Preview Minecraft Dungeons 2: jeuxvideo.com's impressions on the Summer Game Fest demo

After spending forty-five minutes on the Minecraft Dungeons 2 demo at the Summer Game Fest, playing with two other people locally in the Deep Dark Entrance, jeuxvideo.com's journalist shares his impressions. Mojang and Double Eleven have taken the risk of venturing into a rather different register from the first installment, seemingly more for better than for worse.

What works

The ability to jump visibly changes everything. It sounds silly put that way, but in the first Minecraft Dungeons, we were heavily glued to the ground, whereas here we jump, dive, and trigger shockwaves on enemy packs; combat breathes, verticality forces us to approach the levels differently - and the bestiary, clearly revised upward in aggressiveness, really demands it.

The atmosphere has taken a serious step up in maturity, the journalist tells us. The Deep Dark Entrance plays the dread card to the fullest: frozen bioluminescence, unsettling shadows, and end-of-zone bosses that hit hard. These elements are light-years away from the childish pastel tones of the first installment's hack'n'slash. No doubt about it, the trailer's visceral promise is kept - it remains to be seen whether the entire progression holds the same course.

Finally, multiplayer and co-op are taken seriously: instanced loot, teleporting to allies, real-time inventory management. Everything that was missing from the first game's multiplayer is here present. The 4-piece equipment system with 3 talisman slots is finally a genuine promise of roles, Tank, Heal, DPS, already noticeable in an expanded session.

What's a little worrying

The 45 minutes were a bit short, and too tightly guided, according to the journalist. It's impossible to gauge the actual depth of potentially highly synergistic builds in 45 minutes, but in hack'n'slash games, judgment is passed at the thirtieth hour, not the first. The risk of an appealing theorycrafting that quickly runs out of steam remains entirely present.

Another point of attention: the dark tone, which currently hits the mark, has to coexist with Minecraft's all-audiences DNA. The balance remains fragile. If the rest of the game leans too far toward a Diablo-lite, it could well drive away the target audience.

Verdict pending

Pretty good according to jeuxvideo.com, but the end-game depth still needs to follow through. It's set to release on September 19, 2026 on PS5, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch, and PC, and will be available day one on Game Pass. See you soon for the full review!