We analyze in depth Minecraft Dungeons, the arrival of the saga to a new genre. Execution fails by failing to make simplicity a virtue.
Minecraft Dungeons closes the first half of 2020 by the Xbox division. In these first six months of the year, the company has supported the march towards new horizons of its main brands. We saw it in April with the excellent Gears Tactics, to later move on to the title at hand, of which we cannot say the same.
And it is that our passage through the final version is far from the good feelings that it transmitted to us on the stage of the X019. The potential it showed in that demo has not been exploited in any way throughout the main journey. Its execution has not made simplicity a virtue.
Capeless hero
All our passage through Minecraft Dungeons is a want and I can not. From the meeting point to the levels themselves, all aspects of the game are halfway to an action RPG that has the bases to do something great, but fails to get anywhere. Progress is one of the examples of how unsuccessful it is.
There are no established archetypes or roles; Your hero is a character like any other, with his melee weapon, armor, ranged weapon, and artifacts as accessories. As we equip new items, power will increase, a value different from the character level that will determine our strength against that of the enemies. Therefore, leveling up will earn us new enchantment points, with which to unlock passive upgrades within each piece. The endgame delves a little deeper into the number of enchantments available.
If it already seems limited on paper, it is even more so in practice. There is no need to manage these points at any time, you simply improve the pieces until you touch one of higher power. At that time you break the previous one and you get the total sum of the spent ones, in addition to a percentage of emeralds. To progress, you are in the hands of a drop system that is not working as it should.
That is something that alone may not be so obvious, but when you play cooperatively you see that something is wrong. In our case, we spent half the adventure with another partner. By playing the exact same thing, we get to be 5 power levels above him. Why? Because in his world drops had not been so frequent, and when he did, the climb was rare.
Currently the feeling of reward fails completely. The feeling that in exchange for your bravery you are offered succulent objects with which to improve. It scales slowly and awkwardly, since the only way to increase power is subject to what the game wants. No more no less. It would have been a success if the two characters in the camp had an impact on this aspect, but like almost everything in Minecraft Dungeons, they are pure facade.
A coin in the air
As we proceed, two characters will join the meeting point, a quiet place to jump between missions. The first time you see the blacksmith you think that it will be key to be able to improve those equipment that you want to keep, either for its potential in enchantments or simply for its aesthetics. Gross mistake. When you talk to him, it turns out that he only offers a random gear chest "appropriate for your level." For the small price of 98 emeralds you can play this kind of Russian roulette until you run out of white. You will think that it is worth it, that this fills the empty holes left by the drops of the levels. Another disappointment: they are usually below the level of character and power you are in.
At least the other NPC, the errant vendor, is up front. It offers another trunk with which to get "a random artifact appropriate to your level." This time a little more expensive than its traveling companion, 197 emeralds. Again, the roulette continues to spin until the game decides to drop something that improves your power. If he doesn't want you to progress, you won't. As much as you repeat levels, no matter how much you buy chests, no matter how much you do on your side: playing Minecraft Dungeons is a coin.
The nine missions that make up the adventure can be completed in just three hours, depending on how lucky you have been with drops. Mojang clings to the procedural generation of levels to give extra replay value for his two extra game modes: Adventure and Apocalypse, unlocked by completing the previous one. The truth is that the levels denote a lack of blatant design.
There are certain hand-designed parts, most notably the main rooms, that are held fixed in the process, but the rest is a succession of hallways that do not reward exploration at all. It is usual to comb them completely and see that apparently secondary areas are dead ends. Not a mere chest. Coin again: If a chest is generated, that alley will be rewarded; If fortune smiles on us, maybe there is even a mini-dungeon. It is not usual.
Lost opportunity
It gives the feeling of facing a product made in a hurry. Some missions do not even culminate with a single final boss, but with waves of enemies as yet another situation. And when special enemies are presented, their appearance stretches as much as possible. You'll end up tired of repeating the combat mechanics against the Redstone Golem. There is no great bestiary, nor does it take advantage of the Minecraft license as well as it should.
Yes, we will kill relentless hordes of zombies, skeleton archers, creepers, spiders and more. The appearance of the Endermans is anecdotal. During the final stretch, summoning villagers are abused, increasing the power of a particular enemy. Those moments, at least, have some substance. The synergy between enemies works well, but Minecraft has the potential to do much better, instead of taking four icon elements and putting them in a cocktail shaker.
It may even sound like a lost opportunity. The brand has several symbols that have already become a sign of pop culture. Pickaxe (at least appears as a weapon), build … it would have been great to incorporate some construction or mining mechanics as an extension of the base game. The result differs completely, even the musical themes are wasted.
Technical problems are another obstacle encountered in our journey through Minecraft Dungeons. We have gone through unexpected closings towards the interface, disappearance of enemies … even bosses. It was a strange situation our first time with the final boss. As soon as he entered the area, he merged with the stage and died instantly. Things in life, maybe. It was as fleeting as the strength of the main plot, a mere thread that leads nowhere.
Cooperative features put up to four simultaneous players upon invitation (without matchmaking), although crossplay is not available at launch. It will come with a free update in the future. Not everything is bad. The control is clean and the combat works well, without boasting. The use of artifact skills is vital to circumvent enemies, who in high difficulties gather in large numbers.
There is no doubt that at the controls it is a fun experience during the first hours, especially in cooperative. Once the initial surprise has dissipated, it is a constant looped repetition of a game that does not invite you to review its dungeons. Yes, the extra modes add new enchantments and offer more intense battles. What use is it to me if I don't like the content wheel on offer? It is repeating over and over soulless levels over and over again; There is no reason to continue playing. Minecraft Dungeons stays on the shore trying to offer the bases of the action RPG.
The Reviews has been carried out on Xbox One X using a code supplied by Microsoft
CONCLUSION
Minecraft Dungeons is a want and I can't. A game that fails to make simplicity a virtue. There is a lot of room for improvement, but it gives the feeling of facing a missed opportunity. There are serious problems in the mechanics regarding the loot, as well as a level design far from its rivals. There is little reason to recommend it, especially considering the poor performance of the genre pillars. Not to mention technical errors.
THE BEST
- The control, refined; some moments of intensity during combat.
- Different difficulty settings to find the experience you prefer.
WORST
- Poor level design.
- Loot system problems.
- It makes simplicity not a virtue.
- Playable bugs and bugs.
- There is no reason to continue playing …
Improvable
It can have acceptable elements and entertain, but in general it is an experience that will not leave a mark.
