Please note that since each episode of Minecraft: Story Mode — Season Two features the same graphics engine and control setup, those elements will not be repeated in our reviews for the final four episodes. To read our thoughts on that, refer to our review of Hero in Residence.

Armed with the keyword needed to eliminate Romeo‘s powers, Jesse and crew return to Beacontown to rescue the city and shut down the Admin once and for all. It starts fairly slow, as you’ll need to avoid being spotted — Romeo is impersonating you after all — and make your way up to the massive structure in the sky that likely houses the terminal where the code can be entered.

Eventually it picks up the pace, but there are meetings and confrontations that don’t feel like they carry any weight, including the option to try to hash things out verbally with Romeo. Really? After everything that’s happened there’s zero chance anyone would think that reasoning with the guy was the way to go, especially after you went through all the trouble to get the upper hand.

To the surprise of no one, the nonviolent approach is a non-starter and after the Admin decides to simply leave you to take care of other business you’re able to infiltrate his command centre unmolested and take possession of the item needed to defeat him. He returns at the last moment to try to stop you, but it’s officially battle time at that point.

Unfortunately, the final showdown between Jesse and Romeo is uninspired, featuring a mix of quick-time events and an awkward section in which you’re asked to deflect projectiles with one of the most poorly timed inputs we’ve ever seen.

Where Above and Beyond makes its biggest missteps, however, is in the battle’s aftermath, when Romeo goes from omnipotent super being to downtrodden whiner. His “I deserve to lose” act absolutely robbed us of the satisfaction of vanquishing our tormentor — he’d made Jesse’s life miserable for the entirety of Season Two and now we can’t even relish his downfall?

Jesse is apparently surrounded by the most forgiving group this side of Big Hero 6 as well, and hearing them chastise us as being overly harsh when we suggested Romeo deserved worse for basically trying to destroy the world was ridiculous. After being beaten down and mocked by this guy we’re supposed to feel bad for wanting him gone?

Episode 5 blows it with Stella as well. She smugly walks away en route to Champion City and the game doesn’t give you an option to gloat in your victory or even chop her down by reminding her she’s no rival of yours. You’re forced to swallow a lot of crap from Romeo and Stella, and Above and Beyond does a poor job of paying that off.

OVERALL (3.25/5)

Minecraft: Season Two isn’t as good as Season One, nor the subsequent Adventure Pass, though it’s worth playing for those that enjoyed the original eight episodes. As for this episode, Above and Beyond comes up short as a satisfying finale.

Their mission in Below the Bedrock is to find a weapon that Xara spoke of that they can use to defeat Romeo once and for all. So as Xara looks for a way to teleport them back to their world, Jesse must partake in a trivia contest to prove his knowledge of Fred and earn the right to spend a night in the ex-Admin’s home — ostensibly to search for the weapon. more

After running afoul of the Admin once again at the end of Episode 2, Jesse was banished to some sort of prison along with Radar, Jack and, for some reason, Nurm (more on that shortly). After being introduced to the Warden, Jesse and Jack make a break for it. It’s a short trip, however, as the surrounding area is like a maze infested with monsters. more

As has become a staple of the series, the moment one foe falls, another rises in its place, and to that end we’re (re)introduced to the Admin, who now inhabits a different body but is no less powerful. He’s playing almost a watered down version of The Joker throughout much of the episode, making light of your friends and your attachment to them. more

There’s seemingly only one meaningful decision in the entire episode, however, with frivolous choices like “did you choose to leave Radar in charge while you were gone” getting top billing during the wrap up. This was a problem with Season One as well, which is partly why the largely self-contained structure of the Adventure Pass seemed to hold up better than the original five. more