Minecraft is one big meme at this point, but I can't deny the game has so much character. The timing and sound design of mining makes gameplay so viscerally satisfying and relaxing. The core game has a little something for everyone, from spooky exploration, resource gathering, and crafting, to fighting monsters and building - either for practicality or creative expression.
This is one of the very few games I think got crafting genuinely right - there's a vast array of resources and they interact in lots of different meaningful ways. The crafting subsystems like brewing, redstone, and enchanting all build value in the others without cannibalising. Even the shaped crafting, albeit contentious, I think is a genuinely interesting and unique way to make crafting interesting instead of just clicking boring menu options; plus everything you make gains physicality as a UI 'thing' you can move around and control, not just an abstract number - that tiny difference means the world.
Minecraft does have it's flaws though. If minecraft is like Lego what it lacks is instructions, there's a huge part of the audience who just want to 'build the thing on the box' and minecraft doesn't have any templates or instructions per-se. You can follow achievements but they aren't always intuitive and systems like the brewing are still relatively cryptic without a guide. I myself love redstone, but most of the fun for me is in building other people's contraptions from youtube so implementing blueprints or something would simplify the process (as some mods already do). Legends was ripe for this, building purposeful structures that have game mechanics built into them like forts and towers, but alas it wasn't meant to be.
Another issue is that while Minecraft offers a lot of variety it's spread very thin. Many aspects are slowly being expanded on in Microsoft's yearly updates, which is admirable considering they're free, but there are gaping holes in the game's mechanics. New blocks like copper get introduced and then barely have any function besides decoration while stone tools remain largely useless and the end dimension and story are very shallow and tacked on. They add new biomes, subsystems like archaeology, and new mobs but these are often fleeting and shallow themselves. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather something than nothing but these problems are long overdue some attention.
Overall Minecraft doesn't show signs of slowing down any time soon and the constant additions exist largely to give people a reason to keep coming back to visit; But nothing lasts forever and adding more of the same without addressing the legacy issues leaves a lot of room for a contender to take it's spot. Even so with the incredible aesthetic, popularity, and stunning music from C418 it's not going to go down easily.
This is one of the very few games I think got crafting genuinely right - there's a vast array of resources and they interact in lots of different meaningful ways. The crafting subsystems like brewing, redstone, and enchanting all build value in the others without cannibalising. Even the shaped crafting, albeit contentious, I think is a genuinely interesting and unique way to make crafting interesting instead of just clicking boring menu options; plus everything you make gains physicality as a UI 'thing' you can move around and control, not just an abstract number - that tiny difference means the world.
Minecraft does have it's flaws though. If minecraft is like Lego what it lacks is instructions, there's a huge part of the audience who just want to 'build the thing on the box' and minecraft doesn't have any templates or instructions per-se. You can follow achievements but they aren't always intuitive and systems like the brewing are still relatively cryptic without a guide. I myself love redstone, but most of the fun for me is in building other people's contraptions from youtube so implementing blueprints or something would simplify the process (as some mods already do). Legends was ripe for this, building purposeful structures that have game mechanics built into them like forts and towers, but alas it wasn't meant to be.
Another issue is that while Minecraft offers a lot of variety it's spread very thin. Many aspects are slowly being expanded on in Microsoft's yearly updates, which is admirable considering they're free, but there are gaping holes in the game's mechanics. New blocks like copper get introduced and then barely have any function besides decoration while stone tools remain largely useless and the end dimension and story are very shallow and tacked on. They add new biomes, subsystems like archaeology, and new mobs but these are often fleeting and shallow themselves. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather something than nothing but these problems are long overdue some attention.
Overall Minecraft doesn't show signs of slowing down any time soon and the constant additions exist largely to give people a reason to keep coming back to visit; But nothing lasts forever and adding more of the same without addressing the legacy issues leaves a lot of room for a contender to take it's spot. Even so with the incredible aesthetic, popularity, and stunning music from C418 it's not going to go down easily.