Minecraft It is a phenomenon, without a doubt. The game, which has its origins in browsers back in 2009, has become a very strong cultural wave since the beginning of the last decade. Youtubers launch themselves to success playing it while others, already successful for a long time, now reinvent themselves also playing it, especially now with the launch of Minecraft Dungeons.
However, as much as the game has infinite possibilities within what it proposes, it is an obvious question that it still has limits in gameplay, like any game. THE Microsoft, the current owner of the brand, then reached a decision that, at first, seems strange: to launch a spin-off of the franchise, focusing on another style of gameplay.
Minecraft Dungeons represents the first time that the brand leaves its creative roots and enters a game that has already been made, with very little player action, being another game along the lines of action RPGs like Diablo. Did the mix work?
Short game, artificial durability
The main campaign of Minecraft Dungeons, or the minimum you must play to unlock all the game's functions, lasts for 4 hours if you know what you're doing. During these hours, the player is introduced to the most diverse mechanics, and mainly explores 13 stages with randomly generated layouts, killing enemies and collecting items to improve his character.
Up to this point, the description really resembles other action RPGs a lot, but I think they stop there. Your character has enormous flexibility as to which type of warrior to be, depending 100% on the items you have equipped on him. Not depending on a class system, as in other games of the genre, makes all this a simpler experience, and this is much more noticeable with equipment too.
Instead of you having to hunt down a certain enemy to get him to drop the sword you want, the game presents you with the same sword many times, but with a different strength number and with some unique power. This pseudo-variety makes the search for new items much more tedious, and all this cooperates to create the so-called artificial durability.
The concept of artificial durability is something that has been talked about a lot in gaming publications and reviews for a few years now. By creating situations that are more difficult to happen, which will give some incredible rewards later, the developers maintain the player's engagement with the title for longer, and may even incline them to buy extra content more easily in the promise to help on the way to that piece. .
In the end, the initial 4 hours of Minecraft Dungeons turned 12 with me, who without realizing it was lost in the hunt for a sword with the combination of powers I wanted. And even then, playing more than 8 hours longer than I anticipated the feeling is a bit bittersweet, as regardless of having really good weapons there was no real content to use these acquired skills.
Simple but nice graphics
For the evaluation of the game, we use the version for the Xbox One original from 2013 and in the Xbox series s, Microsoft's new input console released just under a month ago. The graphics have not undergone major changes, as the visual style of the world of Minecraft is hardware-independent to be beautiful, a hit there from its original version. The big difference here is the frame rate, as in Xbox One original, the game ran at less than 30FPS, while in the S series Game stuck at 60FPS.
Playing on both consoles practically means playing two different games. While on Xbox One the Minecraft Dungeons suffers at all times where multiple enemies were on the screen, getting an extremely slower reaction and often taking unnecessary damage, in the Xbox series s I flew through the phases, having full control over each of my actions and plans.
It is likely that if you have a Xbox One X, the game also runs like the Series S, maybe even better. But if you have the One S or the original One, you might want to wait for another opportunity to test the game on Microsoft's consoles.
In terms of music, the game maintains the mood of pleasant music when walking through the green fields or the various mining centers, but in serious moments it gets quite dramatic. But none of the tracks stand out or are memorable, making them easily forgettable.
Conclusion
I'm seasoned with action RPGs, my adolescence can be summed up in hours of Diablo at dawn. I like the genre, and I'm always curious to see what new releases can bring. Minecraft Dungeons it may be, in the end, the “simplest” version available of the genre, but it can still hold players a lot. Riding on the wave of success of its original version, the game certainly deserves attention, even if for a short time without first getting into its artificial durability.
My main caveat, though, is how he could have done a better job of hunting the items. Artificial durability is something that bothers me a lot, especially when you find yourself completing tasks for no specific reason.
Minecraft Dungeons is available for Xbox One (and also runs on Xbox Series X and S), PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and PC (Windows).
