The Best DLC You Probably Missed - Minerva's Den Retrospective

Minerva’s Den, developed by 2K Marin, is not just any old piece of downloadable content for BioShock 2.
Featuring masterful pacing and excellent storytelling, Minerva's Den is a beautifully told BioShock tale and the gold standard for how to fashion a short story within an existing video game universe.
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#bioshock #bioshock2 #fps
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Contents:
00:00 - Intro
00:14 - What Is Minerva's Den?
02:57 - Strict Story Beats
07:36 - A BioShock Combat Sandbox
10:04 - Second Half Freedom
14:50 - The Tragic Tale Of Charles Milton Porter
20:18 - Moments To Reflect

[@BenPlaysGames]

✅ Subscribe: kzbin.info 🖱 Support the channel: www.patreon.com/ben_plays_games I used AI to upscale and tidy the trailers used near the start, which were previously blurry and very low res. Pretty amazing how well they came out!

[@saschaberger3212]

Porters goodbye to his wife always tears me up.

[@BenPlaysGames]

The ending is superb. I always wonder whether the piano track in the background is meant to represent one Porter himself used to play when thinking about Pearl too. After all, 2K Marin is very keen to show us his piano and highlight the fact he can no longer play it when you interact with it. One of my favourite gaming tunes.

[@DavidReads]

Between the solid twist and the really heartfelt story beats, as well as the fine tuned gameplay, Minerva's Den really is peak Bioshock.

[@BenPlaysGames]

100% - it took me just over three hours to beat and I was gripped the entire time, as I am every time I play it. The story is so good, it definitely could have been written out to make a full length game.

[@rhymenoceros3303]

Easily one of the top 10 DLC's of all time. It's such a good DLC.

[@BenPlaysGames]

Completely agree, might actually be my favourite!

[@QuarrelsomeLocalOaf]

BioShock 2 and Minerva's Den are really underrated imo, the whole weapon+plasmid+tonic sandbox allows for so many options for player choice and replayability and they're all so satisfying. Fantastic visual design and art direction too, and the score and music choices really nail the setting's atmosphere perfectly.

[@BenPlaysGames]

Story wise it's always going to be a matter of opinion but in gameplay terms they both absolutely smoke the original. Sooo muchore fun to actually play.

[@DJEylisium]

One of the best DLC's of all time! Sadly missed it on its launch but played it just after Infinite launched and played it after Burial At Sea had me hankering for more Bioshock! I genuinely got choked up at the end!

[@BenPlaysGames]

It's up there as some of the best for sure, and is honestly probably my personal favourite. From Software and CDPR in particular do excellent DLC these days, but there's something about the BioShock universe I absolutely adore.

[@fixation9281]

Another cool thing about this DLC is that it connects BioShock to Firewatch and Gone Home The Super Spitfire video game which appears in Gone Home is a Super Nintendo version of Spitfire, a game which appears in this DLC. Super Spitfire’s publisher, CMP Interactive, is named after Spitfire’s creator and the protagonist of Minerva’s Den, Charles Minton Porter In Firewatch, the book The Accidental Survivor by Terrence L. Greenbriar can be found in a supply cache; Greenbriar is the father of the protagonist from Gone Home

[@BenPlaysGames]

I'd no idea, that's really interesting. Love a little Easter Egg. I always wonder whether the name C M Porter is a hint that that the person contracting you on the radio is actually The Thinker. It's very close to 'computer'.

[@INFILTR8US]

Bioshock 2, my personal favorite in the series with the best combat, writing and DLC. Minerva's Den kicks ass. That Shayamalayadingdong twist!

[@BenPlaysGames]

I give the edge to the story in the original but gameplay wise, there's no comparison. 2 is a thousand times more enjoyable to actually play, to the point the original feels incredibly clunky these days. Shame that instead of building on it, Infinite streamlined everything into oblivion.

[@XelitexX360]

I played this DLC for the first time past year, I had played all bioshock games but missed on the DLCs. It's a great expansion to the actual story and overall a really enjoyable DLC. Glad to see you review it Ben, hopefully you can eventually review all the Bioshock games. Cheers!

[@BenPlaysGames]

No worries dude! Definitely going to do some stuff on the other BioShock's too, big fan of the series.

[@colemanandersen]

This was a great video. Bioshock and Halo both have two of the best singleplayer fps campaigns, you do great analysis on these.

[@BenPlaysGames]

Appreciate that dude! Definitely got more on the series coming too.

[@regularphill]

Bioshock 2 was my favorite in the series but I have not played this.

[@BenPlaysGames]

Do it, game's a banger!

[@TheStardustConspiracy]

Yes!! More Bioshock videos please!!

[@BenPlaysGames]

Definitely more coming!

[@desrenehanirl7]

Grateful for games like this!

[@BenPlaysGames]

Me too, roll on BioShock 4.

[@annasoH323]

This may be somewhere in my library, bought, but lost to the void. I should give Bioshock 2 a chance... even though I think my stomach for horror-esque beats has waned. We'll see.

[@BenPlaysGames]

It's a good game but Minerva's Den is the real prize. It's also not super scary either, if that's a plus.

[@Don-eeee]

Read the title and went "Correct"

[@BenPlaysGames]

I've played it probably five times at least now and I never get bored of it. For me, it's the last good part of the series as Infinite is, for me, pretty wonky and I don't much care for its DLC either.

[@skipdonaghue9451]

I could never get into this franchise. Me old gamin pal, back in the olden days, tried to sell it to me. But even late nights and plenty of beer failed to win me over. It doesn't, however, spoil the enjoyment of this video and any future installments! Cheers!

[@BenPlaysGames]

No worries! It's a shame really, as Skip Donaghue is a very BioShock kinda name.

[@katanafourzeronine]

Hey Ben how's that Resident Evil 6 playthrough going?

[@BenPlaysGames]

It hasn't progressed at all. Back streaming when I return from Ireland after the weekend!

[@burge117]

Hope you had a good birthday, last week? 😊 Still procrastinating on RE6 😂 Just give up man, play a good one like OG 1, 2 and 3 ❤

[@BenPlaysGames]

Yeh great thanks dude, all good with you? Returning to Resi 6 when I'm back from Ireland end of the weekend, promise!

[@burge117]

@BenPlaysGames Yeah thanks pal. All good on my end. Haha. No one will hold it against you if you don't. Could turn it into a drinking game?

[@injest3r574]

Have you ever played the dark souls games or elden ring , i feel lile you may like the story and lore of it

[@BenPlaysGames]

Played and finished all of them all, love them. I haven't covered them much myself but did do a video on Elden Ring a while back. Original version of Demon's Souls is ly favourite, so bleak and lonely.

[@adrianhernandez7197]

Wait, are you the very same guy from Matt talks tech? You two share the very same damn voice lol

[@BenPlaysGames]

Ha unfortunately not, definitely different people.

[@adrianhernandez7197]

@@BenPlaysGames Jesus Christ, thank god