“Hytale” Played: The Better “Minecraft”?
The sandbox adventure game “Hytale” could be the twin brother of its major competitor “Minecraft”. Striking unique selling points are missing.
(Image: Hypixel Studios)
It seemed to be an endless story: first announced in 2018, “Hytale” went through all the ups and downs: initially bought by Riot Games, then divested again, and now finally in early access, but not even on Steam, but on its own servers. Hypixel Studios wants to aim high with their “Minecraft” competitor. So far, they primarily offer solid blocky fun, which shows the experience of the creators from the modding community of „Minecraft“.
Beware of confusion!
It's like always: wake up and first smash everything to bits. Visually, it could be a minimally more detailed game world than “Minecraft”, and the gameplay is the same. As in the great role model, players have to collect raw materials, create tools, and unlock blueprints to get even better equipment and tools. A few zombies or monsters disturb the building idyll, but with a few simple weapons like a sword or bow, they are quickly dealt with.
„Hytale“ angespielt (5 Bilder)
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)During the hands-on hours, we walk through a green landscape, search dark dungeons underground, and unlock an idyllic temple grove via a portal. Although there are also some gates to other areas here, they are still “under construction”. In the north, icy mountain ranges await us, in the south a desert landscape, and if we swim across the sea, we land on a lava island with particularly nasty enemies.
Accessible Block Building
Anyone who remembers the first versions of “Minecraft” knows how laboriously players had to unlock individual game elements like a workbench and how long it took to get the first functional equipment. This is different in “Hytale”. Here, players can build an axe with just a few raw materials from the start or chop down ruins to even get finished building parts. Hypixel has made everything a bit more accessible, leading to quick successes.
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The differences to the original are hidden in the details. Our game character is more agile and can pull itself up on walls; with trees, it's enough to chop down only the lowest block to fell the whole tree. There is even a combat system with blocking or attack charging. However, players should not expect action-packed duels – so far, only simple actions against enemies like zombies, spiders, or bears are possible. We haven't met any of the dinosaurs that are mentioned in the first major update after release during our hands-on hours. Nevertheless – there is more going on than in the early days of “Minecraft”.
Big Plans
Apart from that, it feels like a “Minecraft” mod with quality-of-life improvements. Players can spend hours collecting raw materials to build houses, which they can equip with workbenches or forges. It looks and plays similarly to “Minecraft”, just a bit faster-paced. The unique mix of collecting and building also provides motivating gameplay in “Hytale” without the developers coming up with groundbreaking new ideas.
Measured by the current stage of development, that's not a big deal. The current version of “Hytale” is primarily for getting acquainted. The plans of development studio Hypixel are ambitious. The finished game will feature survival and adventure modes. With story quests, the game could become a kind of open-world RPG, and the creative mode offers the possibility to create your own mini-games.
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All of this points to a long development phase. What “Hytale” currently lacks are striking unique selling points to differentiate itself from “Minecraft”. The rest is a big promise.
Interim Conclusion
“Hytale” is a rough diamond, incorporating the experience of its creators from their Minecraft mod past. In addition to sensible improvements and more accessible gameplay, the game offers several regions with enemies of varying difficulty. Initial constructions succeed faster than in the original and, especially for players who found Minecraft too time-consuming, lower the entry barriers.
However, apart from these quality-of-life improvements, the creators make little effort to visually and gameplay-wise differentiate themselves from the original. So far, players can only guess where the ambitious journey of “Hytale” is heading.
“Hytale” is available for Windows. The basic version costs approx. 20 Euros. USK not rated.
(afl)
