106 hours later, I beat the last story monster of Monster Hunter: World (with slinger ammo.)
FEATURING the most advanced and beautiful range of monsters to date, Monster Hunter: World is the fifth mainline game in the series and the first on the XO/PS4 generation. It's huge. And filled with large monsters, small monsters, pet-sized monsters, plants you'd be lucky to find during a hunt, bugs, and ore to collect for items, monster specific rewards, equipment (weapons, consumables, and charms), and an arena so that you can't run. Then, there are high-rank versions of all that. The general success of this Monster Hunter is taking all that stuff and making them useful to hunting and crafting, so hunting and crafting are interwoven through every scale of the game, be it your current task or the one you're preparing for.
THERE are 32 large monsters in the New World, meaning the boss sized ones, (the ones we really care about). That includes any variations that may occur. The New World is the playable area for this game, including socials hubs and playable maps. Regardless of the amount playable maps, you travel to all of them via loading screen to hunt region specific monsters either in timed mainline quests, side quests, and investigations which are accepted on your terms or in non-timed expeditions. None of that free exploring one giant map here. In the vein of Monster Hunter, there are many ways to approach a situation because there are so many weapons. At the same time, you have to track the monster and find it to even begin. You can engage them wherever you find them, but there are still a million hazards to watch for, whether you find them in a thin cave or an open arena. So the core gameplay loop would be loading up on a mission, hunting the big one(s), and then claim your reward. Essentially, the core of this is akin, but not completely, to a boss rush because most of the upcoming missions can be approached without any side adventures. It is unwise, but it is allowed. Even when you need to gather tracks to discover a new monster, it can all be done by just hunting another monster. There's a lot of room in between if you want to make specific preparations: craft a weapon to specifically counter monsters, craft traps for more rewards, or craft better potions. There are endless amounts of stuff to pursue in between, but having that looming kind of fear that there is something huge waiting to be fought is fun. It keeps the pressure on all the time, even when you don't know what it is, but you have to find its tracks. This tension is core to the game.
SO the monsters, the looming fear, is the top end of the scale. What else is there? Back to the list. Other monsters will mess you up if they see you. They may even fight your monster. Twice, they've killed my monster for me. Smaller versions of monsters, the human-sized ones, may attack you. You might kick a toad that paralyzes anything around it, including you. Touching certain things will have even herbivores attack you. There are flying things. Beetles. Bugs. Should you have gathered that thunder bug back there or do you have enough traps? The life in this world and how it all matters to your weapons and equipment is really what fills it out. Hunting some mid-scale monsters may yield some cool armor or they may drop rewards needed for the more full armor sets. I personally sought after and created this armor set (King Beetle) that needed parts from bug creatures in the game and rare items from big elemental monsters. Why did I? I think because I never saw anyone else wear it. Armor set requirements can be a complicated blend. The big monsters are crafted with an eye for detail in their gestures, sounds, movements, and attacks, but that's only half of the equation. They're the obvious part: the fact that your Castlevania whip is slow or that aiming down your sights is more accurate. That's what Monster Hunter has always been. Having the rest of this world to think about while you're trying to figure out what the Radobaan is going to do next strikes the balance. That space to separate the bosses while keeping that fear in the background creates a fun pace. These layers fit so nicely with each other to strengthen that overall tension. I could have a list heavy write up of all the things to do in the game, and to some extent, there was no avoiding that, but the sweet spot is that compatibility.
THE rest of the features are pretty standard. It's an MMORPG, but you really only see people if you want to. I personally refer to it as an MMORPG Lite, just as I would Destiny because the mechanics are there for multiplayer, but there are no servers for role-playing or communities of squads living for this as they do other games. I think that's good because the gameplay here is on the tighter side of things, focusing on timing and finding vantage points instead of quick presses and cool-downs. The loading screens in between areas are like Borderlands or Dragon Age: Inquisition. It's not hazardous because the maps are sizable, but loading sure takes a moment as we have yet to see that PC release. Besides hunting, there are higher level arenas that have random equipment. Grinding is a word I hear tossed around a lot with this game. I think it's a little subjective. If it's fun, is it grinding? I think it isn't grinding because the world around the monster always loads with a slightly different configuration and you never really know what any given mission will throw at you. Either way, you won't know if you like it until you hop in, try a bunch of different weapons, and hunt some monsters.
- Ben R.
Player of games
PS
Some of this tutorial felt good and some of it felt like: "Wow is this still a tutorial?" But after the general one, the text tutorials are encountered constantly throughout the game. It gets easier. I like it and they are constant additions.
