REVIEW: ‘Minecraft Dungeons,’ All the Glam, None of the Gore (Xbox One)

Minecraft Dungeons is a family-friendly dungeon crawler developed by Mojang Studios and Double Eleven. Minecraft Dungeons can be surmised as the Diablo clone you would play if you want to get acclimated with the genre. There’s the main villain, the Arch-Illager, who has planted chaos in the world, and you have your band of merry heroes, though they come premade with various skin tones and hairstyles, with plenty of gear to find, buy, and salvage.

Minecraft Dungeons was a game I didn’t know I needed to play. I have played a lot of dungeon crawlers, from Diablo to Grim Dawn, and the one thing most of the games have in common is a “Mature” rating due to the graphic nature of the game. However, there’s no gore in Minecraft Dungeons, not even when you slay passive mobs like pigs and cows in the hunt for food to replenish your health. The story is pretty light: an ousted villager finds a powerful artifact and seeks revenge on those who slighted him. Your hero’s task is to come in and stop the villager.

As you explore the massive maps, looking for loot, enemies, arrows, and chests, you can come across hidden dungeons or areas of interest that hide hidden levels or even be traps for players. Though the latter is a possibility, it’s still just as much fun to try and survive the outcome.

Heroes in Minecraft Dungeons don’t have a class. Everyone is equipped with a melee weapon, ranging from the standard and trusty sword to fast-swinging daggers, different armors with their own set of default perks, and a variety of different bows. You can also equip up to three artifacts that come in numerous flavors, like the AOE skills of the firework arrow or soul harvester to a healing totem or even a fishing rod that stuns enemies. Utilizing all these items allows players to make their own unique hero. Partner all this with the enchantment system, and you will be making wacky builds all game long. This is a lot of fun because it helps keep players from just sticking to what is perceived as “Best in Slot.”

You may find the same weapon numerous times, but with each weapon comes different enchantments, thus leading to a whole new way to approach the game. Though the game is family-friendly, that doesn’t mean it’s not without its challenges. Mini-bosses and bosses are not something to merely scoff at; they are quite beefy and have very powerful skills and mechanics. You should expect to die against them or, at the very least, expect to have to run away until you can either pop a potion or use a healing totem artifact. Keep in mind these bosses get more powerful as you move up in world difficulty, but so do your potential gear.

There is both local and online co-op, which is something games like Minecraft Dungeons were made for in my personal opinion. I say this because there are areas in some levels that have you severely outnumbered and make you go, “Man, I wish I had someone to play with.” Also, while playing co-op, if you ever do happen to get separated from the action, you can always use the teleport feature and superhero drop into the fray with your friends. Sadly, PC to Xbox cross-play seems not to be working as of yet, but hopefully, they’ll patch that in the next update.

There’s a lot to do in Minecraft Dungeons, and that’s awesome. There’s also something called Island Realms that is currently unavailable for players to access. I am curious to see what it will be and hope it will add massive replayability to this already fun game. Minecraft Dungeons is a blast to play. You have all the mechanics of a fun dungeon crawler with a cute aesthetic. I just hope they add in more things to do in the game before people get bored and move on.

Minecraft Dungeons is available now on PC and Xbox One via Game Pass, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch.