Under the Bedrock is the penultimate episode of Minecraft: Story Mode Season Two and we’re glad it’s coming to an end soon. With the first three episodes having received very mixed reviews, we didn’t expect much change for the fourth, but we were surprised by a really enjoyable and well-rounded experience.
Episode 4 begins with Jesse and his friends traversing bedrock into an entirely new world that feels very dark and dangerous, to say the least. It’s refreshing that we’ve been taken to another entirely new environment rather than being stuck in the same ones just with a quick makeover. This new environment is also home to new threats, in the form of a giant Enderman that follows Jesse’s party, destroying buildings picking up whole pieces at once, and a giant magma golem that will crush all of Jesse’s friends with a single blow of his arm as long as he hasn’t already set it on fire. The new area and monsters give the episode a fresh feel, although we still think Telltale could be a bit more creative with the enemy design instead of just increasing the size of most enemies to add tension.
Character development is also an improvement throughout this installment, as Jesse’s adventuring party is scaled down in various ways to keep the focus on a few of the strongest characters: Radar and Petra. Since Radar and Petra have a close bond with Jesse, it made for some very moving speeches that certainly made the dialogue more impactful and engaging. It also brought out a certain empathy in us for these characters that we hadn’t felt before in the season.
The entire episode felt really well balanced from start to finish with a good mix of combat, building, puzzles, and dialogue that kept the game flowing smoothly for a full 90 minutes; impressive given that past episodes have struggled to hit 60. The story also moved at a very enjoyable pace throughout, although not having the big plot twists some of the other episodes slightly hampered the episode.
Conclusion
Under the Bedrock is a rock-solid penultimate episode for what has been a very mediocre Season 2 so far for Telltale’s Minecraft story mode. With a well-balanced structure and a steadily-paced plot progression that intrigues throughout, Episode 4 succeeded in what the first three episodes failed to do: lay a solid foundation for future episodes. It’s such a shame that Below the Bedrock didn’t come earlier in the season.