LEGO Bricktales Review – Mysterious Bricks

This LEGO Bricktales review is about one of the latest additions to the extremely popular games that are developed and released as part of the LEGO lineup. The name is definitely meant to bring up a lot of past memories and send you back in time to when you used to take out that bag full of Lego bricks and play along with your friends all day long.

The game has many elements in common with previous LEGO titles, but it definitely has a lot new in store as well. It does a lot of different things, and our review is intended to highlight them to give you a better understanding of what the developers are going for here.

Story And Setting

The story revolves around the protagonist going on a quest to save his grandfather’s amusement park from the looming threat of being shut down by the mayor of the town. The old man is an inventor, who is always getting into trouble with the operation of the various inventions he has come up with. And this is further evident from his messing up of the power system right at the very beginning of the game itself.

And on the quest to reinvigorate your grandfather’s park, the player is accompanied by a cute little robot buddy named Rusty. He’s your constant companion throughout the game and is used to deliver helpful tips at every step of the journey. The narrative takes us through worlds full of different scenarios, from the deepest of jungles. to deserts full of sand dunes.

Other areas include a certain bustling city metropolitan corner, as well as one medieval castle, though calling it “medieval” would be doing an injustice to the word itself. Nevertheless, as long as we remind you that we are staying in the world of LEGOs, one could argue that it is still a good attempt at staying as authentic as possible in a universe that is basically made of bricks.

And in these locations, the player has to take on the role of the builder and has access to a few abilities, the most important of which would undoubtedly be the ability to build things out of LEGO bricks. Making use of said abilities and putting your skills to the test is what helps you get through the game.

The end goal of these adventures is to seek out a mysterious device crafted using alien technology, that is the key to saving your grandfather’s amusement park from the imminent threat of demise. The idea behind the mysterious device’s operation is that it requires a resource known as happiness crystals to operate, which can only be harvested by making various NPCs in the game happy. This can be accomplished through various means, but you would mostly be acquiring these shiny little crystals by solving problems that said characters have.

Gameplay

The gameplay is quite simple, as it should be for any game like this that primarily appeals to children. You join LEGO bricks together and then create structures with them, making sure that your creations are stable and physically sound. And that’s it, really, it’s that simple.

The game features quite a variety of construction tasks, from the simplest things like a market stand or music box, all the way up to instances where the player is supposed to build relatively much more complex structures like bridges or gyrocopters. Every scenario has a good range of construction spots, and every last one offers a considerable amount of freedom when it comes to the things that the player can build using pure intuition. The challenge however comes from the fact that the bricks at your disposal are always limited, so you have to accomplish your objectives by staying within the provided limit.

In addition to the various puzzles and problems that the player is set to face through the story, there are other builds that can be accessed from the amusement park. These can help in customizing the rides that the player has available for their use.

And although there is always for improvement in the gameplay, one could argue that the developers did a good job of designing the game’s core mechanics. A very good initiative by the developers in this regard would be the various hints and pointers that they have left every time a new mechanic is introduced with clear instructions on how to make use of how it relates to the current situation. The whole system is not exactly difficult to understand, but there is definitely a learning curve here.

Another important element of the game is the portal, which can be used for the purpose of traveling to different locations in the game’s universe. Grinding your way through the story, you are able to learn new skills, which will all be focused on working the LEGO bricks one way or the other. Many of the settings you’ll explore have some secrets and mysteries to offer as well, so be sure to look around and explore every little detail to uncover these.

Visuals And Performance

While the game takes inspiration from other LEGO titles in terms of visuals, it’s lacking in a lot of aspects. It nails the theme of the world and everything within it, including the living things, being made of bricks, but as far as the art style and graphics are concerned, it is somewhat lacking.

There is a noticeable lack of textures, the locations are just missing a lot of life and dynamism, and overall the whole game just feels really dead at times. I don’t want to trick you into thinking that nothing about the visuals is redeeming because there are moments when the game can look absolutely fantastic. But there are also a lot of times when it doesn’t as well.

I do however applaud the team for going all out with the diorama-like worlds and making them as aesthetically pleasing as they could within the confines of the game engine. And a special shout-out has to be given to the effects and animations which seem to have that same iconic LEGO flair that we have come to love from the other games and movies.

In terms of the performance, I don’t have anything particular to say about the game on PC. It ran pretty well on our GTX 1060, and we never really saw any performance dips below 60 FPS or crashes to speak of. But on the Nintendo Switch, the game flip-flops between 60 FPS, and moments where it can barely maintain a steady 30 FPS.

Verdict

LEGO Bricktales is a game that is a must-try for true LEGO fans, purely because of how creatively it uses its building mechanics and how many choices you have in solving puzzles. But for everyone else, it’s sort of a mixed bag.

The game is certainly charming in the way that LEGO titles usually are, with the unique little animations and worlds that are built entirely from bricks. But this is very clearly an experience with a smaller scope, and it simply doesn’t look as good.

It’s still an entertaining title, and I think both adults and kids will have a blast with it.

This has been our LEGO Bricktales Review. While you’re here, consider checking out some of our other articles.

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