Fortnite Kicks sure make a goofy game even sillier

I’m being haunted by visions of Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender and Moff Gideon from Star Wars wearing black-and-red Nike Jordans.

No, this isn’t some drug-induced hallucination or twisted cross-media promotional campaign (although it is certainly good marketing for the American shoe brand). Epic Games launched a cosmetic item called Kicks in Fortnite this November. The new feature allows players to customize their character and choose which shoes they wear. This is why Zuko can reasonably (and completely legally) wear Nike sneakers in a battle royale game now.

Fortnite launched Kicks with a limited selection of shoes that will be released in two drops. Drop one contains four different pairs of shoes with varying prices. The basic white leather Nike trainers cost 800 V-bucks, whereas the fancy galaxy-patterned high tops cost 1,000 V-bucks. (Personally, I think the Chomp Stompers shark slippers look the cutest, and they’re less expensive at 600 V-bucks.)

Kicks are pretty pricey as far as in-game items go. Players can get 1,000 V-bucks for for $8.99, and they have already criticized the pricing for being too expensive. On top of that, Kicks are only compatible with a limited list of Fortnite characters. For example, you can customize the footwear for Satoru Gojo and John Wick, but not Avatar Aang. That all being said, there are just enough character and shoe combinations to allow people to put together some pretty goofy looks.

With some characters, like Miles Morales, the sneakers match the outfit, since he already wears black-and-red high tops in the Spider-Man movies. Then there are characters I wouldn’t expect to look good, but it weirdly suits them. Cell, from Dragon Ball, falls into this category. At first, it might seem as though his alien head and green-and-purple body would clash with Jordans, but his purple spots and space-suit-like body almost make the black-and-red Jordans look like a subtle touch. And then there are characters like John Wick, who looks like he should be handing someone a game award instead of running around in Fortnite due to wearing his signature full suit with casual sneakers.