Grid-Based Glory or Gamerscore Grind?
Open up the Xbox Store to scour the cheapest games available, and you’ll discover that the vast majority come from a select few publishers.
The likes of Ratalaika Games, Eastasiasoft, and Sometimes You have pretty much had the sub-£5 games section to themselves for many a year, with just the occasional slightly-more-premium product disrupting their own back catalogues.
But muscling in on that cheapo gaming arena in recent months has been that of Afil Games. And frankly, they’ve very much overtaken those familiar faces to lift the crown as the one sole publisher who is intent on providing cheap gaming experiences for a low cost. They do it by chucking in some of the easiest to gather achievements and Gamerscore to boot.
Cheap Thrills and Easy Achievements
It’s Afil who have been behind some Sokoban styled puzzlers (Sokorobot, Sokomonster, SokoCrab), and weird little tile games like Bee Flowers, with new games dropping on a weekly basis.
And now they have Legends Aligned; a game in which the sole purpose is to fill a grid with a multitude of items. It’s Resident Evil inventory management, down to a T.
The thing is, very much like all other Afil Games titles, you’ll leave this one after an hour or so of play, pretty much forgetting it even existed, with just the constant ping of an unlocked achievement ringing around inside your head. That may sound like the ultimate experience for many, and if you are intent on chasing leaderboards and racking up numbers, dive into this one without any hesitation. But some could well want a bit more for their money…
Legends Aligned’s Gameplay and Level Design
There are forty levels in Legends Aligned, each unlocked as a previous one is completed. But aside from the very first that introduces the mechanics at play, not a single one after that manages to add in anything new.
See, this is all about taking a number of icons, characters from a weird Dungeons & Dragons type world, RPG miniatures if you will, and fitting them into the gridded space provided. You’ve got pretty much everything you would consider from such a genre too – dwarves, goblins, centaurs, wizards, elves and more. Each is designed to run a different shape too; some long and thin, others short and stumpy, more still on angles and the like. Get all situated nicely, clicking into place on each board and you’ll discover the opportunity to move onto a new puzzle; perhaps slightly bigger in size, with more pieces to slot.
Picking up a piece and manoeuvring it to the board is a cinch, with north, south, east and west rotations available through the bumpers. Get the piece you want aligned, and decide on somewhere to drop it, and your job is a good un.
Rarely a Test
Of course, it’s not quite as easy as that and whilst Legends Aligned starts off very simply, with just a small grid and a few pieces, it soon ramps up in terms of difficulty. You’ll find yourself placing pieces, moving them, removing them to fit others, all before things click and you get a handle on the puzzle at play.
But get a handle on things you will, because even then there is little test in Legends Aligned. See, it comes with the usual, now standard, Afil events; each of which makes the game ever-so-simple to play. Resetting a board can be done in an instant, whilst an unlimited number of tips are found on a short, sharp timer. You’ll probably want to make the most of both options at some point in time too, especially in the more complex latter levels, picking up even more achievements for their use.
A Fleeting Fix for Achievement Hunters
And then, just as you get into the swing of things with Legends Aligned, it all comes to a close; stages rounding out at the forty mark. We’d suspect you’ll probably then walk away from the game, uninstalling it, safe in the knowledge that you’ve bagged a host of Gamerscore and had a little bit of a puzzling fix in the process. But with rather messy visuals, and a soundtrack that is about as unforgettable as an unforgettable thing, there will be little to entice you back to play again.
You may adore the complexities of item management, and feel a puzzling test of the mind will set you up for the day. But aside from masses of Gamerscore, and the odd whir of your brain, Legends Aligned ultimately comes up short, never changing from the tried and tested method it initially delivers.
As is usual for an Afil Games product, come for the Gamerscore, be done in an hour, and then leave, looking for the next cheap hit you can get your mitts on.
Your Links
Strategise and Organise: Legends Aligned Launches on Xbox, PlayStation and PC – https://www.thexboxhub.com/strategise-and-organise-legends-aligned-launches-on-xbox-playstation-and-pc/
Buy on Xbox Series X|S – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/legends-aligned/9P3FWKF1H0P4
Or get a Bundle – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/legends-aligned-xbox-bundle/9PC2ZK1J8971/0010
