The unique voxel art direction of Minecraft has no doubt established an iconic look for Mojang's legendary sandbox, but a fan tries to show what happens when one takes the mob designs from the game and renders them in a more realistic style. Much like Terraria did with its Final Fantasy-inspired pixel art, the strength of Minecraft's visual identity lies in its quaint, charming simplicity. From Minecraft's many biomes to its friendly critters and hostile enemies, the blocky voxel graphics are an irreplaceable part of the game.
Taking this into account, it makes sense why fans often wonder what happens when one brings the world of Minecraft out of Minecraft. There are endless examples of the reverse happening, as the game's talented community has recreated entire fictional universes and meticulously ported them into Minecraft's blocky graphics. On the flip side, a talented player bearing a surprisingly apt name decided to show what would happen to Minecraft concepts such as Endermen and Creepers if they didn't have to obey the voxel art style they were originally made for.
Slight_Crazy's work was posted on the official Minecraft subreddit, with a video showcasing the redesigned mobs in all their gnarly detail. Curiously, the cartoon-like design Slight_Crazy opted for has arguably translated the general concept of each Minecraft mob far better than what a fully-realistic approach could have accomplished. One thing that immediately jumps out in these realistic redesigns is how alien the Minecraft universe is.
When taken at face value, and stripped of its charming visual identity, a lot about Minecraft starts to sound like it belongs in a horror game. The sun setting in Survival Mode signals impending danger, as lanky humanoid figures prowl the night and hunt down any person unlucky enough to gaze into their eyes. Obviously, one doesn't even need to mention the presence of skeletons and zombies in the game, or the existence of a literal dimension of hell in Minecraft's Nether biome.
As a contrast to the game's darker elements, all signs point towards Patch 1.20 for Minecraft being a rather cozy update, as the main features that are making their way next year seem to be a new type of wood in bamboo, the ability to chisel a bookshelf, and the addition of hanging signs to the game. Though no release date has been given yet, Mojang has assured players that Patch 1.20 is on the way, and the current speculation sets the update's launch for sometime between June 2023 and July 2023.
Minecraft is available on Mobile, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.