The Finals is undoubtedly one of the most exciting shooters on the FPS scene right now. Embark Studios continues to keep the game fresh, whether that’s with new game modes, Circuit Challenges, or the sheer amount of dazzling cosmetics on offer. With The Finals Season 3 approaching, the developer answers your questions in a new Reddit AMA, teasing what changes are on the (SYS$) horizon.
Embark co-founder Rob Runesson and creative director Gustav Tilleby’s outlook on the future of The Finals has me excited, and you should be too. If you’ve been grinding the living hell out of Embark’s FPS game, like me, you’ll have maxed out your VR currency limit. With every gadget and every weapon unlocked for each of The Finals classes, there’s literally no purpose for it right now. It looks like that is set to change in the future, though, as Tilleby says “we know that this sucks and there will be more uses for VRs coming in the future, stay tuned.”
Unlike MultiBucks, VRs are earned by simply playing the hit multiplayer game. How Embark plans to expand their purpose is intriguing. Perhaps cosmetics exclusive to VR currency is an avenue Embark could explore? Throughout Season 2 the studio has given PS5 and Xbox players plenty of incentives to return, with Circuit Challenges offering up exclusive cosmetics in return for your dedication to bagging all that cash. Yet, on the subject of increasing the game’s longevity, the developer reiterates that stability is a key focus above all else.
“We’ve said in the past that we don’t want to create and post roadmaps, as making sure the game is healthy and runs well will always be the top priority,” Tilleby explains. In the near future, it sounds like Embark will implement improvements to both The Finals’ ranking system and melee combat mechanics. Runesson says: “In the long run, we don’t want there to be an ‘end’ to your progress. In the future, we could absolutely add more career levels.” I’d certainly welcome the addition of more levels, having hit the current cap of Level 50.
However, what strikes me as a major win for The Finals’ weapons is enhancing hand-to-hand combat encounters. Although I love blowing the absolute shit out of everything in one of the best PS5 multiplayer games around, the thrill of chaining together melee kills is a different beast. The addition of a pencil skin for the Dagger in Season 2 made my John Wick dreams come true, after all. However, there’s definitely room for improvement to take it one step further.
Tilleby expresses that “we agree that melee is super fun, and we want it to be a better experience as well. There might even be something in the works.” The mission to make melee better is echoed by animation director Mikael Högström, who says, “we are working on improving the melee experience as a whole.”
Of course, racking up the kills could be even better with a kill cam, a feature currently absent in The Finals – for now at least. Tilleby clarifies that the studio “definitely want to build this”, but it poses a challenge for Embark, as “it is difficult to implement due to the dynamic nature of the game.”
There isn’t long until The Finals Season 3 debuts, as the current battle pass ends on Tuesday, June 11, 2024. When the next season does launch, I’m hoping it’ll see the debut of vehicles that were teased months ago, and it’ll somehow top Season 2’s setting and atmosphere.
In related The Finals news, the long-awaited goth skin is finally here, and you’re running out of time to claim these The Finals Terminal Attack rewards, so get them before it’s too late.