Minecraft is easily one of Microsoft’s biggest IPs since it was acquired in 2014 for the princely sum of $2.5b. Since then, the game has had a healthy flow of updates but has also seen some adaptations within other genres, such as Minecraft: Story Mode by Telltale Games, and Minecraft Dungeons, the ARPG which has seen a lot of improvement since its initial release in 2020. Microsoft has continued to invest in growing the IP and Minecraft Legends is looking to be the most interesting take yet.
I was invited to a preview video stream that explained some of the game’s systems which I was quite curious about. The stream was hosted by Rebecca Gordius, the PR Manager for Minecraft Legends, and Dennis Ries, the Executive Producer at Mojang Studios. We were treated to a bunch of gameplay with some developer commentary explaining what was going on.
Outside of gameplay, one of the first things I noticed was the use of cel-shading for the art style of the game. Its implementation on top of Minecraft’s voxel-based visuals gave me memories of Trove, the voxel-MMO that has been around since 2015. As a fan of art styles that go beyond photorealism, I’m actually really happy with this. Minecraft is a game with a surprising amount of beauty hidden within the simplicity of its visuals, and the way that this cel-shading makes colours more pronounced lends to some incredibly pretty environments. I still remember how surprisingly pretty and creative the environments were in Minecraft Dungeons and it looks like that level of creativity is going to be present here too (albeit on a smaller scale).
The story for this game, at least from what was shown, feels like it’s almost a Minecraft version of DOOM. The forces of Hell…sorry, the Nether…are invading with a Piglin army and it is your job to fight back against these Netherdowells (yes I did just say that). It’s hard to say how much of an emphasis the game will have on the story, as the previous Minecraft spinoff used its story as more of a set dressing than anything and instead put its gameplay first. I’m not exactly confident that this will be the outlier but I also don’t think it needs to be. Minecraft has always been a title that has offered experiences for a wide variety of audiences without locking things away from those same groups. Having some kind of in-depth, potentially obtuse story would just lock some enjoyment away from the younger audience that this title will easily attract, and so the focus on gameplay means that there is enjoyment to be had for everyone.
In terms of nuts and bolts gameplay, Minecraft Legends is poised as an action strategy game. What does that mean, though? The idea of an action strategy always kind of went over my head, as I’d always been under the notion that those two genres of gaming were diametrically opposed, but trust Mojang to come through with the goods and prove me wrong. The easiest way to explain it is if you took elements from an RTS, and added the ability to fully control a hero unit, and the closest relation I can think of is Codemasters’ Overlord games. Your hero can still attack, but your attacks are minimal as they are not the focus of the gameplay. Instead, you will have to manage building troops and decide whether you want more ranged or close-quarters units to do the legwork for you. There are, of course, benefits to the different types of units, but what I really appreciate is how these units are integrated into the world of Minecraft.
If you are wondering what the core gameplay loop and goal of Minecraft Legends is, it appears to be almost identical to that of a traditional RTS, where the ultimate objective is to capture your opponent’s base by overwhelming them with your armies. But where it sets itself apart is with the PVE component of the game. As you take down Piglin Outposts you are granted resources and eventually are able to tackle the challenge of a Night Beacon. A Night Beacon can more or less be considered a much larger, stronger Piglin Outpost, and successfully taking this down opens up the world map even further, revealing more Piglin Outposts to raid and pillage as you spread out. Taking down a Piglin Outpost will reward you with Prismarine, which is a currency used for purchasing upgrades at the Well of Fate – basically the world spawn point. There are specific zones called Upgrade Hubs which are placed around the Well of Fate and can be used to purchase upgrades for your hero, resources and units. The examples shown allowed for Iron Ore to be discovered as well as the ability to build a new type of unit.
Your main goal is to not only seize control of the lands from the Piglin armies but also to protect villages from those same armies. Losing control will inhibit some of your fast travel capabilities as well as damage those same villages. What is important about ensuring villages are not damaged is that even if you have regained control, your natural resource gathering (which villagers do for you, God bless them) will be cut off if the village is in a state of disrepair.
“While you’re out, the villagers are out searching for resources for you, and they will come and store them in your chest. However, if their village isn’t repaired then you won’t get those resources.” – Dennis Ries, Executive Producer at Mojang Studios
The PVP experience of Minecraft Legends is largely the same as the campaign. Your goal is to explore, gather resources, spend those resources and defend your bases against the opposing team. A PVP match consists of two teams – Blue and Orange. The moment one team’s base goes down, the match is finished. The teams aren’t tied to just one base, in a sense, as they can build forward bases which are for fronting an assault on the opposing team. What is different between the two modes is that in PVE the improvement hub is already constructed when you begin, in PVP you have to build your own improvement hub.
