A big update just hit Minecraft's Bedrock edition, bringing in not only experimental options but some sweeping changes. Much of the latter category describes changes that bring the edition in-line with the direction of Minecraft's Java form, though there are still many areas where the two games differ.
Mojang recently announced a new direction for Minecraft as a whole, promising to deliver more updates (each at a smaller size) throughout the year. With how much bundles are being pushed through experimental features and snapshots, with their mechanics being cleaned up and dyeing being added, it's likely that these will be the focus of the first of these small content drops. In addition, Mojang seems to be attempting to create greater parity between editions. This has been drip-fed for about a year now, but recent experimental changes have been furthering this secondary goal.
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Minecraft's New Bedrock Update Expands Rarity System And Increases Edition Parity
This latest Bedrock-exclusive Minecraft update introduces a number of minor tweaks, adding up to a noticeable change. Some of these are mechanical, while others are purely aesthetic. This slate of changes come in addition to an update to Bedrock's experimental features, with bundles now being toggleable when creating a world. This further evidences how bundles will be a feature of a soon-oncoming Minecraft update, among the first under Mojang's new direction. However, it's not the only part of this exclusive update that can let fans in on the game's future.
Revamped Rarity System
Bedrock already saw a few changes to how rarity is denoted earlier this year, but the feature has now been fully revised. What items are considered among Minecraft's rarest has been entirely reevaluated, with some big category changes. Each rarity category is signaled by the text color of the item's name:
- Common: White (now including End Crystals and Golden Apples)
- Uncommon: Yellow (including most music discs and armor trims)
- Rare: Cyan (now including Enchanted Golden Apples)
- Epic: Magenta (including the Elytra, Dragon Head, and the Silence Armor trim)
More items have been added into this system, in addition to the number of items that have swapped places within the existing categorization. The changelog for this update notes that all of these changes will be coming to Java in a future snapshot, putting the rarity system into total parity.
Over 30 Items Got A Name Change
On the subject of parity, a selection of items saw a name change to align them with Minecraft's Java edition. 35 items have now had their names changed to match their Java equivalents, with most tweaks being the addition of specifiers (such as turning 'Milk' into 'Milk Bucket' and 'Seeds' into 'Wheat Seeds'). The most notable among these are perhaps the changes of 'Enchantment Table' to 'Enchanting Table' and 'Cooked Beef' to 'Steak', both of which were examples of hotly debated edition differences in the community.
Quality of Life Changes And Improvements In Parity
A good number of bug fixes and minor quality-of-life improvements have come to Bedrock, including a few tweaks to the Realms service. One particularly interesting change is the removal of empty chests in Minecraft's trial chambers; these empty chests have always been intended as a means of inventory management, but players have often misinterpreted them as being bugged loot chests. Now they've been replaced with hoppers feeding into a barrel, better suggesting their use as disposal units.
Moreover, a few mechanical changes have been made to further improve the parity between Minecraft's two editions—which is certainly the update's major theme. Uncarved pumpkins can no longer form golems, and Snow Golems won't die when in a hot biome if under the effect of Fire Resistance. Enchantments with only 1 level no longer have a numeral attached to them, foxes have had their health halved, and top snow mined with Silk Touch will drop the correct number of layers.
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OpenCritic Reviews
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WHERE TO PLAY
Minecraft is a game made up of blocks, creatures, and community. You can survive the night or build a work of art – the choice is all yours. But if the thought of exploring a vast new world all on your own feels overwhelming, then fear not!
Minecraft has no set goal and can be played however you’d like! This is why it’s sometimes called a “sandbox game” – there are lots of things for you to do, and lots of ways that you can play. If you like being creative, then you can use the blocks to build things from your imagination. If you’re feeling brave, you can explore the world and face daring challenges. Blocks can be broken, crafted, placed to reshape the landscape, or used to build fantastical creations.
Creatures can be battled or befriended, depending on how you play. The world of Minecraft allows for epic adventures, quiet meditations, and everything in between. You can even share your creations with other players, or play in community worlds!
- Engine
- LWJGL, PROPRIETARY ENGINE
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op, Online Multiplayer
- Franchise
- Minecraft
- Number of Players
- 1-4
- Split Screen Orientation
- Vertical or Horizontal
- Platform(s)
- 3DS, Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Wii U, PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PS Vita, Xbox One, Xbox 360
- Genre(s)
- Sandbox, Survival
- How Long To Beat
- 129 Hours
- X|S Optimized
- No
- File Size Xbox Series
- 1.42 GB (August 2024)
