Minecraft: Story Mode - Episode 1 - The Order of the Stone Reviews
Order of the Stone continues Telltale's run of strong opening episodes to their series. The drawbacks are mainly down to a weak supporting cast and that air of familiarity that gets more fetid with each passing Telltale series.
Minecraft: Story Mode has a lot of positives that make it worth playing – it is gorgeous to look at, and will be a cool experience for any Minecraft fan in particular, as it pays loving homage to its source-material.
Minecraft: Story Mode - Episode 1: Order of the Stone is a lacklustre start to Telltale's latest series. While it's certainly not bad, it's not exactly good either. A great performance from Patton Oswalt and some fun sequences aren't enough to cancel out the wonky pacing and bland narrative, while the ensemble cast mostly falls flat. This instalment is inoffensive enough, but it never really provides enough for you to latch on to. There's still plenty more to come, of course, but the jury's still out.
Minecraft: Story Mode is off to a good start, and despite a story-less canvas and only in-game references to draw from, developer Telltale has crafted something promising.
If you've been looking for an official story set place in the Minecraft universe, this is as official as it's going to get. There's no denying the charm of the world that Story Mode takes place in, especially with the number of in-jokes that are thrown fans' ways. The story may not be particularly deep, but it is age-appropriate and will make for a great time to be shared with the younger Minecraft fans out there (and there are millions of them!). However, even for young, attention-deficit minds, The Order of the Stone feels like it ends a bit prematurely. If you or your child are fans of Minecraft, then this is an easy buy.
Those looking for a deep story or compelling adventure gameplay may not find it, but there's a lot to love in this first episode. It's just not for everyone.
Telltale recalibrates with episode one of Minecraft: Story Mode, returning to younger audiences with a story that's charming and accessible, and opening a surprisingly nuanced conversation with its players. Older audiences, though, may find its path a bit too well-trod.
With the first installment of Minecraft: Story Mode, Telltale stays faithful to the popular source material while delivering another enjoyable adventure.
There's an echo of this sentiment in the sweetly childish tones of "Minecraft: Story Mode," a game that uses the mimetic architecture of storytelling to produce nodes of contemplation and self-inquiry. It's a subtle and sweet work made with an awareness that the best part of a journey comes when you realize that you are the story.
Telltale Games has done it again with Minecraft: Story Mode. I'm still not entirely sure how the developer managed to make an open world building game into such a fun and compelling story-based adventure but it certainly has.
All told, Minecraft: Story Mode is a wild ride from start to finish, telling a riveting tale filled with plot twists and interesting characters. That being said, not everyone will be impressed with the fact that it's essentially an interactive movie. If you're the type of gamer who skips cutscenes and prefers satisfying gameplay, steer clear and look elsewhere for your gaming fix. If you're the type of gamer who appreciates listening to a good story (and don't mind stumping up the cash to hear the whole thing), then we would highly recommend this. Minecraft: Story Mode does an excellent job of breathing life into the somewhat anonymous world of Minecraft; this is one tale you'll want to hear.
A no-brainer purchase for fans of both Minecraft and Telltale. Those who prefer Telltale's more complex and mature works may find this title a bit lacking, but the exciting story, quality writing, and talented voice cast make this a hard game to dislike.
While putting a story to Minecraft might seem counterintuitive to the core game's design, the team at Telltale has proven they can make a great story out of anything. And yes, that now includes Minecraft.
This episode is an excellent introduction as it just seems long enough. It does not seem crammed or forced, either. Everything about the first episode is extremely entertaining, and it is certainly worth the price of admission.
Fun and whimsical, Minecraft Story Mode's first episode is sure to entertain fans of Mojang's original breakout game. It won't be for folks who prefer Telltale's more mature fare. But if you like Telltale's storytelling approach and enjoy Minecraft or Lego games, you'll want to add the The Order of the Stone to your crafting table.
The story presented in this first chapter isn't the most engaging, but the writing, coupled with the detail makes it all come together. As is usual though, I find it hard to recommend until all of its episodes are released and we can judge it as a whole - but this first episode is indeed promising, laying the groundwork for what should be a grand adventure.
Intended for kids who love Minecraft, or adults who really love Minecraft.
Minecraft: Story Mode's first episode gives a clear baseline for seeing where the plot is headed, but the questions it leaves are predominantly on a gameplay front — not the sort you want staying with players. Will the point-and-click elements take greater hold over story sequences that currently dominate? Will quick-time events continue to be a predictable response for every point of conflict? Will player actions feel more and more pointless than they already do? On the matter of how enticing the episode is at building interest in the one to follow, Episode 1 does its job...but not expertly. It's very tame in the gameplay department, and players will find it a shallow experience as a direct result of the contrived design choices. It's enough to put the entire project in jeopardy, ultimately making this introduction a fragile start for the five-part series.
Minecraft: Story Mode – Episode One is a promising start to Telltale's latest venture. As someone with only a passing knowledge of Minecraft, the story and characters were interesting enough to pull me in, and the manner in which the first episode ends suggests that there's some fairly major diverging paths to be resolved in Episode Two. It's nothing particularly new, as Telltale games go, but I think that playing with a more family-friendly property has been good for the studio.