Minecraft Dungeons (2020)

I don't have a ton to say about this one. I played through the main campaign with some friends over the period of a couple months and I liked it! This was the first time I played an isometric dungeon crawler and I think this worked well as an introduction to the genre. It's got enough variety and challenge to have a good time with friends! Figured I'd drop some pros and cons

Pros: interesting upgrades to pick up(and lots of item pick ups), online works pretty well, design and difficulty of the game encourages players to diversify their loadouts on one team without making it feel forced, super easy to learn and control, game looks cool :)

Cons: So much junk to pick up and sort through, the game strongly urges you to repeat levels by making some major item drops random among players(half players might get eye of ender, half might not, or everyone, or nobody 🤷‍♂️), major gimmicks are reserved for later(e.g. elytra in final level and underwater mechanic in DLC), Switch performance can be...spotty(100% playable no regrets, but PC would have been better)

Overall it's a solid little game. I don't think we'll be diving in too deep to all the various DLC, but I can see jumping back in to try out some other stuff here and there. It's not the most amazing experience, but hey if you got some friends and want to play a game to completion I would recommend this!

(+)1. Enjoyed the simplicity of the gameplay, nothing too complex.

(+)2. Great progression system, felt like you were constantly upgrading weapons and armor.

(-)1. By the final few levels, there were far too many enemies and this made it too difficult.

(-)2. Trying to play multiplayer on the Switch was a nightmare. Constant stuttering in every level after a few minutes. Made this mode completely unplayable.

Finally finished the "Default" mode of the game, which unlocked the second difficulty tier. The game is pretty short, but has a decent amount of replayability, as I intend to finish it again. Although I'm enjoying the enchantment and artifacts system, some things are really bothering me.

Later in the game you begin facing shielded mace wielders. They are tanky, dealt a lot of damage, and push you back, making them extremely annoying to fight against. Every single hit essentially mini stuns you, making it a nightmare to attack it back, specially if you are using a slow weapon.

Another issue I've had is the final boss. First of all, he is freaking loud. For some reason the game raises his volume to max. Second, he chews through your life in a second if you stand close, so you are forced to fight from a distance. Your minions also can't attack him and sometimes he will position himself in places that make it almost impossible to dodge without taking a lot of damage. If not for these two enemies, the game would've been overall pretty enjoyable.