{"id":14134,"date":"2015-10-20T00:01:23","date_gmt":"2015-10-20T00:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/?p=14134"},"modified":"2015-10-19T13:42:12","modified_gmt":"2015-10-19T13:42:12","slug":"minecraft-story-mode-pc-ps3-ps4-xbox-360-xbox-one-ios-android","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/20\/minecraft-story-mode-pc-ps3-ps4-xbox-360-xbox-one-ios-android\/","title":{"rendered":"Minecraft: Story Mode (PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, iOS, Android)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"minecraft<\/a>Minecraft: Story mode is a point-and-click videogame set in a phenomenally popular brand. \u00a0If you haven\u2019t had contact with a child under the age of 15, you may not know about the cultural phenomenon that is Minecraft. \u00a0Minecraft is a very popular open-ended exploration and building game based around block-like graphics that give it a bit of a LEGO vibe. \u00a0Minecraft: Story Mode is the first game that uses the Minecraft Universe as a setting. \u00a0A cross between a point-and-click adventure and a quick-choice response system (think Dragon\u2019s Lair in the arcade if you\u2019re old enough), Minecraft Story Mode manages to deliver a fun, if simple, game that hits the spot for its target audience.
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\nUsing the standard blocky graphics of Minecraft, Story Mode tells the tale of four (or 5, depending on how you count) unlikely adventurers propelled into an epic tale where they must work together to survive and eventually save the world from a monster unleashed by the epic bad guy. \u00a0The game plays through a series of dialogue choices, a point and click interface, and some time-limited keyboard commands (when told, press \u201cup\u201d quick enough in order to jump over an incoming attack.)<\/p>\n

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\"minecraft-ep1-jesse-f-chickenjump-1445px\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The dialogue choices offer three choices, with a default of silence if a player doesn\u2019t select one with a time limit (pushing the story forward even if you are a very slow\/poor reader.) \u00a0Choices typically range from aggressive to polite\/encouraging choices. \u00a0In many, but not all, situations a message will appear onscreen indicating that particular character \u201cwill remember that.\u201d \u00a0This affects future interactions with that character.<\/p>\n

 
\nAt regular (but somewhat infrequent) intervals, the player is allowed to walk freely around an area, looking for additional items\/information. \u00a0The main points of interaction are easily located as a location target is displayed for most items of interest. \u00a0Click on the target and the interaction occurs (explored, examined, avoided, etc\u2026) \u00a0Clicking on a person typically starts a conversation (presenting you with one or more sets of possible answers as the dialogue continues.)<\/p>\n

 
\nThe final interaction is a sort of action-y trigger based system. \u00a0On the PC, players must quickly press the button displayed on the screen (nearly always a movement button from Q\/W\/E\/A\/S\/D.) \u00a0In some cases the player must press the button repeatedly to \u201cpower up\u201d the particular action. \u00a0This usually occurs when a character is trying to escape or overpower something. \u00a0As a child of the 80\u2019s this strongly reminded me of the old Laserdisc arcade game, Dragon\u2019s Lair.<\/p>\n

 
\nWhile the game provides regular choices, the entire story runs strongly on \u201crails\u201d – meaning most things will happen anyway. \u00a0However, the details of \u201chow\u201d things occur will sometimes differ (but you end up in more or less the same place.) \u00a0This is understandable, since a game of this style can quickly balloon up into many branching trees. \u00a0The effect is smooth, so younger gamers may not notice that the game continues onward along more or less the same route. \u00a0This does limit replayability a bit but a run-through using a positive attitude will have a different vibe than a smarmy one. \u00a0Some choices can kill off one\u2019s character, but this only causes the game to reset to a state just prior to the poor (or too slow) choice.<\/p>\n

 
\nThat said, one interesting feature is the ability to compare one\u2019s choices to others in the online community. \u00a0Several choice points are saved and a menu displays how your choice matched or differed with the rest of the community. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0While most of the game is based on the interactions mentioned, there are a few puzzles scattered throughout the story. \u00a0They tend to be rather easy, and while they take a bit of thinking they can often be eventually solved through semi-random button mashing.
\nThe game is being released in five parts, with only the first part currently available. \u00a0Most current modes of purchasing the game include all five parts, available for download as they are released.<\/p>\n

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\"minecraft-ep1-monsters-1445px\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 
\nFinal Verdict:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Minecraft Story Mode nails it for the target audience of younger (elementary, possibly middle school) kids. \u00a0It isn\u2019t a deep game, but it captures the look and feel of the Minecraft universe. \u00a0It reminds me of the well-done LEGO brand videogames, containing fun challenges along with a healthy dose of general humor as well as plenty of inside jokes for the Minecraft fan. \u00a0While an older adult will not find the game challenging, they may still enjoy the lighthearted tale that progresses at a good clip. \u00a0It is an easy recommendation for the younger set, even if they aren\u2019t already a Minecraft fan.<\/p>\n

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\nKid Factor:<\/strong><\/p>\n

No blood and guts here, although the big bad monster does look like an impressively scary \u00a0monster (albeit one made of LEGOs.) \u00a0While button mashing will most likely progress a player through the game, gamers who can read (for the responses) will feel more like they are a participant. \u00a0Some of the clicking or timed-button pressing may be challenging for the youngest gamers, but if they\u2019re moderately familiar with a mouse\/keyboard or a gamepad (on the console versions) it shouldn\u2019t be too much of a problem.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Minecraft: Story mode is a point-and-click videogame set in a phenomenally popular brand. \u00a0If you haven\u2019t had contact with a child under the age of 15, you may not know about the cultural phenomenon that is Minecraft. \u00a0Minecraft is a very popular open-ended exploration and building game based around block-like graphics that give it a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-game-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14134"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14140,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14134\/revisions\/14140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}