Minecraft Dungeons is a unique action-adventure title. It takes the beautiful and blocky world of Minecraft and uses it as a setting for the most accessible dungeon crawler we've ever played. It's not easy to create an engaging title that manages to be challenging for a wide variety of ages and abilities, yet Minecraft Dungeons has managed it.
While a basic playthrough can easily be completed in a day, there are still many secrets to explore, items to collect and difficulty settings to beat, giving it replay value beyond the initial sitting.
A New Way To Explore Minecraft
Minecraft Dungeons is based in the world of Minecraft and contains numerous locations, mobs, and situations that appear in the main game. Unlike the sandbox setting of the original, it's a dungeon crawler with a difference.
Comparisons between Minecraft Dungeons and Diablo are to be expected. After all, Blizzard's dungeon crawler franchise is often held up as the yardstick for others to be measured against. While the basic premise is the same, Minecraft Dungeons is a lot more accessible for younger or inexperienced gamers without compromising on fun. It even has a secret cow level that sees you face off against mooshrooms, in a nod to Diablo 2.
Dungeon crawlers are all about exploring, killing, looting, and working together to gear up and defeat more difficult bosses. All of these aspects are present, as are secret chests to discover, hidden areas to explore, and increased difficulty levels to tackle with procedurally generated levels keeping things fresh. However, the more complex elements of classes, gearing, and optimization have been streamlined, making them easier to understand.
The game uses Minecraft mobs, like villagers, illagers, creepers, evokers, and more, to create an easily recognizable distinction between friend and foe. There's also no class system, with all players taking on a simple character with a sword and bow that is customized through gear. Both of these aspects help to make the game more accessible to all ages.
Family-Friendly Fun
Currently, family-friendly games are in demand by many, like myself, who are looking for something everyone can enjoy together. Minecraft Dungeons is fully cooperative and can be played by up to four players. We played on the Xbox and the multiplayer mechanics are nice and simple. Players appear all on one screen, with anyone out of range being "popped" back to the group if they wander too far.
There is a home base where you can safely rest, trade, and sort out your gear. Different missions are then accessed through a map, meaning no complex navigation is needed to locate each area. While these levels still contain secrets, they are easier to follow through than the sprawling maps of other dungeon crawlers, and waymarkers on the ground help guide players in the right direction. Combining this with a huge range of difficulty levels means everyone can join in, especially if you have a more experienced player or two in the group to help things along.
If a player goes down, they can be revived by another. However, if you all die at once you will lose a life. Your team has three lives and after that, you need to restart the mission. It should be noted that a restart won't affect your gear or anything you collected, so if a level is too difficult you can replay an earlier one to acquire better gear and more experience before trying again. There are also suggested gear and experience levels listed for the different difficulty levels to help you work out if your team should be able to cope.
The Drawbacks
The drawbacks of the game are surprisingly few, but there are some, and they do have an effect on how it plays.
In the early game especially, armor often looks the same, so sometimes it can be confusing to spot your avatar at a glance, especially for less experienced gamers. Players are marked by a Px marker on their head, in a color that matches their health bar, but this isn't always easy to spot in the middle of a fight.
Loot is divided up equally and the game decides who gets each piece of gear, meaning no arguments. However, you cannot trade gear; one player may end up with two high-value swords, while another is still using a lower level one. This is the biggest annoyance in the game, but gear is easy to acquire, so it's manageable.
Simple Systems
As well as a simple map, other systems in the game have also been streamlined for accessibility, including gear, enchanting, and boosts.
All gear is labeled by level and rarity, making it easy to spot if you've grabbed an upgrade. While you do need to check individual stats, as these will vary, the numerical system and color markers for quality, help those who are unfamiliar with gearing systems.
Gear can also be enchanted, and the points you need for this are generated as you level. Each piece of gear has limited choices for enchantments, meaning the system isn't overwhelming, but does have some flexibility. If the item is destroyed, the enchanting points are refunded. You don't need to worry about saving them for better gear.
In terms of boosts, various items can be collected and used as you wish, but you can only hold three at once. This is a nice number as it provides a reasonable amount of utility without being too confusing.
Overall, the game is a fun introduction to dungeon crawlers for all the family. While there is still plenty for older or more experienced gamers to enjoy, hardcore dungeon crawler fans will likely find the gear mechanics too limiting. However, this title is not designed for that market. It's every inch a family-friendly co-op or solo player experience, and this is a goal it achieves perfectly.
An Xbox One version of Minecraft Dungeons was played by TheGamer via GamePass for this review. Minecraft Dungeons is available now for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One.
Minecraft Dungeons
Minecraft Dungeons is a spin-off from the smash hit Minecraft, and is a dungeon crawler that sees you and a bunch of friends attempt to defeat the Arch-Illager and save the village. It features co-op play for you and up to three friends, and constant updates adding new Seasonal Adventures.