A light-hearted platinum perfect for Horizon fans.
Playtime: 20 hours
Difficulty: Easy (2/10)
Trophies: 24 total (1 🏆, 7🥇, 8🥈, 8🥉)
My Rating: 4/5 – Fun, silly, and surprisingly faithful to Horizon’s world.
Difficulty: Easy (2/10)
Trophies: 24 total (1 🏆, 7🥇, 8🥈, 8🥉)
My Rating: 4/5 – Fun, silly, and surprisingly faithful to Horizon’s world.
Setting the Scene
I’ll be honest, it’s been a while since I last played a Lego game, but Lego Horizon Adventures immediately felt different, in a good way. It’s got that typical Lego humour, but the game feels smoother, more open, and just more polished than the older Lego titles, where I remember feeling lost and getting stuck on scenery (looking at you, Lego Harry Potter).
I played on Adventure Mode, my go-to medium level difficulty, because yes, I’m here for trophies, and to enjoy myself, but I do want a bit of a challenge (I’m not a complete noob). Within minutes, I was laughing at the writing, and realising… yeah, this is going to be one of those “just one more level” kind of games.
The Platinum Journey
Chapter 1: Into the Wilds
Things kick off with Aloy rescuing villagers, an over-simplified take on Horizon Zero Dawn’s story, but in a charming way. The story’s structure is tweaked a bit (no training montage or proving trial, for example), but all things considered, the game is surprisingly faithful for what’s essentially a family-friendly remix. And yes, you get to use your focus, and that Focus ping sound is still as satisfying as ever.
The first few trophies pop quickly:
- Too Early to Celebrate (first level)
- There’s Gold in Them Bricks (first gold brick)
- Flathead (finding your first Tallneck)
I finished the first story chapter and unlocked my second playable character, Varl. By this point, as much as I was enjoying the story, I was getting a bit fed up playing as Aloy. Don’t get me wrong, I love her in Horizon Zero Dawn, but the Lego version felt limiting since she only has one combat option: shooting with the bow. I really missed having a melee option for those moments when you find yourself in close encounters. With just the bow, you’re kinda forced into running away so that you can shoot them with your bow and not get hit.. that just wasn’t it for me. With Varl available, I switched to him; he uses a spear that has both a ranged and melee attack, and has an awesome bomberang special attack that was so much fun to use. Overall, Varl was a refreshing change that suited my playstyle so much better than Aloy’s clunky bow-only combat.
Chapter 2–4: Bricks, Banter, and Bosses
Each chapter takes you to a new biome, mountains, jungle, and desert, and everything looks gorgeous. Each chapter ends with a boss fight, nothing too tricky, but they were fun and engaging. There are a few side levels where you can track down a tall neck or traverse through a cauldron, which had some puzzle elements that I enjoyed. Each chapter had its own goofy mission; a highlight was building your own Sawtooth (which looked gloriously ridiculous).
I genuinely enjoyed the option of swapping characters for a different play style. Errand became my go-to for combat. I loved his chaotic, empowered attacks and goofy humor. And yes, I did die more times than I’d care to admit throughout this journey (let’s call it “testing game balance,” not “being bad at dodging.”)
Story-related Trophies:
- Climb Every Mountain (complete chapter 2)
- Factory Setting (find and complete the first cauldron)
- Together At Last (unlock all playable characters, story-related)
- Farewell to the Jungle (complete chapter 3)
- Dune and Dusted (complete chapter 4)
- Light My Spire (complete final chapter)
The Grind: Clean-up and Platinum
After finishing the story, the hard work began: collecting gold bricks, completing 20 community challenges, and earning enough studs for 20 roofs/yards, 75 outfits, and 75 decorations. Then finally, leveling every one of the four characters (Aloy, Varl, Errand and Teressa) to max (level 20), this was by far the worst trophy for me, now on paper, it doesn’t sound too bad, but in practice, it’s at least a couple of hours of repetition going through expedition levels with each character, here’s how that went..
Teersa was… not my favourite. Something about her Lego incarnation just grated on me. Her bomb-based attacks felt a bit too silly and kinda awkward, her dialogue didn’t land, and honestly, I was glad to get her grind done and then never see her again. All in all, leveling her took me around 4-5 hours, having only played her once initially to test her out. In hindsight, playing the characters more evenly would have saved me a bit of sanity towards the end.
Errand and Varl were much more fun, faster-paced, punchier, and just more satisfying overall. I experimented with the co-op XP trick (plugging in a second controller so both characters earn XP), but the split screen drove me mad (with only controlling the one, the second character gets ported to your location when you get too far, and it was honestly annoying), so I just went back to solo.
It seemed only fitting to level Aloy last and finish the game with its main character. At this point, I was getting seriously tired of the grind and questioning my life choices, but I suppose a bit of tedium is expected on the platinum grind.
It seemed only fitting to level Aloy last and finish the game with its main character. At this point, I was getting seriously tired of the grind and questioning my life choices, but I suppose a bit of tedium is expected on the platinum grind.
And then, with Aloy hitting max level, came the statifying noise of that platinum chime, and it was done. All told, this game took me around 24 hours total, a little over the recommended time on PSNProfiles (20hrs, though admittedly some of that was me pausing mid-session and wandering off to grab a coffee and getting distracted (classic me).
Grind Trophies:
- Going to need a Bigger Wardrobe (obtain 75 outfits)
- Masterbuilder (obtain 20 roofs or yards)
- Just for Show (obtain 75 decorations)
- Community Service (complete 20 community jobs)
- Yellow Brick Hoard (collect 50 gold bricks)
- Super Team (max level all characters)
Trophy Tips & Time Savers
- Level all characters evenly to save time grinding later.
- If you have a second controller, the Co-op XP trick works and is worth a try (just wasn’t for me).
Final Thoughts
Despite a bit of tedium near the end, I really enjoyed Lego Horizon Adventures. It’s a great blend of humour and nostalgia, a love letter to Horizon Zero Dawn wrapped in Lego charm. The storytelling changes make sense for its audience, and the visuals and pacing are spot on.
Would I recommend it?
Absolutely, especially if you’re looking for something light and cheerful after a heavier game.
Absolutely, especially if you’re looking for something light and cheerful after a heavier game.
Would I chase the platinum again?
Maybe not, but I’m glad I did.
Maybe not, but I’m glad I did.
It has left me wanting to revisit Horizon Zero Dawn, and I picked up the PS5 upgrade, so I’m sure that will be a platinum happening sometime soon.