Review: Minecraft: Story Mode — Episode 1: The Order of the Stone

The co-op gameplay of this title is incredibly engaging and keeps players invested for hours on end. It’s easy to see why most people predict that this game’s full release would serve as one of the most important moments for the survival ge

Sometimes, though, developers go the extra mile and build a vertical slice to demonstrate their game. This is a lot of work – even re-using assets from the game, you’re looking at many hours of scripting and scenario design – but the payoff speaks for itself. Bravely Default’s demo is essentially its own mini-RPG, with three dungeons to conquer, five bosses to fight, and a whole bunch of enjoyable grinding to do in the interim. It has condensed versions of the streetpass and job mechanics from the main game that allow you to familiarize yourself and get to the fun quickly. The demo may take all of its assets from the main game, but it uses them to craft an experience entirely distinct from it. In doing so, it gets straight to the essence of what makes the full game fun. What’s more, if you master the demo, you get rewards to help you out in the early game, as well as a head start on streetpasses.

Witches aren’t exactly the most imposing enemies in Minecraft . After all, they simply look like a Villager dressed in «spooky attire.» One might mistake them for a Villager celebrating Halloween, but ignoring their presence is a mistake. Witches have a nasty poison that lasts for an agonizingly long 45 seconds for any player that’s hit by their toxic concoct

Updated February 22, 2024, by Ben Painter : minecraft Strategy is filled with adorable creatures that gamers are sure to love, but not all entities in the game should be approached. Certain mobs are hostile and will gladly attack the player if they happen to venture too close. Most aggressive mobs can be easily identified thanks to their horrifying designs, but a select few can often leave players wondering whether they should introduce themselves or not. Whether they look terrifying or simply pose a threat, there are several mobs in Minecraft that players should fear, and more are scheduled to arrive with the 1.21 upd

Updated February 22, 2025 by Ben Painter: The latest major update, Tricky Trials, has been released for some time now. Gamers can head back into their worlds to explore older features and build up their worlds. A great way to do this is to start on some easy Redstone contraptions that will make life easier in the game. Some of the ideas in this list are insanely easy to

There are plenty of video games that are developed by AAA studios that are practically expected to be the next big thing in gaming, long before they even hit the market. However, it’s always more exciting when an indie darling can catch everyone by surprise and do even more with substantially less. Such is the case with Don’t Starve Together , the multiplayer update to the acclaimed game, Don’t Sta

The worst aspect about them is that each bite infects the player character with a poison that eats away at their health even after they’ve run away. Getting mobbed by a pack of these in a mineshaft deep underground is a surefire way to meet a horrible death without the right preparat

The episode also alludes to death; a lot. Considering the fact that both Olivia and Axel are completely omitted from the episode save for the prologue, there is basically no comic relief. Not that you should play a game simply for its humor, Minecraft: Story Mode has a reputation for having humor and making friendship stand above all else. While this episode does focus on friendship and how your decisions can shape the future, death always seems to be around the corner and everyone you come in contact with seems to want you to die, or at last Aiden openly expresses it. It also doesn’t help that Aiden and the Blaze Rods were basically considered obsolete until now, so it’s difficult to really believe that he would want to do this to the citizens of Sky City just because he’s jealous. Had this episode focused on why they are being brought back rather than throwing them into a whole new story, the episode would have made a little more sense.

The game shares quite a few similarities with No Man’s Sky in terms of its core mechanics, but where the latter chooses to focus on providing an endless sandbox for players to explore, Space Engineers instead devotes itself to giving its players a first-class multiplayer experience. Whether or not it truly succeeds in this regard is debatable, but it’s hard to argue that what it does provide isn’t both unique and enjoyab

Capcom took a similar approach in 2010 with Dead Rising 2: Case Zero, although that was turned from a demo into a 10 dollar downloadable title. Set in a small town entirely separate from fortune city, it still offered a streamlined version of the core Dead Rising experience – a sandbox packed with improvised weapons, hundreds of zombies, and scattered survivors to save within a set time limit. Players got a cheap taste of the full game without spoiling anything, and their stats carried over to reward the investment of their time and money. It’s impossible to say exactly how Case Zero impacted Dead Rising 2 in terms of sales, but I can testify that it’s what sold me on buying the full game.