Lego Friends is a 2013 Lego-themed social simulation game developed by TT Games and Hellbent Games and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. In it, the player assists the residence of Heartlake City by completing different activities, developing their friendship with other characters and unlocking items as a result. The game is based on the Lego toy line of the same name. Lego Friends was generally negatively received for its repetitive gameplay, loading times, and underutilization of minigames.
Lego Friends, based on the Lego toy line of the same name, is different from that of previous Lego video games. Combat is omitted in favor of exploration and social simulation elements.[1] In the game, the female player character visits her cousin Olivia over the summer at Heartlake City. Olivia, her friends, and the other citizens give the player different tasks to complete in the city, made up of five main areas.[2] Some of these tasks require the player to assume control of their pets and make use of their special abilities.[3] Completing these tasks will unlock new clothing, pets, and decorations for the player's bedroom.[2] Completing tasks also increases the "friendship level" with Olivia and her friends,[2] of whom reaching "true friendship" with is the main objective of the game.[3] Lego studs serve as currency, which can be earned through playing minigames.[1]
Lego Friends was developed by TT Games in partnership with Canadian studio Hellbent Games, previously responsible for the Lego Battles and Lego Battles: Ninjago games on the Nintendo DS,[4] and was published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.[5] It was released for the Nintendo 3DS on 12 November 2013 in North America and 29 November 2013 in Europe,[6] for the Nintendo DS on 8 April 2014 in North America and 11 April 2014 in Europe,[7][8] and for iOS on 31 July 2014.[4] An Android version was also released.[9]
Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
Metacritic | 3DS: 43/100[5] |
Publication | Score |
---|---|
Nintendo Life | 2/10[2] |
Financial Post | 8/10[1] |
Nintendojo | 0/10[3] |
According to review aggregator Metacritic, the 3DS version of Lego Friends received "generally unfavorable" reviews based on 4 critic reviews.[5] Nintendo Life criticized its repetitive gameplay, controls, frame rate, and loading times. However, they noted that the voice acting was "generally satisfactory" and described the visuals as "colourful and sweet".[2] Financial Post spoke more positively of the game. Though acknowledging its simplicity, they believed Lego Friends' gameplay was more diverse than in other titles made for young girls and complimented its accessibility.[1] Conversely, Nintendojo panned the game for its repetition and loading times, and remarked that there were better family-friendly titles on the 3DS for girls.[3] Nintendo Life and Nintendojo also expressed disappointment in the small role minigames played, feeling that they were easy but offered variety.[2][3]
Lego video games | |||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Island | |||||||||||||||||||
Creator | |||||||||||||||||||
Racers | |||||||||||||||||||
Bionicle | |||||||||||||||||||
Battles | |||||||||||||||||||
Ninjago |
| ||||||||||||||||||
City | |||||||||||||||||||
Legends of Chima | |||||||||||||||||||
Other games | |||||||||||||||||||
Licensed games |
|