As for fixes, the chance of getting stuck outside levels has reduced. Animals can now eat the fish from the Fishing Pond, and interacting with different customization plots in Mother’s Heart now provides Studs as rewards. Apex Hunts have also received a balancing pass.

For co-op, player ring visibility has improved, and you’ll know who initiated a pause. As for Teersa, one of the unlockable playable characters, she’s received improvements to projectile defense and her hold attack.

Check out the full patch notes, complete with known issues, below. LEGO Horizon Adventures is available for PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch. Head here for our review – we gave it an eight out of ten.

LEGO Horizon Adventures – Patch 1.02

KNOWN ISSUES

We’ve heard our community’s feedback and are already digging into these pesky issues. They’re not quite fixed in this patch, but rest assured, our teams are on the case and giving them the attention they deserve. Thanks for sticking with us!

• The ‘Stay Frosty’, ‘Flaming Ninjas!’ and ‘Silent Storm’ Community Challenges do not progress by defeating element afflicted enemies with a non-elemental weapon.
• Changing environment colors increments the wrong Community Challenge.
• Some machines may spontaneously explode when entering the area (please keep your distance).
• Lighting may appear blown out on HDR Steamdeck. To resolve this either disable HDR, or increase the max luminance value to 4500 in the graphics settings.
• The game may crash on boot on specific 13th and 14th generation Intel CPUs. To resolve this a BIOS update may be required. More information is available here.

NEW FEATURES

• Added a Player Progression screen to track content / overall game progress.
• Options have been added to allow you to customize which features are highlighted when using the Focus. Highlight ALL THE THINGS.

FIXES AND IMPROVEMENTS

Runs

• Various fixes to reduce the risk of the player getting stuck outside of the level.
• Performed a balancing pass on various Apex Hunts.
• Fixed the player having a chance of being eaten by (stuck inside) the Dragon Cart masterbuilding object when it has been built.

Mother’s Heart

• Added stud rewards when having interacted with various yard customization plots.
• The fish from the Fishing Pond can now be eaten by animals (sorry fish).

Characters & Co-op

• Improved the visibility of player rings when playing in co-op.
• Improved Teersa’s ability to defend herself against projectiles. This old gal’s still got it!
• Improved the responsiveness of Teersa’s hold attack ability. Seriously, don’t mess with Teersa…
• Fixed an issue where the guest player may be missing a pickup prompt on gadgets and weapons after dying and being revived.
• Fixed an issue where the Deathbringer may always target the host player and not the guest. No playing favorites!

UI/UX

• Added a note to indicate which player opened the Pause Menu.
• Various localization improvements.
• Fixed an issue where simultaneously pressing the Cross and OPTIONS buttons may cause the Pause
• Menu to become unresponsive. There’s no trophy for button mashing!
• Removed a ‘Continue’ button that does not function on various Brick screens.
• Improved the HUD Scale option to increase the size of the quest markers, damage numbers, danger warnings, and more!
• Added ‘+’ signs to upgrade stickers to better highlight stat increases.

Combat

• PC Only – Fixed an issue where the player can lose functionality by pausing and clicking off the game window when charging the Arrow Storm Bow. Stay focused Aloy!
• Ensured that Erend’s stacked Giant Hammer now deals increased damage to the Deathbringer. Don’t stop him now!
• Fixed an issue where machines may become stuck on geometry. Math is hard.

Other

• PC Only – Adjusted default graphics settings based on hardware.
• PC Only – Improved performance on Intel ARC series GPUs.
• Various bug fixes and stability improvements.
• Various audio fixes and improvements.
• Significantly improved stability of reflections and facial animations on Nintendo Switch.

As per SteamDB, LEGO Horizon Adventures has seen a peak of just 602 concurrent players on Steam today. For some context, that’s the lowest concurrent player count for any PlayStation-published game on Steam to date, below even Sackboy: A Big Adventure, which had a peak of 610 concurrent players upon its 2022 PC launch- and that was a two-year belated port, whereas Horizon is a completely new release. This is also the fourth-lowest concurrent users peak for any LEGO game on Steam to date (our of 24 listed titles).

