Minecraft is fun, but it feels like "more of a toy than a game,"
(as Game Informer calls it) which honestly isn't my type of game. Sure, survival mode is a lot better compared to what it used to be back in Alpha, but the game still feels like it's missing something. The Nether feels incomplete, especially for something that serves as an alternate dimension. The combat is mediocre at best, (don't even get me started on the Enderdragon, definitely not worth the effort to beat) and it gets boring. Admiring people's creations and exploring popular servers, however, is a blast, but like I said, it just isn't my type of game.
Terraria, on the other hand, is MUCH deeper compared to Minecraft, and actually feels more like a complete game. It has eight unique bosses, (the first three are okay, but after the Wall of Flesh it gets quite intense) LOTS of things to make, (whether they're highly useful or just for decoration) many tough enemies to fight, and an overall more satisfying combat system. Of course though, the game does have its problems (the beginning is pretty boring, some items are a major pain to get, etc.) but for me, the pros completely outweigh the cons. One thing that irritated me in Minecraft was having to look up on the wiki every two seconds on how to craft all of the items, which ones are good, which ones are bad, etc (lol golden weapons and armor). Most of these problems don't exist in Terraria, which has its own guide NPC that, well, guides you as you slowly progress the game. He also shows you what items can craft with whatever object you show him. Crafting itself is not much of a hassle, either, since you don't have to worry about placing certain items on certain parts of the grid, but instead you can scroll down a list of what items can be crated with whatever you have now. It makes crafting much easier and way less frustrating. Terraria also lets you choose your own path. You can be more of a melee-type person, with stronger melee damage and more defence, or you can focus more on ranged, which gives you more weapon damage, less defense, and less chance of using up ammo. The mana type focuses more on increasing your mana, giving more damage to magic weapons, but gives you the least defence. Or, you know, you can just mix it all up in your own way. Did I mention how many weapons this game has? It has the basic swords, and bows, but it also has guns, spears, magic weapons, explosives,
flails, repeaters, and boomerangs. The game has NPCs that sell cool items, vanity items, much more potions, random special events that occur,
a larger number of enemies, rocket boots, grappling hooks, floating islands, corrupted lands, statues that do special things or are just decorative, etc. Just... watch this video to see what exactly I'm talking about here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Azq5IOrFtEI
If you ever play the game though, and you're just starting it, just be sure to start off in softcore mode. Just, don't play it on any other game mode, seriously, unless if you're up for a HUGE challenge. Anything harder than softcore mode drops all of your items when you die, and trust me, you're going to die a lot if you're a beginner.
