Hytale Review [Early Access] | More Than a Chip Off the Old Block

updated_at: January 16, 2026 05:13

published_at: January 16, 2026 04:20

Hytale
Release Date	Gameplay & Story	Pre-Order & DLC	Review

Hytale is an action RPG sandbox by Hypixel Studios. Read on to learn everything we know, our first impressions of itsearly access build, and if it's worth your money.

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Everything We Know About Hytale

Hytale Story

Hypixel has not yet confirmed specific plot points that players will eventually encounter in Adventure Mode. Due to the long history behind the game’s development, the developers have confirmed that the narrative underwent many revisions since the game was first announced and will continue to be fleshed out as development continues.

In the meantime, players will be able to piece together their own take on Hypixel’s lore through the many creatures and artifacts they will find in Hytale’s Exploration Mode, which is now available while the game is still in Early Access.

Hytale Gameplay

Hytale possesses all of the familiar characteristics of sandbox gameplay, such as open-world exploration and emphasis on player freedom and experimentation, set within the framework of survival RPGs. In Hytale, players will have the freedom to explore different biomes while encountering and interacting with hundreds, if not thousands, of elements in their environment. They will be able to exercise their abilities as explorers, fighters, and creatives through the four game modes on offer: Adventure Mode, Exploration Mode, Creative Mode, and Competitive Multiplayer.

Released for Early Access on January 13, 2026

Hytale was released for Early Access on January 13, 2026, for PC for $19.99 USD. Interested players can purchase Hytale through the game’s official website. Regional pricing will apply, which means players should expect to encounter different prices in USD depending on their location.

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$19.99

Hytale Review [Early Access]

More Than a Chip Off the Old Block

Is there a game more well-known than Minecraft? Maybe, but there certainly is not one more successful if we are talking sales. It is literally the world record holder for best-selling game of all time, so it is hard to understate the kind of grip it has on pop culture, gaming, and the generations that grew up with it.

It is hard to imagine anything beating Minecraft at its own game. Other titles have built themselves out of Minecraft’s DNA, and while some are quite good, none have ever reached the same heights as the Ur of blocky survival sandboxes. Well, I mean, unless we are counting Hytale.

As much as I would love to feign a hot take and pretend this is some grand act of blasphemy, the writing has been on the wall for Minecraft for a long time. With how comfortably it has been sitting on its laurels, a usurper was bound to take the crown sooner or later, and evidently, its name is Hytale.

There is much to discuss about this game, and surprisingly, the least interesting thing about it is its relationship with Minecraft. Let us dig straight down, shall we?

Somehow A Bigger, Grander, and More Mesmerizing World

Let’s begin where many two-week Minecraft obsessions begin, at the start of a new world. Picture this. You wake not to a random blocky horizon generating in, but to the inside of an overgrown temple. You would be forgiven for thinking this is Breath of the Wild, but no, the blocky textures and particle effects betray the roots of this world’s origins.

You stride forward and push open a pair of heavy, fluidly animated doors to let the light in, and what greets you is a familiar landscape. Rolling green hills, trees stabbing a cerulean sky in shards of green and brown, and the familiar striations of mixed cobble and stone peeking out beneath grassy knolls. You head for the nearest tree to punch it and make a crafting table, except there is no crafting grid. Come to think of it, those doors flew open a little too eagerly, and that cobblestone has a little too much texture. Were bunnies always this big? Why can’t you make wooden planks?

You knew this was not Minecraft from the start, but you could not help yourself. The resemblance is uncanny. Then again, is it really? Everything is different, yet also the same. The first thing that becomes apparent is that, despite the blocky exterior of this new world, you are not meant to mine or craft much at all.

And that is Hytale for you, Minecraft in looks only, like a distant cousin who bears a resemblance but only from afar. The moment you start moving around, everything begins to show its true colors, and what many would consider a Minecraft clone quickly proves that it is anything but.

RPG Elements at the Forefront

Hytale makes itself known as an RPG alternative to Minecraft’s survival sandbox from the very beginning by doing two things: eschewing the crafting grid entirely and turning resource gathering from a foraging and mining trip into more of an adventure. You will notice early on that the bounty of the earth can only carry you as far as iron-tier equipment, and that to progress, you are going to need to get your adventurer on.

That front and center RPG loop is what Hytale brings to the table. If you bring your Minecraft sensibilities into this game, you will not get far, since you are meant to explore, fight, and dungeon dive more than farm, build, and gather.

The game’s expanded combat and equipment system makes this clear more than anything. Hytale introduces a varied weapon and armor system that caters to different playstyles. The armors are largely the same across builds, granting extra health and damage reduction while also looking incredibly cool, but the weapons deliver that Skyrim feel through their different rules of engagement.

Looking to fight from a distance? There’s a shortbow waiting for you in Hytale. There’ss also a hand crossbow that fires semi-automatic arrows a few tiers up, if you’re feeling fancy. Looking for sword and board? Shields and swords of every tier can be made. Maybe you wanna be a bruiser with a heavy weapon, in which case the mace and axe are yours to wield. Even the edgy assassin crowd has dual daggers to play with.