LEGO Horizon Adventures is, of course, also available on Nintendo Switch and PS5, but if we’re judging things based on its Steam performance – a platform where the Horizon series has generally performed quite well – it seems to have endured a tough launch, to say the very least. Of course, with the weekend coming up, Sony will hope to see that number climbing a little higher, but you have to wonder how much higher at can climb given where it’s started.

Read our review of the game through here, where we awarded it a score of 8/10.

Developed by Studio Gobo and Guerrilla Games, LEGO Horizon Adventures is a reimagined version of Horizon Zero Dawn, with the original 2017 title’s story more compactly retold for a more lighthearted experience. From a gameplay perspective, it simplifies things heavily, adopting straightforward action-driven mechanics in linear levels- though you can, of course, still expect to be fighting a variety of different mechanical monsters in lush and overgrown post-apocalyptic environments. 

In our review of the game, we awarded it a score of 8/10, saying, “LEGO Horizon Adventures successfully adapts and abridges Horizon Zero Dawn for a younger audience, delivering a fun, charming, and straightforward experience in a delightful post-apocalyptic world.” Read the full review through here.

LEGO Horizon Adventures is available on PS5, Nintendo Switch, and PC. The game doesn’t feature PS5 Pro enhancements. 

As previously announced by the developer, there are two modes: Performance and Fidelity. The former offers a locked 60 frames per second, while the latter forgoes the same for better lighting, shadows, and textures at 30 FPS. There’s no Pro Mode or even improved versions of the current modes.

Guerrilla Games hasn’t confirmed whether a PS5 Pro update is coming post-launch, but the title’s listing on the PlayStation Store doesn’t state “PS5 Pro Enhanced” like other supported games. Time will tell, so stay tuned for further updates.

LEGO Horizon Adventures launches on November 14th for Nintendo Switch, PS5, and PC. Check out our review, where we gave it an eight out of 10, praising the visuals and charming atmosphere while criticizing the repetitive gameplay and some technical issues.

On paper, LEGO Horizon Adventures certainly does make sense then- but is the actual game itself any good? Thankfully, it is. Developed jointly by Guerrilla and Studio Gobo, LEGO Horizon Adventures is a simplified, charming, and colourful take on the original Horizon game that saw Guerrilla Games’ stock shooting through the stratosphere. It successfully boils much of Zero Dawn down to its basics in its attempts to cast a wider net with its target audience, and in addition, also feels like a genuinely enjoyable LEGO game, even if that transition to a more lighthearted tone means it loses several elements that make the original game that this adaptation is based on so memorable.

"LEGO Horizon Adventures successfully boils much of Zero Dawn down to its basics in its attempts to cast a wider net with its target audience, and in addition, also feels like a genuinely enjoyable LEGO game, even if that transition to a more lighthearted tone means it loses several elements that make the original game that this adaptation is based on so memorable."

Such changes are made throughout the length of the experience, though this obviously won’t come as a huge surprise to anyone who’s grown familiar with LEGO games over the years. No, this doesn’t come from the TT Games side of the LEGO pipeline, but it still does share a lot of its DNA with those games, especially in how it changes its source material as part of its adaptation process. The story follows the same main beats as what Zero Dawn fans will remember, but it gets to those beats in its own way, and at a much more rapid pace. This obviously isn’t a story-focused game in the sense that Zero Dawn was, given its target audience, so that makes sense.

Of course, a lot of the changes are made due to the game’s attempts at keeping a much merrier tone. All of the events of Zero Dawn are viewed through a much more humorous and childlike lens, which means brevity and levity both rule the day, with the original game’s epic post-apocalyptic story being run through a sieve in order to be presented in a much more abridged and cheerful manner. It helps that the humour generally lands rather well, even if the game isn’t often laugh-out-loud funny by any stretch of the imagination. A combination of delightful characters, endearing animations, and consistently solid writing (for the most part) helps it retain its charms for most of its runtime. Oh, and now that Horizon is a LEGO game, Aloy’s chattiness doesn’t feel nearly as grating.

