As always, this adventure results in a lot of dialogue and action, but three holdover mechanics from
Episode 1 return. Telltale attempts to incorporate the
Minecraft license into the barely-existent gameplay that powers most of these adventures, and in my opinion, none of them work to the experience's benefit.
Let’s start with the crafting itself. While Jesse and friends always ran across crafting tables in their previous adventures, the game took the wheel, sparing them (and you) from ever having to take the time to put each component exactly where it needed to go. Instead, the recipe appeared, you hit a button, and whatever you needed at the time sprang into existence. You no longer have that option. While you have recipes to work with, you have to manually place everything in its right order.
On the subject of wasting time, let’s talk about the combat. Most Telltale games rely on a very simple system; the action is choreographed irrespective of player input, and quick time events are overlaid at specific moments. It’s always uninvolving and unsatisfying, which may be why Telltale has attempted to freshen things up a bit. Certain action sequences are a bit more hands-on this time around; the camera positions itself behind Jesse’s back as he advances towards whatever needs killing. He’s got hearts to signify his health, a stamina bar to dictate how many swings he can take before getting tired, and he can roll out of the way of incoming projectiles. These sequences may be more interactive than the usual QTEs, but they are never actually fun. In fact, I’ll take the QTEs over this any day…
Another moment allows Jesse to build something, Minecraft-style. The game thankfully doesn’t force you to get creative, which is a good thing; while part of me appreciates the developers going to these lengths to establish a relationship with the property it’s adapting, this moment is meaningless from a gameplay perspective.
