Review

Minecraft: Story Mode Episode 4: A Block and a Hard Place

We’ve finally made it to the closing chapters of Minecraft Story Mode. New revelations, crazy action and a few mishaps lead to an “interesting” second to last episode!

“A Block and a Hard Place” follows our gang to the end of their proverbial rope. After taking a tremendous loss when their plan failed to take down the Wither Storm, they’re forced to flee for their lives once again. All hope seems to be lost. That is until Ivor shows up with some unsettling news; apparently the Storm is specifically hunting Jesse for reasons I won’t spoil here. This leads to the another plan, haphazardly thrown together in the midst of a down moment. And by haphazard, I mean it forces a confrontation between the Endermen and the Wither Storm. Insane right?

I won’t spoil how things worked out for everyone but I will mention that this episode ends on an odd note. By all accounts, it could have been the season finale; secrets are revealed that help to tidy up the plot and a new Order of the Stone is born. We also see the conclusion of some characters’ story arcs. Jesse is the hero we all knew he or she was destined to be, Olivia finally believes in herself, and Axel made himself useful. Even Jesse’s Pig Reuben has a stand out performance towards the end, successfully cementing himself as a hero. On top of that, this episode features more action than ever before (a good or bad thing depending on how you feel about Telltale’s use of QTEs).  That said, there is a fifth episode.

The fact that there’s another chapter is both alluring and unsettling. If you’ve read my reviews of the past two episodes, you’d know I threw around the idea of filler content. With all the chaos and excitement of episode four, will this last chapter really be needed?  I can only image that, based on a major plot twist, things don’t end well for the previous Order of the Stone. Especially after the decision I made at the very end. Yes, I’m being vague – you’ll understand why once you play through the episode.  Ultimately I’ll have to wait and see what happens. Hopefully the existence of the next episode, “Order Up,” will be justified before the credits roll.

Getting back to episode four, my main criticism concerns the reason behind all of the madness. After solving a puzzle with the help of Soren, Jesses discovers what pushed Ivor over the edge. And let me tell you…his reason is unequivocally lame. Minecraft Story Mode is a light hearted romp featuring a family friendly premise that was crafted (no pun intended) to give gamers a reason to play with virtual LEGO’s in a more meaningful way. Like how the Transformers TV show was created to promote a toy line, except backwards. Basically, I hear the “why are you taking this so seriously” loud and clear. While all of that is true, I’d hoped that Ivor’s reasons for doing what he did was because he was either wronged in some grand way or he had some misdirected but altruistic motive. But the actual reason for him to be angry is so poorly conceived that when it was revealed I almost stopped playing. Remember, the game hinted that he plotted against his fellow Order members for years? Years for what should have taken all of ten minutes to accomplish.

Underdeveloped story elements aside, “A Block and a Hard Place” was still very entertaining. I liked the final outcome, it was action packed, and there was some real character growth. The odd finale-like treatment and Ivor’s trite reasons to temporally become evil didn’t completely ruin the fun. It’s basically in line with how I feel about the series as a whole – certain elements work well and the Minecraft backdrop masks a lot of issues. Still, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy my time.