Bricking It
Ah, a new Lego game. You know the drill. Licensed property, hold down a button near a pile of bricks, a whirlwind appears and voila! A new construction. Sound about right? Well, this time it’s different. Lego Bricktales takes the thing that’s so joyful about Lego and brings it into a video game. Yep, in this game, you get given a pile of bricks and you can make your own version of whatever it is that’s being asked of you to solve puzzles. A neat hook, for sure, but does the rest of the game hang from it, or does it buckle under the weight of expectation?
Lego Bricktales is, at its core, a puzzle game that links everything up with some beautiful Lego brick-built areas to explore, and a ton of collectibles spread across the entire game. As mentioned though, the difference between this and previous Lego games from TT, is that these puzzles are only solvable by actually building the solution yourself. The story is fairly straightforward, and it does crib slightly from Lego Dimensions in a way. Your minifig heads off to find their grandpa in a lab, and discover that he’s created a device that creates portals to five different biomes. These range from a jungle to a desert, a city, a tropical island and a medieval castle, and each of them look absolutely lovely! Thanks to your new robot pal Rusty (his real name’s too complicated to go into), you trot off collecting “Happiness Cubes” from each of the worlds, to power the machinery that will bring your grandpa’s old theme park back to its former glory.
OK, sure, it sounds a little bit twee, but this is a game that knows where it’s aiming. Aside from some genuinely funny satirical dialogue that’s pointed firmly at a more mature audience, the game is focused around a younger demographic. Areas between puzzles and builds are intricately created using nothing but Lego bricks, but in all honesty, they serve as not much more than a simple path. There is very little in the way of combat or advanced movement, with no jumping or punching, but there is an array of abilities that do add a layer of interest to them. From scanning areas in the environment for hidden secrets, to electrifying the immediate area to power up teleportation devices, there are hidden spots across each level that will require multiple trips to get everything.
Let’s get to the meat of things though. The building sections provide the most gameplay here, with plenty of them to enjoy. For the most part, you’re given a set area, with a predetermined set of bricks. From there, you get to design your own solution to the puzzle. Sometimes, there will be set parameters to adhere to, such as specific pieces needing to be in specific places, but on the whole you have free reign to design whatever you want. I have to say, creating a unique solution and seeing it appear in the world is incredibly satisfying, and makes me long for a Dimensions sequel with next-gen technology in place to allow for customised pieces. But, I digress, and this is a great middle ground!
Once you’ve finished the puzzle, you can go back into the builder in “Sandbox Mode”, letting you use an unlimited number of pieces to truly unleash your creativity! You start out with a basic set, but as you progress, you can unlock more themes and colours to really spice up some of your builds. Whether it’s adding a canopy to a bridge, or adding colour to a vehicle, you’re only limited by the cubic area you have to build in, the rest is up to you. It’s great fun, although the biggest criticism I have comes in to play here. With a controller, the building sections can be extremely tricky to get used to. Moving the elements into place can be a bit frustrating when you have a bunch of them in place already, and you’ll find yourself cursing as they jump all over the place, unable to be placed. This came to light in a particularly tricky puzzle which required me to create a fire escape, with some very fiddly pieces needing exact placement in a busy scene.
On the technical side, the game runs really well on the Series X. With the exception of one area which drops to an unusually low frame rate in some camera transitions, it’s a solid 60fps, and it looks stunning at times, resembling an actual Lego set due to everything being brick-built. However, it never feels expansive, as most of the areas are small, interconnected rooms with a slightly larger hub. It feels a little bit like a missed opportunity.
Even with the big criticism I have though, I am feeling myself continually drawn to Lego Bricktales. Whether it’s because I am NGB’s resident Lego Nerd, with the prospect of unlimited building in a game appeals, or if it’s the satisfaction of seeing a bridge that you’ve designed being plonked in the middle of a level. Either way, it’s had its hooks in me, and I’ve really enjoyed it.
https://youtu.be/aaiZqpJXP4E
