LEGO Horizon Adventures is now less than a month away, and thanks to Playstation Australia, Jess (and a friend!) got to experience the first hour or so of the game that shows Aloy in her most adorable form yet! Here’s what she learned about what’s in store.
Aloy is truly adorable
In the main Horizon series, protagonist Aloy is a little rough around the edges. After two games and a handful of DLC spent trying to save the world, she’s lost some of that optimism that she started off with as a young outcast. But here? She is all enthusiasm, and it seems to have made her into her most relatable version yet. Every new experience – good or bad – has her bouncing and cheering, and a transformation into minifigure form has done nothing to dull her personality. If anything, it’s only enhanced it. And of course, Aloy isn’t the only one – early series favourites like Rost and Varl seem to thrive under the LEGO treatment, bringing caricatured and bombastic versions of their characters out to play. They’re over the top, and maybe a little cheesy – but that’s what the LEGO games are all about.
LEGO brings a new dawn to the series
It isn’t just that Aloy is even cuter than before, or that her character is more optimistic – the whole story seems to have gotten a little brighter in this iteration. Clearly aimed at a younger audience, the first few levels suggested a narrative that’s much simpler and (so far) frankly less depressing than what we’re used to getting from the main series. Though in this iteration Aloy is still an outcast, seeking answers around who her mother is and where she came from, there are some notable changes to her origin. Instead of trying to integrate with the Nora through The Proving, she enters their orbit simply as a hero trying to save them from a surprise attack by cultists (not that she quite knows what those are). Following the attack, she needs to help the Nora tribe rebuild the ruins of their city while also rescuing some of their members and recruiting them to fight alongside her. Each one comes with their own unique talents, and though I only got to mess around with Aloy, Rost and Varl in the demo, I’m sure the roster of characters is filled with favourites that’ll bring something new to the table.
Building the city is a very literal task
Once Aloy begins to build a relationship to the Nora tribe, she is given the opportunity to help them rebuild the village of Mother’s Heart one building at a time. Rather than immediately joining your roster of playable characters, many of the Nora tribe members you rescue will instead rebuild their business in the town, allowing you to do things like customising Aloy’s appearance and outfit, or even to decide on the layout of the town itself. You can theme your village to different seasons or tribes if you want to stick within the Horizon universe, but the options available also extend beyond just the Horizon IP. I saw aesthetics based on LEGO City, Ninjago, and a few other LEGO favourites – and I suspect that was only the beginning. Character customisation gets the same treatment, meaning Aloy and her buddies can end up looking nothing like themselves in the best way possible – but I will say that as cool as she looked, trying to play Aloy with blue hair instead of her trademark red locks messed with my head more than a little bit. Sometimes, you just don’t need to mess with perfection.
Combat is very much a Focus
A big part of the world of Horizon is Aloy’s rage against the machines, and there’s plenty of that to be found in LEGO Horizon Adventures. Characters are all equipped with the trademark focus that allows them to view the weakpoints on a machine’s armour, and these can be used to your advantage when taking them down. You can also use objects in the environment, like explosive barrels, or long grass to attempt to stealth your way through encounters – but that stealth never lasts long, given one hit on an enemy will alert them to your position and force you into chaos. If it all becomes a little much, the game does offer five difficulty levels to customise the experience for all ages and skill levels – something which hasn’t typically featured in many LEGO games of the past, but which means you and your co-op buddy, no matter who that may be, can find the sweet spot of challenge.
I also want to note that even though you can’t stealth through combat for very long, while you’re in the long grass your character does become moving grass, which for some reason is one of the funniest takes on stealth I’ve seen in a while.
Adventuring is better with a buddy
All LEGO games are better when played in co-op – and this one is no exception. There’s plenty throughout the world to keep you and a friend busy, and for the most part, bringing someone else in on the action won’t lead to you missing out. When you unlock power-ups like rocket boots or explosive hot dog stands (it’s a thing), you’ll usually both get to use them, and even when you don’t, it isn’t long before you’ll find something else to make up for it. Aloy may be the protagonist, (and there is a tiny bit at the beginning where you need to play in single mode during the tutorial) but whoever is playing the supporting character won’t feel like an underpowered player two.
These are some beautiful bricks
Everything in LEGO Horizon Adventures is made out of lovingly animated LEGO bricks, meaning that any screenshot you take of the game could theoretically be recreated in real LEGO bricks by anyone who had the time – which is extremely impressive. But what’s also amazing is just how good these LEGO bricks can look. From the sweeping vistas to the dilapidated and decrepit buildings, everything is graphically gorgeous. It also seems like the devs know this, and maybe that’s why less of the environment is destructible than it often is in LEGO games – it allows you to enjoy what they’ve built without getting distracted tearing it all to pieces. (But there’s still plenty to tear to pieces – don’t worry).
LEGO Horizon Adventures launches on Playstation 5 and PC on November 14th, and on Nintendo Switch on November 15th.
