During the 2022 Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase, Mojang announced a new project set in the Minecraft universe. Minecraft Legends will be an action-strategy game that has you “unite the overworld.”
The trailer opened with that typical gorgeous style that Mojang tends to use for all of their game trailers. It’s that blocky style similar to Minecraft proper, but with cleaner edges, smoother textures, and really great lighting effects.
You can sort of replicate this effect in Minecraft using the Plastic Texture Pack and some shaders, but Minecraft doesn’t look like this by default. Minecraft Dungeons kind of does, but it’s also locked into a Diablo-style fixed-camera view. So wouldn’t it be great if the next Minecraft game actually made use of this incredible art style?
Well, Minecraft Legends doesn’t. The trailer shows just a little bit of gameplay at the end, and there’s this weird cel-shaded look that makes the game feel instantly outdated.
This was an art style that was hugely popular in about the PS2/Xbox era and was refined into the PS3/Xbox 360 era, but here in 2022, it just feels old. And not in that nostalgic way that pixel-art games tend to evoke, but in a way that just feels tired.
To be fair, this is pre-alpha footage, and the visual style could change drastically between now and the game’s full release. But the direction the game’s art style is heading right now is abysmally ugly. It’s weird to say, because a lot of cel-shaded games from that period have actually aged really well — so Minecraft Legends isn’t even using the technology very well.
Look, Minecraft Legends has a lot of potential. By creating something independent of Minecraft and Minecraft Dungeons, there’s potential to dig deeper into the mysterious lore of this fascinating game universe. And it does look like there’s a lot going on here, with some building mechanics that were absent in Minecraft Dungeons.
So yeah, Minecraft Legends could be really fun to play. I just wish it didn’t hurt to look at, because the gameplay footage is currently ugly as sin. And we know the team at Mojang can do better — just look at the cinematics in this trailer.
Why can’t Minecraft Legends just look like this?
100% agree. I want to like this game but my eyes hurt every time I look at it.