Combat itself has been expanded beyond just the equipment you use. There’s now a stamina bar that drains when you block, sprint, or perform heavy attacks. That in itself is another new addition. Heavy attacks do more than simply deal extra damage when you hold the strike. With swords, you get a dashing thrust, and with daggers, you can leap forward for a backstab.

You can also build a power meter by chaining attacks together without switching weapons. Filling it grants you a powerful move that changes from weapon to weapon. I will not spoil all of them here, but let us just say the sword turns dealing with a horde of enemies into a piece of cake, and not the blocky kind.

All this fighting makes it sound like every Minecraft RPG mod made ever. What else can you do in Hytale? Boy, if only there were a simple answer.

Simplified Crafting, Expanded Exploration

As stated earlier, crafting has taken a backseat to combat and exploration in Hytale, but that does’t mean it has been forgotten. You can still hunt for ores and turn them into weapons and armor, cook your own food, and build your house block by block if you want to. There’s simply less pomp and circumstance around it, because that is not where the game places its focus.

For starters, there’s no crafting grid. All recipes are completely formless and only require that you have the materials and facilities needed to make them. Crafting directly from chests is also a thing, which means you don’tt need to pull out everything you have gathered just to build something. Drop it in a chest and forget about it until you need it.

Building structures has also received some love, even if it’s not the game’s bread and butter. There are vertical slabs, column pieces, and unique blocks that even Minecraft never thought up. Furniture can be crafted and is functional beyond simple decoration, with your bed acting as your spawn point. Most importantly, since Hytale’s models are far more detailed, not everything neatly fits into a one-by-one space. To solve that, a building projection system is added for most furniture, so you do not accidentally build over important parts of your structure.

For the explorers among you, the game’s many biomes come in clutch when it comes to diversifying your travels, both realistically and magically. Hytale wears its fantasy on its sleeve, so do not be surprised when grasslands turn blue, and trees grow curly and twisted. There are so many places to visit, each with its own flora and fauna, that you would think this was a modded Minecraft playthrough, except this is just base game Hytale.

Glitchy World Generation, But It Sure Is Pretty

Moving on to how the game looks, it’s absolutely breathtaking in the same way Minecraft can be, but you don’t need a great setup to behold it. No need for shaders, texture packs, or mods, Hytale simply is more detailed, more directed, and more whimsical at a base level than Minecraft ever was.

Unfortunately, Minecraft is king for a reason, and it does have one major one-up over Hytale. As it is, Hytale’s structure and world generation can be a bit glitchy. Though it happens in Minecraft too, many of the game’s important structures, like boss arenas for dungeons (yes, that’s a thing), underground passages, and overworld ruins, generate into the surrounding landscape. This creates a broken assemblage of both assets that functions well as either.

There’ll just be holes in the dungeon you’re in, completely non-diegetic from the manufactured ruin it’s supposed to be in. The boss arena could be impossible to traverse because it’s being bisected by a chasm. Maybe you just don’t find the loot you’re supposed to because it generated in a wall to your left, not that you’d ever know.

I’m not sure if it’s intentional, but if it isn’t, then that’s somewhere that Hypixel still has some work to do. On the aesthetics and sounds departments, though, they’ve knocked it out of the park. This is the most immersive game Minecraft has ever been. The animations are smooth, the texture detail is astounding, and the variety of blocks is more than sufficient despite the simplified crafting.

Aware of Its Origins, But Completely Separate From Them

Hytale really did take Minecraft’s look and run with it, forging its own identity as a completely separate game from whatever Mojang has been doing with its cash cow. While it is true that leaning so heavily into RPG systems limits creativity to some extent, narrowing the audience from absolutely anyone with an idea to those who want to hunt monsters and chase loot, it still feels like an impressive evolution of an unbeatable formula, even if it is a more focused one.

The dedication to make everything familiar but different really taps into the gamer zeitgeist, relying on Minecraft’s existence as a major cultural entity for the past decade to draw people in, then offering them something palatably new. It’s genius and effective, and it’ll only get more so from here as the modding scene starts to flourish and Hytale takes on a life of its own.

Hytale is unequivocally itself despite the comparisons, and it stands as a worthy offshoot of what Minecraft set in motion all those years ago. It beats Minecraft at its own game by playing something else on the same field, and that may be the trick that makes Hytale more than just a chip off the old block.

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Hytale Product Information


Title	HYTALE
Release Date	January 13, 2025 (PC)
Developer	Hypixel Studios
Publisher	Hypixel Studios
Supported Platforms	PC
Genre	Simulation, RPG, Action
Number of Players	1
ESRB Rating	RP
Official Website	Hytale Official Website

Comments

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Aaron Bruce Albert..

A massive fan of roguelikes, turn-based RPGs, and open world adventure games. His gold standard games include The Binding of Isaac, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, and Dragon Quest Monsters Joker.

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