Masks of Power 2.0 revealed!

Welcome to the first Devlog for BIONICLE: Masks of Power. We’ll be using these as a way to share some of what’s happening behind the scenes, as well as share general information about the project as we reveal more and more.

BIONICLE: Masks of Power is an open-world action/adventure game set on the island of Mata Nui, which will follow the events of the 2001 BIONICLE storyline. The game features 6 playable Toa, each with a unique set of moves, powers, and combos inspired by games like NieR: Automata. The Toa will face off in hack-n-slash combat against the Makuta’s dark beasts, the Rahi. Taking cues from the Monster Hunter series, these fearsome beasts will be no small challenge for the Toa on their perilous quest in the open-world environment of Mata Nui!

The teaser you saw shows off many of the diverse environments and creatures that will be featured in Masks of Power. Please note that none of the areas shown off in the teaser are finalized, and that they instead represent a benchmark of what we're capable of achieving. There is currently no planned window for release.

However, we’re very happy to announce that BIONICLE: Masks of Power will be distributed free-of-charge on Steam! With our new home on Steam comes a few notable benefits; we can provide updates and beta testing far more quickly, we will be able to take advantage of Steam-based Achievements, and implement Cloud Saves as well! We wanted the experience of downloading and updating BIONICLE: Masks of Power to be simple, easy, and secure. Thanks to a conversation with members of The LEGO Group, this is all possible now, and we are extremely grateful for this opportunity.

We’re excited to have been able to share this sneak peak of what BIONICLE: Masks of Power will look like, and plan to be able to share even more with you soon. You may be wondering why there was no gameplay shown; the reason for this is that we have something special in store for you. We are currently working on a playable demo for Steam that will provide a vertical slice of the experience you can expect from the full game! This demo will contain a sizable section of Mata Nui, and will show off finalized versions of gameplay mechanics, art assets, and fully-playable quests. Be sure to follow us on social media and wishlist us on Steam to get updates on our progress.

You may have also heard a familiar voice in the Teaser, which belongs to David Michael Williamson, a Voice Actor who was the narrator for the 2001 Nestlé Promotional CD for BIONICLE! We had the great privilege of working with him, and feel his voice talents are a great part of the BIONICLE experience. You can look forward to further Voiceovers from David for Masks of Power in the future.

It’s been a long road for us at Team Kanohi to reach where we’re at today. This trailer marks a very large step towards the completed vision for Masks of Power, which started all the way back in 2015, when development on the Legacy version of the game first began. For those who are unfamiliar, Masks of Power: Legacy is the original version of this project, which recently received its final and largest update, version 1.5. The first trailer for the game was released in 2016, making this the 5 year anniversary of that very first teaser. As the game received more popularity and the team behind it continued to grow, we realized that the Legacy had too many limitations that prevented us from achieving the full extent of what we wanted from a BIONICLE game. Because of this, we made the decision to completely start over, and recreate Masks of Power from the ground up. This new version, which we’ve previously referred to as 2.0, will be the final, definitive version of Masks of Power, finalizing our vision for the game which began in 2015. 

Along with Masks of Power: Legacy, we also released an early test for the mechanics of 2.0 titled BIONICLE: Trials of the Great Spirit. It served as a way to refine the game’s mechanics as we worked on improving them, and get feedback on how gameplay felt. However, the last update for TOGS was over 1 year ago, and the project no longer represents the quality we are able to provide with BIONICLE: Masks of Power. As such, it has been officially discontinued. For those who are curious about TOGS and the history of Team Kanohi, the game can still be found on the Legacy page of the website, but be aware that it will greatly differ from what you can expect from the finalized gameplay of Masks of Power.

As well as discontinuing Trials of the Great Spirit, Masks of Power: Legacy will no longer be receiving support, aside from occasional bug fixes. There are no further content updates planned for Legacy, as we want to put all of our resources into creating BIONICLE: Masks of Power.

For those who have been following us since Masks of Power first began, and to those who have only just discovered our project, Thank you. We hope you will continue to support and follow us as we continue to strive towards creating an authentic BIONICLE experience with Masks of Power. If you haven’t already, be sure to Join our Discord server, or follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to be kept up to date on everything we’re working on.

Thank you for reading, and may the Great Spirit guide you.