In all, it's a way of injecting the standard gameplay of Apex Legends with the lore of the legends and the world around them, but it does raise some questions. In particular, it remains to be seen how players will take to ignoring the typical objectives of the battle royale in favor of going on their own little adventures.
More chronicles will come out over time highlighting other legends and maps. It's a welcome addition considering the lack of in-game comics and an overarching quest for Season 10. Apex Chronicles are available now.