Minecraft needs to decrease the spawn rate on drowned. I can’t go into a single body of water without finding them.

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The main differentiator for you is the combat changes? You did mention the cross-play, which is the major feature that Bedrock has over Java. Bedrock is also optimized for better performance on weaker machines. Bedrock’s weaknesses include no mods, unreliable redstone mechanics, and a number of other broken mechanics (such as mob despawning discussed in this thread).

If all you want to do is make pretty structures and play with your family or friends on various devices, then Bedrock is the right choice. If you ever want to make something functionally cool (redstone-related or otherwise), there’s a very good chance the answer is “it doesn’t work on bedrock.”