Review for Minecraft: Dungeons. Game for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 30/06/2020
Minecraft is a milestone in video game history, has just passed the peak of 200 million copies sold and is still seen today as the emblem of creativity for any type of player. This emblem has been re-proposed in several titles such as Minecraft Story Mode, Educational and the most recent Minecraft Earth on smartphones, which, despite their excellent intent, have not managed to aggressively scratch other shores in terms of gameplay type, ending up be Minecraft-themed spin-off titles.
Will Minecraft Dungeons manage to emerge as a complete and valid title or is it yet another attempt to create a variation on the theme with the assets of the popular title from Mojang Studios and Double Eleven? Thanking Microsoft for providing us with a game key so we can try the title in preview, let's jump into the action of Minecraft Dungeon in this review.
Procedurality in cubes
After the first announcement at MineCon Earth 2018, Minecraft Dungeons immediately aroused a lot of curiosity for its peculiar choice of genre, that is, a dungeon crawler with multiple Diablo-like gameplay elements. Despite this apparent attempt to copy some genres until now unrelated to the universe created by Notch, Dungeons is an iteration of the brand that manages to fit perfectly among the most famous dungeon crawlers.
The plot of the new title from Mojang Studios and Double Eleven opens with a movie dedicated to telling a very simple story, without too many pretensions and with some comic gimmick filled with excellent lighting effects, which will serve as an initial spark for our adventures: An inhabitant, mocked by everyone, decides to leave his village in search of a safe place. By chance he will discover the location of the "Sphere of Domination", a powerful artifact that corrupts its users by providing them with formidable power. The dweller thus becomes the Arch-dweller and begins to take revenge against all those who have mocked him in the past. It is therefore up to us (together with three other companions) restore order to the world and defeat the Arch-dweller.
Don't be fooled by the apparent simplicity of the first few levels as the real challenge begins after you finish the main campaign (lasting about 5 hours). The other two difficulties, “Adventure” and “Apocalypse” represent the beating heart of the replayability of Minecraft Dungeons. Enemies start to get tough even in the early levels and will gain new spells as player perks turn into more powerful rewards and gear. In addition, each level can be tackled in six different difficulties that make the game experience even more varied and extensive.
The levels are well structured and above all procedural. It has never happened to see the same structures with the exception of the three fixed points that each level has, namely: Start, middle and end. The exploration turns into a pillar of the experience in Minecraft Dungeons, in order to be able to find hidden chests and even entrances to secret dungeons that we can then face separately from the level selection.
After finishing the introductory phase, we will have the opportunity to explore our camp, that is, our main hub. Inside we will not find many things to do except a blacksmith who will sell us weapons and a merchant to be able to recover the artifacts. Both NPCs will not have a list of items to buy, but rather, we will have to rely on pure and complete randomness in exchange for the emeralds we will get during our explorations.
This random mechanic is a decision that may not enjoy much support from users, but we do not feel like ruling out future updates dedicated to balancing this functionality. Mojang Studios and Double Eleven have confirmed the inclusion of cross-play and cross-save between the different platforms (not yet available at the moment) and in the future there are already two add-ons that will expand the storyline of Minecraft Dungeons by giving new explorations to players.
Freedom of play
Unlike many titles that inspire it, Minecraft Dungeons doesn't have a rigid class system, underlining the desire for "freedom" that the developers wanted to achieve in this particular dungeon crawler. The only system that will define your stats are simply the items you have active in the three slots: melee weapon, suit and bow. As for the melee weapon, you can find a vast arsenal, all strictly coming from the universe of Minecraft, while the real variety can be found in the "clothes".
It is not a mistake not to call them armor, since there is no differentiation between head, body and boots as would be the case in other titlesConsequently, finding a wizard outfit could grant access to certain spells and passive powers while if you were to find an explorer suit you could get the help of a bat and have other abilities or even take on the role of a skeleton and take advantage of skills. unique.
It all depends on you, a concept of creative freedom that is present in the original Minecraft and that manages to exist in this dungeon crawler iteration as well. There are no abstruse texts to read or complicated calculations to determine if an item in your inventory is better or worse.. Minecraft Dungeons simplifies to the essentials what a player needs, newbies or not.
Technical sector
A small note also for the technical sector of Minecraft Dungeons, free of smudges and which totally reflects the graphic style of its mother chapter. The version tested on PC with all the details to the maximum was stable, without frame-rate drops even in the most excited situations. Mojang Studios and Double Eleven have managed to perfectly transpose the cubed atmosphere of Minecraft, giving players an envelope with attention to every detail with quality light and particle effects.
The latest effort from Mojang Studios and Double Eleven works. Minecraft Dungeons is that dungeon crawler that is inspired by, takes note of the genre it wants to take part in but overturns some concepts, to differentiate itself and become a unique title. A dungeon crawler that winks at the youngest but without setting age limits, with its vast replay system that allows you to gratify even those looking for a more strenuous test. Whether you are alone or in the company of friends and relatives, Minecraft Dungeons is a title not to be missed, especially for its availability in the Xbox Game Pass catalog, it will give you several hours of fun.
► Minecraft: Dungeons is a scrolling-Adventure type Beat 'em up game developed and published by Mojang for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 30/06/2020