As someone who has extensively played and loves the Horizon games, however, what’s particularly interesting about LEGO Horizon Adventures is how it adapts the universe. In spite of its much more lighthearted take, it somehow manages to capture the essence of Horizon rather well nonetheless, whether that’s because of the beautiful and overgrown environments that you traverse, how true to the source material the machines feel in both their visual design and how they function in gameplay, or the fact that most of the original game’s voice cast has reprised its roles here (with the notable but obvious exception of Sylens, with actor Lance Reddick having sadly passed away last year).

"In spite of its much more lighthearted take, it somehow manages to capture the essence of Horizon rather well nonetheless, whether that’s because of the beautiful and overgrown environments that you traverse, how true to the source material the machines feel in both their visual design and how they function in gameplay, or the fact that most of the original game’s voice cast has reprised its roles here."

On the gameplay side of things, you can obviously expect a hugely different experience from Horizon Zero Dawn. For starters, LEGO Horizon Adventures is a linear, level-based game, while unlike the mainline series, it also isn’t an action RPG, instead adopting a light combat-driven action-adventure loop that those who’ve played LEGO games in the past will be very familiar with. Some core elements are retained, like using the Focus to highlight enemy weak points that you then target, some basic progression systems that resemble Zero Dawn’s leveling and customization, light stealth mechanics, an emphasis on elemental combat, and of course, the different kinds of machines that you fight, and the unique attributes, strengths, and weaknesses that they each have.

All of that is heavily streamlined and simplified, however. Playing from fixed isometric camera perspectives obviously means aiming and shooting works much differently, while you also no longer have any ammo limitations to worry about (at least with your default attacks). Instead, the focus now is on maintaining distance from enemies, carefully dodging incoming attacks, and finding pockets to dish out your own attacks. That actually ends up working out pretty well, thanks to the controlled chaos that the game creates with its combat encounters.

You’re frequently accosted by different enemy types, or at least by multiple enemies of the same type, and running around the compact battle arenas as you try to take them out always feels enjoyable. It’s worth noting that I played on the Adventurer difficulty, which, based on its description, sounds like your regularly balanced Normal difficulty, but is actually one above the default setting in the game. On this difficulty, I thought the combat struck a nice balance between being fairly straightforward and easy to grasp while still finding ways to push back and challenge the player to use all of the tools at their disposal.

And you do have a fair amount of tools at your disposal. In addition to your default attacks, the game also encourages using the environment to your advantage, from using explosive barrels to goading Broadheads to ram into walls and deal damage to themselves as they try to charge in your direction. Meanwhile, as mentioned, elemental combat is also quite important, whether that’s setting enemies on fire, electrocuting them, or freezing them, which you can do either through objects and elements in the environments, or with special weapons that you find from time to time. Additionally, there are also special gadgets to utilize that come with many different uses, from temporarily freezing enemies in your vicinity, to letting you double jump (while burning everything beneath your boots), and more.

"LEGO Horizon Adventures does a good job of crafting a compelling combat system, in spite of how much it simplifies things. "

On top of all of that, LEGO Horizon Adventures also lets you play as multiple different characters, each with their own play style. Aloy, for instance, is the archer that we all know her as, while Varl can chuck a spear through multiple enemies in a line, and Teersa can lob bombs. All in all, with its elemental mechanics, different weapons and gadgets, multiple playable characters, and of course, its roster of mechanical monstrosities to fight, LEGO Horizon Adventures does a good job of crafting a compelling combat system, in spite of how much it simplifies things.

Things can start feeling a little repetitive at times, however, because of the way the game is structured. As I mentioned earlier, this is a mission-based game, and in terms of the level design, there isn’t much to separate a large number of the missions from each other. Though there is sufficient biome diversity from chapter to chapter, when it comes to the actual design, missions quickly start blending together, an issue that is exacerbated by your main objectives also often being repetitive (if not downright mundane). This is also a heavily-combat focused game, for the most part. Though there is some light exploration to be done during missions, other than small branching paths and the odd hidden area here and there, you don’t get much of a break from the combat.

