While rumors about LEGO Horizon Adventures had been circulating the week leading up to Summer Game Fest, we could never have imagined seeing the Nintendo Switch logo appear at the end of its hilarious reveal during the live show. PC, of course, but Aloy lit Nintendo? This made us wipe our eyes in amazement, because aside from the MLB: The Show series (which before 2021 was a successful exclusive for Sony’s own game boxes), this is the first time we’ve seen any of its biggest IPs making the leap to a rival console, albeit in a slightly more family 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 alarms in our Nintendo fan noggins, we survived the ordeal unscathed and came away with a positive outlook on this new Lego build. Although this author doesn’t personally have much experience with the Horizon games, we didn’t feel disconnected and are genuinely much more curious to delve into its world than before. So, that sounds like “mission accomplished,” right? It’s also worth mentioning that we got our hands on the PS5 version at this event, which had no issues running the game, but we’re extremely excited to see it running on Switch, hopefully soon.
We realize that the Horizon games tackle some pretty serious topics, but one thing that immediately became clear in our roughly 30-minute demo was how much this brick-built world is trying to have fun 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 while trying to survive in this post-apocalyptic, robotic world filled with raptors. But because this is a Lego game, fun is at the forefront of every moment. Aloy and her comrades are constantly making jokes at their expense and making tons of hilarious nods to their alternate world efforts that will land with those in the know. Surprisingly, these gags didn’t fall flat for us uneducated newbies either.
During our demo, we noticed most (if not all) of the dialogue had voice acting, and quite a few members of the original cast also reprise their roles. We’re told that Ashly Burch was specifically sought out to see if she would fit this new, original portrayal of Aloy and, from our perspective, she nails it. Her bubbly personality, coupled with her snappy delivery, fits us like a glove and we’re excited to see her back in a role as wacky 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 Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Lego Horizon Adventures, however, most closely resembles the original Lego Star Wars games on the GameCube. Played from a dynamic, top-down perspective, you’ll play through chapters in two-player co-op, online or offline, which you can drop in and out of. As you’d expect from a Lego game, there’s also a huge cast of characters and 100 silly costumes to dress them up in.
We ran through two of the game’s early levels which saw us bashing cultists and mechs in the face with Aloy’s Bow and Arrows and Varl’s Spear, even finding temporary fire buffs for said weapons here and there . We also had the chance to try out some pretty hilarious special weapons that you’ll find periodically throughout the game. In one case, we found a brick separator, which we expected would allow us to separate carefully our enemies brick by brick, but instead it swings shockingly like a dull baseball bat, unleashing a massive area-of-effect attack.
Remember that hot dog, Tim Robinson, who looks like a guy in the trailer? He actually makes an appearance in the game as a summonable Assist Trophy style character who temporarily shoots explosive bolts at your enemies. Between the humorous dialogue and wild, over-the-top combat, Lego Horizon appears to be a fun-focused game for families and kids who might be interested in getting their foot in the door of the Horizon world. Speaking of being kid-friendly, the difficulty caught us off guard at times, quickly eliminating our concerns that it would be too simplistic a walk in the park.
The world itself looks lush and has been meticulously designed with layers and layers of precise Lego bricks. It looks exactly like someone built a Horizon “stage” in real-life Lego form. It’s easy to find beauty in the desolation and decay of empty streets. Even a simple red light made of round red, yellow and green Lego studs made us smile. We can only hope that the development teams had fun recreating a scene or two from the game with real Lego.
While we were playing the demo, we were told that the Switch version of the game was being built in-house between Studio Gobo and Guerrilla Games, and that they were aiming for parity between the alternate console versions, aside from graphical differences. However, we wouldn’t be surprised if the PlayStation 5 version received PlayStation first-party character DLC or something like that. But who knows! God of War’s Kratos and Uncharted’s Nathan Drake are playable in Fortnite and they’ve also made the jump to the respective Switch version.
It’s probably a pipe dream to think about seeing a special Link or Zelda costume coming to the Switch version, but now that The Legend of Zelda has its own official Lego set, maybe it’s not such a crazy idea. It’s also pretty funny to think that PlayStation Studios has Nintendo Switch dev kits in their buildings. Honestly, though, we find this an exciting prospect and one that Guerrilla told us they’re internally excited about as well.
While Lego Horizon Adventures doesn’t appear to be doing anything new for the industry, it’s a curious project that we’re happy to see designed so carefully for longtime Horizon fans and newcomers alike. The 2024 holiday launch window gives us plenty of time to catch up with 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 dedicate our time to it when it comes. will be coming to Switch later this year.
Are you ready to build a base with Aloy on Switch? Let us know in the comments below!