Ross Hodge – @RossHodge42
During 2020 I managed to start over a hundred games that released throughout the year, but managed to have the most fun with Minecraft Dungeons.
I limited my selection for GOTY to refrain myself from choosing remasters. I would be bias if I didn’t, and end up picking Mafia 2 or Modern Warfare 2 remasters even though both weren’t perfect. I’m not the biggest Minecraft fan, but even I can’t deny how fun this co-op or single player game can be. It’s a simple version of an RPG dungeon crawler adapted for all ages to enjoy. It was never hard to understand and can be picked up and put down easily.
The mix of old items from the original Minecraft make an appearance with new weapons. Armor and weapons also each have unique enchantment slots and can increase up to 3 enchantments per weapon as you level up higher. So, as you level up, you’ll see better loot dropped that’s in the same range of your current power level. Since your power level is always rising, you are always switching out your load outs between missions and are trying new weapons for each mission to experience a new play style. Different missions have unique loot pools, so if you play one level repeatedly you won’t see too much variation from the drops. This loot system encourages the player to switch up their gameplay from being an archer to a swordsman often.
You can equip a bow, a melee weapon, and special items. Special items are reusable items that can buff your attacks or boost your speed. You can even have pets follow you and help fight the onslaught of enemies you’ll encounter, such as a pet Golem, Llama or Wolf. The loot drop system will encourage you to keep rolling new weapons on a certain level with the hope of getting a great enchantment selection for a sweet combo effect. The game was balanced quite well and shined when playing with friends on harder difficulties. I managed to play the game almost exclusively with friends and also enjoyed playing couch coop when possible.
I love coming back to the new updates to enjoy the game’s grind for levels again with friends as it doesn’t take long. When new updated content is added to the game, it typically brings a new area with new loot to be found. I didn’t personally enjoy scrapping my current enchanted weapons for a return of my enchantment abilities, but the levelling is continuous so you could grind levels to be able to have multiple overpowered weapons in your inventory.
Being an Xbox Games Studio developed game, it is a part of Game Pass and I would imagine it staying, possibly permanently. So, if you’re already a member you could play it today if you haven’t already. The updates are tied to paid content, but are reasonably priced for the hours of enjoyment you will get out the new missions and new loot added. Game Pass members even receive a small discount for buying individual DLC or the season pass.
