Minecraft Dungeons 2 reviews: a 76 Metascore and PC woes

Minecraft Dungeons 2 reviews are mostly positive but not glowing: the sequel sits at 76 on Metacritic on its launch day, September 29, 2026, with no negative reviews and a sizable group of mixed ones. Critics like the new jump, the deeper loot and the couch co-op, and fault a short, repetitive story and shaky online play. On PC, Steam players are reporting Microsoft account sign-in failures and crashes. This is a roundup of other outlets' reviews; The Ruling Desk has not played the game.

Key takeaways

• As of the morning of September 29, 2026, Metacritic lists a 76 ("generally favorable") for the Xbox Series X version, from 26 reviews: 16 positive, 10 mixed, none negative. OpenCritic shows a higher 85 from 20 reviews, so the early average depends on which critics you count.
• Critics agree the jump, the gear system and local co-op make it better than the 2020 original. They split on how long the fun lasts: several call the story short and samey before the endgame kicks in.
• The most serious complaint in the reviews is online play: Shacknews reports frequent disconnects even when playing solo online.
• On Steam, user reviews read "Mixed" (48% positive of 1,074) as of the morning of September 29, with players reporting failed Microsoft account sign-ins and crashes. We had found no public statement from Mojang on the PC problems by then.
• It is out now on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, at US$29.99 in the US, and included with Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass from day one.

What the Minecraft Dungeons 2 reviews score

The Metacritic page for Minecraft Dungeons II (the official title uses a Roman numeral) shows a 76 Metascore for the Xbox Series X version as of the morning of September 29. That Minecraft Dungeons 2 Metacritic score is based on 26 critic reviews, and none are negative. The low end comes from IGN at 60, which Metacritic's excerpt quotes calling it a "shallow ARPG", short for action role-playing game.

OpenCritic tells a rosier story at the same moment: a Top Critic Average of 85, with 85% of critics recommending it, from 20 reviews. The two sites count different outlets and weight them differently, and both numbers are early. Expect them to move as more reviews arrive, especially for the PC, PlayStation and Switch versions.

Here is how the reviews we read break down:

Outlet	Score	Reviewed on	The short version
GamesRadar+	3.5/5	Xbox Series X	Old-school, family-friendly fun with rough edges
Game Informer	7.25/10	Xbox Series X/S	Better than the first, but the power arrives late
Shacknews	7/10	Xbox	Great locally, frustrating online
IGN	60 (Metacritic scale)	Not stated in the excerpt	A shallow action RPG

Where critics agree: better than the first game

The clearest point of agreement is that this is the sequel the first game should have been. GamesRadar+ reviewer Justin Towell calls Minecraft Dungeons 2 "one of the best-made loot-based dungeon crawlers you can buy" and sums it up in his headline as a "family friendly take on Diablo" with old-school vibes.

Three improvements come up again and again:

• You can jump. Game Informer and GamesRadar+ both single it out. It adds light platforming, jump attacks and a way to hop over projectiles in boss fights.
• The gear goes deeper. Armor now splits into head, chest and legs, and GamesRadar+ notes you can disenchant items without destroying them. Shacknews calls the gear system noticeably improved.
• Co-op is flexible. Minecraft Dungeons 2 co-op works locally, online or both at once, GamesRadar+ says, with loot dropped separately for each player so a newcomer and a veteran can play together.

In Game Informer's review, Tomas Franzese gives it 7.25 out of 10 and credits it with more enemy and weapon variety than the original, plus endgame builds that feel genuinely powerful.

Where Minecraft Dungeons 2 reviews split

The disagreement is about pacing, not quality. Franzese's main complaint is that progression feels linear until the endgame: "I wish Minecraft Dungeons II didn't wait for its endgame to give me that incredible power fantasy." He also misses class-based character growth, since your build still comes from items, and calls the campaign short, at under 10 hours.

GamesRadar+ puts the main story at around 10 hours and says it gets a bit samey after about five, though Towell still wished it were longer. He also found you can spend nearly as much time in menus managing loot as you do playing. Metacritic's excerpt from the Daily Star (70) makes the same point more bluntly: it "gets quite samey quite quickly."

