Penny Arcade - Comic - Vitamin T

Dog

Penny Arcade - Comic - Vitamin T

Videogaming-related online strip by Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins. Includes news and commentary.

Read the full story here

Grendus

Eh, I'm going to disagree. There are plenty of games that are good for children while still being good games on the whole. Minecraft itself is a good example.

I think the best explanation from a review I've seen (SkillUp) is that Minecraft Dungeons is a great game on Gamepass. It's not worth actually spending money on, but as filler content for a subscription service you already have it's good enough to kill the downtime for a day or two during the lockdown.

ironzerg

I think that's the point he's making. It's not a hardcore ARPG to rival Diablo or whatever.

For someone with kids, it's a freaking blast to play with them. It's a great gateway game to get them introduce them into the genre.

Or are we saying Minecraft Dungeons isn't a good game in general? Because that's not true, either.

Preacher

My 4 year old loves playing minecraft dungeons, he's also super terrible at it and guilts his mother over destroying a sword he wasn't using... Like 3 days later! Its been a fun game for me, I like the loot variety and true classesless gameplay. It seems like the things people hate about it are the things I liked.

MarcinMN

I picked it up last night for the Switch but haven't had much time to play yet. I only went through what I assume is basically a little tutorial level. There weren't many monsters, but after I was done I could choose other areas, so I'm assuming that's the start of the game proper. I have no kids, so I don't have an excuse there for buying it. I just thought it looked fun and really $20.00 isn't that big of a deal to me. I grew up in the age of $60 NES games, so you probably aren't going to catch me saying, "This game isn't worth 'x' number of dollars..."

shoeboxjeddy

Kids like Minecraft and that's 1000 times more complex than this game though. I feel like this argument is very poorly constructed. "My kid likes this game and they've never played a game like this before... and also it's based on their favorite brand." Gee, that's a bulletproof positive review right there.

ironzerg

shoeboxjeddy wrote: »

Kids like Minecraft and that's 1000 times more complex than this game though. I feel like this argument is very poorly constructed.

Which is a bullshit answer. Minecraft Dungeons is a different game than Minecraft. It just is.

It's like saying Diablo sucks because Civilization is way more complex. Not to mention that just because a game is more complex doesn't mean it's better or more fun.

shoeboxjeddy wrote: »

My kid likes this game and they've never played a game like this before... and also it's based on their favorite brand." Gee, that's a bulletproof positive review right there.

Did you even read the attached commentary? Because that's part of the large point they're making here. It's a fun game that kids like. Something new that they've never played before. Oh, and it's also based on their favorite brand. And it can act as a gateway towards a new genre for young gamers. Which is extremely important because we DON'T see a lot of games like this. Very high quality, polished, and family friendly titles that help parents expose their young gamers to different genres in a very approachable manner.

I'd also argue that there is a nice level of depth and complexity to the game once you start getting into the harder difficulties, with more weapons, armor, items, and enchantments. It's actually extremely well built in that every weapon, armor, and enchant combination has a nice level of interaction such that you're constantly finding new routes to a powerful character is impressive. I've started playing more games by myself than with my kids because I need to tease out all those combinations. Just over the last two or three days I've found what I was certain is the most powerful weapon/armor/enchant combination, then something else pops up, I upgrade and start smashing hordes of monsters again.

It is a really, really, really well-done game and I hope they continue to build on it. Which is another point to consider. Ten years ago, Minecraft didn't have nearly the complexity or content that is has now. And by the looks of it, the plan is to slowly add more and more to Minecraft Dungeons, perhaps building in a greater level of complexity. Which would be shockingly cool, as it would help slowly introduce new elements into the game, creating a path towards teaching young gamers more and more about ARPG type games. It could be a really beautiful thing.