One Edition to Rule Them All: Minecraft Dungeons Ultimate Edition Review

Minecraft Dungeons takes the familiar blocky charm of the franchise and drops it into a dungeon crawler packed with loot, bosses, and co-op mayhem. This Minecraft Dungeons Ultimate Edition review takes you through the full journey-based game, plus every DLC expansion bundled together. From underwater Coral battles to icy Fjord challenges and the Ender world’s eerie quests, this edition packs in all the loot, bosses, and co-op chaos the series has to offer. At Gert Lush Gaming, we explore how the complete package transforms Minecraft Dungeons into a definitive ARPG experience, balancing accessible fun with surprising depth for newcomers and veterans alike.

Minecraft Dungeons Ultimate Edition Review Pros:

• Classic Minecraft graphics.
• Download size.
• 3000 Gamerscore.
• Play anywhere title, so you get both Windows 10 and Xbox One versions.
• Game Pass Ultimate members can stream the game instead of downloading.
• Full controller support in the Xbox PC version of the game.
• Graphics (Xbox PC version only) – display mode/resolution/graphic presets/FPS limit/FPS counter/v-sync/AA/shadow quality/particles/bloom and AO.
• Game settings – brightness slider, tutorial hints toggle, and HUD scale slider.
• Accessibility options – screen narration, subtitles, screenshake, enemy outline colour, and chat wheel type (press and select/hold and release).
• Audio volume sliders for – video, dialogue, ambience, SFX, music, and master volume.
• The character creator is picked from the pre-made skins.
• Local multiplayer and online support for 2-4 players.
• Online and offline modes.
• ARPG (Action Role Playing Game) gameplay.
• Opening tutorial section, then it’s pop-ups as you play and a centralised help menu.
• World map level select amd you can replay levels, and see what’s left to be unlocked.
• 3rd person perspective with an isometric view, and the world is fully 3D.
• Difficulty modifiers set the levels of the enemy, and there are 6 in total, but the individual levels decide how many options you have.
• Fast loading times.
• Earn EXP and level up to get an enchantment point. You use these points to upgrade your equipment with buffs or increase a stat.
• Loot drops with rarity and power ratings.
• End of the level breakdown of performance with a chest reward.
• Camp is the main hub, where you can find bonus chests, find secrets, level select, and unlock two merchants.
• In-game battle pass-like system where to do certain actions and earn experience for rewards, and there is a free and paid line of rewards.
• Merchants pay diamonds for a random roll of gear or artefacts that are close to your current level.
• Load out your melee weapon, armour, bow for ranged attacks, and 3 artefact slots that are your special powers if you like.
• Artefacts may use souls to charge, and these come out of dead enemies, and you see ghosts fly out, and it’s pretty cool.
• Diamonds are currency that drops from chests, enemies, and are given when you salvage gear.
• Huge open levels with multiple routes and secrets to find, like bonus dungeons and the DLC, can add new things and enemies to find.
• Map overlay can be toggled and is transparent enough to be alright to leave on, and fills in as you discover areas.
• Can remap controls for both versions of the game, turn vibration on/off, and adjust the Deadzone sliders for the left and right stick.
• Big boss fight and mini-boss encounters.
• 3 lives per level, then you get kicked back to the camp.
• When you salvage gear, you get diamonds, as I said, but you also get any enchantment points spent given back.
• Clone character option-I initially didn’t see the point, but doing co-op meant everyone could clone my character, so we were all the same level.
• The co-op has a revive mechanic and doesn’t detract from your 3 lives limit. When a player is down, the screen gets darker and more enemies appear.
• Catch-up travel in Co-op, so if you get too far apart, it teleports you. This is both a blessing and a curse.
• More gems drop in co-op amd also based on the difficulty you are playing on.
• Overall 3 difficulties that unlock after each full story playthrough.
• The Coral DLC has a new mechanic; the whole map is underwater, so now you have to manage your air, and you do this with items and by finding air bubbles. Too low and you start losing health.
• All new-looking enemies in the Coral DLC, including bosses.
• Whilst underwater in the Coral DLC, when anyone throws or shoots ranged weapons, they go slowly as they would underwater.
• The hub village you are in fills in with new merchants and portals as you rescue them. You can find hidden chests for gems and unlock shortcuts.
• The Blacksmith is where you put an item in and then have to play x amount of games without it tos upgrade it, and you unlock new slots as you go through.
• Adventure mode is a harder version of the game that unlocks after you finish the main story.
• You are free to play however you like and can freely jump between story and DLC levels.
• Daily/weekly/seasonal challenges for bonus rewards show up on the map.
• The gift wrapper store is where you can send items and weapons to other players on your friends list.
• The Enchanter guy in the hub will add or take away abilities and buffs on certain gear.
• The shop is where you can buy random gear and items, and you can spend gems on rerolling them.
• The Piglin merchant sells rare weapons and items, but only takes gold bars, and you have to play a lot of ancient hunts to unlock more merchant inventory slots.
• Ancient Hunts is a portal where you put gear and items into it to generate harder levels and set pieces, but you get higher rewards.
• Pets are in the game, and you get a load from the Ultimate edition, and then you can get them as rewards in-game, equip one to have them follow you around, so you never feel lonely.
• The game is a lot of fun and very accessible to new players and veterans of the genre.
• It takes a lot of inspiration from the Diablo games, but manages to keep it just below the threshold for crazy grinding and overcomplication of mechanics.
• I do like that the DLC is not always just a new area and instead it incorporates elements and locations from the main game, like in the Ender DLC, you have to collect Ender eyes from the main game levels, and then take them to another level to open up the Ender world.
• In the Ender world, there are a lot of Endermen and new small enemy types, including a new potion, like a brew that has you emitting fire around you. Oh, and I forgot to mention, you can fly! Only for a short time, but yeah, glide and fly across the Ender world.
• The Forsted Fjord DLC gives you the snow biome and with new enemies and potions again, and you can get frozen but also slide around on the ice. It is a more colourful offering than the others.

Minecraft Dungeons Ultimate Edition Review Cons:

• Fixed camera angle.
• Can’t pause even in offline modes.
• Only 3 lives on a level.
• Slow starter amd it takes a while to get good gear and feel competent.
• A lot of dead space with nothing going on.
• Constant difficulty spikes.
• Little loot pool, which in turn means you get bad drops and repetitive items constantly.
• Grinding is needed for the later levels.
• The shops in the camp are just glorified gambling spots.
• Slow health potion cooldown timer.
• Aside from the visuals, there is nothing Minecraft in the game; you cannot mess about with the environment or craft items.
• Lots of potions and food drops, which give temporary boosts or slight health.
• Little variation in terms of level layout.
• Random crashes.
• The levels are high, and with that, it takes a while to get through a level, which is not always ideal, and it can drag on a bit too long.
• Loot is not what you want, but more about equipping all items with the highest power.
• Diamonds are actually the real loot.
• I had it a few times where I couldn’t interact with doors or items.
• Can’t drop items for people in the co-op.
• It doesn’t support taking local players online.
• No drop-in and out local co-op. You have to quit the menu.
• Co-op loot is first-come first first-served in local play.

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Official Website

Minecraft Dungeons Ultimate Edition

Developer: Mojang

Publisher: Microsoft

Store Link:

Xbox