Monster Hunter World

So I just got done hunting in the Monster Hunter World beta, and first I have to say is: go preorder this game now. MH World is a major overhaul from the rest of the series, and I think it’s a great thing. Whether you’re an expert hunter who’s slayed a Fatalis multiple times, or someone who's never even killed a Velocidrome. This game is for you.

Now, before we get started, I'm planning on doing multiple blogs on Monster Hunter. (Capcom should pay for how much I'm hyping this game up.) So, I want everyone to be able to quickly understand the core of this game. All of my blogs on this subject will link back here, to get everyone up to speed. You mainly just need to read part one, part two sets up for the rest of the series. Read it if you like, ignore it if you don't.

Monster Hunter

The core of the game is simple hunt monsters. (crazy right?) Let me break it down a little bit more. The game, to me, has 4 phases. Some will say 2 others 3, others even add in 5 or 6. I say 4 and this is my website. It's not a democracy it's a Josh-ocracy and I do what I want.

1) Prepare for the Beast

You can do this in the hunt or before it, either way, you start with it. You craft armor and weapons, make potions and items to help you survive. You map out the battle area. You research the monster and find what its weak too and were its tough. You prepare for the battle ahead. Then you start phase 2.

2) Track the Beast

Now you are ready, it’s time to find the monster. Start the quest and dive into the hazardous environment where it inhabits. Do whatever you can to hunt it down. You've only got an hour to kill it, so find it fast and avoid the other wild life looking to make you its next meal.

3) Kill the Beast

Now that you have found it, it’s time to kill it. Battle it with one of your powerful hunting weapons. It may run off, so you might need to return to phase 2. Eventually, you'll either kill it or die trying.

4) Wear the Beast

Now it’s dead, you can use its hide as armor. Wield its skull as a weapon. You have conquered it. Now show off your new apparel by returning to phase 1 to face a tougher beast.

I actually have a few phrases saved that I always sent to people to explain Monster Hunter’s mechanics quickly and effectively. I love using them and want to show them off whenever I can.

"Don't get hit and hit it until it dies, in that order."

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"Kill it, carve it, wear it, repeat it."

— Old Monster Hunting proverb

This is the core concept of the game. If anything should interfere with these four phases, I feel that they should be removed. Now there are some things that don't follow these four, that I love and don't want removed, while there are others that I think the game would be better off without. So this isn't some golden rule, just a blanket statement.

Look Backward to Forward

Now, the main reason for these next few blogs is so I can talk about the controversy in the 'fandom'. Monster Hunter World has add/removed/changed a lot of things. This was guaranteed to anger a lot of people and I think they knew they moving forward.

Now, I do agree, there are issues. I have my complaints, yet I still think this move is in the right direction. It adds infinitely more than it loses. I can't wait to see just what happens next.

I do feel that some of the new additions to MH World are making the game to easy or removing some skill it took to take down the monsters, and I'm not crazy about that. I don't say this because I'm some hard core 'Monster Hunter' or because I want everyone to had a hard time playing, but I say it as a fan of what the series is all about: Making you feel awesome. Hunting monsters shouldn't be easy, the challenge is what makes the battles fun.

Nothing is cooler than the first time soloing the Diablos after having him crush you over and over again. You feel so powerful and not because your character found the magic weapon that made the Monster weak to ice. But because you used your skill and knowledge of the game world/mechanics to take him down. It was all you, not the game designer, not the quest giver, it was you and your self-earned skill.

Now, with that said. I also hated some of the contrived difficulty in MH. Some of it felt like just a massive time sink. Honestly I'm amazed this game didn't have any microtransactions in it, it was a perfect game to have them, but we are so lucky they didn't. I feel that a lot of changes have made it both more accessible to new players and easier for recurring players to pick up the game once again. It has removed some of the awful moments in the gameplay. Like when the Monster flees from you, and you didn't realize the paintball had worn off so now you have to track the monster from scratch and you only have 10mins remaining and you know you need all 10 to kill it.

Now, this is just part one of three or four other blogs. Those are way more important and way more in-depth than this, but I feel a 'cover statement' is needed for the rest of them. I don't know if anyone found this interesting or helpful, but I had fun writing it and it makes me feel like I didn't just waste all day playing video games. Comment below your thoughts, I love to hear what other people think! Even if you don't play the game, talk to me about it.