Believe it or not, some people aren’t that bothered about Minecraft.
Mojang’s blockbuster building game drops players into huge, randomly-generated worlds and then leaves them to it. There are no tutorials to guide you, no narrative to provide context and no clearly defined goals – there’s the whole Ender Dragon thing, but it’s not exactly signposted.
But figuring out the rules of the land and making discoveries is part of Minecraft’s appeal, and that level of freedom is part of what makes it so popular.
Dragon Quest Builders, on the other hand, feels much more like a traditional video game. Sure, you’re able to dig up the land, build homes and craft items, but there’s also a proper story, lots of missions and even the odd screen-filling boss battle.
It may never topple the behemoth that Minecraft, but here’s 5 ways Dragon Quest Builders beats Mojang’s blockbuster.
1. Dragon Quest Builders Teaches you the Basics
The first thing you’ll notice about Dragon Quest Builders is that it actually explains what it is you have to do, how to dig up the land, build homes, attract villagers, fight enemies and generally be creative.
The tutorials actually feel a little restrictive at first, as players wade through scrolls of text just to dig up some blocks and find out how to escape the chamber you awaken in.
But as the game goes on and the missions start to rack up, the tutorials start to feel less intrusive and a more natural – not to mention incredibly useful – part of the game. They’re well implemented and ensure you don’t miss anything the game has to offer.
2. Dragon Quest Builders Has a Proper Story
Dragon Quest Builders is set in the land of Alefgard, which as fans will tell you, is where the original Dragon Quest takes place. A shell of its former self and populated by monsters, the hero awakens with the power to rebuild the world and defeat evil.
While that doesn’t sound particularly inspired, it’s actually all based on the parallel ending of Dragon Quest, where the hero accepts the Dragonlord’s suggestion that each character rules half of the world. Of course, it was all a ruse, and the world has gone to pot by the time you start things off.
It’s a fantastic way of tying together old and new, making great use of the Dragon Quest mythology to entice fans.
3. Dragon Quest Builders Has More Structure
As much as we love Minecraft, it’s definitely lacking a little structure. The same can’t be said for Dragon Quest Builders, which is fit to burst with fighting, side-quests and missions to keep players busy.
It starts off with simple requests to build homes, retrieve items and attract new villagers, but pretty soon you’re fending off waves of enemies and even fighting bosses.
But just because it’s a more structured experience, you still have the freedom to carry out tasks as you see fit, and build your village in your image.
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A great story of a young boy and a lost creature is the base for the highly anticipated The Last Guardian out in 2016
4. Dragon Quest Builders Has Better Combat
Minecraft’s enemies certainly have their charms – the Creepers are just that – but Dragon Quest Builders takes combat to another level.
There are giant birds, stone Golems and of course, huge Dragons. Combat is a big part of Dragon Quest Builders, and why it feels like more of a traditional gaming experience.
Oh yeah, and there’s Slimes to contend with, too, so that’s a plus!
5. Dragon Quest Builders Has Better Visuals
Minecraft’s visuals are simple and effective, but Dragon Quest Builders’ graphics are even more colourful and stylish, hearkening back to the 8-bit era, which makes sense given the connection to the original game.
The only downside is the camera, which because of the third-person perspective, doesn’t do you many favours when you’re stuck indoors.
“Minecraft” fans will be happy to receive fresh new content that comes with the latest update, Content Update 33, which is now live. The update can now be downloaded for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita. The game update pretty much featured additional content in the form of new enchantment, new blocks, a new mob and more.
As stated in the patch notes from 4J Studios, three new items have been added to “Minecraft” for console, namely: Beetroot, Beetroot Seeds, and Beetroot Soup. Players can also augment items through FrostWalker and Mending enchantments. Terrain generation features have also been added, introducing Fossils and Igloos.
The polar bear is now the new mob; sounds for the polar bear, squid, snowman, cow, horse, item frames, witch, paintings and leash knots have also been added. One of the most noteworthy additions is the Chinese Mythology Mash-up pack, which costs $4.99. This new “Minecraft” content is inspired by Chinese legends and myths and will take players to a new world where dragons exist. The full patch notes for “Minecraft” Content Update 33 can be found here.
