Minecraft: Story Mode Season 1 Review

Unexpectedly inspired by the blocky world-building phenomenon, Minecraft: Story Mode is an adventure game that tells a singular story inside the ever-expanding world of Minecraft. While developer Telltale Games is known for its dark and horrific titles like The Walking Dead and A Wolf Among Us, Minecraft: Story Mode is a lighthearted adventure that employs the voice talents of top comedians in a story that takes you from the Overworld to the Nether, and everywhere in between. This being a game inspired by Minecraft, players naturally can expect to build something in the game, but instead of building shelters and castles and statues in tribute to cartoon heroes, here you build story -- your choices in the game change the direction of the story, allowing players to create their own adventure through the complete season of Story Mode episodes.

IGN has reviewed the first episodes of Minecraft: Story Mode, which comprise the initial arc of this season. There are eight episodes in total of the first season of Minecraft: Story Mode. You can find links to these episode reviews for Minecraft: Story Mode through the links below.

Minecraft: Story Mode -- Episode 1: The Order of the Stone Review

VERDICT: Minecraft: Story Mode is a pleasant, family-friendly adventure that very quickly won me over and kept me invested in its twists and turns. The drama might not be as heightened as something like The Walking Dead, but I still found myself surprisingly invested in the choices I had to make about my companions, undeveloped as they may be, and smiling at the Minecrafty in-jokes. Sparse interactivity and a lack of commitment to explaining this world and its inhabitants hold Episode 1 back, but I’m still absorbed in my story, and eager to find out what happens next.

Minecraft: Story Mode -- Episode 2: Assembly Required Review

VERDICT: Minecraft: Story Mode Episode 2: Assembly Required is disappointingly short, and adds to Episode 1’s problems with establishing its world and its characters rather than reducing them. Telltale should be commended for creating a real diverging path that sends us to different, impressively designed places based on our choices, but doing so has illustrated why this kind of forked storytelling is rarely done: your journey seems half as long as what the developers actually created, and there’s not enough to do along the way.

Minecraft: Story Mode -- Episode 3: The Last Place You Look Review

VERDICT: The Last Place You Look effectively gets Story Mode back on track. The action, humor, and drama are all improved, and Story Mode continues to use Minecraft elements like mob grinders and Endermen to great effect. More improvements need to be made for Story Mode to be considered one of Telltale’s greats, but for now it is moving in the right direction.

Minecraft: Story Mode -- Episode 4: A Block and a Hard Place Review

VERDICT: Telltale’s love and deep understanding of Minecraft combined with a thrilling satisfying climax keep Minecraft: Story Mode Episode 4 - A Block and a Hard Place from reaching a new series low at the hands of poor dialogue and a meandering plot. It’s still a little too slow-paced and predictable to recommend wholeheartedly.