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Minecraft: Story Mode is Telltale Games' newest series. While it currently has two other releases with unfinished seasons – Game of Thrones and Tales from the Borderlands – at least we know that one of them will be wrapping up very soon. So, the time seems ripe to begin a new episodic adventure. Unfortunately, the studio seems to have selected a property that no one really asked for in Minecraft – a colossal commercial success yes, but one that's not exactly overflowing with rich fiction. Having said that, Tales from the Borderlands seemed like an odd choice as well, but it's turned out to be some of Telltale's best work to date. For now, though, the results of this new outing are mixed.
The game puts you in the role of Jesse, a guy – or girl – who, along with his friends, is on the way to Endercon, a building competition. Once there, things get a little out of hand, as a legendary society of warriors are called upon. As we alluded to, you can choose whether or not you want to be a guy or a girl, which can offer different results down the road. The bright side is that it allows you more freedom to properly represent yourself – but the downside is that if you choose to be a girl, you'll miss out on one of the best aspects of the premiere episode.
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The girl version of Jesse is voiced by Catherine Taber, who does a perfectly fine job; there's nothing wrong with her performance, but it's just overshadowed by the fact that the guy version of Jesse is voiced by Patton Oswalt. For those who don't know, Patton Oswalt is a comedian and actor, and well, he's pretty darn hard to dislike. His performance is one of the best aspects of the episode, and helps to bring weight to the charm and almost kid-like wonder that Minecraft is able to evoke.
Jesse's group of friends are hit and miss, though. Some of them, like the Ashley Johnson voiced Petra, are great, while others fall short of the mark – or are simply uninteresting. As an episodic title, there is still time for the supporting cast to grow into their roles, but sooner would be preferable to later.
One of the better personalities is actually a non-speaking character. Reuben is Jesse's pet pig and best friend, and while all he does is oink and squeal, Telltale actually achieves quite a bit of success characterising this poor little pig. Reuben is there to fill the role that Disney Animation have had a resounding success with through many of their movies – the goofball animal companion that is there to offer comedic relief.
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The thing is, Minecraft is essentially a digital version of LEGO, so restricting that within Telltale's method of narrative delivery comes off as an odd choice. This title plays just like Telltale's last five or so adventures, with little deviation. And so for those that are tired of the formula, there's not really a lot to offer here.
It does have a few tricks up its sleeve, though, like Telltale's representation of the crafting table. It's only used a couple times in the first episode, but the display of it, as well as the process of crafting items, is a neat little touch. Resource harvesting also makes an appearance several times, but instead of extracting each individual block, it's delivered montage-style, using QTEs.
Now, being a Telltale game, there's not a whole lot of gameplay, but that doesn't mean that the title is lacking for fun sequences. There is one literal on-rails section that evokes some of the dangerous fun of the Indiana Jones films, as well as a couple of combat bits that don't disappoint. There's more to the release than that, though, and that's where the writing lets it down a bit. While not terrible, much of the humour lands with a resounding thud, and the main narrative lacks depth. But like we said, since this is episodic, we'll cut it a little slack for now.
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However, our biggest gripe is the lack of Telltale's in-house composer Jared-Emerson Johnson. When we failed to notice his name in the opening credits, we were a little concerned, and rightfully so. The music is very repetitive throughout this first episode, and it does almost nothing to enhance the experience. That's a stark contrast to some of the studio's previous works, where even the weaker episodes were practically saved by the exceptional music. Sadly, folk band Anadel's tunes just don't really fit.
Conclusion
Minecraft: Story Mode - Episode 1: Order of the Stone is a lacklustre start to Telltale's latest series. While it's certainly not bad, it's not exactly good either. A great performance from Patton Oswalt and some fun sequences aren't enough to cancel out the wonky pacing and bland narrative, while the ensemble cast mostly falls flat. This instalment is inoffensive enough, but it never really provides enough for you to latch on to. There's still plenty more to come, of course, but the jury's still out.
Comments 10
This was fully expected from me, sadly. Telltale have clearly bitten off more than they can chew, and they're struggling to get episodes out in a timely manner - and at the level of quality that's expected.
I know people have been happy with Tales from the Borderlands, but Game of Thrones by all accounts hasn't been very good, and they've still got a The Walking Dead spin-off as well as a third full series to make, plus Marvel to do. They're also apparently doing an original series, too, right?
They're picking the wrong franchises and spreading themselves way too thin in my opinion. They need to stop, take a step back, reorganise their writing team, upgrade their engine, and start over, because this is going to bite them in the ass if they keep on like this.
I'm interested since I love telltale, but this will be when released on disc and used copy. I'll try it some time next year.
Far too many other games to really be interested in anything Minecraft related. The Walking Dead games were great, as are The Wolf Among Us and Tales From the Borderlands, but they are definitely spreading themselves too thin and episodes take way too long to come out. I think I bought the season pass for Borderlands at the beginning of this year and I think the last episode finally comes out next week. That is an absurd amount of time. The episodes have all been great but I think next time I'm just to hold off for a physical release or wait until all episodes are out and then buy the game on sale digitally like I did with The Wolf Among Us.
They are definitely spreading themselves way too thin @get2sammyb
I think they should focus on two games at a time max, pump out an episode for each every other week alternating series. Anyways it doesn't really affect me since I don't care for their games or the genre, but it must suck for those who have been playing GoT or TFTB to have to wait months for a single episode to drop.
Played about half an hour of this on Steam and immediately refunded it. God, how boring it was
@get2sammyb picked up GoT on sale a couple days ago on steam, gonna finish the show before I start however. I heard they were more than likely releasing part six at the end of the month since they announced they'd have a few surprise announcements after the Minecraft Story came out..
Off to a bad start then.
I figured this would happen sooner or later. The quality has taken a hit when they tried to cash out on multiple series. I haven't enjoyed a series from them since Wolf among us. Both the GoT and Borderland series are decent at best.
I watched a Let's Play of this and thoroughly enjoyed it myself. I'm considering picking it up based on that.
I know I'm one of the only people out there, but I could never get into the original Minecraft game...just didn't appeal to me and I never knew what I was doing...spent hours into it and still never figured it out (couldn't even get past the tutorials).
Back to this game, I was wondering on if this would be fun, but if it's anything like the original game, I'll pass.
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