Building is an essential part of Minecraft, and the same appears to remain true for Minecraft Legends. From constructing bridges for your armies so they can cross rivers, to bolstering bases with various buildings that grant different buffs and benefits – not only is building still a central mechanic, but planning is as important as ever. What’s different about building in Minecraft Legends compared to the Minecraft that you and I are used to is that building is not done block-by-block, instead you designate an area for construction and, provided you have sufficient materials for it, the building will be constructed without any further input from you.
There are various buildings that you can construct. Some are as simple as the Carpenter House which is needed for repairing villages, and some other buildings shown in the PVP demo like the Battle Drum will improve the rate of fire of the towers around your base. There’s also a Masonry which will convert all of the wood in the affected area into stone, and the Kaboomery which will convert all the arrows fired from towers in the affected area into explosive arrows. My favourite building shown was the Redstone Launcher, which is effectively a cannon that shoots explosives at a designated area (usually the opposing team’s base).
The biggest change with PVP is the fact that the resource pool is shared amongst the team, however, the NPC units (Allays, the cute little flying dudes normally found in Villager Outposts in vanilla Minecraft) are not shared amongst the team. What this means is that if combat and planning aren’t your strong suit, you can still be a great help to your team by gathering loads of resources.
One thing that was interesting to hear is that Mojang learned from Minecraft Dungeons’ restricted cooperative play resulting from the game’s matchmaking system, or lack thereof. Minecraft Legends will have proper matchmaking so you can play this game at any point with people, regardless of whether those people were your friends or not. Private matches do still exist, but there are some restrictions depending on the platform you choose. For any previous generation consoles (PS4/Xbox One/Switch), the private matches you host can be a max of four players in a 2v2 format. For people using current generation systems (PS5/Xbox Series X|S/PC), the matches you host will have a limit of eight players in a 4v4 format.
If you ask any Minecraft fan there’s an extremely high chance they know the Iron and Snow golems, mobs found within vanilla Minecraft (also referred to as Minecraft Live) that can naturally spawn but can also be made by the player using a pumpkin and iron or snow blocks, respectively. The types of golems in the Minecraft world are expanded with Minecraft Legends as units like Plank and Cobblestone Golems now exist, though building these units works a little differently. There are also other mechanics from Minecraft that we are familiar with which appear to be translated into this action strategy game. The one thing that bummed me out to learn was that none of the rejected mob ideas from previous versions of Minecraft were implemented as mobs in Minecraft Legends, with Ries explaining that these mob ideas were considered at some point but never really made beyond consideration.
“We evaluated a lot of different mobs, but by the time we’d selected them, what rejected mobs were shown we didn’t really factor them into that. It wasn’t a primary decision but it is certainly something we should look at for future titles.” – Dennis Ries, Executive Producer at Mojang Studios
Mounts are a mode of travel that has been around in Minecraft since 2012 with the 1.2.4 update, though they weren’t really used until the 1.6.1 update known as the Horse Update, but I digress. The amount of available mounts in Minecraft is slightly expanded with Minecraft Legends, which adds new rideable beasts that offer a variety of benefits. One key mount that was shown off to us during this preview stream was the Regal Tiger, which is described as the “fastest thing on four paws.” So if you wanted a mount to be as fast as possible, this chonky, overgrown kitty cat has you sorted. I’m not sure how many other mounts there will be aside from the Horse and the Regal Tiger, but variety is the spice of life and I’m sure Mojang have plenty of steads for us to get our hands on.
The last thing to note is a mechanic called Lost Legends, which functions as a Monthly Challenge for Minecraft Legends. The only activity that Ries explained was a wave-based defence mode. This, alongside the campaign, can be played cooperatively. In terms of DLC, Ries didn’t directly say whether there was going to be paid DLC or not in the same capacity as there is in Minecraft Dungeons, but he did cite that the usual monetisation of smaller items would exist in Legends, as well as the possibility for creators to make content for purchase.
“We don’t have a lot to talk about that right now. I can say we plan to have things like the Lost Legends which is the Monthly Challenge, and then other things like skins and mounts available in the marketplace. Because we are built on Bedrock we can take advantage of the marketplace.” – Dennis Ries, Executive Producer at Mojang Studios
I went into this preview session a little tentative as I wasn’t quite sure what to make of Minecraft Legends. It was proposed as a very, very different take on not only Minecraft but the strategy genre as a whole. I’ve since come away incredibly keen on this title, which has only been compounded by my love for Minecraft and also the impressive amount of improvements that Mojang has made with Minecraft Dungeons, proving that this is a studio that cares about not only evolving the IP but also focusing on little details that will hopefully please Minecraft fans around the world.
