Why Minecraft's Pale Garden is better as a cave biome than a surface biome
Minecraft will soon be getting a new biome called the Pale Garden. This biome comes as a part of the Winter Drop and brings the creaking mob, the creaking heart, and the Pale Oak tree to the game. Players can try out all these experimental features by getting the 24w40a snapshot. The Pale Garden can be found in the overworld. That said, this should have been an underground biome.
This article will explain why Mojang Studios should have added the Pale Garden biome underground like other underground areas such as the Tricky Trials or the Ancient City in Minecraft.
Disclaimer: This article is subjective and reflects the author's opinion.
Pale Garden in Minecraft should be a cave biome
The addition of the Pale Garden biome on the surface mostly hinges on the day/night cycle, which affects the appearance of the creaking mob. The creaking can only come out at night, and the Pale Garden has no other naturally spawning mob. This makes it completely barren with just one tree type.
The overworld in Minecraft has always incorporated realistic biomes such as plains, mountains, swamps, deserts, etc. This makes it an in-game representation of the real world. The caves have always been dangerous and mysterious, challenging players to improve in combat. The Pale Garden biome was the perfect fit for the dark underworld of Minecraft.
Pale Garden would be more interesting as a cave biome
Consider going to the Pale Garden during the day. Since there is no creaking mob, there is no risk factor. It’s akin to walking in a forest with desaturated trees. When players want to avoid the creaking, they can always leave the biome when the sun sets.
This would have been completely different if this new biome was in caves. Since the caves are perpetually dark, stumbling into the biome would be scary. Players will have to light up the area while avoiding the creaking.
The developers can also make rare items such as diamonds more common in this biome to incentivize exploration. As an overworld biome, there is no such incentive to explore the Pale Garden at night.
New biome feels out of place in the overworld
The other major issue with the Pale Garden biome is that it feels out of place in the overworld. With all the “normal” biomes, players suddenly come across a pale, desaturated biome that has no specialty other than pale trees. Since these are experimental features, Mojang Studios should either make the biome more interesting and layered or just move it to the caves.