Between missions, thankfully, you do get some downtime. LEGO Horizon Adventures adopts a hub-based structure that sees players returning to the village of Mother’s Heart after every mission. The village expands and grows over the course of the experience, and while a lot of that unlocks in accordance with story progression, you also get to put your own stamp on the village. From building buildings and putting up various decorations to cosmetically customization existing structures, you get to make Mother’s Heart your own in many ways. The customization options provided also deserve praise in how varied they are and how much personality they inject into the experience (which is true of the many costumes available in the game as well).

"This is a game targeted at a younger demographic, and one that is working with the Switch as its minimum target spec, which means it was never going to be a visual powerhouse. It looks sharp and vibrant nonetheless, with performance issues having been next to nonexistent in my time with it."

From a technical perspective, meanwhile, LEGO Horizon Adventures is an impressive game. No, it’s not the sort of graphical masterpiece that both mainline Horizon games have been so far- but then again, it’s not meant to be. This is a game targeted at a younger demographic, and one that is working with the Switch as its minimum target spec, which means it was never going to be a visual powerhouse. It looks sharp and vibrant nonetheless, with performance issues having been next to nonexistent in my time with it (I played it on a PS5). I have, however, run into a couple of bugs that blocked progress and forced me to restart entire missions, which was definitely an annoyance, and one that will hopefully fixed with post-launch patches.

In boiling the world of Horizon down to its basics as LEGO Horizon Adventures has done, Studio Gobo and Guerrilla have managed to strike the perfect balance between losing enough of the series’ excess to potentially appeal even to those who weren’t enamoured by the games already, and keeping enough of its identity alive that long time Horizon fans are going to find this to be a worthwhile experience. As both, a new LEGO title and a new Horizon game, LEGO Horizon Adventures is a success (even if it is definitely more of one as the former than as the latter), and hopefully the beginning of a collaboration that will continue for years to come.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.

Interestingly enough, the entirety of LEGO Horizon Adventures was made of virtual LEGO bricks, which means every single character, machine, building, or shrub you see in the game is comprised of discrete bricks. The game’s LEGOfication also obviously comes with a healthy dose of the sort of humour and charm you’d expect. 

The video also goes into detail on the game’s combat, co-op gameplay, and customization mechanics. As you’d expect, the latter is a particular area of focus, with customization options being available aplenty not only for Aloy herself, but also a hub village that players will be building up, expanding, and decorating. Check out the video below for more details. 

LEGO Horizon Adventures launches on November 14 for PS5, Nintendo Switch, and PC. 

If the trailer wasn’t indication enough, LEGO Horizon Adventures has a lighter touch than Guerrilla’s mainline series. Though based on Horizon Zero Dawn, with Aloy searching for her mother in the post-apocalyptic world, it forgoes many of the darker elements in favor of humor. The gameplay doesn’t veer completely into Stud-collecting territory like other LEGO titles (though it features a similar perspective) and supports co-op.

LEGO Horizon Adventures is out on November 14th for PC, Nintendo Switch, and PS5, having gone gold near the end of October. It will take seven to eight hours to complete. Check out details for the Digital Deluxe Edition, which features outfits based on Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart and LittleBigPlanet’s Sackboy.

First PlayStation Exclusive Franchise To Come to a Nintendo Console in 26 Years

Legos don’t just combine together to build toy bridges, apparently, they bridge the ever-elusive console exclusivity gap too. Guerrilla Games’ Horizon series is among Sony’s key faces for the PlayStation brand, having been exclusive to its native hardware until now. But Lego Horizon Adventures isn’t the first PlayStation exclusive IP to join a rival’s ranks; PlayStation’s Wipeout series got a Nintendo 64-exclusive entry with Wipeout 64 back in 1998. Considering Microsoft’s recent multiplatform push with titles like Hi-Fi Rush going on PS5, it’s ironic that Lego Horizon Adventures doesn’t get the Xbox treatment, being tied to the PS5, Switch, and PC as it is.

