I dunno how many of you remember Bionicle, but it was the coolest thing when I was growing up. Or at least it was for a year or so and then we all moved on to Beyblade. Or maybe it was Yu-Gi-Oh!? Who can keep track? Regardless, our brief love affair with the edgy LEGO brand was a memorable one, and there'll always be a soft spot in my heart for good old Bionicle.
It should probably go without saying, then, that anyone who wants to make a Bionicle video game is alright in my book. Unfortunately, we're unlikely to ever see an official one. The franchise was discontinued back in 2010, see. Granted, it was also rebooted in 2015... but that only lasted for about a year.
The good news, as always, is that there are fans out there willing to do what big business won't. What it doesn't dare to try. And so it is that the open-world RPG Bionicle: Quest for Mata Nui exists (thanks, PC Gamer). It's an entirely fan-made project and, as you can see from the video below, it's kind of unbelievable that this isn't an official thing.
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According to Crainy, the game's creator and director, Bionicle: Quest for Mata Nui has been development for around six years now. The game is set during "the first year" of the Bionicle story, and "follows the story of the Toa on their quest to collect the six great masks of power to rid the island of Mata Nui of the evil influence called Makuta".
The whole thing looks and sounds super ambitious. Not only does the game take place in a large open world, but there's a Zelda-esque approach to exploration and adventuring. Players will be able to pick up Bionicle warrior masks that grant access to new abilities that not only aid in combat, but open up access to entirely new areas of the world. There are also plenty of NPCs, side-quests, and all the usual stuff you'd expect from an RPG made by a big-budget studio. I'm impressed.
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Oh, and the team is promising to include six-player co-op, which... wow. I'm really rooting for this fan project to see the light of day, that's all I'm saying. Of course, there's the chance LEGO could swoop in and hit them with a cease and desist, but given that the franchise has now been dormant for nearly half a decade, I can't imagine LEGO will have much of an issue with this one.
There's no release date for Bionicle: Quest for Mata Nui, but you can keep up to date with the project via the team's Discord server.
Featured Image Credit: LEGO/Crainy