MINECRAFT LEGENDS
A strategy spin-off that gives Minecraft a whole new scale
SUDDENLY, A GIANT TOWER GETS ERECTED ON TOP OF THE VANTAGE POINT
This is a strange one – I’m not totally convinced by Minecraft Legends yet. Perhaps it’s the odd cel-shaded art style, or my own inexperience with strategy games. It’s very obviously Minecraft, but at the same time feels quite a bit alien – like a sort of genre uncanny valley.
It’s not as if the series has struggled to contort itself to genres outside of survival before. Minecraft Dungeons did reasonably well for itself, even if it didn’t work for me, and I had a great time with Telltale’s narrative-driven Minecraft Story Mode. Perhaps it’s because I’m watching someone playing rather than navigating it myself, but it’s hard to get a feel for how it’ll work as a strategy game.
Where standard Minecraft thinks block by block, Legends zooms out, thinking in chunks or ‘thoughts’ as I’m repeatedly told during the demo. Gathering wood isn’t done by slowly punching down trees, but by sending out small flying minions who’re capable of deforesting entire areas in minutes. Journeying across the procedurally generated map doesn’t have to be meticulously performed with one-block jumps and careful climbing. Instead, I watch as the main character, mounted on a horse, practically levitates up entire blocks on a mountain to get a better view of the piglin fortress he’s about to launch an attack upon.
ATTACK THE BLOCK
Suddenly, a giant tower gets erected on top of the vantage point. Various spawners are placed down with speed, featuring recognisable mobs like golems ready to send into battle. While Minecraft Legends forgoes some creativity in removing the ability to create grand structures block by block, I’m told much of the expression comes instead in your placement of these pre-defined buildings, slowly creating grand fortresses of your own to compete against the piglin armies.
The piglin fortress I’m shown is one of many that’ll be encountered throughout the campaign, called hordes. This one, the horde of the bastion, focuses on a strong defence. As the hero’s own base is being built and troops spawned, the bastion is being scoured for an entry point. One is found, and battle begins.
I’m still struggling to grapple with the soup of ideas and tweaked art style, but I can’t help but find myself drawn in by the Minecraftyness of it all. It’s still got that goofy charm, and I’m told the focus is on trying to make this game feel like a fairytale, which I can see a glimpse of during this preview. If there’s anything that’ll get me into strategy, it’ll be Minecraft. I’m dying to see a little bit more in the hopes it’ll put my uncertainties to rest. Maybe this could be the start of a beautiful relationship with the genre.