Minecraft Dungeons II
Summary
- Minecraft Dungeons II builds on the original game with an all-new story, an emerging threat, an Overworld map, new gear slots, among many other tweaks and enhancements.
- With added mechanical depth and all of the approachable gameplay from the first title, it will be an excellent and accessible co-op game for a wide variety of players.
- Minecraft Dungeons II arrives on September 29, and will be available for XBOX Series X|S, XBOX on PC, cloud, and included with Game Pass. Play it on both console and PC at no additional cost with XBOX Play Anywhere. Also available on Steam, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2.
I’ve enjoyed ARPGs (action role-playing games) ever since discovering the original Diablo as a preteen, but they really clicked a few years later when Diablo II became the first game I played online with friends. The ecstatic flashing colors of exploding demon hordes combined with the drip feed of incrementally better loot cast a soothing spell that I find is best enjoyed with company. Later on, when I finally played Diablo III in couch co-op on a console instead of with mouse and keyboard, I understood: ARPGs are for chilling.
Having played a demo after its XBOX Games Showcase appearance, Minecraft Dungeons II understands this, and has clearly been built from the ground up to allow as wide a range of players as possible to jump in and have fun, from casual ARPG dabblers, up through more hardcore genre devotees.
You’ll want to explore in no small part because Minecraft Dungeons II looks and sounds fantastic. Going back and comparing to the original game, the difference feels like going from out-of-the-box Minecraft to adding some great texture and shader mods that maintain the spirit of the base game, but are enhanced to take advantage of your GPU and look much more alive.
The most obvious enhancement may be the lighting engine, which is vibrant and dynamic. Going from dappled sunlight through trees that shifted as the sun moved to a dark cave lit by torchlight and the eerie, bioluminescent glow of sculk was a great contrast, and demonstrated how much light ties it all together with a strong sense of place.
Into the Depths
The demo comprised a cave delve in which I spiraled deeper and deeper into the earth, being jumped by slimes, skeletons, spiders, and illagers from out of the darkness. It climaxed with an exciting boss fight against the Twisted Warden, which is like a supersized and extra powerful version of the already-scary Warden enemy from Minecraft. It was a fun capstone to the dungeon that showed off a bit of spectacle.
Like in the first game, you don’t choose a class but rather build out your own through the gear that you curate. You have a melee and a ranged weapon, three artifact slots (serving as active abilities or spells), and – new to the sequel – you now have four armor slots for deeper customization and three slots for talismans that provide passive bonuses to further sculpt your build.
My favorite talisman that I found was a bone that summoned a dog companion to fight alongside me. In addition to attacking, they also draw aggro and take damage, respawning on a short timer after going down (or, in maybe the most harrowing moment of my demo, when a section of cave floor collapsed under us and I rolled to safety while they tumbled into the void, not yet knowing if or how they would respawn).