Minecraft: Dungeons recently released a closed beta version. People could sign up at https://dungeons.minecraft.net/ to join, but since itâs a closed beta, not everyone who signed up will receive a key. From what Iâve read, it also seems that keys were sent out and no more would be given, so if you didnât get one to start with, youâll probably not be able to join in the beta. Thatâs ok though as the game is going to be released on May 26, 2020. There are two editions already available for pre-order including the $20 Standard Edition and the $30 Hero Edition. The latter, âincludes a Hero Cape, two player skins, and a chicken pet usable only within Minecraft Dungeons.... Read All
Minecraft: Dungeons recently released a closed beta version. People could sign up at https://dungeons.minecraft.net/ to join, but since itâs a closed beta, not everyone who signed up will receive a key. From what Iâve read, it also seems that keys were sent out and no more would be given, so if you didnât get one to start with, youâll probably not be able to join in the beta. Thatâs ok though as the game is going to be released on May 26, 2020. There are two editions already available for pre-order including the $20 Standard Edition and the $30 Hero Edition. The latter, âincludes a Hero Cape, two player skins, and a chicken pet usable only within Minecraft Dungeons. It also includes two DLC packs, when they become availableâ according to the Minecraft: Dungeons website. I plan to get the latter as I like the game and feel like even the extra special edition is still relatively cheap and a good bargain value that canât quite be denied.
Minecraft: Dungeons is basically a Minecraft version of Diablo or other similar RPG dungeon crawler games. The player or players traverse dungeons fighting enemies along the way to reach the end goal. There is of course a story tied to this. Combat is quite simple, just point and click (on the PC). You can use a melee weapon such as a sword or sickles, but you can also use a bow with arrows. Basically, by default on PC, you click the left mouse button to attack with the sword and then click the right one to shoot an arrow. There are also other items you can use, with the 1-3 keys on PC, called artifacts. These give different power ups. One of them summons a wolf, which will fight with you. It can die, but can be summoned again after a cool down period. Thereâs only one piece of armor, but there are different kinds of it that are more appropriate for what kind of character youâre playing as. Some armor will boost ranged attacks, while some will boost melee attacks, and more. You donât really chose a class type as you would in Diablo, itâs pretty much the armor piece that takes that role.
While playing, youâll run into many familiar pieces of Minecraft including enemies like zombies, skeletons, chicken jockies, and illagers. Enemies can drop goodies like food, which are used instantly for regeneration, but they can also drop potions, which give different kinds of buffs. For instance, thereâs a swiftness potion and a shadow essence potion. Youâll notice that spiders actually act differently in that theyâll shoot web at you, which will make you stick in place for a few seconds. Some enemies, like zombies and skeletons have armored versions and some can even be enchanted. Some times a TNT block will be dropped and you can use it, with the right-mouse button on the PC. It will light a radius around it, so you know the range of the area of affect and can try to avoid it. Some arrows can also explode on enemies.
There are many levels of difficulty, but youâll start with the default one and advance from there. The higher the difficulty, the harder the enemies and the better rewards youâll get for completion. You can die in the game, but it seems you get three lives. Right now, in the beta, there are only three mission areas available, but theyâre all procedurally generated. Tied with the difficulty scale, this creates a great level of replayability. Each mission area has secrets, like chests or mini-dungeons you can find. When finishing a mission, youâll get a screen that shows you how much you healed, your ranged accuracy, secrets chests found, etc. Youâll also get a chest that contains some loot. Along the way, youâll also collect emeralds, which you can trade to a villager or stationary travelling villager at your camp for armor, weapons, and artifacts. While on a mission, you can, by default on PC, press Tab to reveal a map overlay, which will stay on your screen and help guide you around, so you can try to check every area. I find this to be a little distracting, though. I think perhaps if the overlay were at the top corner of the screen or lighter then it would be better.
One other point to note is that you can play multiplayer. Itâs up to four players. The game will be available on Xbox One, Windows, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation 4.
