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Matt Forbeck, the author of ‘Rise of the Arch-Illager’ was interviewed on the Minecraft site about the upcoming Minecraft Dungeons-related book which will be released on July 7 for the US and July 9 for the UK .
As you might have guessed, “Rise of the Arch-Illager” takes place before the events of Minecraft Dungeon and focuses on the titular villain.
When asked why the story is a prequel, Forbeck replies:
There’s a good reason it’s a prequel. I didn’t want to just tell the story, because as a player you tell your own story, and that’s half the fun of playing Minecraft Dungeons. If I tell this story in a novel, it becomes the canon version, and no one wants to be told they’re playing the game wrong. So instead, one of the best things you can do is give more context to the game you are going to play, right? To give you more reason to care about what you’re doing. In a prequel, I can show who you’re up against, why they’re a bad guy, and why the world is the way it is; things that only last a few seconds in a cutscene.
The game itself doesn’t give away too much of the Arch-Illager outside of the opening cutscene, revealing he’s in possession of the Orb of Dominance which begins his unstoppable path to revenge.
Asked how the novel leads so well into the game, Forbeck replies:
I cheated! I used the trailer for the game! This was the plan of the whole novel. … Sounds tough, but the trailer gave me a framework and a lot of emotional highlights. As long as I reached those points, I knew where I was going and where I needed to be.
It seems like for Minecraft Dungeons fans, “Rise of the Arch-Illager” might be the right medium to enhance the spirit and enjoyment of the game.
Matt Forbeck is no stranger to video game-related novels, having written novels for series like Halo, Dungeons & Dragons and Blood Bowl.
Minecraft Dungeons recently received its first expansion and an update that added a new dungeon for free. If you’ve already gone through all of this, take a look at our list of 5 games similar to Minecraft Dungeons to get an idea of what to play next.