Ever since its acquisition of Mojang in 2014, Microsoft has done quite a bit to grow Minecraft, with Minecraft Earth and Minecraft Dungeons being the latest spinoffs. The latter now has a less vague release time frame at last.
Dungeons was initially teased at MineCon 2018, and then got a short gameplay reveal trailer at E3 earlier this year. As the name implies, this is essentially a dungeon crawler / ARPG in the vein on Diablo, but which borrows the blockier aesthetic of the base game. The title also features pets, which some may be familiar with from Runic’s Torchlight series.
The title offers up to four-player local and online co-op, and challenges that culminate with the defeat of the Arch-Illager using melee or ranged attacks – depending on your preference. Like in any self-respecting ARPG, you’ll be able to unlock unique items, and even enchantments for weapons so you can use special attacks.
There are no classes in the game, so items aren't limited to a certain type of play style. Furthermore, the game includes enemies called Enchanters, which can make other mobs stronger, and thus harder to defeat. The small slice of gameplay showcased during the event showed off the game's revive mechanic, the ability for players to throw TNT, and even solving of puzzles, which leads to the unlocking of rooms with hidden treasures.
Minecraft Dungeons will be available to purchase in April 2020 for Windows 10, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and via Xbox Game Pass on launch.
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