Meanwhile, the Exploration Update for PC has also been released. As noted by Kotaku, the “shulker box” is one of the most interesting additions found in this latest “Minecraft” update. The shulker box serves as a storage space for anything players want to keep – and this is something that “Minecraft” fans have wanted for so long. When not in use for survival, the shulker box can be used as a decorative item.
Also, a big addition making its way to “Minecraft” is the Woodland Mansion, a dungeon that players will rarely find in wooded locations. The mansion is populated with spell-casting mobs known as Illagers, who also have the abilities to summon villains, and attack players. Also new to this update is the existence of llamas. These guys can be used to transport items or become a caravan during travels.
Mojang, the team behind one of the world’s most popular games, Minecraft, has just announced a new update is now available for those who play on smaller screens.
Minecraft Pocket Edition has been updated with a bran new Campfire Tales skin pack, which contains 16 Halloween-themed skins. Each of the skin included in the pack is spooky enough even for the most fearless Minecraft player.
The skins include well-known characters like the Headless Haunter, the vengeful Lumbering Jack, the obsessive Sea-Swallowed Captain, the hasty confectioner Crisp, the cursed Well Wisher, Rancid Anne, The Sham, Ol’ Diggy, and the Risen Rose.
Although these skins are available for free, Android users might have been asked for money while trying to get them via the Google Play store. If that’s the case with you, then you should use the code MINECON2016 to reduce its cost to zero. It’s also worth mentioning that these skins won’t be available for too long, so make sure to get them as soon as possible.
Aside from the Campfire Tales skin pack, the new update also adds some tweaks like a small fix to smart turning (VR only). It also addresses an issue with mirror textures and fixes a bug with the capes that were clipping through armor.
Lots of other small and major bug fixes have been implemented in the update as well, so make sure to download the latest version. Here is the fill changelog for both Windows 10 and Pocket Edition versions of Minecraft:
– Fixed crash when rendering leads in VR. (VR only); – Using the B button to quit the game (when using a controller) now works. (Win 10 only); – Fixed top of cursor flickering in VR. (VR only); – Mouse clicks no longer cause keyboard input to stop. (VR only); – Fixed issue where Minecraft would not shut down completely when launching another app in the Oculus store. (Win 10 Oculus only); – Added in bug fixes for VR that were previously in the 0.16 betas.
Released yesterday on Xbox and Wii U, Minecraft update 1.36 is now available to download in North America, Europe, and Japan for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita.
Adding new blocks, items, enchantments, banners, DLC support, and more, here’s the full list of patch notes for the new Minecraft update on PlayStation: Trending Articles
PS4 PlayStation Store Price Drops: Ratchet & Clank,… Add new blocks – End Bricks, Beetroot, Grass Path, Frosted Ice, Magma, Nether Wart Block, Red Nether Brick, and Bone Block. Added new items – Beetroot, Beetroot Seeds, and Beetroot Soup. Added new enchantments – FrostWalker and Mending. Added new terrain generation features – Fossils and Igloos (in newly generated worlds). Add new mob – Polar Bear. Add Banners. Added Chinese Mythology Mash-Up Pack. Added sounds for Polar Bear, Witch, Squid, Snowman, Armor Stand, Cow, Horse, Item Frames, Leash Knots and Paintings. Updated all Texture and Mash-up Packs with new items & blocks.
As for the Chinese Mythology Mash-Up pack, it’s priced at $4.99/£3.99 and carries this description:
Journey through epic terrain and find enlightenment in the land of dragons with this Mash-up Pack inspired by the myths and legends of China. Minecrafters get to explore a Chinese Mythology-themed world, with glorious Textures, legendary Skins and enchanting Music. The Pack also includes a themed Battle map exclusive to this Mash-up!
Expect the DLC to be up on the North American PlayStation Store later today, shortly after the update goes live.