Most Cinematic and Graphically Rich Lego Game Yet

The devs at Guerrilla and Studio Gobo “wanted to create a playable Lego movie in terms of the visual quality,” according to GameSpot.. A key ingredient in such an endeavor was ensuring that every in-game asset that you see was made of individual Lego bricks, similar to how The Lego Movie was presented. This holistic brick-built approach goes much further than previous Lego games which often left the bricks out of background environments in order to cut down on rendering load. The minifig characters move around with that classic Lego stop-motion animation too, highlighted by realistic scratches and scuffs you might see on a Lego figure. It’s a striking visual package that fools you into thinking you’re playing with a real Lego set. Amplifying the cinematic presentation further is the fully voiced cast, with Ashly Burch returning as Aloy.

A Family-Friendly Re-Imagining of Horizon Zero Dawn

Lego games are built with a younger audience in mind, so much of the darker apocalyptic content from the original Horizon Zero Dawn is absent in Horizon Adventures. As the narrative director at Guerrilla says, “It’s not a faithful retelling, and neither is it a parody,”. Expect the usual slapstick humor and sharp wit that previous Lego games have had, but within the world and time-frame that Horizon Zero Dawn takes place. One of the fun aspects of Lego’s take on popular franchises is how they poke fun and present their visual gags and referential humor, and Lego Horizon Adventures takes that and gleefully runs with it.

Customizable Mother’s Heart Base

One way you can change up the tone of the game yourself is through base customization. The central hub of the game is the iconic Mother’s Heart base from Zero Dawn. The base doesn’t just look authentic and superbly Lego-fied, it can also be re-arranged with different building attachments and props. For example, the real-life Lego 3-in-1 Ferris Wheel can be attached atop various buildings and we’re sure there’s hundreds more referential easter eggs to unlock as well.

No Stud Counter

While there’s still plenty to unlock and collect, the shift to a more cinematic experience has eliminated at least one Lego game staple: the stud counter. Many previews noted the lack of a stud counter in Lego Horizon Adventures, along with the lax attitude regarding the need to break everything into studs to achieve ranks like “true adventurer”. There’s still plenty of side stuff to do besides collecting studs though, speaking of…

Can Customize Minifigs with Unique Outfits

One of the other collectibles in the game are outfit pieces for your minifig characters to wear. We’re shown a variety of outfit combination in trailers, ranging across Lego’s catalogue from Ninjago to Lego City. We’ve also seen costumes from Sony’s own mascots, including Ratchet, Rivet, and Sackboy. This comes as a delight for many fans of the series, since Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga unceremoniously got rid of character customization completely. It’ll be especially fun to share our wacky designs with friends in the co-op mode.

2-Player Online and Couch Co-Op

Thankfully, the seamless drop-in/drop-out co-op mode from past Lego games returns here, but with a caveat. Co-op is limited to two players like Skywalker Saga. We’ve been awaiting the return to four player co-op for a while now, and this isn’t the game to bring that back. But we do get online co-op here, unlike with Skywalker Saga. And of course, everyone’s favorite couch co-op option is alive and well, but this time using a single dynamic screen to share the action in. If you’re particularly fond of the autonomy that split-screen allows, as I am, there is a saving grace that helps accommodate your partner running far off-screen.

Fixed Overhead Camera Angle Like the Classic Lego Games

Another camera change for this game is the shift from over-the-shoulder to an overhead fixed camera angle. Zooming out the camera in this way creates a wide play area to see everything at-a-glance while accommodating the lack of split-screen. Lego games work much better with a fixed camera in my experience, but parents have also noted that the close over-the-shoulder rapidity exemplified in games like The Skywalker Saga and Lego Ninjago can cause nausea and visual confusion to younger players.

