I recently sat down with the closed beta for Minecraft Dungeons, and I gotta say, I'm a little conflicted about what to make of it. The beta, which consists of just two levels, plays like a stripped down dungeon-crawler with a Minecraft skin that does neither the genre nor source-material adequate justice.
If you're familiar with Minecraft, then you likely understand its primary selling point: you can build literally anything. Like, anything. Within Minecraft's virtually infinite sandbox, players are limited only by their imagination, which has, over the past decade, given people a platform to build some truly incredible things. That said, and as someone who has been preaching the gospel of Minecraft for years, I'll be first to admit that I was excited to see it adapted into another genre, especially one that has so much synergistic potential.
Being that the version of Minecraft Dungeons that I played is technically unfinished and only included about 45 minutes of gameplay, my observations should be taken with a grain of salt. Then again, the game was originally scheduled to be released this month, so I doubt any fundamental changes will be introduced before its May 26 launch. In any case, I went into the beta really wanting to like it, but I'm not sure there is enough there to latch onto.
For starters, there is no mining mechanic, which one could argue is one of Minecraft's most core values. In fact, the environments can't be interacted with at all, which feels wrong. If over the course of my adventure I encountered a barrier made of say, dirt, and that was the only thing standing in my path, it would make sense - in the context of Minecraft - that I'd be able to dig through it. Alas, in Minecraft Dungeons even the most flimsiest structures are set in stone.
The ability to craft is also noticeably absent, which, unlike mining, does actually have some basis in the dungeon-crawling genre. Rather than harvesting materials to craft weapons, armor, and the like, items can only be looted from fallen enemies, supply chests (which are essentially loot boxes scattered across each level), or purchased from a vendor. It was a little disappointing when I'd encounter a crafting table out in the wild, only to realize that it was just a prop.
Having played Telltale Game's excellent Minecraft Story Mode, the meta just doesn't feel authentic unless crafting and building are integral to the narrative.
Mind you, if Minecraft Dungeons managed to nail the dungeon-crawling gameplay that it's trying to replicate, then perhaps the absence of those Minecraft-esque qualities could be forgiven. Unfortunately, and I don't mean this is in a derogatory way, Minecraft Dungeons plays like a mobile game. Not to say that mobile games are inherently bad, but they are typically designed to be playable with a very minimalist control scheme, which can sometimes make those games feel lacking in depth. This is where I think Minecraft Dungeons falters most, as combat can often be reduced to spamming the same button over and over.
Playing on the default difficulty setting, I was chopping through enemies like they were hot butter. Unless I was being deliberately reckless, my allotment of health potions went largely unused, and I found that most if not all enemies could be easily dispatched without putting myself in harms way. While there are two additional difficulty levels above the one included in the beta, I can only imagine how the challenge would scale, if at all, had I been accompanied by a full group of other players.
Now before you write me off as a hater, there were some aspects that I actually enjoyed. Stylistically, there's a lot to like about Minecraft Dungeons. I appreciate that the game stays true to its source material while delivering some subtle visual enhancements. There's something inescapably charming about Minecraft's aesthetic, and I appreciate its presence in a genre that often tries to be overtly dark and moody.
Anyway, that's all I got. While I'm far from being sold on Minecraft Dungeons as a legitimate contender in the dungeon-crawling space, I am somewhat curious to know what it offers in terms of endgame - if anything. I'd like to think it has potential, especially if Mojang has long-term plans for it, but that remains to be seen.
