For the longest time - well, the entirety of its existence up through this point - I
avoided Minecraft.
And that was difficult.
It took the gaming world by storm, it brought creative minds together into massive (if blocky)
worlds, my roommate wouldn’t stop going on about it.
It wasn’t out of disdain, or a personal feeling of superiority…
it’s because I knew if I touched it, I would be obsessed.
I was so excited by the prospect, I had to abstain for the sake of what scraps of productivity
I had left.
And…
well, even those went by the wayside, so I decided why the hell not?
Let’s get stuck in.
Let’s punch the bejeezus out of a tree.
Let’s do this.
And for an afternoon, I gave in.
And it was pretty damn fun.
Maybe I was just using the opportunity presented by this PS3 version - a rental, thankfully
- to finally indulge in a relatively safe fashion.
My motives are not on trial here.
If you need an explanation of Minecraft at this point… honestly, where the hell have
you been?
You’re a blocky-lookin’ dude in a blocky-lookin’ world, beating the hell out of blocky-looking
animals and whatnot in an attempt to build…
well, anything.
Depending on what mode you’re working in, you might just be putting things together
like this is a big freakin’ Lego set on your PS3.
You might be playing the survival mode, which requires your attention to little details
like hunger, and health, and zombies, and skeletons roaming with bows, and the infamous
creepers.
You might even venture into Hardcore mode, which includes all that stuff in the previous
sentence but with the added bonus of no respawning.
Regardless of the mode, you’re gonna be building stuff.
That’s kind of the idea.
It may be simplistic and open-ended… but that’s why Minecraft has been, to steal
a phrase from the esteemed Dr. Venkman, “a legitimate phenomenon.”
It might not feel much like a Game at times, in that you’re largely in charge of your
own goals and direction… would it be more fitting to call it a platform?
A platform for exploration, expression, and occasionally taking out a death wish on cows
because you’re sick of them.
A place where you can come home, and in lieu of doing something constructive, you can go
prospecting for more iron ore.
It is escapism, and it’s really good escapism at that.
I only lost an afternoon of my life, because I played it pretty carefully.
Granted, it was an afternoon that saw me building a small hut on the high ground, then digging
down and creating access points down by this like, some more access points, a subsidiary
crafting station, an expedition into a nearby cave system, getting very lost, building a
massive spire up into the skies, abusing the rather questionable physics to create an airborne
beacon platform, getting very lost again, and eventually just taking in the scenery.
It’s an experience unlike anything else, and for a JRPG nut like myself who expects
the whole experience to be scripted out and well-written, it was a massive paradigm shift.
I was writing the story, in real-time, for an audience of one.
The nuts and bolts of the experience don’t really need much to survive, hence its being
ported to everything with two circuits to rub together.
Being able to use a PS3 controller did feel quite comfortable, and while most folks are
more familiar with it on the 360, this version doesn’t change much of anything.
Of course, there’s the requisite spate of multiplayer functions, AKA a large part of
the appeal for a number of players, and DLC in the form of texture packs and skins.
It feels kinda stupid to talk about the graphics, since…
it’s freakin’ Minecraft, and chances are you’re playing for something bigger than
that, but since I’m obligated to, we’ll just say that in the small scale, things look
rough, so that’s why you build them out to much larger scales.
Much, much larger scales.
Likewise, the generally chill background music isn’t the kind of thing that’s going to
get a symphonic concert tour, but in the moment, a little bit of piano in the background is
all you really need.
Besides, you don’t want too much distraction.
You’re trying to figure out how best to build your masterwork: A giant desert monument
in the shape of Pharaoh Man from Mega Man 4.
And, yeah, I don’t actually have footage of such a thing, but it would be awesome!
Because it’s Pharaoh Man.
Right?