LEGO games have been a dime a dozen over the past decade or so, with most of them being licensed action-adventures based on a famous movie or comic book franchise, such as The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Marvel , or DC. Don’t get me wrong – I really liked most of those games, but those weren’t exactly titles that took advantage of what’s really fun about LEGO itself: building stuff, letting your imagination go rampant. LEGO Builder’s Journey was the first showcase of the franchise’s potential outside of simply making family-friendly collectathons, and LEGO Bricktales, now available in VR form after having been previously available on consoles, takes it even further, being one of the best usages of the LEGO brand in a video game since… ever.

LEGO Bricktales is, in essence, a puzzle-adventure hybrid, comprised of two distinct parts. The adventure bit has you control a small LEGO minifigure around diorama-like levels, exploring the environment, unearthing secrets, and talking to NPCs. It’s not unlike the gameplay seen in Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, given the layout of each level and the fact you cannot jump in order to bypass any obstacles. In this case, virtual reality is used to simply enhance the feeling that you’re looking at a LEGO diorama right in front of you. You can even use the Quest 2’s motion capabilities to spin the diorama around, as a substitute to traditional stick-based camera controls. It’s basic, but also a really smart usage of VR technology.

The second part is comprised of puzzle-solving, and this is where LEGO Bricktales shines the absolute brightest. Let me give you an example of a puzzle you may encounter. Say you are exploring a ravine, and you need to figure out a way to cross to the other side. The game then tells you to build a bridge. It doesn’t give you instructions on how to do so. It only gives you the pieces, an objective, and some winning conditions. It’s up to you to figure out how to make the damn thing fit into the allocated space without breaking in the process.

What’s neat about it is that the puzzles are physics-based, so, for instance, the bridge you need to build needs to be able to withstand weight and gravity. There is a little robot which will basically “test” your creation once you’re done, in order to check if it’s actually able to pass through the bridge without it breaking. In another example, it will test if your gyrocopter is able to take off and land, or if your cable car works properly.

You build these puzzles with the Quest’s controller’s motion capabilities. In essence, you are playing a VR rendition of a LEGO building simulator, and I cannot stress how cool that was. Picking up pieces and inserting/removing them from your creation was incredibly simple and intuitive. The laid-back nature of the game (no timer, no punishment) allowed me to take my time with my creations in order to ensure they all worked as intended.

This was one of the first instances of me letting the Quest 2’s battery dry up completely whilst playing a game; I was 100% immersed into the experience to a shocking degree. The game’s presentation and static environments meant there was zero motion sickness to be felt. I was playing it whilst seated on my bed, completely comfortable and not paying attention at all to my surroundings. I was, once again, a kid playing with LEGOs without a care in the world (well, who am I kidding, I still love building those damn things in real life to this day, being only hindered nowadays by their prohibitive prices).

In fact, I did struggle a bit to find issues in LEGO Bricktales. The only real issue I’ve had with it (and let me preface it was a stretch) was the fact its sound design just wasn’t very good. Granted, I wasn’t exactly expecting a lot from the soundtrack and sound effects, and I guess I my prediction was correct. It wasn’t terrible, but it was downright unmemorable. I guess I grew up used to playing LEGO games with silly voice acting or catchy music. Whenever a game then decided to go full ambient on me, I would then feel a bit disappointed.

The other issue, and that’s actually something that might even be considered a positive from a certain point of view, was the fact that the game ended a bit too quickly. LEGO Bricktales was so much fun I just wanted more of it. Can we get more content in the future, be in the shape of even more updates or a sequel? Those fellas nailed the gameplay loop to such an extent I was just craving for more and more by the end of it.

To say that LEGO Bricktales impressed me is an understatement. The idea of playing with LEGO bricks in a VR environment was already great in my head, but I was completely taken over by how ClockStone Studio managed to mix diorama-like adventure segments with building puzzles in such a natural and addictive manner. I can’t even believe this wasn’t developed first and foremost with VR in mind; the transition was absolutely perfect. Even though it’s obviously not as fun as building LEGO things in real life (though obviously a LOT cheaper), it was still an outstanding VR port of an underrated gem.

 

Graphics: 9.0 Even though the Quest 2’s hardware is showing signs of aging, LEGO Bricktales still looks pretty great, with excellent usage of colors and lighting/shadow effects.	Gameplay: 9.5 It perfectly uses virtual reality to make each diorama feel like an actually built LEGO creation. Exploration controls are simple, but the real star of the show is using motion controls to handle LEGO bricks with ease.
Sound: 6.5 I wasn’t exactly expecting a lot from the soundtrack and sound effects, and I guess I my prediction was correct. It’s not bad, but not as vivid as the rest of the game.	Fun Factor: 9.0 A fantastic mixture between a diorama-like adventure game, a puzzler and a building simulator. Even though it’s obviously not as fun as building LEGO things in real life, it was still an outstanding VR port of an underrated gem.
Final Verdict: 9.0

LEGO Bricktales is available now on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC, Nintendo Switch, Quest 2, and Quest 3.

Reviewed on Quest 2.

A copy of LEGO Bricktales was provided by the publisher.