Analysis of Minecraft Legends – Strategy squared that shines in its competitive section

Minecraft made history a long time ago, becoming an indisputable success that is easily evident when talking to people outside the sector, who know the brand for one reason or another. In many cases this is due to the real fever that it caused among adolescents, sponsored almost entirely by the interest in the work among the most popular streamers. An absolute triumph, not only for having brought together millions of players around the world, but also because it has served to break stigmas and prejudices about the importance of the technical section in a video game. That the damn graphics, the resolution and the frames per second are not everything, and that an aesthetically rather ugly game is going to be studied and valued for many years due to the phenomenon caused, show that there are much more decisive values.

Obviously, a property that already arouses interest just by mentioning it is perfect to exploit it as much as possible. Derivative products are already increasing a very broad spectrum, and it will continue to grow for many years, with new video games that do not necessarily have to follow the line of the original, but can explore other forms or genres. This is how they have already been published spin offs like Minecraft Dungeons, and so now comes Minecraft Legends, which is the one that concerns us. With it, the universe of cubes is now moving to real-time strategy, through a proposal that has many virtues and that also achieves something quite important: maintaining the essence that has exalted the license from the first minute.

It’s going to sound like a cliché, but from a more general perspective, Minecraft Legends achieves its main objective and, this is where the phrase, as hackneyed as it is accurate, comes in: it is a perfect gateway for the youngest to become interested in the genre of RTS. It offers the perfect tools to take the first steps in a simple and understandable way for everyone (adjustable to various levels of difficulty) and, as we progress, everything becomes more complex, in a process that is intuitive and rewarding. In fact, the adventure stands on two legs; The first, which is probably not the main one, is its campaign mode which, broadly speaking, we can define as a huge and fun tutorial of about fifteen or twenty hours where we can explore and experiment around its world in order to make a jump with guarantees to the competitive aspect, the main attraction of the product and which we will talk about in more detail later.

The main adventure has a rather simplistic staging, but with enough to make us feel like the center of attention. We are chosen by Clairvoyance, Action and Knowledge who must save the upper world from the threat of the piglins, creatures that sow chaos by destroying everything in their path. That, in a universe that is going to build, is not acceptable, so we have to get down to work to avoid it. But we won’t be able to do it alone, so, taking advantage of our position as heroes, we have to form an army to help us with the task. For that we have two essential objects: the lute and a banner. The first of them is used to summon golems, creepers, zombies and other creatures typical of the Minecraft universe to help us in each fight, without forgetting that we must also constantly rely on our helpers, who will be the ones who get their hands dirty and help us. Help collect the valuable resources found in the procedurally generated scenarios, such as wood, iron, etc. This methodology of obtaining resources is very comfortable and is one of the differential points of the game; Although it may be difficult at first if we are used to hitting all the elements on the stage with our pick and shovel, here we don’t even have to get off the saddle, using our position of superiority.

That’s where the other mentioned tool, the banner, comes into play. As if it were a medieval action movie, this object helps us to guide our troops towards our mission. Among the creatures that we can summon there are several types, and we will get more as we advance and free dens in which they are oppressed by the damn piglins. That is where the tactical component comes in based on what we want to do; If we want to destroy the rival fortifications, the stone golems are expert destroyers, while if we opt for a direct confrontation there are others that have more melee or even distance offensive power. We can deliver a sword blow on the back of our horse, but we don’t need to get our hands dirty as much as to be the thinking heads of a direct strategy in massive battles, where there is always an objective to achieve. And as said at the beginning, this is Minecraft and its essence is maintained, with which you also have to build. Helpers, in addition to collecting resources, are also there to build. Much of the game scenarios have different heights and that will make it inaccessible to our troops, so we must build ramps that allow us to reach the main objective. It may seem that with a concept like the strategic one and with the different role that we take on, construction is not so important, but it is not like that at all and it is vital to be able to successfully complete each mission.

There are many good things, but he also gives the impression of being quite constrained by his proposal. Basically, the development is like a long game of Risk, in which we have to destroy the outposts and piglin fortifications. They are not going to sit idly by and attack our settlements or villages when night falls; the management of this is somewhat dense and generates a feeling of being designed to lengthen the trip perhaps more than necessary, especially since the functions to be performed are quite repetitive. Beyond how rewarding it is to obtain new resources to be able to build new, increasingly powerful objects, the truth is that there are practically only two types of missions: those to attack enemy fortresses and those to resist the rival siege, building walls and turrets for allied villages to keep the peace. It’s funny the first two or three times, but then it falls flat.

But, without a doubt, the main attraction of Minecraft Legends is found in its cooperative and competitive facet. The campaign has a collaborative section for up to four players, but what is really interesting is the PvP, in which two teams of four players face off in a duel, with everything they have learned, and with the same objective: to destroy the rival base. The plus comes with the point that the piglins will also be around bothering and that the scenarios are also procedurally generated, so no two games will be the same, taking advantage of the different biomes that we also see in the main campaign. These combats compile everything that has been told so far, first having to obtain resources on the stage to be able to launch powerful offensives, without neglecting that we will also have to fortify our base against rivals that are now not an AI, but humans who also have the ability to improvise and that the games, lasting about twenty or twenty-five minutes, do not have a breather and we are not sure who is going to take it until the last seconds.

With all this, an adventure is presented whose success will be determined based on the interest that this bet arouses among the community. In the roadmap we will find various “legends” and “monthly challenges” that will extend the proposal by offering rewards with different ways to explore and maintain interest over time, a fact that is not easy. Minecraft Legends is the same, but different. It shines, although it does not dazzle. In the end, it is a work that reflects the versatility of the brand, moldable to different genres without losing that which has characterized it along the way.