Review: LEGO The Legend Of Zelda -in-1

It finally happened: Lego and The Legend of Zelda have come together, and the form they’ve taken is that of the Great Deku Tree in two delicious flavours. Whether you prefer Ocarina of Time’s or Breath of the Wild’s incarnation, this kit covers both. Not at the same time, of course – that would be yet more expensive, we’re sure.

But growing a mighty tree like this takes time, so join us, will you? We’ve got a Great Deku Tree to build.

LEGO The Legend of Zelda – Great Deku Tree 2-in-1 (77092)

Price: $299.99 / £259.99 / €299.99

Pieces: 2500

Ages: 18+

Minifig(s) included: Young Link (OoT), Adult Link (OoT), Link (BotW), Zelda (BotW)

What’s in the box?
The set contains a whopping 2500 pieces spread out over 20 bags.

The 18+ rating is certainly deserved due to the myriad number of small parts and complexity of the build. You’ll also get a brick separator, should you fancy using it.

The Minifigures
This kit comes with four minifigs in total, three versions of Link and one Zelda.

Representing the N64, we have Young Link, bearing his iconic Deku Shield and Kokiri Sword, and Adult Link, sporting an oddly generic sword (although there is a Master Sword included in the kit), and his iconic Ocarina of Time. The hair on this pair is on point, although it is identical between the two ages, clearly ignoring the subtle seven-year differences between their hairstyles. Scoff.

The modern inclusions are Breath of the Wild’s Link and Zelda. Both are an excellent representation of the characters, with lovely details on their torsos that really help to make them identifiable. Link has his traveller’s sword and shield, whilst Zelda has a Sheikah Slate to grip onto, although the kit will subsequently instruct you to rip it from her vice-like claw later on. Rude.

All in all, the Minifigs are a fine showing, almost as if Lego has been doing this for the best part of a century. We know Zelda had nothing to do with Kokiri Forest in Ocarina of Time, but we still think it would’ve been nice to have an N64 Zelda in the mix as well.

Ol’ bark-face
The real star of the show (and quite rightly so, given he takes up thousands of the included pieces) is the Great Deku Tree himself.

Image: Alex Olney / Nintendo Life
Building the kit came with a few hurdles, but all in all it was very straightforward for two adults working in tandem. The instructions are as clear as they always are, and the booklet so thick you could probably use it as a doorstop in a pinch.

The two variations of the set are identical up until about the halfway point, where you’ll need to make a decision as to which set you’re going to build. We focused on the Breath of the Wild version, so our experience is tied to that as opposed to the Ocarina of Time variant, but more on that decision later.

The Deku Tree looks the absolute business from almost all angles, with very few bespoke new pieces by our count, making the end result as distinctly Lego-y as you’d hope. The ground is littered with small pieces of foliage, Koroks are hiding wherever they can, and big ol’ Hestu is standing out the front with his maracas.

And those maracas aren’t just for show, either. Following the instructions you’re tasked with leaving a loose stud within them, meaning that when you shake Hestu, his maracas make a faint shaking sound, which was just delightful to discover.

Remember how we said how ol’ Deku boy looks great from almost all angles? Well, the back is the exception. It makes sense though, as this is the ‘back’ of the model, and there’s still plenty of fun little details to be found at the top and base of him that make up for it. We’re especially fond of the little bed made up for Mr. Hero, and of course Natie’s Spore Store.

There’s also a lever-type brick that you can waggle, but more than that the waggling actually does something. Namely, you can move the Deku Tree’s mouth and eyebrows to make him look like he’s talking. Honestly, we had far more fun with this than two people in their 30s probably should.

As a bonus (and certainly not just a way to bump up the piece count), you also get Link’s treehouse from Kokiri Forest bundled in. It’s a nice enough little addition, if perhaps a bit small even for a child, but the box in the base housing a Hylian Shield, potions, a compass, and a Hookshot are very welcome.

But there is a bit of a rub with this whole 2-in-1 idea, and that’s that there’s no easy way to convert between versions. We had originally planned to build both for this review (we’re still eager to see the Deku Babas, Gold Skulltula, and Deku Sprout of the OoT version), but the time it took us to build the BOTW variant with its Master Sword pedestal combined with no instructions on how to change one Deku Tree to another meant we had to stick with just the one in this instance.

Obviously, you’re meant to work through the instructions backwards with your Brick Separator, but given the scale and cost of this build, an interchangeable design would’ve been nice, or at least a clearer idea of what would be expected of us to do a complete conversion.

Great Deku Tree 2-in-1 cost
Hanging out with The Big Tree™ has quite the price of entry at $299.99 / £259.99 / €299.99. Back in our day you could get a whole PlayStation for that, but running the numbers puts the cost at roughly 12 cents per piece, which isn’t too bad.

Lego is just flipping expensive at the end of the day, but if you can justify the cost, there’s bags to love in this kit. Over 20 of them.

Conclusion
The Great Deku Tree is a striking addition to Lego’s growing lineup of Nintendo sets, and one that is very clearly meant to be primarily for display purposes rather than play. Details and nods to the games are plentiful, but with no easy way to convert one to the other, you’re going to have your work cut out for you if you want to get the most out of this one. Still, even though we only built one of them, we still feel that this is an excellent kit for those willing to sink the big bucks into it.