From the get-go, it was a dream project. CrainyCreation set out to make Bionicle: Quest for Mata Nui the game, “I’ve always dreamed about ever since I was a kid.” Many fans of Bionicle likely shared this vision as well, as notably, many games within the franchise were not well met. Bionicle: Quest for the Toa, Bionicle: The Game, and more had a mostly negative reaction upon release, and while this was upon release of course, first impressions do matter. Watching the reveal trailer, the gameplay, and more that CrainyCreation has put out shows a highly impressive fan project, but getting there took some inspiration from games like Skyrim and Dark Souls.

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As noted by CrainyCreation, Skyrim is the inspiration for many open-world games, and can ultimately be traced back to it. However, Bionicle Quest for Mata Nui also “takes some cues in its world design from Metroid Prime.” This likely means players can expect a sprawling world with Metroidvania style-navigation, whereas the combat is more derived from the Dark Souls series while maintaining its own identity. Watching the 12 minutes of gameplay below, it’s apparent what CrainyCreation means.

However, the dev stopped short of describing the game as a Metroidvania or Souls-like. Instead, here’s how CrainyCreation would describe the game:

With such inspirations and the game looking so beautiful at this early point in is lifespan, it’s hard to see how Bionicle: Quest for Mata Nui could go wrong. After all, even without the DNA from some of gaming’s biggest franchises, it’s meant to be a bonafide Bionicle experience set in the first year of the Toa, complete with 12 masks to collect, and more.

Ultimately, it remains to be seen how popular this project proves to be, but no one could throw a rock at its YouTube channel or Twitter account without hitting a comment praising how the game looks. For something absolutely free (CrainyCreation is not accepting money to fund its development, nor is it going to charge for the game upon an actual release) and for something not backed by Lego, Bionicle: Quest for Mata Nui leaves an impression.

Bionicle: Quest for Mata Nui is in development.

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