Minecraft Legends, the upcoming action strategy adventure set in the Minecraft universe is going to be released soon, and recently Screen Rant was able to participate in an exclusive live stream presentation showing off what the game is. Dennis Ries, the Executive Producer at Mojang Studios, showed off some of the gameplay for the Story Campaign and PvP modes and gave a deeper look into this procedurally-generated world. Though Minecraft Legends is in the familiar cubic world of Minecraft, it has a very different feel and gameplay mechanics to provide players a unique experience in this action strategy game.
A once peaceful and happy Overworld where everyone got along in harmony has been invaded by piglins in Minecraft Legends. The mysterious Hosts have recruited the player to come and be their champion as they are the only one capable of saving the Overworld from this onslaught. The Hosts are the creators of the Overworld and though they cannot step in and save the day, they can guide the player throughout their journey and provide tools to allow the player to call upon the aid of golems as well as friendly mobs in the Overworld to come and fight as their army. Even monsters who typically would be enemies to the player, such as Creepers, can become useful allies in this fight to save the world when the player waves a flag to call them to their side in battle.
There are two main modes of play in Minecraft Legends. First is the narrative of the Campaign mode where the story is told of the piglin invasion, and it is the player's responsibility to strategize ways to lead armies and win the battles. This campaign can be played entirely single-player, or cooperatively in online multiplayer. The second mode is a competitive multiplayer PvP experience. Players split up into two teams of up to four players each and build defenses and try to take down each other's bases.
Despite Minecraft Legends being a very different type of game from standard Minecraft, collecting resources will still be an important part in order to build spawners for golems and build up defenses for villages or PvP. The golems are provided by the Hosts after spawners are built, and each kind of golem has a specialty. Some are good for ranged attacks while others are useful for destroying walls for instance.
In the PvP game, piglins are still present in the world. Defeating piglins gives the player Prismarine which is a resource needed to upgrade objects and defenses. According to Ries, PvP matches in Minecraft Legends typically will last around 20-40 minutes once players are somewhat experienced with the gameplay. The variety of jobs with gathering resources, building defenses, and attacking opponents offer several means of tactics for teams to utilize, and battles will evolve and grow through multiple games.
There is an in-game Marketplace where players can purchase additional skins for their characters and even cosmetics for their mounts. The Deluxe version of the game includes a Carrot Commander player skin as well as special looks for the horse, beetle, and bird mounts. It is unknown at this time if player-created mods can be designed for use in the game as well, but the Marketplace is said to have a large variety to choose from.
Minecraft Legends' price point and approach is designed to be something of a mythological legend of the Minecraft world rather than canon in the overall franchise. The story can evolve and change each time a player or groups of players choose to take it on, thanks to the procedurally generated nature of the environment. The game appears to be one that would be very fun for players of all ages, even if they are unfamiliar with the other games in the Minecraft franchise.
Source: Minecraft/YouTube
Minecraft Legends will be released on April 18, 2023, for PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Screen Rant was invited to attend an exclusive live-stream event of the game for the purposes of this preview.