Embark Studios’ The Finals has entered Season 3, introducing new weapons, gadgets, modes, and a brand-new map called Kyoto 1568. While Embark’s explosive free-to-play game already features some truly brilliant maps, this newest addition is quickly becoming an all-time FPS great.
Set in the past, Kyoto 1568 marks a significant departure from every other map in The Finals. Alongside its Japanese aesthetic, Kyoto offers wide-open areas for snipers to perch on, hidden tunnels for dagger users to sneak through, and tall towers to grapple or boost up with ease.
Embark’s map design has only strengthened with each update to its debut game. Season 2’s SYS$HORIZON map proved a perfect addition for the Power Shift mode, especially with the inclusion of anti-grav cubes and dematerializers. However, it didn’t stand out against decades of FPS competitors.
Kyoto is different. Not only is it entirely unique for FPS games — can you think of another with a map like this? — but it perfectly plays into The Finals’ strengths. It offers so much versatility and potential to trick and deceive your foes, all designed to work well with customized classes.
While The Finals map list includes arenas like Seoul and Las Vegas that are extraordinarily fun to play on, they don’t feel designed around the abilities you have access to outside of blowing things up. The Finals’ core gameplay still makes these maps one of the best FPS experiences, but they don’t align perfectly with Embark’s gameplay structure.
Kyoto is completely different. It’s the first map within The Finals that soars with potential. Upon discovering the hidden paths under the shrine, you immediately think about placing a remote charge above you and setting up mines to send a charging foe into a pit of death. Finding the boost pad that sends you up to the map’s tallest point immediately makes you think of the possibilities of using a bow to pick off foes.
Alongside Kyoto, The Finals Season 3 also adds a host of other goodies, our personal favorite being the Light class’ explosive Thermite gadgets, allowing you to blow holes in structures from afar. Currently, some new weapons — such as the Dual Blades — seem overpowered, but hopefully, balance patches will even things out again.
Of course, the game’s penchant for destruction continues, and Kyoto is extraordinarily fun to blow up. So far, nothing beats the fun of destroying the dual cranes in Skyway Stadium, but few things do.
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