So far Minecraft: Dungeons looks fun and enjoyable. There are a couple of YouTube channels I subscribe to and was able to watch the game being played and it seems as those content creators were enjoying the game very much. I anticipate that it will be a popular game, since itâs Minecraft and fun and enjoyable, as I mentioned, but also because it will be so widely available for a good price.
Let me know what you think about the game if youâve seen anything about it or have beta access. Is this something youâll pre-order or get a launch? Which edition would you get? Let me know in the comments!
And thank you, Jon, for giving me a code, I greatly appreciate it!
Minecraft: Dungeons is basically a Minecraft version of Diablo or other similar RPG dungeon crawler games. The player or players traverse dungeons fighting enemies along the way to reach the end goal. There is of course a story tied to this. Combat is quite simple, just point and click (on the PC). You can use a melee weapon such as a sword or sickles, but you can also use a bow with arrows. Basically, by default on PC, you click the left mouse button to attack with the sword and then click the right one to shoot an arrow. There are also other items you can use, with the 1-3 keys on PC, called artifacts. These give different power ups. One of them summons a wolf, which will fight with you. It can die, but can be summoned again after a cool down period. Thereâs only one piece of armor, but there are different kinds of it that are more appropriate for what kind of character youâre playing as. Some armor will boost ranged attacks, while some will boost melee attacks, and more. You donât really chose a class type as you would in Diablo, itâs pretty much the armor piece that takes that role.
While playing, youâll run into many familiar pieces of Minecraft including enemies like zombies, skeletons, chicken jockies, and illagers. Enemies can drop goodies like food, which are used instantly for regeneration, but they can also drop potions, which give different kinds of buffs. For instance, thereâs a swiftness potion and a shadow essence potion. Youâll notice that spiders actually act differently in that theyâll shoot web at you, which will make you stick in place for a few seconds. Some enemies, like zombies and skeletons have armored versions and some can even be enchanted. Some times a TNT block will be dropped and you can use it, with the right-mouse button on the PC. It will light a radius around it, so you know the range of the area of affect and can try to avoid it. Some arrows can also explode on enemies.
There are many levels of difficulty, but youâll start with the default one and advance from there. The higher the difficulty, the harder the enemies and the better rewards youâll get for completion. You can die in the game, but it seems you get three lives. Right now, in the beta, there are only three mission areas available, but theyâre all procedurally generated. Tied with the difficulty scale, this creates a great level of replayability. Each mission area has secrets, like chests or mini-dungeons you can find. When finishing a mission, youâll get a screen that shows you how much you healed, your ranged accuracy, secrets chests found, etc. Youâll also get a chest that contains some loot. Along the way, youâll also collect emeralds, which you can trade to a villager or stationary travelling villager at your camp for armor, weapons, and artifacts. While on a mission, you can, by default on PC, press Tab to reveal a map overlay, which will stay on your screen and help guide you around, so you can try to check every area. I find this to be a little distracting, though. I think perhaps if the overlay were at the top corner of the screen or lighter then it would be better.
One other point to note is that you can play multiplayer. Itâs up to four players. The game will be available on Xbox One, Windows, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation 4.
So far Minecraft: Dungeons looks fun and enjoyable. There are a couple of YouTube channels I subscribe to and was able to watch the game being played and it seems as those content creators were enjoying the game very much. I anticipate that it will be a popular game, since itâs Minecraft and fun and enjoyable, as I mentioned, but also because it will be so widely available for a good price.
Let me know what you think about the game if youâve seen anything about it or have beta access. Is this something youâll pre-order or get a launch? Which edition would you get? Let me know in the comments!
And thank you, Jon, for giving me a code, I greatly appreciate it!
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I might write some first thoughts on this but from a high level Minecraft Dungeons is incredibly well polished and brings a very focused simplicity to the Diablo game genre.
Iâm fairly certain Iâll pick this up on Switch.
Yeah, I agree. It did have some issues, but they have been patched AFIK. The game used to freeze or lock up, but I'm not sure if it still does that. You're absolutely right about "focused simplicity to the Diablo game genre," that's quite exactly what it is. It's a simplified version of a game like Diablo, but it's Minecraft and fun. I think I'll pre-order the Hero Edition next month as that's when it gets released.