Bugs show up in several reviews, even on console. Towell got stuck in the scenery and saw keys and following characters vanish until he reloaded. The Outerhaven, the highest score on Metacritic's list at 90, still calls late-game freezes on Xbox Series X frustrating.

The online problem

The harshest criticism is about playing online. In its 7/10 review, Shacknews reports unstable servers that disconnected it from the game even in solo sessions, often deep into a dungeon run, which then had to be restarted. Reviewer Ozzie Mejia also describes rubber-banding in boss fights and notes that a character created for online play can't be switched to offline without starting over.

That last detail matters before you create your first character. GamesRadar+ confirms the split works both ways: offline characters can't go online either. Shacknews' advice is to treat it as a game night with everyone in the same room.

Minecraft Dungeons 2 PC issues at launch

The PC launch is where players, rather than critics, are unhappy. The Steam store page rated user reviews "Mixed" on the morning of September 29, with 48% of 1,074 reviews positive.

Sportskeeda's launch-day report collects the main complaints from those Steam reviews:

• The game asks you to link a Microsoft account at the start, and for some players that step fails and the game crashes.
• Other players say they simply can't sign in to their Microsoft account.
• One Linux player says the game won't run because the online services it requires fail.
• Some players complain there is no WASD keyboard movement.

These are individual player reports, not a confirmed diagnosis, and we don't know how widespread they are. By the morning of September 29 we had not found a statement or fix from Mojang or Microsoft. If you're on PC and have Game Pass, you can try it there before buying it on Steam.

Minecraft Dungeons 2 on Game Pass, platforms and price

Minecraft Dungeons II is developed by Mojang and Double Eleven and published by Xbox Game Studios. It launched September 29 on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2. Shacknews and the US Steam store both list it at US$29.99, with a Deluxe Edition also on Steam.

Minecraft Dungeons 2 Game Pass access starts on day one. Microsoft's September Game Pass lineup lists it for Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass across cloud, console, handheld and PC, and it is the last dated game in that list for September.

The sequel is also the first place to visit the Sift, Minecraft's new fourth dimension, which reaches Java and Bedrock Edition in 2027. We covered that in what Minecraft The Sift is and when you can enter it.

What it means for you

• If you have Game Pass, the reviews make it an easy recommendation to try, especially with kids or a friend on the couch.
• If you plan to play online, expect some disconnects for now, and pick online or offline carefully when you create a character.
• If you're buying on Steam, consider waiting a few days for sign-in fixes and for the user reviews to settle.
• If you want a deep action RPG, several critics say the depth only arrives in the endgame, so it may not replace Diablo 4 for you.

For another launch-day roundup from the same week, see how critics scored The Witcher 3 Remastered, or browse more in video games.

Bottom line

Minecraft Dungeons 2 reviews, as of launch day, describe a clear upgrade on the first game with the same limits: short, a little repetitive and best with friends in the same room. The 76 Metascore and the 85 on OpenCritic are early numbers. The bigger open question is the PC and online experience, which depends on fixes Mojang has not yet announced.

FAQ

Is Minecraft Dungeons 2 good?

Most critics say yes, with caveats. It holds a 76 on Metacritic and an 85 on OpenCritic as of September 29, 2026, with praise for its combat, loot and local co-op, and complaints about a short story and unstable online play.

Is Minecraft Dungeons 2 on Game Pass?

Yes. Microsoft lists it for Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass from launch day, September 29, 2026, on cloud, console, handheld and PC.

How long is Minecraft Dungeons 2?

Reviewers put the main story at around 10 hours. Game Informer says under 10, and GamesRadar+ finished it in about 12 with some co-op. The endgame adds more for players who want to max out their gear.

Why is Minecraft Dungeons 2 crashing on PC?

Mojang had not explained it as of the morning of September 29. Steam players report crashes when linking or signing in to a Microsoft account at startup, which suggests the account step is involved, but that is their observation, not a confirmed cause.

Can you play Minecraft Dungeons 2 offline?

Yes, including local co-op. Characters are tied to one mode, though: reviewers say an offline character can't go online and an online character can't go offline without starting over.