About:
ESRB Rating: Everyone
Publisher: LEGO System
Release Date: June 22, 2021
Single Player
Nintendo || Steam
Story:
Builder’s Journey follows two LEGO characters, probably parent and child, throughout their lives. There are no words at all as you help these two overcome obstacles. It’s a surprisingly clear story despite the lack of text or even faces. It does take an unexpected turn, but that just made me even more invested.
Visuals:
Builder’s Journey is made up of 3D dioramas made up of realistic looking LEGO bricks. It amazed me how it really looked like I was playing with a LEGO set but on my computer.
There are some subtle visual effects, most notably the light cycle. It looks really nice as it looks like the time of day is changing. There’s also some fog around the edges, making it look like they’re hiking high up in the clouds. Some levels even have moving water or bubbling mud. The natural landscapes are traded in for a more industrial one later in the game, but these levels are similarly simple yet detailed, with even more interesting lighting. This game is a visual treat.
Sound Effects + Music:
The sound of LEGO bricks clicking together is so satisfying. I cannot explain why, but it is. It’s also very nostalgic.
The other sound effects are also nice. You can hear water rushing, mud bubbling, crickets chirping, machines beeping. It’s all very atmospheric. The sounds are well spaced, so they never get irritating, but appear often enough to keep the immersion.
I really liked the subtle background music in Builder’s Journey. It’s soft and soothing and suits the tone of the game perfectly. It’s mainly piano.
Gameplay + Controls:
In Builder’s Journey you simply use LEGO bricks to solve a puzzle. You’re presented with a diorama of some kind of landscape with two LEGO people separated by some type of obstacle (gap, cliff, etc.) You’ll get a few LEGO bricks which you must use to move one character to meet the other, or some other task. There are likely multiple solutions to each puzzle, since you can pick up and move bricks at anytime to reuse them on the journey.
I did find the controls in Builder’s Journey a little wonky. They’re not awful, but they weren’t exactly intuitive, and I found myself doing the wrong thing constantly. You pick up a LEGO brick by clicking, clicking again rotates it, and holding a click places it. For whatever reason, I wanted to hold to pick it up and move it around, which is not necessary. Then I wanted to click again to drop, but that rotates. It was just weird, but that’s probably a me problem, not a game problem.
Replayability:
I do think LEGO Builder’s Journey is very replayable. There is no set solution to any of the puzzles. You’re free to use the available LEGO bricks however you please, as long as you complete the task at hand. There’s also a Creative Mode where you can just build to your heart’s content.
Overall:
I wound up enjoying LEGO Builder’s Journey more than I thought I would when I first started. Sure, the controls continued to be annoying at times, but the variety in puzzles and changing environments kept the game feeling fresh and interesting.
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