As one of the most well-known games in the world, Minecraft has been popular to this day with its unique creativity and has a huge community of players supporting it. In addition to the original version, Mojang also wants to expand the influence of the game by creating various branches – what would it be like if the combat and survival parts of the original version were extracted to make a game?

Thus, “Minecraft: Dungeons” came into being; a game with an MC skin, but with ARPG and dungeon exploration as its core. Does it bring an eye-opening experience?

Heroes, Demon Kings, and Adventures

Since Microsoft took over the Minecraft series, the expansion of scale and capital also means that the game can develop more branches to expand the influence and richness of the game and gain more audiences. The previous Minecraft: Storyboard can be seen as MC’s attempt at narrative games, and Dungeons is undoubtedly the studio’s expansion in the direction of action role-playing games.

However, unlike many ARPGs and previous story versions, the plot of Dungeon can be described as “simply passing through”; a man found a powerful artifact, and he became the embodiment of evil after being tempted by power. Together with his followers, he plunged the kingdom into war and terror. As the protagonist, you need to crush its ambitions. This is a typical (and clichéd) adventure story. Although there will be some cutscenes and special performance moments during the game, there are no reversals and foreshadowings, and it basically does not deviate from the development that players can imagine.

The villain attracted by power

Although the subtitle of the game is called Dungeon, in fact, many levels of the game are outdoors – thanks to the lighting and shadow support of the Unreal Engine, the scenes constructed in the iconic pixel block style of MC look more beautiful in this game. From the mines with magma erupting to the swamp jungle filled with fog, different levels have quite different visual effects. And in the fierce battle situation, there are also some special effects to make the scene more gorgeous.

Underground mine

The game’s level maps are generally linear, with randomly generated dungeons for players to explore, which provide various loot rewards. Of course, sometimes the randomly generated maps will also produce some “empty” dead ends, and not every exploration will be rewarded, which may be disappointing. In addition, the game does not support character customization, and players can only choose from dozens of official preset character images, which is somewhat disappointing for a series known for its “creativity”.

When role-playing and equipment merge

Although it is not difficult to see that the game is moving towards a dark ARPG, the difference is that the “role-playing” part of “Minecraft: Dungeons” is not heavy; of course, the game has monsters and upgrades, but there is no direct point addition, profession, or skill tree system. In contrast, these common systems in other RPG games have been split and simplified into the game’s equipment system.

Equipment in brush games has always been the most interesting part for such players, and Dungeon City chose to bind the system to it. In the game, upgrading does not allow the player’s character to obtain direct attribute enhancement, but to obtain an enchantment enhancement point, which can be used to activate the enchantment on the equipment. The equipment part is composed of weapons, armor and relics, and the trinity composed of them is the concentrated “role-playing” part of the game.

Weapons determine the player’s main means of attack. Even weapons of the same type may have different enchantment options due to different quality and levels. For example, a sword with the same name may have an enchantment of berserk or a passive bonus to undead creatures, while other weapons have more possibilities. Different weapons and numerous enchantments allow players to freely display a variety of combat styles.

Even weapons of the same type can have different enchantment options.

Armor plays a role similar to “profession”. In addition to the differences in basic attributes, different types of armor also have a series of additional attributes and enchantments to allow players to fit their own fighting style. For example, the hunter set can increase the upper limit of arrows that players can carry, and the enchantments will have various upgrades to increase long-range power/penetration. The werewolf set allows players to have a series of abilities to create chaos on the battlefield, such as leaving lightning to paralyze the enemy after rolling. Choosing different armor in “Dungeon” is a simplified way to let players experience the tank/warrior/mage professions in traditional RPGs.

Finally, a variety of relics serve as the “skills” part – from an ordinary fishing rod to the ominous Book of the Dead, they can provide a variety of strange but practical skills; fishing rods can pull enemies closer and stun them, fireworks can give arrows a powerful explosion effect, and strange purple mushrooms can put players into a short state of frenzy… Players can equip up to three relics to combine different effects.

Various relics can also be obtained from the loot boxes of cleared levels.

The End of the Underground City

In order to cater to the needs of different players and improve the replayability of the game, Minecraft: Dungeons provides several difficulty settings. Overall, the game has three difficulty levels: Beginner, Adventurer, and Apocalypse.

Under different difficulties, the number, configuration and damage of enemies will change significantly. Under the different 3-level difficulty settings, players can also choose from several difficulties when selecting levels. Although these more detailed difficulties will not drop new equipment, they will drop similar equipment with higher equipment levels, which can also be understood as a link to become stronger through continuous brushing. At the highest difficulty, lone wolves will find it difficult to move forward, and in multiplayer, players also need to match equipment specifically and cooperate with each other to break through. Of course, at the initial difficulty, there are also some challenging enemy combinations and bosses in many levels. Fighting with friends is the most fun part of the game.

Different overall difficulty settings have different drops

From the equipment and difficulty design, it is not difficult to see that the design goal of “Dungeon” is to take care of players of all levels, which makes it the most friendly and easy-to-use game of this type. However, in terms of depth, the game may seem a little lacking.

The blacksmith in the game does not have the option to “make weapons”

First of all, the end-game content has always been the focus of many ARPGs. In Dungeon, many unique items and weapons and equipment can only be dropped at a higher difficulty level, and unlocking the difficulty requires you to clear the previous level. In addition, the equipment drops in the game are bound to the level and not dropped by monsters.

Therefore, players who want to try new things may have to repeat the same work for a period of time. The fatigue caused by repetitive work will be diluted by new equipment skills and professional builds in other ARPGs. However, the simplified and bound equipment system of “Dungeon” makes it difficult to do this. In addition, at high difficulty, due to the existence of equipment enchantment points, when players want to try new combinations, they can only obtain the used enchantment points by recycling previous equipment, which also limits the players’ choices.

The current map of the game, and some of it will be opened later

Even without considering the “shallowness” of the system and the brush part, the main content of “Dungeon” is not substantial. At this stage, the single process of the game is only 4 to 6 hours, and because of the “easy to get started” design concept of the game itself, there will not be much difference in the time it takes to clear the level regardless of the skill level of the players. If you expect to find a similar brush ARPG experience in it, you will undoubtedly be disappointed. For those players who want to adventure with their partners, the length of the game may also be a bit “unsatisfying”.

Of course, considering that Microsoft’s other multiplayer games in recent years have provided considerable content support after sales, perhaps with subsequent continuous updates, “Minecraft: Dungeons” will gradually become a strong presence.

Conclusion: High-quality spin-off

As a derivative work, “Minecraft: Dungeons” is a game designed with the goal of “easy to enjoy”. It combines the characteristics of dungeon exploration and ARPG games, and simplifies them to fit its temperament, creating an easy-to-understand and easy-to-use experience; across swamps, mines, and deserts with different scenery. Choose from a variety of holy weapons, unleash their true potential, defeat the powerful enemies that come, and reap the joy of victory.

Unfortunately, the most praised elements of “Minecraft” are not inherited in this game. The lightweight design goal makes it not have the depth to compete with other similar equipment-driven works, and the amount of content that can be experienced in the game can hardly be called substantial. However, for players who like the MC style and seek a simple adventure experience, “Minecraft: Dungeons” is still a good choice. After playing too many orthodox works that kill brain cells, it is also a very pleasant thing to call your friends to enter the “dungeon” for a relaxing and enjoyable journey.