We're Not Worthy

It's time for me to reveal my terrible secret: I was born and raised in Britain. And a stupid stereotype about British people like me is that we all live in castles.

Ridiculous! As I said to my best mate The Queen the other day, almost nobody in Britain grows up in a castle. Most of us grow up in a cupboard under the stairs until they receive a letter telling them they're a wizard. Or a letter telling them that they're an idiot, so they move to Sweden to write for a Minecraft website instead. Yeah whatever, I didn't want to be a wizard anyway :(

But sometimes I wish (non-magically) that I did grow up in a castle. Specifically, one of the amazing Minecraft castle builds from Japanese builder Yuuta.

That approach clearly worked out for Yuuta. “I built my palace based on the Japanese movie Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms. In this movie, we can observe various attractive buildings. In addition, I adopted some partial structures of buildings around the world.

“When I designed my religious build, I used PS4 games for reference. For example, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Assassin's Creed and NieR. These games gave me beneficial ideas.”

Those games also explain a lot about Yuuta's mix of styles. Gothic architecture from Bloodborne. More classic medieval castles from Dark Souls. Buildings from practically everywhere on Earth in the globe-trotting Assassin's Creed series.

Such an effective mix of styles has resulted in a portfolio of great builds, but Yuuta sees more flaws in his work than I do. “I like to create details, so I don't feel it's dull,” he tells me. “But I'm not good at designing overall. To consider the balance of the whole arrangement makes me exhausted.”

Not good at designing?! Nonsense! It seems Eastern builders are far more modest than Western writers like me. How are you liking my article so far by the way? I think it's PERFECT.

Massive structures aren't Yuuta's sole focus, mind. He also works on streets and cities, with just as rich an eye for detail.