It was only a matter of time before Minecraft got some kind of spin-off series going, It was just a matter of time. So when this Minecraft dungeon crawler spin-off was announced, I had my hesitations. It's not an easy genre to take on but shockingly, It fits. Minecraft blends perfectly with the dungeon crawler gameplay to create a mostly satisfying but flawed game.
Being geared towards a more general audience means that Diablo vets may not enjoy the lack of complexity that this game has to offer. The gameplay is very straightforward, it's very easy to pick up and master but that is the point. Especially when you considered this game is more geared towards a younger audience, I think the lack of depth in the gameplay helps more than it hinders. It's something that I think will improve greatly over time but considering it's the first game of the series, I'll give it a pass because I still find it enjoyable to play. Even though it is kind of reduced to a button masher more than anything else.
Now there are two big issues that I have with the game. The first is the loot. The rarity of the drops is just too inconsistent. 95% of the time, It's weak common items that you'll instantly get rid of. I wish they'd increase the drop rate, especially when the lack of quality loot really cripples you later on in the game. There's also a severe lack of variety among the loot as well. You'll mostly get the same loot (possibly at a higher power level) throughout the game and only get different ones if you trade with the merchants at camp. Trading requires gems and it takes an awfully long time to build them up but a shockingly short amount of time to waste them all. The real issue I have with trading is that you aren't guaranteed a new item, they're often common items and I've had it where I've gotten the same thing 2-3 times in a row. Item drops should have more variety, Gems should be easier to get ahold of and merchants should sell things like a typical shop and not just be a random item each time.
I would also like them to fix the weird difficulty ratings for every mission. So you have the standard campaign difficulties (normal, advanced, apocalypse) and then there are sub-difficulties for each mission in terms of power. Power is your level plus the quality of gear, The higher the power the more difficult the game is. So if the recommended power for the mission is 20, I could be at power level 19 and still play it. I could even play it on the higher power level recommended (which is 27). The game, however, will not let me play it at a lower power level. So if the previous recommended power level was 18 and I was power level 19, It will not let me play it at the previous level but instead the higher level, which is more challenging considering I am not as powerful as recommended. It's a weird system that they need to change ASAP as it makes no sense at all.
Overall: 6/10
Minecraft Dungeons is a fun yet flawed game that is definitely worth checking out but the flaws are very glaring and will definitely lead to a lot of irritation, especially later on in the game. I would also strongly recommend playing with a friend, It's a lot more fun.
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