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Our Verdict
Minecraft Dungeons 2 doesn’t revolutionize the loot-chasing genre, but it didn’t need to. It’s a robust and welcoming short-form ARPG that enhances what was great about the first game across almost every aspect. Mojang puts more control over buildcrafting into your hands, along with offering more to do during both its campaign and the endgame.
Minecraft Dungeons 2 has the tough task of striking a balance between providing an approachable onramp that welcomes young audiences in, and the level of depth expected from an action RPG. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Mojang’s first take on the genre: it never reached the complexity of Diablo or Path of Exile, but honing my builds to blast through blocky hordes for a couple of playthroughs was satisfying nevertheless. Minecraft Dungeons 2 doesn’t shake up the formula too much, but instead makes smart improvements in almost every direction to deliver a game that’s simply more of what I loved.
Buildcrafting is at the heart of ARPGs, and even within the relatively limited toolset of Minecraft Dungeons I was able to construct the likes of a firework archer who delivered explosive payloads of arrows that split into the dozens as they flew. Minecraft Dungeons 2 extends that potential by simply giving you more to work with. Alongside your melee and ranged weapons, you now have four armor pieces instead of one, each with its own buffs and enchantments, plus three talisman slots that grant more overarching bonuses such as extra XP gains, higher maximum life, or a wolf companion that joins you in battle.
There are still no defined classes here: your skills are again determined by the three ‘artifacts’ you choose to equip, with a mixture of returning favorites and new additions. These include quite a few active skills you throw out to cause explosions, poison clouds, or hordes of helpful bees, but precise targeting in the thick of combat can be somewhat finicky. I was much more at home with more fundamental character and attack buffs, leaning in on the likes of enhancing my arrows and swings with elemental damage, or temporarily boosting my defense or speed.
In similar fashion, you’re free to take any pair of melee and ranged weapons you like, which defines the moveset you have. Early on, I found myself spending at the merchant to grab whatever had the highest numbers, especially as there’s a fairly tight money cap that seems designed to encourage you to regularly use what you have. As a result, by the time I unlocked the blacksmith and was able to simply upgrade the gear I liked, I had already been nudged into experimenting with a wide range of the possibilities at my disposal. Smart.
Enchanting your gear is where the builds get more involved, and you have more control here than you did in the previous game. They’re unlocked by finding books – some at specific story moments, others as random drops – and available permanently to use on gear as you wish. You can only equip one per item this time around, however, so while you do get more equipment, there’s less ability to stack up silly combinations. I was still able to put together the likes of a sturdy heal-tank build, as well as one setup that slowed groups with splitting ice arrows before diving in with rapid rolls and lightning daggers.
All of this contributes to character choices with enough weight that you’ll certainly be able to tell when you’ve put some good synergies together. I’m a little sad that the reduced per-item enchantment count has sanded off some of the more extreme edges of how far you could min-max, but the tradeoff is that less-experienced players won’t be left in the dust by hardcore ARPG-heads. Bonus credit for including an effects screen showing all your various buffs combined, and having it highlight where on your kit each boon is coming from.
The bigger evolutions are to be found in the world. Minecraft Dungeons 2 is much less linear in its progression than the first – the central quest still follows a preset path, but it dips back and forth around a much more open-world environment. For each step in this main mission, you’ll probably encounter another one or two side quests, which can either offer random loot or, in some cases, more valuable rewards such as one-off talismans or enchantment books. There are no huge revelations here; most usually just involve rescuing a character, collecting some materials, or clearing out a dungeon, but they do help give the world more substance.
Mojang’s biggest environmental addition is the Sift, an entirely new realm found on the far side of interdimensional rifts. This gorgeous rainbow-stained region is more dynamic than the rest; it flips, visually and mechanically, between different states as you explore, making your life easier in the Thrive but dropping more punishing mobs upon you when the Endure tide hits. You spend increasingly more time here as the adventure progresses, and while it’s tempting to say the whole game could work this way, I think the balance between regular areas and Sift sections feels good.
You’ll find entrances to cavernous dungeons and rifts to the Sift dotted all over the environment, with the vast majority of these acting as optional challenges that can grant you a variety of loot. They can be somewhat hit or miss – I ran into at least one that seemed to be 90% wandering through empty corridors – but they frequently lead you into satisfying boss battles and the potential to get your hands on more unique gear or new enchantments. There are plenty of small secrets too, such as lighting four torches to unlock a floor vault, or clicking on a suspicious wall to reveal the hidden treasure chamber behind it.
Generally speaking, combat feels finely balanced to provide consistent but manageable danger, requiring you to stay sharp and use your artifact skills to survive. The worst foes are its most familiar; if I never have to deal with a three-Creeper sandwich again, I’ll be grateful. Boss battles are an upgrade from the original, and while none are too complex they all require a lot of quick movement and positioning, at least while playing solo. Many of them boast unique gear rewards too, and typically the biggest story fights give you the option to trigger repeat encounters if you want a chance to roll another of a specific loot drop.
Other small improvements can be found woven across the rest of Minecraft Dungeons 2. You can jump now, which allows for both some cheeky secrets to discover and a little more flexibility in combat. All melee weapons can perform a slam attack from midair, which offers some nice group initiation in the early game, although as my build came together I found I didn’t have much use for it anymore. There’s also a ‘mini inventory’ that lets you swap out gear on the fly. Again, this was fantastic early on when upgrades came thick and fast, but the deeper I got, the more I found myself needing to dig through all my various enchantments and bonus effects before I could consider trading out any of my equipment.
Another welcome inclusion is a quest path that you can pull up at the tap of a button if you aren’t sure which direction to go. I didn’t find myself needing it often, but there were a couple of times it was handy. There are some ARPG features Mojang didn’t include that I’d like to have seen, however, such as a dedicated ‘force move’ control (movement and melee attacks are always on the same button), or the increasingly common option for WASD controls. Despite that, using mouse and keyboard felt great for 98% of the time, barring a couple of slightly awkward platforming sequences.
The other thing Minecraft Dungeons 2 brings to the table that’s very welcome is an actual endgame. I spent about 15 or so hours going through the campaign (doing most of the side quests and a fair few dungeons along the way), but I’ve already kept going for at least five more through its post-story offering. This includes fresh side quests, dungeons, and rifts for extra enchantments and gear, and a new activity called Soul Storms, where you have a limited time to track down and destroy three Soul Generators in a zone. It’s simple, but enhances what is a more appealing reason to keep playing than simply repeating the story from scratch.
Minecraft Dungeons 2 doesn’t revolutionize ARPGs, and it was never going to reach the level of complexity that the likes of Path of Exile 2 or even Diablo 4 offer, but that’s fine. Mojang’s done a great job of building on what was a solid original outing to deliver something that feels slightly stronger in almost every way. It’ll make a great entry point to the genre for younger players or ARPG first-timers, and even as a veteran blaster I can see myself sticking with this for quite a while longer still.