A Puzzling Proliferation or a Miniature Meltdown?
The original Legends Aligned didn’t make a great impression with its organisation-based puzzling, coming across as a one-trick pony that’s only really good for reaping the Gamerscore. Developers Afil Games are ready to give it another shot though, with Legends Aligned: Minis in Conflict arriving to deliver more complicated puzzles and mean rivalries in order to spice things up.
Will Legends Aligned: Minis in Conflict be a puzzle game of legend that’s talked highly about, or is it going to carry on its rather disappointing legacy?
Organising Chaos
Focusing on the core concept of Legends Aligned: Minis in Conflict first, and it’s all about filling up what’s apparently a magical box. You’ll have to organise a selection of RPG-inspired miniatures, ensuring that whatever is at hand will fit neatly inside the box. The box is made up of a tiled grid, while the miniature characters are different lengths, widths, and shapes. It’s simply a case of picking up the miniatures, rotating them in 90-degree increments if necessary, and placing them in the ideal position.
Faction Feuds
Early on, you might have only a couple of humans and dwarves to sort out, or a few goblins to arrange into the spaces available. It doesn’t take a brainiac to overcome such simple problems, but then it throws a curveball at you on the fifth that changes everything – fighting miniatures. That’s right, depending upon which faction they belong to ultimately determines the kind of folks they can be adjacent to. Not that you’re informed of that, you just have to be intuitive about what’s going on.
There are three unnamed factions. The first group appears to consist of humans, elves, dwarves and the like, while the second group is comprised of centaurs, goblins, minotaurs, and such. These are the main rivals and therefore must remain apart at all times during the sorting out process.
To aid in doing so, a third group acts as a neutral party, which features a rock-like beast and something reminiscent of a griffin. Genuinely, it’s hard to tell exactly what the creatures are due to the pixel art being a tad below par.
Hints and Gamerscore
The idea does add a crucial layer of strategy to the placement, increasing the difficulty quite dramatically. That’s great for those who appreciate a solid challenge to tackle, but what about those unable to devise a plan to succeed? Well, a handy hint system is present to allow you to request one correct position for a miniature, with a short cooldown for future usage. Essentially, you can use hints to solve the entire level if you wish; it’s totally up to you. This ensures that everyone is able to complete Legends Aligned: Minis in Conflict and acquire a nifty 2000 Gamerscore for their efforts, or lack thereof.
Given how there are only 30 levels in total, which is less than the amount found in its predecessor, it won’t take long for you to whizz through the lot. And while the conflict aspect is a nice touch, nothing worthwhile is introduced beyond that to keep you hooked. The new characters that turn up aren’t exactly great to look at and the shapes aren’t going to conjure up excitement.
Seeing bigger boxes, with slightly different space available within them isn’t enough to add freshness to a concept that swiftly becomes stale.
A Conflict of Interest for Puzzle Fans
On the whole, Legends Aligned: Minis in Conflict brings warring factions to the table for a tricky organising puzzler, albeit at a cost. Not a literal cost, because it’s actually quite cheap, however Afil Games rely on the same mechanic too much, leading to tedium, and have even cut back on the number of levels compared to the original Legends Aligned. The challenge that the conflict idea poses is appreciated though, with a hint system complementing it for anyone that feels it is too tough.
Still, unless you’re on the hunt for easy Gamerscore, I can’t find enough reasons to recommend Legends Aligned: Minis in Conflict as a puzzler worth grabbing.
Important Links
Can You Broker Peace (in a Box)? Legends Aligned: Minis in Conflict Launches with New Twists – https://www.thexboxhub.com/can-you-broker-peace-in-a-box-legends-aligned-minis-in-conflict-launches-with-new-twists/
Buy Legends Aligned: Minis in Conflict, Optimised for Series X|S – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/legends-aligned-minis-in-conflict/9P91F0M2CM3D/0010
Get an Xbox One Edition – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/legends-aligned-minis-in-conflict-xbox-one/9P6HDFDP7Z8G/0010
Or enjoy the Xbox Bundle – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/legends-aligned-minis-in-conflict-xbox-bundle/9PD5N07TXJ44/0010
Go big with the Xbox and PC Bundle – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/legends-aligned-minis-in-conflict-xbox-windows-bundle/9NBKLPZMHJJ3/0010
