Disclaimer: I don’t usually play Lego games, but I do enjoy the Horizon franchise. So when I was offered the opportunity to review Lego Horizon Adventures on the PS5, I thought it’d be fun to give it a try. Much to my surprise, I thoroughly enjoyed the retelling of the first Horizon game (Zero Dawn) through the Lego lens.

While I do find Horizon Adventures entertaining, I also think it’s a tad overpriced. Yes, it’s an amusing, endearing game that is great for family fun – I loved playing through the game in co-op mode with my wife – but retailing from RM249, that’s the same starting price as AAA titles, which is not where I’d position the game.

But looking past the RM249 price tag of the game – or RM299 if you want the Digital Deluxe Edition – I do think Lego Horizon Adventures is worth checking out.

If you’ve got kids or young family members who are not quite old enough to grasp the myriad of concepts thrown about in Horizon Zero Dawn or Horizon Forbidden West, Horizon Adventures is a great way to start them off. For me personally, I find it to be a great game to introduce my wife to Horizon Zero Dawn’s story, which is retold (sort of) faithfully in this Lego game.

What I love about Horizon Adventures is how the story is told with the typical “Lego humour.” From puns to dad jokes and banters, I had a good laugh as I progressed through the story. Sure, the Lego counterparts of Horizon’s different characters are not exactly faithfully represented in this game, but hey, as a fan of the Horizon franchise, I still find it quite entertaining.

I’d also like to touch on the graphics of Lego Horizon Adventures. The world of Horizon is “Lego-fied” to an incredible degree, and this applies to the environment, characters, and especially the machines. All of them are faithfully recreated in Lego bricks, which I’m sure will appeal to Lego fans.

Speaking of which, a new Lego set has also been released in conjunction with Horizon Adventures in the form of the $44.99 set of Aloy, Varl, the Shell-Walker, and Sawtooth. Personally, I’m hoping the Thunderjaw will receive its own Lego set in the future too; I can already imagine how amazing (and probably expensive) it will look.

Last but not least is the gameplay of Lego Horizon Adventures, which is honestly quite fun. Yes, the combat is very simple – just like the majority of Lego games – but unique to this game is the ability to target a machine’s weak points. I can even use the Focus to highlight breakable parts, just like the original Horizon games.

But ultimately, the linear and repetitive gameplay of Horizon Adventures do get quite old after some time. To be fair, this is mainly a complain on my part rather than my wife’s sentiment, who continued to enjoy the game well beyond the early parts. In retrospect, I do think the gameplay (as repetitive as it may be) is par for the course for a family-friendly Lego game.

Lego Horizon Adventures may not be a “must-play” title, but if you’re a fan of the Horizon franchise or Lego games, I do think it’s worth checking out. Yes, this is despite the rather steep RM249 price tag of the game. If you can get Horizon Adventures at a lower price point, I’d happily recommend it. While it’s not a AAA game, sometimes all we need is just a simple, humourous game to play with friends and families.