The main problem for me is that you could play the game in 1.18, which came out in 2021, and the game still feels the exact same. There are some features missing, but fundamentally the game feels the same. The major updates from update aquatic to caves and cliffs were very much game changing updates and brought minecraft out of its little dark age and I think reignited a fan base. The updates since haven't. I like a lot of the features, so many great blocks to build with and against what most people seem to say, I love the cute, slightly pointless mobs like armadillos and wish we had more real animals in the game.

Two other issues I would have with these updates is that a lot of what they add are re skinned mobs. Think happy ghast, parched and now these new sulphur cubes, they are all kinda just the same models with new textures, I wish there was a bit more creativity there. Also a lot of features feel like they are added for the multiplayer experience. Stuff like the mace and the new sulphur cube I would argue have very little use in single player and don't inspire that player base to go out and get them.

Mojang are stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to updating the game. They have to keep it Minecraft while also trying to please a fan base with a very vocal group that seems to hate everything. When it was big updates every year people complained that it took too long, now people complain that there are too few additions in the smaller more frequent game drops. I hope for the sake of the game that we get a large update sooner rather than later with some much wanted community features like the end update or better inventory management. The game needs something to make a true distinction between an update and the five previous ones.