While rumors about LEGO Horizon Adventures were swirling the week leading up to Summer Game Fest, we never could have imagined that we’d see the Nintendo Switch logo appear at the end of the hilarious reveal during the live show. PC for sure, but Aloy on Nintendo? This made us wipe our eyes in surprise as, aside from the MLB: The Show series (which was a successful exclusive for Sony’s own gaming boxes before 2021), this is the first time we’ve seen one of the biggest IPs make the leap to a rival console, albeit in a slightly more family-friendly form.
While Sony’s invitation to demo the new Horizon game in their basement booth at Summer Game Fest 2024 initially set off the fight or flight alarm in our Nintendo fan base, we survived the ordeal unscathed and walked away with a positive perspective on this new Lego build. While this writer personally doesn’t have much experience with the Horizon games, we didn’t feel out of line and are actually much more curious to dive into the world than before. So that sounds like “mission accomplished,” right? It’s also worth noting that we got our hands on the PS5 version at this event, which had no issues running the game, but we’re incredibly excited to see it run on Switch hopefully soon .
We’re aware that the Horizon games cover some pretty serious topics, but one thing that was immediately apparent in our roughly 30-minute demo was how much fun this brick-built world is trying to have with itself. The story follows the events of the first game, Horizon Zero Dawn, and sees Aloy embark on a quest to learn more about her origins as she tries to survive in this post-apocalyptic world infested by robotic birds of prey. But since this is a Lego game, fun is paramount at every turn. Aloy and her comrades constantly make jokes at their expense and make numerous hilarious nods to their efforts in the alternate world, which will end up among those in the know. These jokes surprisingly didn’t stand out to us uneducated newbies either.
During our demo, we noticed that most (if not all) of the dialogue is voice-acted, and quite a few members of the original cast reprise their roles as well. We were told that Ashly Burch was specifically sought out to see if she would fit into this quirky new portrayal of Aloy and, from our perspective, she’s definitely good at it. Her bubbly personality combined with her quick delivery fits like a glove and we’re excited to see her back in a role that’s just as crazy as her character from her original web series, Hey Ash, Whatcha Playin’?
PlayStation darlings Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West are both third-person action RPGs and are often compared to Nintendo’s own Zelda: Breath of the Wild. However, Lego Horizon Adventures is most reminiscent of the original Lego Star Wars games on GameCube. Played from a dynamic, top-down perspective, you jump through chapters with two-player co-op, online or offline, where you can drop in and out. As you’d expect from a Lego game, there’s also a large cast of characters and 100 crazy costumes to dress them up in.
We skipped through two of the game’s early levels, blasting cultists and mecha-dinos in the face with Aloy’s bow and arrow and Varl’s spear, and even found temporary fire buffs for said weapons here and there. We also had the chance to try out some pretty hilarious special weapons, which you’ll encounter frequently throughout the game. In one case, we found a Brick Separator, which we fully expected to be able to carefully pick apart our enemies brick by brick, but instead it swings jarringly like a blunt baseball bat, unleashing a massive area of effect.
Remember that hot dog, Tim Robinson, looking at the guy from the reveal trailer? He actually appears in the game as a summonable Assist Trophy-style character that temporarily throws explosive sparkles at your enemies. Between the humorous dialogue and the wild, over-the-top combat, Lego Horizon seems like a game aimed at fun for families and kids who might be interested in getting their foot in the door of the Horizon world. Speaking of kid-friendly, the difficulty has also caught us off guard at times, and quickly shaking off our concerns about it would be an overly simplistic walk in the park.
The world itself looks lush and has been carefully crafted with layers upon layers of precise Lego bricks. It looks exactly like someone built a Horizon stage in actual Lego form. It’s easy to find beauty in the desolation and decay of the empty streets. Even a simple traffic light consisting of round red, yellow and green Lego studs put a little smile on our faces. We can only hope that the development teams had fun recreating a few scenes from the game with real Lego.
While playing the demo, we were told that the Switch version of the game is being built in-house between Studio Gobo and Guerrilla Games, and that they’re aiming for parity between the alternate console versions, aside from graphical differences. However, we wouldn’t be surprised if the PlayStation 5 version receives a first-party character DLC for PlayStation or something similar. But who knows! Kratos of God of War and Nathan Drake from Uncharted are playable in Fortnite, and they’ve also made the jump to their respective Switch releases.
It’s probably a pipe dream to think of a special Link or Zelda costume coming to the Switch version, but now that The Legend of Zelda has its own official Lego set, it might not be such a crazy thought. It’s also quite funny to think that PlayStation studios have Nintendo Switch development kits on their premises. But honestly, we think it’s an exciting prospect and Guerrilla told us they’re excited about it internally as well.
While Lego Horizon Adventures doesn’t outwardly appear to do anything new for the industry, it’s a curious project that we’re glad is being crafted with such care for longtime Horizon fans and newcomers alike. The Holiday 2024 launch window gives us plenty of time to catch up on the original series on our non-Nintendo hardware, but even if we don’t find the opportunity, we’ll still be just as excited to give this our time as it will release on Switch later in the year.
Are you ready to build a foundation with Aloy on Switch? Let us know in the comments below!