Minecraft Legends Review: Great Game For Friends and Family

After being a Minecraft fan for many years and it being my go-to relaxing game, I knew I’d have to try out Minecraft Legends. Before going into the game, I hadn’t done a ton of research on it since I wanted to go in a little blind, being able to experience it without knowing what would happen. What I did know was that it is a Minecraft spin-off, along the lines of Minecraft Dungeons, which I love playing with my friends. The sad thing is, Minecraft Legends isn’t exactly like Minecraft Dungeons in a lot of ways.

Game Name: Minecraft Legends
Platform(s): Xbox Series X/S (Reviewed), Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, PC
Publisher(s): Xbox Game Studios
Developer(s): Mojang Studios
Release Date: April 18th, 2023
Price: $39.99

Minecraft Dungeons seems to have many more different types of quests and enemies to defeat, and while Minecraft Legends also has the same sort of thing going on, a lot of the game feels a little repetitive. When first starting the game, you are met with some fun cutscenes which explain to you what is happening in this world and also introduce you to the characters you will hear voiceovers from throughout the game. Up first, villages are being attacked by mobs, some being little pig creatures that are cute – but you have to kill them.

The game does have a somewhat story mode that is labeled “Become a Legend.” Over the past weekend, I dived deeper into it and quickly saw many positives to the game as well as a couple of downfalls. While playing, it was related to just the story to take me where it was going. Once exiting the first few cut scenes, we are introduced to a Minecraft-looking world, and soon after, we’re told to go defend a nearby village. Opening up the map, I select the area to which I need to go and follow the yellow arrow. Upon arriving, you will see a normal village that is being attacked by mobs, and it is up to you to defend it.

During the tutorial, you learn how to spawn mobs that will fight alongside you, so that is immediately what you do. I tended to get a grab of six or so…but once I got as many as I could, it was like a huge army. After you’ve spawned them, you can ride around the village on your horse to fight the Piglins, and your mobs will fight them off too. It is quite a cute scene…other than all the Piglins falling down in defeat around you.

A lot like the original Minecraft, you are able to build things as you go, as long as you keep the materials you need. Some of the basic materials used are wood and stone, which you learn how to collect in the tutorial as well. As long as you keep those on you, it will make getting around the land a lot easier as you can build stairs and other objects to get around mountains or rivers. For me, I felt that was a unique way to make it have similarities to Minecraft while also being a spin-off game. It is hard to remember to collect materials – or at least for me, I kept forgetting.

Playing the game, I genuinely enjoyed looking around the world and spotting different animals and mobs. For example, there were many turtles and cheetahs running around, which made me stop and watch them. Some point items can also cause you damage, or jumping off a high place can hurt you or kill the mobs that you spawned. After learning all the controls in the tutorial and playing for many hours, the gameplay is super smooth, and I haven’t discovered any glitches or mishaps. The only thing I wish that was different about the game as a whole is that we’d have something more to work for. Yes, we get to become a Legend and protect villages, but doing so can be repetitive. But, it should be taken into consideration that it is a very similar game to Minecraft Dungeons, which I love, but in some ways, it can also be repetitive as well.

The soundtrack in the game was another very relaxing element which I ended up jamming out to a few times as playing. The voice overs were something I thought was a nice touch as well. We didn’t have to sit through cut scenes but we could see the tiny character in the upper corner and hear their voice over explaining things or telling us where to go. It was a nice touch that helped me keep up with what was going on.

I recommend Minecraft Legends, not only for the die-hard Minecraft fans but for fans wanting to try a new game that is simple, cozy feeling, and fun. Multiplayer is also an option for those that want to play with their friends and family. There are also some limited customization options between picking which hero to use and which mount you want to go with, as well as some items that are available in the in-game store, just like other Minecraft games. Overall, I have really enjoyed this game and plan to continue playing it with my friends as they progress throughout their journey in the Minecraft Legends world as well.

Review Disclosure Statement: Minecraft Legends was provided to us by Mojang Studios for review purposes. For more information on how we review video games and other media/technology, please review our Review Guideline/Scoring Policy for more info.