Minecraft: Story Mode — Episode 1 Review
I assumed, but only made an ass of myself
This game was reviewed using a purchased retail copy for Nintendo Switch.
Over the past few years, the Telltale engine (Telltale Tool) has really shown its age. Between awkward, stiff animation and presumed optimization issues — especially on hardware that should churn this 12 year old engine — it’s easy to see why many have dropped off their various episodic based series.
Minecraft: Story Mode felt like an attempt to throw Hollywood actors behind a cultural phenomenon during its peak. Combine that with the ballsy attempt to take a survival sandbox with (to my knowledge) next to no lore, outside of the tween fan fiction books found at Walmart.
The art style works flawlessly within the Telltale Tool engine, likely because it’s not attempting to create “lifelike” characters. The Telltale Tool engine mixed with Minecraft textures is a match made in heaven — with no unplayable frame drops or characters popping in and out, docked or undocked — a feat for Telltale Tool engine in itself.
The story begins with a short, fun explanation of ‘The Order of the Stone’ which is a group of warriors that collaborated to down the Ender Dragon, cementing their status of legends.
Flash forward to the present, you’re introduced to the stories main characters Jesse (Patton Oswald), Olivia (Martha Plimpton), Axel (Brian Posehn) and Reuben (Jesse’s adorable pet pig).
The premise of Episode 1, aptly named ‘The Order of the Stone’, follows the rag tag group of self-proclaimed losers as they begin to collect resources to enter a build competition at the local EnderCon.
This year is another attempt at thwarting their rival group, The Ocelots, attempt and claiming another victory during the competition. This year, the building competitions prize is great: a meet and greet with one of the original members of The Order of the Stone: Gabriel the Warrior.
This is now where I stop because moving forward anymore treads spoiler territory — and this is a game that goes places fast while maintaining a constant stream of laughs — whether through the dialogue of the actors or UI elements that pop up.
Like cheddar cheese on apple pie, Minecraft: Story Mode shouldn’t work — but somehow comes on stage, melts the audiences face off a la Converge, then mic drops. The crowd screams “ENCORE”.
So which Telltale will come back on stage to woo me with it’s last song: The Telltale of Game of Thrones or the Telltale of Walking Dead Season 1? I’m hoping for the latter — but right out of the gate, Minecraft: Story Mode hit the ground running and hasn’t stepped off the gas so far.
You can find Jordan Thompson via Twitter, listen to him weekly on the Have At You! podcast and follow him and the rest of Drop Rate on their YouTube channel.
