Bionicle 2015

[TheCalliton]

So i just watched the new bionicle videos and a few reviews about the new sets. I'll get the bad out of the way first.

Lego, one reason bionicle was so popular was because (when it came to the website and videos) was that the characters had no voice acting. It allowed us, as kids, to project a certain attitude onto them that complimented what we knew (p.s. gali isnt a guy). The new voices, in my opinion, are pretty awful and do not do the characters justice.

Speaking of characters, you guys have changed the personalities of the original toa. I will use Kopaka as my main example, though all suffer. Kopaka was the cold and distant character. he was coordinated on a level that made even the other toa jealous, he was wise and had good foresight, and was the perfect character to keep tahu (the official leader) in line. The new Kopaka is a... mess. He doesnt have that presence that made him feel important. He is now a clumsy, righteous fool. Where is the calm and collected hero I favored as a kid?

Third is the writing. I know Bionicle is marketed towards kids, always has been and always will be, but please put some effort into making the characters (even with the sub-par voice acting) sound normal. Tahu's bit of exposition on his mental state in the second video is just downright terrible. I could probably write better if given an afternoon to figure something out. The old lore videos of my childhood had no voice acting and didn't need it. Tahu's lava surfing told me enough about him to know he was reckless. The risks he took showed that. Lewa's mask being corrupted showed me he was a bit careless, and his jungle swingin g(not flying) antics made him seem carefree. (speaking of lewa, he is the toa of air, not jungle). Onua's personality in writing still seems good, but his actual movements in the videos is just lame.

The reason the toa were such successful heroes because we could project ourselves onto the character we identified with the most while leaving our shortcomings behind.I loved Kopaka because he did what I wanted to be able to do. He thought clearly and far ahead, he also didnt second guess himself. The new Kopaka just seems weak and insecure. That is NOT the hero I would identify with.

Now onto the good. First off, BIONICLE IS FINALLY BACK! That alone brings a smile to my face and the hope that older sets will be rereleased. Most of the new designs are great (lewa's seems a bit bulky for the toa of AIR, but still looks well designed, if a bit unfitting). They have all the things that made older bionicle great. Bendable knees made me giggle as a kid. I will say that putting yellow on every character is an odd design choice that works for Kopaka, gali, pohatu, and tahu. Onua and lewa dont really do well with yellow in my opinion.

They story, while poorly written and badly acted, is being told in a similar fashion to previous bionicle installments. Rather than one long movie it is broken up into countless little videos. Speaking of little videos, the videos for the original toa were amazing when I was a kid. Really showed off their powers and personalities. It is also a continuation of the old story that was so hurriedly brought to an end. I am very curious about the protectors (who I thought were evil at first glance).

Might as well talk about the protectors while I am at them. When I first saw one of them (the jungle one) I honestly thought (it?) was a toa. They have a nice design, and dont seem to have that over saturation of yellow the toa seem to have. Their blasters are pretty nifty too.

The skull spiders seem uninspired though, its like the first three enemies of the original bionicle combined. The old enemies were scary because they either had powers to counteract the toa, or were big enough to be a threat. These spiders, while cool looking, are lackluster in the menace department.

One little thing I noticed and am happy about is Pohatu's daggers. They look extremely similar to the weapons of the Rhakshi (spelling?). I also like how many of the weapons the toa have are similar to their original weapons (gali and onua being expections)

Sorry for how long this post was, but I had a lot of thoughts to get out. All in all the new bionicle sets are welcome, but please improve the characterization and voice acting. I don't want to cringe at it when trying to keep up with the story.

p.s. bring back the amazing packaging. those plastic tubes were the bomb!

not sure why my test is surrounded by a white background... will add pictures and video examples after work tomorrow.

[brokenergy]

OMG BIONICLES ARE BACK!!!

[Vagrant0]

There are a handful of things wrong with LEGO, most of them showing signs that they have come to rely on committee groups too heavily, and a result they have become just another toy that just stick on a shelf (some assembly required). Gone are the days when children had buckets full of blocks to construct in whatever way they wanted which fostered creativity.

[TheCalliton]

Agreed, v-dog

MY favorite thing as a kid was to make my own bionicle characters with parts from every set I owned. Good times were had. I had enough regular legos to fill a bathtub too.