Minecraft Legends review - a messy spinoff that misses the point of Minecraft

I like the piglins. They've got that anarchic goblin underdog vibe that makes me think that they'd be pretty cool if it wasn't for the mean big boss types making them invade the Overworld. It's a shame that they're Minecraft Legends' bad guys, because I'd have preferred to lead them in a revolution against their oppressive overlords. Instead, I'm stuck defending Minecraft's weird, flesh-toned Squidward villagers from their raids.

I chose to open with my thoughts on the game's porcine provocateurs because I was taught to always preface any criticism with a compliment and, to be perfectly honest, the piglins are by far the best thing about Minecraft Legends.

Minecraft Legends is, surprising precisely no-one, a spin-off from the ridiculously successful phallic object and computer building simulator Minecraft. You've been summoned by the Hosts Foresight, Knowledge and Action to defend the Overworld from the aforementioned piglin invasion. It's described as an "action-strategy" game and the best way I can describe it is like a rather rudimentary RTS game where the birds eye view and cursor has been replaced by a third-person view of a Minecraft character on a horse. You can swing your sword at things, which is where the action bit comes in, I suppose, but it's wildly ineffectual on anything other than the basic piglins, so there's not much point.

Read more