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2023 is both an exciting and gently terrifying year for video games.
The latest expansion to the Minecraft universe represents a lot of firsts for the franchise and for Mojang Studios.
Minecraft Legends' simple, beautiful visuals disguise its absurdly deep mechanics.
It’s an exciting blend of gameplay mechanics from multiple genres, garnering plenty of interest from gamers.
Disclaimer:This preview was made possible following a hands-on preview session hosted by Xbox Game Studios.
Xbox provided travel to and from and accommodation during the preview event.
Minecraft Legends' simple, beautiful visuals disguise its absurdly deep mechanics.
The company did not see the contents of the preview before publishing.
You’re not just controlling the world of Minecraft Legends, you’re a part of it.
You’re not just commanding units into battle; you’re a part of every battle.
Recruit friendly mobs from the forests while you collect resources.
The latter places you in the action, and the former gives you command over the strategy.
Still, Minecraft Legends goes a step further by incorporating movement and combat controls into that formula.
Minecraft Legends is not a simple game, but its controls still manage to feel natural and smooth.
The hub of Minecraft Legends' world, and where you’ll unlock your potential for greatness.
This complication is necessary because Minecraft Legends is not a simple game.
Still, I was immediately shocked by just how far the game goes.
Building alone is brimming with countless options, providing players with a limitless array of potential strategies.
The Piglins are no laughing matter, with overwhelming numbers and shockingly powerful abilities at their disposal.
Minecraft Legends feels amazing to play, for players of all skill levels.
In my hands-on, I genuinely barely scratched the surface here.
Minecraft Legends has everything I wanted to see from a story-driven Minecraft game.
Every multiplayer match is guaranteed to be different, both because of the world and because of the countless available strategies.
This… is the real deal.
All of this, and I only played the first hour, or opening chapter, of Minecraft Legends.
Each team is given a stronghold to defend.
Piglins are still a threat during multiplayer matches, but they also hoard resources necessary to your survival.
The goal: Destroy the other team’s stronghold to win.
Mojang Studios and Blackbird Interactive designed Minecraft Legends' competitive multiplayer to be chaotic and unpredictable.
Minecraft Legends' multiplayer embraces chaotic fun, and players are going to love it.
Riding into battle at the head of your army is the exact feeling many strategy games are missing.
I get the feeling a lot of players are going to love it.
Mojang Studios told me that these are essentially tailored challenges and scenarios, similar to other popular strategy games.
Minecraft Legends is going toe-to-toe with all the biggest titles as one of the best games of 2023.
Do not sleep on Minecraft Legends — This could be one of 2023’s most surprising (and awesome) games.
Minecraft Legends is special, and it should be on more players' radars.
Admittedly, claiming that “no one is talking about” Minecraft Legends is a bit disingenuous.
This is one to keep your eye on.
It’ll also be available through Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, and Xbox Cloud Gaming.
Minecraft Legends will also support full cross-play between every platform at launch.
Coming April 18, Minecraft Legends is available to preorder now.
When Minecraft Legends arrives, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will be the best way to play it.
