Minecraft

Genre: Open-World Action-RPG / Misc.

Players: 1-4 Co-Op (Local Split-Screen), 2-8 Co-Op (Online)

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Review:

Note: This is an outdated review. You can find the updated review here.

Minecraft is an Open-World game with Action-RPG elements that probably needs no introduction since it’s kinda’, you know, one of the most popular, well-known games of the last decade. However, in case you somehow aren’t familiar with it, let me give you a proper introduction.

Minecraft is many things in one, but we’ll start by saying that it is the ultimate “sandbox” game, a game where you’re given a world to play with, and it’s up to the player to make of that world what they will. It is an infinitely large world to explore, it is the ultimate box of LEGOs to create with, it is a world for you to tear apart and recreate at your whim, block by block.

Players start plopped down somewhere in the world, with zero instructions or direction. There are no clear goals or anything like that. For new players, this can be seriously daunting – the lack of any basic tutorial here is one of the game’s bigger flaws. However, before long just through trial and error, players have undoubtedly discovered that they can tear apart the world around them by gradually punching it, that their menus include a system to create new tools and items using these blocks they have gathered, and that once night falls, the land fills up with dangerous monsters, so building a shelter is one of the first orders of business.

After getting used to the game, the player will likely move on to collecting various different kinds of blocks, likely finding that tunneling down into the earth is one of the best ways to gather precious resources. They will have discovered how to build a crafting table and a furnace, which will help them to create better tools and more useful materials, and soon enough they’ll be well on their way to using this core set of abilities to carve out their own personal niche in this massive world.

While this early part of the game can frustrate new players, once a player is acquainted with how this game works, Minecraft is surprisingly player-friendly to players of all ages. In part this is because of its “make of it what you will” design, that lets players decide what part of the game appeals to them most and then focus their efforts on that.

Do you like to explore? This world is literally infinite. Go out and explore to your heart’s content! And hey, bring a map with you so you can chart everything while you go, Copernicus! Want to gather resources? There’s no end to the potential wealth of resources you can gather. Want to build? As long as you have the resources, you can build anything. Want to increase your abilities? As you gather specific resources, you can slowly work your way up to crafting yourself better and better supplies until you’re an unstoppable juggernaut (though you’ll still want to watch out for those exploding Creepers!). Farming, finding natives and trading, reinforcing your base of operations, interior decorating… there is so very much to do here, you could play for thousands upon thousands of hours and never see the end of it.

You may have noticed that while each of these things is a worthy pursuit in and of itself, many of them tie into each other. You can’t dig very effectively if you don’t have the proper tools, it’s hard to gather resources without exploration, and you can’t craft to your heart’s content without the proper resources. So to some extent, players will have to do a little of everything… or they can play with friends.

That’s one of this game’s other great strengths, is how well it makes use of Co-Op multiplayer to drive its gameplay. If you have one player working at home to craft resources and build up your home base, one exploring and finding new territory, and one digging through the earth and gathering resources, everyone benefits from each others’ actions.

With this being the case, Minecraft is an absolute utopia of Co-Op play. Players can play locally using 4-player split-screen, they can play online using 8-player online play, they can do a combination of both… this game even supports cross-play for all major platforms (Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC, Android, iOS), one of the first games to do so.

For those who don’t want to deal with the game’s monsters, or gather resources, the game has a creative mode for you to build whatever you want with an endless supply and no interruptions from enemies. If you want to do PvP, there’s an ability to turn that on and off. Want to create a little adventure for friends or to share online? People have done that. Heck, people have made working computers inside the game using a series of electronic switches. In short, this game simply has an absolute wealth of options, and is extremely rewarding in countless ways.

Graphically, this game manages to be both extremely impressive and extremely unimpressive at the same time. On the one hand, object textures are extremely lacking in detail, and the entire world being made of boxlike voxels means that everything in the game has a distinct jagged look. On the other hand, this design means that every single element in the game can be deconstructed, and the world can be endlessly, randomly spawned from the moment you first create it, with no two worlds being alike (unless you use the same “seed” of a code to create them).

In handheld mode, this game performs pretty great – there’s limited draw distance, but the game still plays well in 720p with a solid 60fps framerate. In docked mode, that goes up to 1080p. It’s not the best-looking version of Minecraft, but it’s pretty damn good, and the difference shouldn’t affect play all that much.

Originally, the Switch version of the game had limited worlds, unlike other versions, but it seems that this limitation has been lifted and the Switch can access everything the other platforms can. The Switch also has a few nice features in that players can navigate menus using the touchscreen in handheld mode (apparently not included in the initial release of the game on Switch), and there are Switch-exclusive skins and worlds for players to access (more specifically, Mario-themed content). And while over the last year or two the Switch version was known to be prone to some problems with bugs, for the most part that seems to be in the past at this point, and it’s all smooth sailing from here.

Really, the only thing the Switch version of the game now lacks compared to the versions on other, more powerful hardware, is the shorter draw distance, and the lack of some of the modding tools available on PC (though players on Switch are free to purchase skins, worlds, textures and the like that others have made available on the in-game shop). So while I cannot call this the definitive version of the game, it is absolutely the best-case scenario on the Switch – a superb version of one of the best videogames ever made.

If you somehow haven’t gotten Minecraft on another platform, you should absolutely get the game on the Switch – it is a generation-defining game for a reason, and it packs endless hours of fun for multiple types of play. If you do already have a version on another platform, you still might want to consider getting the Switch version as well – you’re not likely to find a better version of the game in handheld form. In any case, this is absolutely a must-have game, regardless of whether or not you get it on the Switch.

tl;dr – Minecraft is a family-friendly Open-World sandbox game with Action-RPG elements that has you deconstructing and rebuilding the world at your whim, with endless possibilities for those looking to create or explore. After some initial hitches that have since been resolved, the Nintendo Switch release of the game is an excellent version that, while not quite as good as other versions, is still absolutely superb, and well worth owning if you don’t have it already, or want to play the game in portable form. In any case, you should absolutely have a version of this game on at least one of your gaming devices.

Grade: A++

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