Still one of the most influential, popular, and successful video games out there, Minecraft is nothing short of a cultural phenomenon, and it has been since its beta release all the way back in 2011. Despite being over 10 years old, Minecraft is still one of the most played video games today, comfortably sitting right alongside modern juggernauts like Fortnite and Call of Duty. It only makes sense, then, that developer Mojang would want to capitalize on the Minecraft brand as much as humanly possible, and its range of spin-offs, like the upcoming Minecraft Legends, do just that.
Beginning with Telltale's Minecraft: Story Mode in 2015, Mojang has attempted several times to expand the Minecraft license beyond its standard building and survival gameplay mechanics. While Minecraft: Story Mode used Telltale's distinct, interactive drama gameplay, and Minecraft Dungeons was a Diablo-like dungeon crawler, Mojang's upcoming spin-off, Minecraft Legends, is choosing a new route altogether - one which isn't often seen in the modern video game landscape.
Minecraft Legends' Action-Strategy Gameplay
Adding another string to Mojang's bow, Minecraft Legends is once again bringing a new type of gameplay to the franchise. This time, the series is delving into the action-strategy genre, which is a bit of a rarity nowadays. While the strategy genre is still one of the biggest in the gaming industry, with titles like Age of Empires and Crusader Kings confirming their popularity, the action-strategy genre doesn't often make an appearance, probably because its mechanics are quite hard to nail down.
By blending two genres together, the action-strategy genre can offer some incredibly unique gameplay opportunities, but if a developer isn't quite skilled enough, then it can easily lead to a disappointing experience, where both types of gameplay feel half-baked. Double Fine's Brutal Legend is probably the most infamous example of this. While the game began with the player using simplistic hack-and-slash mechanics, a few hours in it introduced a plethora of strategy mechanics whereby the player had to command troops and place towers all while attacking enemies on the ground. This proved to be fairly divisive, but in the right hands, this gameplay can be a breath of fresh air.
Minecraft Legends looks like it's going to follow the staples of the genre pretty closely. Based on the few trailers released so far, it seems as though Minecraft Legends will have the player commanding armies of villagers against the opposing Piglin forces, all while participating in the large-scale battles themselves. It also seems as though players will be able to construct various buildings and towers that will likely aid the player's army in some form, whether that's supplying the player with more troops to command or an extra line of defense with a turret building.
While this type of gameplay is quite a departure from the mainline experience, there's some neat crossover in both Minecraft games' mechanics that help to cement Minecraft Legends as an authentic extension of the main game. For instance, being able to craft weapons, armors, and buildings is ripped straight from Minecraft proper, and while combat will probably feel quite different to the main game, the same weapons will be used against the same type of enemies fans have grown accustomed to over the years. Minecraft Legends has the potential to be one of the most unique games of next year so long as it balances out its action and strategy elements equally.
Minecraft Legends is set to release in 2023 for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.