Overall, the game is a fun introduction to dungeon crawlers for all the family. While there is still plenty for older or more experienced gamers to enjoy, hardcore dungeon crawler fans will likely find the gear mechanics too limiting. However, this title is not designed for that market. It's every inch a family-friendly co-op or solo player experience, and this is a goal it achieves perfectly.

Overall, I found myself quite happy with Minecraft Dungeons. Developer Mojang Studios, along with Double Eleven, have taken the Minecraft franchise into a new realm as an ARPG that succeeds on many levels. Sure, the game may not be as deep as the hardcore ARPGs out there, but its simplicity, along with the hidden depth of character management (e.g. artifacts, armor, weapons), makes for a deeper game then some may initially think. The fact that you can be any level of gamer, from casual or new to a diehard one, and enjoy the game’s content is a testament to what they have created. You can’t go wrong with this title, whether you play the standard version on Game Pass or if you decide to purchase it outright on its own.

A robust and engaging dungeon-crawling action-RPG with depth to spare, Minecraft Dungeons might not have the wealth of stats and loot that Diablo and its ilk have, but it's an enormously impressive take on the genre, regardless.

Minecraft Dungeons looks to the best of the genre to build its proposal, but without forgetting its player base and aware that many of its fans may not have ever entered this genre. It is simple, accessible and tremendously fun, but it falls short of incentives and possibilities in the middle of the adventure. Even so, the formula works, it is easy to get carried away and end up having a good time with family or friends destroying the classic mobs of the Minecraft series from another perspective. With dozens of enemies around, crazy abilities and lots of color.

Minecraft Dungeons is a solid game that is not only cheap, but accessible. It also helps that it came out on everything and Game Pass owners get to check it out for free. It is great seeing Microsoft expand the series out to more genres. The recognizable fidelity aids in it reaching a larger audience and the price tag makes it an impulse purchase. It also helps that the quality is there. I think anyone who takes a dive into Minecraft Dungeons will have a great time.

Minecraft Dungeons on Xbox One is a fun but flawed dungeon crawler. Mojang has done a pretty good job adapting the franchise to the dungeon-crawler style. However, in their attempt to streamline the more niche genre to reach the broader Minecraft fandom, they have somewhat lost sight of some of what makes those titles so endearing.

With only the blocky aesthetic and familiar monsters to show for its heritage, whether you're here for the Minecraft or the Dungeons, you'll feel that much more could have been excavated from both. [Issue#347, p.96]