Despite releasing over a decade ago,Minecraftis still one of the most popular video games out there, with a wide audience on a vast array of consoles, mobile, and PC.Minecraft’s relaxing, cozy vibesare perfect for just about any mood, while its deep crafting and survival systems offer more complexity for those looking for it. This same level of accessibility and complexity hasn’t quite been present inMinecraft’s previous spinoffs, but hopefully the upcomingMinecraft Legendscan buck that trend.
Announced during theXbox and Bethesda Games Showcaseback in June,Minecraft Legendsis yet anotherMinecraftspinoff title, but this time the series is moving into the action-strategy genre. Combining the best elements of a third-person action game and a tower defense, the action-strategy genre sees the player both control their troops, while joining in on the action themselves. Hopefully, this genre shift is enough to giveMinecraft Legendsthe depth it needs to stand out.
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Minecraft Legends Needs More Gameplay Depth Than Minecraft Dungeons
One of the biggest critiques ofMinecraft Dungeons, the most recent spinoff in the series, was that it lacked depth. On the surface,Minecraft Dungeonswas just a simpleDiabloclone, using an isometric camera angle, and tasking players with hacking and slashing through a series of dungeons, defeating monsters and gaining loot along the way. Unfortunately, this surface layer was about all there was toMinecraft Dungeons.
Minecraft Dungeonswas extremely simple. The game’s controls boiled down to simple button inputs, and the enemy AI required little strategy to defeat. The co-op mechanic, while an excellent addition, wasn’t nearly as complex or well-thought-out as the game’s primary inspiration. The core hook ofa game likeDiabloandMinecraft Dungeons, the loot, also didn’t offer anything players hadn’t seen before, with weapons and items that are commonplace in the dungeon-looter genre. After a few hours, players had seen everything thatMinecraft Dungeonshad to offer, and there was little incentive to keep hacking away at the game.
Simply put,Minecraft Legendsneeds to do better. To truly stand out from the crowd,Minecraft Legendsneeds to implement some more complex game mechanics and systems, which theoretically should be pretty easy to do, as the action-strategy genre is inherently quite complex, and generally much more so than the hack-and-slash fare fround inMinecraft Dungeons. Players are tasked with managing their sprawling forces, including buildings and soldiers, all while also engaging in combat themselves at the same time.
This is already a great starting point forMinecraft Legends, and with a few mechanical additions, it should be easy to add more depth to this spinoff.Minecraft Legendsshould ensure that it offers players plenty of different playstyles, with a range of different building types and upgrades. The game should also include a range of skill trees, both for the player’s units and for the player themselves.Minecraft Legendsshould also make sure that there are plenty of different enemy types within the game, with each one requiring a different approach to defeat. Even the most simple approach to strategic combat, such asHalo Wars’rock-paper-scissors method, can add a lot of depth to a strategy’s game combat, with each enemy type being weak to a specific unit type. Though each of these systems is fairly simplistic, adding them altogether could make for an excellent, complex action-strategy title, and would help to makeMinecraft Legendsstand out from the crowd.
Minecraft Legendsreleases in 2023 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
