Minecraft Dungeons 2 Review

When the first Minecraft Dungeons came out in 2020, it was a novel idea that combined the unique identity of Minecraft with the beloved dungeon-crawling genre. It wasn’t a perfect game, but it was an inspired idea that led with charm even when it ultimately played it safe. Unfortunately, Minecraft Dungeons 2 falls short of its predecessors’ strengths and embodies the idea of a “safe sequel” to an already safe game.

Minecraft Dungeons 2 is a direct sequel, following the events of the first game but telling a new story around the Illager High Council. Following the Arch-Illager’s defeat in the first game, this High Council found and discovered a new Minecraft dimension, the Sift, and seeks to conquer the Overworld with its power. “New” is a consistent theme in Minecraft Dungeons 2, with the sequel introducing new armor pieces, new talismans, new enchantment methods, and new ways to create builds; new features like jumping for traversal and combat, new Unreal Engine 5 visuals, and new endgame content. Unfortunately, nothing “new” feels quite compelling enough to drive this sequel.

Minecraft Dungeons 2’s Moment-to-Moment Gameplay is a Step Back

The biggest fault I can pin on Minecraft Dungeons 2 is that, by and large, it is not always fun. There is a missing fun factor in its moment-to-moment gameplay, where it simply feels like popping heals, abilities, and standard attacks in succession with no real weight or impact on what’s happening. Part of that is how uneven Minecraft Dungeons 2 is in difficulty. Oftentimes, standard mobs are no threat until players kite a whole bunch together from across the map to create some artificial challenge.

Minecraft Dungeons 2‘s “Milestone” system for combat also hurts because mob difficulty increases when players hit certain “milestones,” so there’s no sense of progression in combat, just bumps down the road where it gets slightly more challenging until players acquire more loot. The returning and new Minecraft mobs don’t add much to that at any point, and it consistently feels like there is a missing piece of the puzzle to its moment-to-moment gameplay.

The loot, however, is a redeeming element of Minecraft Dungeons 2. Players can enchant each armor piece and are encouraged to constantly try out new gear they unlock. Most loot comes with unique abilities that can change up gameplay, like a honey pot explosion that summons bees. It does grow repetitive very quickly, though, meaning players will see repeat loot pieces only at higher levels. Still, finding new loot never ceased to keep me going, especially when it came to new uniques in Minecraft Dungeons 2. That said, there’s not enough to sustain a long loot chase when the result is lackluster gameplay that grows old quickly.

It took me roughly 7 hours to roll credits with some side content included. There is new endgame content in Soul Storms to explore, but the endgame feels incredibly thin.

One of the biggest issues with Minecraft Dungeons 2‘s loot/character build system is how none of the bosses or mobs are compelling or challenging enough to necessitate any buildcrafting. Players can piece together random items throughout the game, making “builds” feel optional in a genre defined by them. To make matters worse, a solid handful of the bosses in Minecraft Dungeon 2 are all the same. Some games repeat boss enemies (or make them common enemies thereafter) to communicate some sense of progression or growing strength, but here, it seems to be to support a story point that falls flat anyway.

Minecraft Dungeons 2’s World Design and Sift Are 50-50

Minecraft Dungeons 1 brought in a lot of its charm through its music and visuals, and by and large, Minecraft Dungeons 2 does as well. Unreal Engine 5 gives the aesthetic a boost, even if that’s perhaps a little muddied in places. For example, in green grass areas, it can be incredibly difficult to tell a Minecraft zombie and a creeper apart (until the latter explodes, which may be intentional). Overall, though, music and visuals remain the strongest elements in its overall approach to Minecraft’s overworld and The Sift.

Unfortunately, traversal through both is very dull. Players travel from hub to hub for the duration of the story, with there being 9 hubs overall. Between hubs, most of the biomes are a straightforward path (some of the Minecraft dungeons feel this way, too). Some areas open up, but rarely in interesting ways, and going off the beaten path seldom feels rewarding enough. The quests found in each area are predictably repetitive as well, with there being little difference between early-game and late-game quests.

The Sift is the first new Minecraft dimension in nearly 15 years, but the traversal and quest issues dampen that excitement. Taken on its own, the idea of the Sift—which is best described as spiritual and singsongy—is fun. The mobs are unique and compelling, the change in color palette is welcome, and the way it connects to the Overworld is cool. Unfortunately, the idea is better than its execution. The Sift ultimately feels forgettable because, at the end of the day, most players will feel like they’re passing through.

Ultimately, “forgettable” describes a lot of Minecraft Dungeons 2. Even its few moments of brilliance become forgettable when they are buried under mediocrity. I can’t say I hated my time with the title, and I can’t say I loved it. Minecraft Dungeons 2 is a simple enough romp that leaves zero impression once it’s all said and done.

Minecraft Dungeons 2 releases on September 29 for PC, PS5, Switch, Switch 2, and Xbox Series X/S. GameRant was provided an Xbox code for the purposes of this review.