I logged into Apex Legends after the update hit, not expecting much. Just another patch, right? But the moment I dropped into the firing range, I could feel the game breathing differently. The little annoyances that had been piling up since Season 12 launched were finally being shown the door, and I was here for it.

Before I get into the patch notes, let me paint a picture for you. I am a normal player. I solo queue, I mess up, I occasionally panic in the final circle. The last thing I need is a shotgun with a mind of its own or a teammate gas that refuses to let me heal. So when version 1.89 rolled out, I was practically refreshing the official Trello board like it was a late-night text from a crush.

The Trello board was a lifesaver, honestly. Respawn finally gave us a clear window into what they were hunting. I spent a good chunk of the morning scrolling through the issues marked as fixed or in progress. Here is what was supposedly being addressed:

• The Peacekeeper could fire two shots when the Kinetic Feeder hop-up was attached. That double-tap got me killed more times than I care to admit. One moment I am lining up a clean shot, the next I am standing there like a deer in headlights wondering where my second shell went.

• Players were not getting a leaver penalty when quitting Control games early. This was driving me up the wall. You would be fighting for a zone, and suddenly half your squad would vanish into thin air.

• Friendly Caustic gas could prevent shields from recharging. The gas was basically being the worst teammate ever, standing over me like it was saying, 'No healing on my watch.'

• Some audio effects for items dropped on snow could be heard from any distance. I kept spinning around expecting an enemy, but it was just a stray barrel rolling somewhere across the map.

• Wraith's ultimate could disappear when deployed close to a Harvester wall. I stopped trusting portals near that wall entirely.

• The Rampage had some visual and UI bugs related to its charging. Sometimes I could not tell if I was about to fire a charged shot or a regular one.

• The ranked info screen incorrectly detailed bonus points for placements. I genuinely thought I was losing my mind until I saw it listed on the board.

Now, I should be careful here. The official patch notes were still a little slow to drop, and the Trello board did not guarantee every fix would make it into this exact patch. Still, the mood in the community was hopeful. We had been living with these glitches for a few short weeks, and any step forward felt like a small victory.

When the official patch notes finally landed, I let out a breath I did not know I was holding. Version 1.89 brought a focused list of fixes:

• Bloodhound's Prestige Skin challenges resetting

• Enabling the leaver penalty for Control

• Certain Bloodhound stat trackers not working

• The first of several updates to address the FPS issue on consoles

The Bloodhound fixes made me smile. It felt like the game was finally giving my favorite tracker some love. The Prestige Skin challenge reset had been a quiet heartbreaker for completionists, and the stat trackers were a small but meaningful touch. The Control leaver penalty was the one I cared about most, though. Nothing ruins a mode faster than people treating it like a lobby they can abandon whenever the fight gets hard.

But the line that really caught my eye was the last one. The first of several updates to address the FPS issue on consoles. That told me Respawn was not just slapping a band-aid on the problem. They were planning to work on it over time. As someone who has felt the frame drops during chaotic fights, I appreciated that honesty.

I booted up Control after the patch and immediately felt the difference. The penalties were in place, and the matches had a better rhythm. I still got absolutely shredded a few times, but at least my squad stuck around. I stood there after one close game, just breathing, letting the silence settle in. The Peacekeeper was no longer double-tapping like it had a caffeine addiction. The snow was quiet. The gas was doing what it was supposed to do. For a few minutes, everything felt right.

Not every issue from the Trello board made it into the update, and there was still work to be done. But as a regular player, I would rather see small, honest fixes than a giant patch that breaks three new things. The game felt a little more alive after the update, like it had taken a deep breath and remembered how to be itself.

I will be back in the queue tonight, probably dying to a third party in the final circle. But at least I will not be fighting my own shotgun and my own Caustic teammate at the same time. Small wins, right?