Highlights

  • LEGO Horizon Adventures echoes classic LEGO games with co-op exploration and character customization.
  • The game may emphasize platforming mechanics seen in older LEGO games, offering a nostalgic yet revamped experience for players.
  • Horizon's platforming abilities like gliding and grappling could enhance the platforming aspect in LEGO Horizon Adventures.

LEGO Horizon Adventures is continuing the brand's trend of experimental titles, with its limited exclusivity being a fairly new move for the company. However, many aspects of LEGO Horizon Adventures echo the LEGO games of old,

The LEGO adaptation of Horizon will hit shelves later this year and, if its trailer is anything to go by, the title will call back to TT's exclusivity era of LEGO games. Not only is LEGO Horizon an adaptation of an existing IP, the gameplay demonstrated is pretty classic. Co-op exploration through levels filled with foes and treasure, all with a goofy tone to boot, is very close in theme to a LEGO Star Wars or LEGO Batman. Promotional material for the game even shows how it's brought back some of the character customization missing from Skywalker Saga.

Predicting LEGO Horizon Adventures' Release Date
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Predicting LEGO Horizon Adventures' Release Date

LEGO Horizon Adventures was officially unveiled at Summer Game Fest and will release sometime in Holiday 2024, unlike previous Horizon games.

LEGO Horizon Adventures Could Bring Back Platforming In A Big Way

One aspect of LEGO Horizon Adventures' trailer that is especially reminiscent of older LEGO games is the platforming. Not much is shown off, but the gameplay footage available readily demonstrates the mechanic. This is in contrast to modern LEGO titles like LEGO Fortnite and LEGO 2K Drive, both of which have moved away from the platforming focus that TT's games held so dear. Traveler's Tales' LEGO games are very much in the vein of 3D collectathon platformers, even if said platforming was very simple. In this experimental era, LEGO has a chance to build on this system with some Horizon-themed mechanics.

TT's LEGO Games Were Always Platformers

From the original LEGO Star Wars in 2005 to 2022's The Skywalker Saga, TT's era of exclusive domain over the LEGO brand always erred towards platformer play. Almost all TT LEGO games follow the same basic level formula, one where players have to progress via either platforming or puzzle-solving. While both elements were conceived in simple fashion to match a young audience, there's no denying that they were incredibly effective in their presentation—turning LEGO's digital inventory into a household name.

However, that simplicity came at a cost; the melting pot of mechanics in LEGO games led to only a few really standing out. Therefore, platforming has always been incredibly simple, to the point of mechanical limitation. While some characters have always been able to double-jump or glide, the basic jump in LEGO games has always felt incredibly rudimentary. A good example of this would be the platforming segments in LEGO Star Wars 3: The Clone Wars. The Malevolence platforming sections in this game are incredibly frustrating thanks to that restrained jump. It's no wonder that such mechanics have been so easily ditched in games like LEGO Fortnite.

LEGO Horizon Adventures Should Bring Platforming Back In A Big Way

LEGO Horizon Adventures can do a lot for the brand here; its Horizon coat-of-paint already pitches it towards a slightly older audience, as does the drier humor in the reveal trailer (comedy more in the vein of The LEGO Movie series of films than TT's games), so more advanced platforming would fit. Moreover, it's been two years since Skywalker Saga which, though not really a long time, is a good while in the timespan of LEGO games, especially under TT's tenure. It would be great, then, to see some new tricks after such a duration in the wings.

Though Horizon itself isn't known for its platforming (if anything, it's been an often derided aspect of the series), the franchise has abilities suited for LEGO platforming. Gliding, grappling, climbing, and diving are all in Aloy's toolkit—and are all staples of LEGO gameplay. Moreover, some refined platforming would set LEGO Horizon Adventures apart from the mainline games, justifying a video game adaptation of a video game series.