With Minecraft Dungeons, the iconic brick-breaking franchise has begun to experiment with new formulas. And while the game occasionally struggles with a lack of variety, the fundamental experience crafted by the rebranded Mojang Studios should be enough to attract new fans to the ARPG genre.
The best thing about Minecraft Dungeons is its devotion to the source material, which early Minecraft Dungeons interviews highlighted. It looks and sounds like the original game, just with a new perspective. Each building feels like it could be recreated in the original Minecraft by a team of dedicated players, and that works to the game's advantage. It gives Dungeons a charm that will help most overlook its flaws, especially parents using it to bond with their kids. It's clear Mojang Studios loves the game it's created — and the rest of the franchise along with it.
Zombies slowly march towards players with the same determination they do in standard Minecraft, innocent animals find themselves caught in the crossfire of battles, and the admittedly thin story adds a bit more depth to the franchise. Dungeons is at its peak when it plays into Minecraft's tropes, making it feel like players are on some grand adventure, though the first playthrough will only take a few hours to complete.
There are some stunning environments too, even with the blocky aesthetic. Minecraft Dungeons is beautifully lit with interesting architecture, resulting in a Lord of The Rings movie vibe in some levels. Long term, it may be difficult for the game to hold its appeal, as there's a limited spread of missions at launch, which players are going to have to go through multiple times. However, the ending of Dungeons teases more to come, and the game's map features an additional adventure "coming soon," though it does appear to be a paid expansion.
The core gameplay loop is similar to what one would expect from Diablo or Wolcen, though it's clear from the get-go that this is an ARPG for first-timers. Players only have three ability slots, though they can be swapped freely; there are no class restrictions, and the enchantment levels gained whenever a player levels up — which are spent on adding new powers to gear — are refunded if that piece of equipment is dismantled.
As players gather more loot, they raise their power level - the best measure the game has for determining where players are at. Each mission has a minimum and maximum power level, with a variety of difficulty levels that allow players to tailor the challenge to their liking. After beating the story once, players will unlock the "Adventure" difficulty, which increases the number and power of enemies.
It's here that Minecraft Dungeons really begins to take shape, especially for those that build their character with Spirit abilities. With those, the player steadily fills a gauge each time they kill an enemy and then they canx be unleashed for healing or damage. They're the best abilities that Minecraft Dungeons has on offer, able to quickly dismantle a group of enemies or bring health back up to full. The increased number of enemies in the additional difficulty modes make the moves recharge quickly, leading to satisfying moments as players rip through the game's troublesome sections.
And surprisingly enough for a beginner ARPG, players will find themselves in trouble from time to time. Certain spots have large densities of ranged enemies, which can quickly whittle down a health bar for those that aren't careful. In the early hours, this isn't much of a problem, but as the game presses on, it can be easy for Minecraft Dungeons' mobs to shred through players that aren't paying attention.
Die three times, and the game kicks players back to the camp. Here, players are able to purchase new gear and find chests containing emeralds, the game's primary currency. There are vendors selling both weapons and artifacts at random, which can quickly lead to players burning through their cash reserves trying to find a decent weapon. Luckily, each level displays a loot pool as well as a power range for weapons, so those that are fine with grinding through a game will be able to get what they want with enough patience.
There is something of a lack of variety, and certain archetypes of weapons perform far better than others. Players that find a good glaive will have a decided advantage over those using a dagger, as getting too close to groups of enemies frequently results in an untimely death. This can lead to instances where power level is an inaccurate measure of how strong a character is, with weapons that are technically worse on paper giving players more survivability.
It can also be a bit too easy to cheese through boss fights. Most bows do a considerable amount of damage and can fire fairly rapidly, making it the best tool in the game. Arrows are limited in some missions, particularly the last two of the game's campaign, but players will frequently find themselves with hundreds in their reserves, which can be used to make quick work of some of the more powerful enemies in the game.
In some ways, that's encouraged by a slow refill speed for the health potion, which is sufficient in most cases, but can feel painfully underpowered during boss fights. That leads to moments where players are effectively playing cat and mouse, hiding behind obstacles while waiting for the potion's cooldown timer to end. Plus, most healing spells require spirit energy to work, and with a lower number of monsters, those spells are less effective in most boss fights. Luckily, dying doesn't reset a boss's health unless players are sent back to the camp, in which case they have to repeat the entire level.
Bosses do drop the best loot, but they have the least variety. Minibosses, in particular, feature only a few variations, the most common being the Enderman and a Redstone Golem. Some missions require players to fight the same miniboss several times, which feels tedious and repetitive. That being said, they aren't poorly designed, and actually lead to some of the Dungeons' more interesting moments.
Those that are looking for a deep experience with sprawling ability trees and a mountain of Minecraft lore are going to want to look elsewhere, as the game's beauty is in its simplicity. Minecraft Dungeons is a fundamentally sound experience testing the waters for ways the Minecraft franchise can grow. It isn't overly ambitious, but it has achieved what it set out to do - establishing a platform for Mojang Studios to build on. It's easy to see new content fixing the game's lack of variety, which is its sole major issue.
Minecraft Dungeons will release on May 26 for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One. Game Rant was provided a PC code for this review.