Many Characters To Control and Unlock

One of the joys of Lego’s partnership with other properties is experiencing beloved characters in their minifigure format. Fans of Horizon have a lot to look forward to in this regard, with key characters like Rost, Varl, Teersa, and Erend being fully playable and customizable. I’ll be especially curious to see if any of the mechanized dinosaurs are playable.

Simplified Weak-Spot Targeting System

Speaking of ferocious dinos, you’ll still use a weak-spot targeting system to take them down like in Horizon Zero Dawn. Of course, the controls are simplified to accommodate a single Switch joy-con controller.  Still, it’s nice to see such a central mechanic translated here, even if it is just holding an aim button on a glowing spot.

Strategic Elements Such as Sneaking in Grass

Sneaking in grass and using the environment to your advantage is still a strategic aspect of gameplay in Lego Horizon Adventures. Tall Lego-fied grass can be lit on fire to distract beasts and solve puzzles. And let’s be real, who won’t sabotage their partner with fire while they’re sneaking around in the tall grass?

Difficulty Slider

The devs have said that the level of strategy and general complexity accelerates as you move up the difficulty slider. In practical terms, raising difficulty probably features free aim instead of auto-aim, as well as more aggressive enemy AI. Still, this is a Lego game at the end of the day, and it’s tailored to be accessible to a young audience, and it’s not trying to match the strategic depth of its Zero Dawn inspiration.

PC Minimum and Recommended Requirements

The PC specs to run Horizon Adventures have been revealed and you’ll need at least an Intel Core i5-8400 or AMD Ryzen 5 2600 processor to run it at its lowest settings and a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 or AMD Radeon RX 580 graphics card. The recommended processors are  Intel Core i5-10600K or AMD Ryzen 5 3600As with the recommended graphics cards being NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 or AMD Radeon RX 6800. Sadly, yes, a PlayStation account is necessary for online play.

File Size

The Switch requires a much smaller file size than PC, with a meager 5.9 GB needed for the Nintendo system. By contrast, the PC requires 30 GB. While PlayStation hasn’t yet revealed their file size requirement, I’d expect it to match the PC at around 30 GB, considering past comparisons.

Story Takes 7 to 8 Hours, According to the Director

Eating up all that data is the meat and potatoes of the game: the story. The creative director has estimated that the story takes around 7 to 8 hours to complete, which is more or less average for a Lego game. But considering the unique graphical complexity regarding full brick-built environments and the like, much of that runtime is spent processing a much more dynamic and high-fidelity experience than past Lego games.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Now, as expect, Guerrilla – co-developer on LEGO Horizon Adventures alongside Studio Gobo – has confirmed to IGN that Reddick has been recast in the upcoming action-adventure title. According to senior world artist Lucas Bolt, though Sylens will appear in Adventures, he will be played by a different actor- though it hasn’t yet been revealed who that actor will be.

“Lance Reddick tragically passed away in 2023, and he is deeply missed within Guerrilla and our community,” said Bolt. “He wonderfully portrayed the essential character of Sylens in Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West. The character of Sylens does appear in LEGO Horizon Adventures, and we will introduce the new actor at a later date.”

LEGO Horizon Adventures is due out on November 14 for PS5, Nintendo Switch, and PC. The game recently went gold.

Developed by Guerrilla alongside Studio Gobo, the title adapts Horizon Zero Dawn into a more family-friendly adventure. It’s about seven to eight hours long and sees Aloy traversing throughout the post-apocalyptic world (minus some of its darker elements) alongside allies like Varl. Local and online co-op are supported, though there’s sadly no cross-play.

You’ll still battle Machines and search for Aloy’s mother, with other LEGO game elements like the Stud Counter missing. However, you can add a roller coaster to Mother’s Heart with the Digital Deluxe Edition. The latter also provides additional outfits like the Banuk Armor, Shadow Stalwart, and “Alloy” Aloy, which looks about as ridiculous as it sounds.

PlayStation characters from Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart and LittleBigPlanet also serve as costumes. Head here for more details and stay tuned for updates.