The entire Minecraft: Story Mode series has been a hit and miss one for me, but I can happily say that the trend over the last couple of episodes continues with Minecraft: Story Mode Season Two – Episode 4: Below the Bedrock. That trend? Continued improvement in all areas, from gameplay to story. I have my doubts that this series will ever rank among my favorite Telltale properties, but I have every confidence that Season Two can end on a very high note now.
This has been one of the more hit and miss Telltale series for me over its one and a half seasons, as the very nature of Minecraft seems at odds with the idea of a narrative-heavy focus. I think that early on in both seasons, this open-ended nature made it hard for the team to tell a tight story, yet in both seasons as the characters had more time to define themselves and the world took on greater shape, the storytelling grew alongside of it.
Minecraft: Story Mode Season Two – Episode 4: Below the Bedrock follows Jesse and friends as they escaped one set of challenges only to encounter new ones by delving down into a hidden world. There is a bit of a Dungeons & Dragons exploratory vibe here that actually works pretty well, and like in Season One, I enjoyed this episode’s exploration of dark, twisting passages as the team looks for a weapon that could potentially turn the tide of their adventure.
Of course things don’t go smoothly and you as the player have a series of quicketime events and fights to help mix up the narrative’s pace. I will say that there is a boss battle here that feels like a fitting moment that I enjoyed quite a bit, even if it was somewhat shorter lived than I would have liked. Still, the scene is a fun one and really highlights the improvements made to the mechanics between Season One to Season Two.
