Minecraft: Story Mode
| Minecraft: Story Mode | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Telltale Games |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U, iOS, Android |
| Genre(s) | Single player |
| Mode(s) | Adventure |
Minecraft: Story Mode is an upcoming episodic adventure game being developed by Telltale Games in collaboration with Mojang, the developers of Minecraft. The first episode is scheduled for release within 2015, with subsequent episodes to follow. The game will be released on Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One, Wii U, as well as iOS and Android devices.
Gameplay
Minecraft: Story Mode will be an episodic adventure game similar to Telltale's previous titles such as The Walking Dead. The player will collect items, solve puzzles, and talk to non-player characters though conversation trees to learn about the story and determine what to do next. Like other Telltale Games, decisions that the player makes will impact events in the current and later episodes.[1] However, unlike Telltale's previous games that tend to carry more mature or emotional overtones including the death of major characters, Minecraft: Story Mode is aimed as a family-friendly title, so the decisions will still be pivotal and emotional but will not involve mature imagery or themes.[1] Elements of crafting and building, central to Minecraft, will be included in the gameplay.[1]
Story
In Minecraft: Story Mode, players control Jesse (voiced by Patton Oswalt), who sets out on a journey with his friends to find The Order of the Stone–four adventurers who slayed an Ender Dragon–in order to save their world. In addition to Oswalt, the game's main characters are portrayed by Brian Posehn, Ashley Johnson, Scott Porter, Martha Plimpton, Dave Fennoy, Corey Feldman, Billy West and Paul Reubens.[2]
Telltale Job's Stauffer stated that the game's story will be aimed as family-friendly, similar to the films The Goonies or Ghostbusters.[1] The story is also aimed to be accessible to both existing players of Minecraft - both novice and advanced players - and to new audiences outside of the game.[1]
Development
The idea for Minecraft: Story Mode came around the end of 2012 when Telltale was engaged in work for Tales from the Borderlands, an episodic series based on the Borderlands series. The idea of developing stories around other established video game franchises led the team to brainstorm the idea for a Minecraft-related game, given that the game was essentially a "blank canvas" for storytelling, according to Job Stauffer, and would create an interesting challenge.[1] Telltale began negotiations with Mojang in early 2013, and began work on the title shortly thereafter.[1] Stauffer noted that Microsoft's acquisition of Mojang was not a factor in the game's development, as their interaction with Mojang began well before Microsoft's offers.[1]
Telltale opted to create a new main character of Jesse for Minecraft: Story Mode instead of using default "Steve" character from Minecraft, feeling that they did not want to attempt to rewrite how players already saw this character in the game.[3]
Minecraft: Story Mode was formally announced in December 2014 as a collaboration project between Mojang and Telltale Games; the announcement was presented as an interactive adventure game named "Info Quest II".[4] The game is planned for a five-episode series for release on Microsoft Windows, OS X, iOS, Android, PlayStation and Xbox consoles by late 2015;[5][6] Telltale has also confirmed that they will release the game for the Wii U, the first time that they have released a game for that console.[1] The first trailer for the game was shown at MineCon on July 4, 2015, revealing some of the game's features.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Webster, Andrew (August 26, 2015). "Giving Minecraft a story". The Verge. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
- ^ Albert, Brian (July 4, 2015). "First Minecraft: Story Mode Details Revealed at Minecon". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
- ^ Stewart, Keith (December 19, 2014). "Minecraft: Story Mode spin-off game announced by Mojang". The Guardian. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
- ^ Murphy, David (December 18, 2015). "Telltale Games, Mojang Team Up for 'Minecraft: Story Mode'". PC Magazine. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
- ^ "Telltale and Mojang Announce Minecraft: Story Mode". IGN. December 18, 2014.
- ^ "Minecraft: Story Mode is an episodic series from Telltale". Eurogamer. December 18, 2014.