Blocks united will never be defeated 

In yet another attempt to recreate the Minecraft experience in the genre, Mojang Studios introduces us to their newest RTS, Minecraft Legends. Commanding troops, collecting resources, and destroying enemy bases, you will discover what it would be like to play a real-time strategy Minecraft. 

Developed by Mojang Studios in partnership with Blackbird Interactive and released by Xbox Games Studios, Minecraft Legends was released on April 18, 2023, for all major platforms. Gamepass included, of course. 



Stop the Piglins! 

The time has come to stop the invasion of the piglins! Hailing from the far reaches of the Nether to dominate the Overworld once and for all, the meanest little piggies in video games have arrived in Minecraft Legends. With organized armies and uncontrollable fury, they are terrorizing the villages. So it's up to you to put an end to this swine invasion. 

The narrative in Minecraft Legends is less explored than it could be, but sufficient for what it aims to be. With a narrative setup that puts us in the context of the story from a long but necessary tutorial, we are able to understand what is happening in the world and what our role in the plot is. 

With the help of the entities Action, Knowledge, and Foresight, we understand that only we, the heroes, can contain the threat of the piglins. But this time, alongside powerful allies, who will follow our orders whatever they may be. 



In addition to situating us in the world, the entities are responsible for guiding us through a tutorial that helps us understand the commands and the very gameplay of this new version of Minecraft. It is worth noting that the tutorial is very necessary because the commands require some attention to be executed in the correct way. It is not as if they are complex, but, like any good RTS, they are presented in a more numerous form than in other genres. Moreover, because it is a game of the Minecraft universe, I understand that the audience, usually younger, may have some difficulty in getting used to them intuitively. 

After the tutorial, the game inserts you into a very interesting RTS mode: 

Open-world strategy

In Minecraft Legends, as mentioned earlier, we will experience an action RTS. To put an end to the pygmy invasion, we will have the support of units and structures of combat and defense, such as goliaths and towers. They will help us destroy the various enemy bases scattered around the map, as well as protect our structures and the villages of the Overworld villagers. 

By taking the RTS to the open world, the game makes us explore, in real-time, several territories in search of resources, such as rocks, wood, and other materials known from the franchise. It is through our exploration that we also find mounts, items of interest, and, of course, the bases of the piglins. To confront them, we use the collected resources to create various types of combat units that can attack the piglins, destroy structures such as traps and gates, deal with traps in the scenery, and many more. 

The world, which is medium in size, features interesting and recognizable biomes, such as ice and fire areas, as well as little creatures living freely, and nature that sometimes helps or hinders our explorations, such as wheat, which makes us run faster when we pass them, or vines, which slow our movement speed.

The bread and butter of Minecraft Legends consist of us taking on these little piggies in their bases or protecting our own from their attacks. For defense, we have resources such as walls, archer towers, static weapons, and units that can also be used to protect our territories. 



It is worth noting that those little cubes of bacon are very determined indeed to invade the Overworld because their invasions are constant and very frantic. At times the game leaves you with very little room to breathe, so plan your actions in advance if you don't want to have your bases destroyed by a raging wave of cholesterol. 

However, in the first few hours of gameplay, I realized that the game would become repetitive, something that I confirmed as time went on. The loops of creating units, collecting materials, attacking, and defending gradually become tiresome, which made me stop my gaming sessions faster than usual. I feel that if nothing is done in the future, it will end up having a shorter life than it deserves because the game is pretty cool, but at the moment it doesn't have enough variety in content.

What Minecraft Legends offers us are three main game modes: campaign mode, which presents us with a linear and well-guided path through the principles of gameplay and the game's story, versus mode, which is a PVP version where players can face off against each other, and Lost Legends mode, which are versions that can be purchased by players to experience unique game modes. 

In Lost Legends mode, players will have access to a first game mode focused on survival. Players who survive 20 waves of enemies will receive a unique skin to rock with their friends. The deal is to get it, because, my friend... they are raging by a lot.

Overall, the gameplay of Minecraft Legends manages to offer a very pleasant experience at first, with interesting features and innovative gameplay for the most famous digital cube franchise on the market. 



It will always be satisfying to attack the piggies alongside your units, like a pixelated general with a duty to perform. However, the game has a tendency toward repetition that may empty it out faster than it should. I hope that Lost Legends mode, especially, can always keep the game breathing fresh air. 

Pretty little blocks, charming little blocks

In this edition, the colored cubes have been replaced by little gray balls.

Relax, relax, it's just a little joke from your favorite copywriter. 

Seriously now... The graphics in Minecraft Legends are very nice and not only remind us of the classic game but also recreate an updated experience, more modern and pleasing to the eye. 

Without losing the franchise's identity, Minecraft Legends places us in a more vivid world where, in the third person, we can observe our character and many more nuances of the Overworld. 



I noticed more saturated colors, with well-applied shaders that build an immersive atmosphere. In addition, I noticed that the camera also contributed well to the RTS proposal, because, unlike the static and isometric view of games of the genre, in Legends we have more control of the field of view. 

I felt that the game could be better optimized, especially in the cinematics. I noticed some stutterings that don't break immersion but are easily noticed during gameplay. But overall, I didn't notice any significant bugs or glitches.

The game has translation and localization for 26 languages and in Brazilian Portuguese, the language in which I played, I noticed a job very well-executed dubbing. The other sound effects are also nice and contribute to the overall experience.

For this review, Minecraft Legends was played on PC, via Xbox Gamepass.