Minecraft Legends brings an adventure narrative and Pikmin-style strategy gameplay to its sprawling worlds

gamedeveloper.com:

Mojang Studios' Minecraft is an evolving and sprawling sandbox world made of voxels that thrive on player creativity and ingenuity. Whether that's with players losing themselves exploring an endless array of procedurally generated worlds or diving into the player creation tools to craft spaces of their own making, the franchise's nearly thirteen years of creativity still manages to impress even today.

After spin-offs into a narrative-based adventure game and a dungeon crawler, Minecraft Legends sees the series step into the genre of an open-world real-time strategy game for the first time, honing that sense of creativity into the role of a battle commander. As a large-scale adventure game that feels like equal parts Pikmin and The Legend of Zelda, it focuses on managing a squad to retake areas of the map from invading Nether monsters. Pulling upon some complex mechanics from established strategy games, it fits within Minecraft's iconic and instantly recognizable aesthetic and tone, making diving into its many worlds compelling.

After spending some hands-on time with Minecraft Legends and talking with principal design director Craig Leigh, I learned how this project came together and what it takes to make an effective spin-off for a game that continues to surprise its audience and evolve.

While Minecraft's core 'narrative' has primarily focused on the player experience, Minecraft Legends presents a plot and setting that rearranges the voxel aesthetic and familiar characters into the mold of an epic adventure story. Taking on the role of a new hero, you're tasked with saving the Overworld from a Piglin invasion, who come from the Nether and plot to take over with their dark magic. Armed with a sword, a trusty steed, and