MeinMMO editor Maik Schneider was completely enchanted by the ideas behind Minecraft Legends (PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Switch). A few hours into the game, he was glad to be able to put aside the strategy game with action combat.
With a fun factor and minion control, I was hooked right away. I love building games and can be persuaded to play any strategy game. Especially Rimworld has captivated me. This combination of “they do their thing” and direct control over the colonists – a perfect gameplay balancing.
Accordingly, I was very interested in Minecraft Legends. I played with the colorful blocks for longer than I would like to admit and found the concept very exciting, charging at crazed Piglins with a crazy army of Minecraft characters.
- Minecraft Legends releases on April 18, 2023, for Windows, Xbox, PlayStation, Steam, and Nintendo Switch, and costs around €40. It is also included in the Xbox Game Pass from release.
I had the chance to try the strategy game and spent about six hours in Minecraft Legends, mostly in the campaign. Unfortunately, I have to say that I didn’t have fun. And I think it was due to the strong focus on multiplayer.
Here you will find a brief description of the game flow and an assessment of why I wasn’t as enthusiastic as hoped.
If you want to see gameplay, here is a cut video of the PvP mode that we received from the developers:
Slaughtering Piglins, getting better, slaughtering more Piglins
How does the game work? The classic Minecraft, which by the way was created in just one weekend, has little to do with the gameplay principle of Minecraft Legends.
There are two main game modes: the campaign and the versus mode. The campaign can also be played in co-op.
In the campaign, I play through a large, colorful open world. The Piglins pour out from the Nether into the overworld, causing fear and terror among the peaceful villagers.
My task is to destroy the bases of the nasty intruders and restore peace. For this, I can initially create “Golems,” rally them around me with a command, and send them against the enemies.
But animals and other characters in the world also follow my command, and I attack myself with a sword.
Some Piglin bases, however, are still too strong for me, so I first take care of my combat strength.
For this, I am supposed to build certain buildings with which I can extract new resources or gain abilities. Unlike in original Minecraft, I do not have to unpack the pickaxe myself.
I select an area with a certain resource and let my little helpers do the work. First only stone and wood, later iron, coal, and redstone are added.
In addition to the resource helpers, I also have construction troops that build buildings for me.
I can use them to expand, fortify villages, or even place my own bases anywhere in the world. Important buildings, like those for new resources or abilities, I always place near my main base.
Before attacking an enemy base, it might be worth building my own base nearby. It goes quickly and smoothly. Walls and turrets are erected within seconds, as well as the spawners for my minions.
Gradually, I get better buildings for attack and defense, and my army becomes more colorful with new units. I hack apart every enemy stronghold, liberate the overworld, and in between, cinematics tell me a story about how legendary and heroic I am.
The versus mode is played on a smaller map, and there is a base for each team. The Piglins also join in and attack now and then. The goal is to destroy the opponents’ base.
The progress that I work on for hours in the campaign can be achieved much faster in versus mode. However, the gameplay principle changes little.
Wasted potential for balance
Why would less multiplayer have been better? The whole game felt to me like: they thought it was a cool idea to let several people control different minions, who would then determine a winner in epic, chaotic battles. Sounds great in principle, right?
But in practice, we constantly run back and forth because you can only control a few minions yourself. In the campaign, it started with 25; in versus mode, there are only 10 at the start of the match. A building in the campaign increases the capacity to 40.
Why can’t I just control everything in view and let a huge troop of nervous Creepers, accurate skeletons, and limping zombies loose on the hapless Piglins?
Here, it seems they wanted to balance the co-op and PvP gameplay and give action combat a greater role. But that made it unfun for me. The fights against enemy bases were monotonous, even with later tools.
The gameplay expands over time through new friendly units and tools for attack and defense. Additionally, more Piglin factions come into play, introducing new enemies with fresh attack patterns.
This brings variety, but it takes far too long for any thrills to arise in the game. And they don’t last long.
In general, I am convinced that a multiplayer mode enhances any game. But Minecraft Legends makes me critically reconsider this view.
The constant running around really got on my nerves. The low minion capacity too.
If four people coordinate perfectly, you can definitely have a lot of fun. But alone or in pairs, it wasn’t fun, especially in the beginning.
With a game featuring minions at every corner and a large open world filled with friendly and enemy strongholds – why can’t I automatically guide my allies to a location via a tactics map for defense or attack?
Instead of finding a way that allows Minecraft Legends to have balanced co-op and PvP modes, they should have relied more on the strengths of such a game: fun factor and minion control.
By the way, we spoke with the developers at Gamescom 2022, in case you’re looking for more background on the game: Minecraft as a strategy game – how is that supposed to work? The heads discuss gameplay and co-op
If you have any questions about the game or an opinion, please leave a comment on the topic.
