Minecraft: Story Mode is “just a cash grab.”

Mephisto Mori/ September 16, 2015/ Video Games/ 0 comments

Before you blow the whistle or click the back button, I want you to know those words aren’t mine. Sure, I’ve been critical of Minecraft and Notch before but that’s not what I intend to do today. This is actually a sort of concession paired with an observation.

If you followed E3, you may have heard that an episodic story mode for Minecraft – aptly named Minecraft Story Mode – has been in the works by Telltale Games. Taking existing IPs and converting them into interactive adventures is their bread-and-butter. While I lament that they’ve gotten so good at their job that there will never be another original IP or Sam and Max game, I don’t begrudge them. That largely has to do with the fact that they’re good at it. Wolf Among Us and of course The Walking Dead are fantastic games. I highly recommend them. I’d go a step further and say that I liked the TTG adaptations of The Walking Dead and Tales from the Borderlands more than their source material.

I admit I groaned a bit when I heard they were planning to Telltale Gamify Minecraft. Then I found myself getting a little bit excited… for Minecraft. This came after the realization that Story Mode is the closest thing to an original IP TTG has worked on in a very long time. Their general schtick is to take an existing setting and populate it with interesting characters. The story itself is usually original but based largely in the mythos of the existing setting. The stories are sometimes humorous or tongue-in-cheek (their best), but always engaging and capable of evoking a range of emotions. They’ve also gotten better with their own form of action-adventure QTE gameplay. Minecraft poses an interesting opportunity. The open-world is ugly but can be redeemed by TTG’s breed of stylized cellshading. There’s no story and no characters and barely any rules to the world apart from stuff gets built and green penis monsters attack you at night. Minecraft is, appropriately, a blank canvas for TTG to build upon.

Then I read the comments and the modicum of excitement I felt immediately subsided.

Minecraft fans. Fans of the actual game. Fans I’ve derided, are angry about TTG’s adaptation. It’s not all of them. I’m sure every kid in the cult of Minecraft is going fucking bonkers for this game. It’s more of what they love. Basically there’s measurable percentage of manchildren that play Minecraft that are mad. This brings me to the headline I used. That’s a direct quote from Playstation’s social media teaser. I read similar sentiments: cash grab, money cow, shameless profiteering, and other euphemisms all graced the comments section ad nauseam.

To which I respond:

At what point in the existence of Minecraft from its pay to play alpha testing, relationship with Microsoft, plushy toy line, knock-off Lego run, bobble heads, Pop figures, foam swords, overpriced 50 page, hardcover “strategy” books, and clothing line did anyone ever think Minecraft wasn’t about money? To suddenly be upset that they’re releasing an actual game and not just more soulless merchandise is yet one more piece added to the puzzle of a fanbase I simply do not understand. Seriously, now you’re upset? They make an actual game with an attempt at story and gameplay beyond pure and literal sandboxing that is better accomplished by pieces of plastic, and suddenly you’re mad?

I’ve had long discussions on the subject of this game and ultimately agreed to let my gripes go. Yeah, it sucked that it was a paid alpha and Notch actually made money on the game while it was in development and that sort of blatant capitalism and paying for games that aren’t yet released is the exact sort of shit I hate. Yeah, I’m upset at myself because Minecraft is the first game I’ve ever mirrored the hated parental sentiment of “go outside” with a “go play with Legos instead.” Yeah, I think the open-world is one of the ugliest pieces of shit I’ve ever seen and that claiming it’s “stylized” doesn’t quite cut it when every indie game on the market pulls the same pseudo-16-bit look and does it better and didn’t charge you to alpha test it… Sorry I blacked out there. Where was I? A yes, I’ve let it go.

I was even looking forward to giving TTG’s Minecraft Story Mode a chance. And by giving it a chance I mean I’ll be watching a couple streams of it at launch while I decide if I want to pick it up used in the future once all the episodes are out on one convenient disc so I can add it to my collection of literally every game released by TTG (including Jurassic Park and Back to the Future… yes ALL OF THEM). Then I spend some time on the internet and see a number of people excited for the game – but a measurable percentage more upset for the exact reason I cited for hating the game in the first place.

Thanks for reading. I was going to relegate this to a Facebook rant but decided I had enough to necessitate a blog post.

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