Ok, folks lets throw this out there quickly. A butterfly effect story-mode version to an open world sandbox game seems quite flabbergasting, no? Minecraft has no ‘real’ ending and many ‘paths’ to follow, but it always lacked a crucial aspect that mindboggled fans for years: a story. With Telltale Games’ Minecraft Story Mode, we finally get a plot to the infamous game but the protagonist doesn’t even turn out to be Steve. (Sad Face)
So with our mind blown, we look at the new narrative-driven, five-part episodic adventure of Jessie, the protagonist in the story. Since Jessie is a neutral name, players can make Jessie a male or female while customizing Jessie’s appearance. The story takes place in the world of Minecraft but with new cast of characters. Jessie and his amazing friends admire the legendary Order of the Stone whom are adventureres who slew the Ender Dragon. The demo at PAX Prime started at which Jessie and his friends attend EnderCon to find out something horrible.
The game literally throws you into the story running for my life as Jessie fleeing from a giant monster from the Nether. As with all Telltale Games, you define the outcome of your gameplay. There are moments where I had to save Petra from being taken by the Nether which directly affects if she is in my party. As I was running away, the game had sequences of QTE and mild combat, but for the most part its story drive with cinematic instances.
In the second part of the demo, I found myself at EnderCon prior to the Nether arriving and am looking for my pig companion Reuben. Sadly Reuben’s costume was caught on fire and he ran away forcing me as Jessie to find him. While walking into the forest, classic elements of the original game display like staying out while its dark brings all horrible monsters out.(Author’s Note: I hate creepers) Moving around to find my porker friend, there are items to be picked up as well as monsters and other animals to come into contact from the original game. Once I find my porker friend and send him off, I do battle with creepers, spiders, and the undead. I had the chance, to my joy, to free-battle attack with a wooden sword! After my character fails to battle off the monsters and get saved my Petra, we run for our lives and the demo ends.
Interesting enough, there are a lot of elements to Minecraft Story Mode that differ greatly from Telltale’s previous games. What’s exciting to know is the new spin on Minecraft has its charm and seems to be able to deliver a new refreshing aspect of the hit sandbox game without making it feel linear or taking away from the original.
If you have kids that love Minecraft, they will absolutely love Minecraft Story Mode. With aspects revolving topics like friendship, courage, adventure, and obviously everything Minecraft, this will sure be a great stocking stuffer for the holidays. Minecraft Story Mode is set to be released sometime late October 2015.