After much hinting, foreshadowing, and teasing, the newest Minecraft snapshot is out, showing us at long last what the much vaunted ‘exploration update’ has in store.
The most exciting addition for this most recent update is the ‘shulker box’, an item built out of the newly added shulker husks, that finally upgrades your storage capabilities. You can stuff the box full of whatever you want, and it keeps its inventory, even if you destroy the block, letting you use it as a sort of backpack. Players have wanted something like this for ages. Even if you’re not a survival player, it has its uses as a decorative block or as a way to upgrade your storage system, so this is a very exciting change.
The other big addition is the Woodland Mansion, which is a procedurally generated dungeon that appears very rarely in wooded areas. The mansion is filled with tough new mobs that cast spells, summon baddies, and attack you with weapons, making it very much an ‘end-game’ destination (though if you’re lucky enough to find one early it can give you a serious head start on your build.)
Woodland Mansion shows that Mojang is getting more comfortable with their procedural generation—the mansion is a lot more detailed and complex than earlier structures—which means that we could be getting explorable dungeons or structures for every biome eventually (and not just igloos).
As a part of the Woodland Mansion addition, you can also now buy exploration maps from the new cartographer villager. These maps show you the location of the closest Ocean Monument or Woodland Mansion, allowing you to set up an expedition with an actual goal besides aimless wandering. This is more exciting because of what it might eventually allow, but it’s still another tool in the explorer’s toolbox.
For tinkerers, Mojang has finally added an Observer block (which has been in Pocket Edition for a while), a redstone contraption that updates based on the status of the block it is observing. While this might not sound thrilling to everyone, it’s opened up a whole new world of automated builds, including flying machines, transporters, and farms.
In general, it’s not as great of a change as it might seem because the block has been around for a while. But the best redstone contraptions are still on Java, and this addition adds another powerful tool for players who can already built immensely complicated and interesting machines in game.
Other additions include llamas, cursed items, ways to escape from The End, and a useful console command. Exploration players will no doubt be happy, and there should be something for everyone to enjoy, but the big question is whether or not Mojang can continue to deliver updates with this level of content in a reasonable amount of time. In terms of exploration and progression, Minecraft is still pretty features-light when compared to games like Terraria and Starbound, so if Mojang wants to compete in that arena there’s still a lot of work to do.
Rob Guthrie is a lapsed academic who writes about history, video games, and weird internet things. Follow him @RobertWGuthrie for pithy Tweets and lukewarm takes.
“Minecraft” was upgraded today, after 4J Studios rolled out updates for the game’s console versions. Players can now download the 1.36 update called the “Banners, Blocks, Beats and Bears” on their PS4, PS3 and Playstation Vita.
4J Studios also announced on Twitter that they Japanese and European gamers will also get the update a bit later. “Minecraft on Sony consoles in Europe and Japan, and will be out later today in North America,” the studio tweeted.
Now, The latest “Minecraft” DLC offers a bunch of exciting new features as promised by 4J Studios. Gamers will be thrilled with the new mobs, wildlife, enchantments and more.
Below are the changelog posted on Minecraft forums. The update is applicable to all gaming platforms where “Minecraft” is playable.
For new blocks, end Bricks, grass path, beetroot, magma, frosted ice, bone block, red nether brick and nether wart block have been added. Then, beetroot seeds, beetroot and beetroot soup are now included in new items list.
The new enchantments in “Minecraft” are FrostWalker and Mending while new terrain generation features in the additional generated world include Fossils and Igloos. In addition, there will be polar bears roaming around the icy biomes and the range of banners can serve as personalized drape to beautify the place up.
Lastly, the “Minecraft” DLC comes with the Chinese Mythology Mash-Up Pack and fresh battle map. Once the Chinese Mythology pack is downloaded, the map will automatically appear together with other items that are part of the update. Players will get to wander through the dragon-laden Chinese Mythology-themed world.
In any case, since the update seems to be few in number, players may think that there is not a lot to gain from it. But in truth, the 1.36 update offers a lot and gamers will only see the changes once they start playing after installing the DLC.