FEATURING the most advanced and beautiful range of monsters to date, Monster Hunter: World is the fifth mainline game in the series and the first on the XO/PS4 generation. It's huge. And filled with large monsters, small monsters, pet-sized monsters, plants you'd be lucky to find during a hunt, bugs, and ore to collect for items, monster specific rewards, equipment (weapons, consumables, and charms), and an arena so that you can't run. Then, there are high-rank versions of all that. The general success of this Monster Hunter is taking all that stuff and making them useful to hunting and crafting, so hunting and crafting are interwoven through every scale of the game, be it your current task or the one you're preparing for.
 |
| Full Ingot armor and a mud monster (Barroth) |
THERE are 32 large monsters in the New World, meaning the boss sized ones, (the ones we really care about). That includes any variations that may occur. The New World is the playable area for this game, including socials hubs and playable maps. Regardless of the amount playable maps, you travel to all of them via loading screen to hunt region specific monsters either in timed mainline quests, side quests, and investigations which are accepted on your terms or in non-timed expeditions. None of that free exploring one giant map here. In the vein of Monster Hunter, there are many ways to approach a situation because there are so many weapons. At the same time, you have to track the monster and find it to even begin. You can engage them wherever you find them, but there are still a million hazards to watch for, whether you find them in a thin cave or an open arena. So the core gameplay loop would be loading up on a mission, hunting the big one(s), and then claim your reward. Essentially, the core of this is akin, but not completely, to a boss rush because most of the upcoming missions can be approached without any side adventures. It is unwise, but it is allowed. Even when you need to gather tracks to discover a new monster, it can all be done by just hunting another monster. There's a lot of room in between if you want to make specific preparations: craft a weapon to specifically counter monsters, craft traps for more rewards, or craft better potions. There are endless amounts of stuff to pursue in between, but having that looming kind of fear that there is something huge waiting to be fought is fun. It keeps the pressure on all the time, even when you don't know what it is, but you have to find its tracks. This tension is core to the game.
 |
| Mounting mechanics are crazy. Jump off any ledge and swing. |
SO the monsters, the looming fear, is the top end of the scale. What else is there? Back to the list. Other monsters will mess you up if they see you. They may even fight your monster. Twice, they've killed my monster for me. Smaller versions of monsters, the human-sized ones, may attack you. You might kick a toad that paralyzes anything around it, including you. Touching certain things will have even herbivores attack you. There are flying things. Beetles. Bugs. Should you have gathered that thunder bug back there or do you have enough traps? The life in this world and how it all matters to your weapons and equipment is really what fills it out. Hunting some mid-scale monsters may yield some cool armor or they may drop rewards needed for the more full armor sets. I personally sought after and created this armor set (King Beetle) that needed parts from bug creatures in the game and rare items from big elemental monsters. Why did I? I think because I never saw anyone else wear it. Armor set requirements can be a complicated blend. The big monsters are crafted with an eye for detail in their gestures, sounds, movements, and attacks, but that's only half of the equation. They're the obvious part: the fact that your Castlevania whip is slow or that aiming down your sights is more accurate. That's what Monster Hunter has always been. Having the rest of this world to think about while you're trying to figure out what the Radobaan is going to do next strikes the balance. That space to separate the bosses while keeping that fear in the background creates a fun pace. These layers fit so nicely with each other to strengthen that overall tension. I could have a list heavy write up of all the things to do in the game, and to some extent, there was no avoiding that, but the sweet spot is that compatibility.
 |
| In my King Beetle armor. Look at that resolution. |
THE rest of the features are pretty standard. It's an MMORPG, but you really only see people if you want to. I personally refer to it as an MMORPG Lite, just as I would Destiny because the mechanics are there for multiplayer, but there are no servers for role-playing or communities of squads living for this as they do other games. I think that's good because the gameplay here is on the tighter side of things, focusing on timing and finding vantage points instead of quick presses and cool-downs. The loading screens in between areas are like Borderlands or Dragon Age: Inquisition. It's not hazardous because the maps are sizable, but loading sure takes a moment as we have yet to see that PC release. Besides hunting, there are higher level arenas that have random equipment. Grinding is a word I hear tossed around a lot with this game. I think it's a little subjective. If it's fun, is it grinding? I think it isn't grinding because the world around the monster always loads with a slightly different configuration and you never really know what any given mission will throw at you. Either way, you won't know if you like it until you hop in, try a bunch of different weapons, and hunt some monsters.
- Ben R.
Player of games
PS
Some of this tutorial felt good and some of it felt like: "Wow is this still a tutorial?" But after the general one, the text tutorials are encountered constantly throughout the game. It gets easier. I like it and they are constant additions.
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