REVIEW

Monster Hunter: World

by Luke Walsh, March 8th, 2018

Monster Hunter has been a franchise that is known for being quite difficult to get into and to be honest Monster Hunter World is not really any different but is an improvement over its handheld brothers and sisters. It still has issues with menu dazzling and a lot of systems buried in other systems but developers Capcom have tried to make it more accessible.

As with the other titles, you begin your adventure by creating your character and then heading out into the world with barely anything to your name. Combat is aimed towards Action-RPG and is built around the gameplay loop as you take on those monsters in their natural habitat you’ll be able to use their materials to make stronger gear and then take on even tougher monsters. Basically, explore, hunter, harvest, craft and repeat.

This seems like a simple process but to actually do everything in the game is can be very overwhelming for a new player to the series. There’s so much you are able to do, there is not really a great way to build out the systems in a way that makes them all accessible. This comes from simple things like understanding how to upgrade your weapons, eating food before setting off, to setting bounties, updating the monster journal and many many more things.

Even a player like myself who has dabbled in the game before had trouble remembering how to upgrade my starter Katana to only realise I needed to create a bone one for the tree I wanted. Luckily though, it has been simplified to a degree meaning that less time is spent in all these menus so you can concentrate on fighting the monsters.

When you start the game you do have an easy focus on the quests which take you through hunters various monsters after monster. Once you have created your character in the pretty decent customisation tool (and your feline companion), you set off in a world which is just downright beautiful and interesting to explore. Your journey will take you through lush forests, barren wastelands, above ground coral reefs and many more. I was impressed with the number of different parts of the world as I felt previous games made the world feel very small.

Like previous titles, you don’t play Monster Hunter for the story as the game is centred around the player created moments when in battle on hunts. World’s story is focused on the movement of an Elder Dragon, Zorah Magdaros with some special missions surrounding him attempting to push the story forward for the player. It’s a little cliche and thin on the ground in terms of narrative but you do get to interact with some interesting characters along the way.

Monster Hunter World as the name suggests allows the various monsters of the world be the star of the moment. Even with the weaker than I’d hope story, each monster hunt was a thrilling and there’s nothing like tracking the monster down and starting an epic battle. From fighting the boney spiked covered Radobaan trying to roll over you or smash you with its chin, to the T-Rex like Anjanath whose brutal flame spitting attacks and sharp claws make for some great video moments.

After hunting monsters, you can harvest different materials from them and use them to build weapons and armour to take into other fights. It’s always been great to see parts of the monster you recently gained as materials become a visible part of your crafted gear. Swords take on feathers from monsters, armour has similar textures to the hides of the beasts you’ve slain, adding to the fidelity of the world.

This can go into 14 different weapon classes all with different upgrades it makes for a lot of tweaks possible to suit a lot of play styles. Some weapons have a higher difficulty curve so trying to master all of them but Monster Hunter World has done a better job at explaining how to use each one. You’ll get a constant reminder of the base buttons on the top right of the screen but to fully master them, you can check out Wikis and videos which can sometimes be more useful.

Monsters have strengths and weaknesses of different elements and affinities, these same attributes are passed over to the gear. Planning your gear becomes a quest by quest strategic decision as you wouldn’t want to fight a Tobi-Kadachi with the armour set of Jyuratodus as it has massive weaknesses to thunder for example. Playing with friends this was often overlooked by newer players, they would wear the gear that looked cool rather than for the fight ahead.

All this adds great depth to the game but more so when each monster has its own personality and movement that brings them to life. Seeing monsters limp away when you have hurt them too much or stagger over when you stun them makes it all more believable these big beasts exist. Combine this with some stellar AI, you can’t always expect what monsters will do. If you believe you can run away from them easily, or that other monsters won’t join in on your fight…think again. Realistically what this achieves is a sense of difference each time you battle the same monster if you are grinding for gear. Kill quests or fetch quests are no longer the same boring slog as so many variables can affect your fight.

Of course, Monster Hunter World like the other games is best played with a full team of real people, ideally your friends. Each quest works with one player but its nice to someone have other people to take focus of you, especially when playing with new weapons. It also makes the capture quest easier when everyone has 2 traps each rather than just 2. If you are playing on your own and get stuck the SOS system helps by calling other players into battle with you. If you don’t have any available, you can always rely on your trusty feline Palico. You can craft weapons and armour for them to help you in battle and also recruit extra ones in the field. There have been plenty of times, my buddy has saved my backside distracting a monster or throwing me a Vigorwasp.

Ease of play improvements have made the game more accessible, in the past animations would play when collecting items. This seems fine until you have to wait a few seconds each time you want to gather herbs for potions. Now it all happens on the fly baring the usual collection of monster resources and bones. Another helpful addition is being able to set up items to auto-craft when you have the right ingredients so snatch and grabbing herbs now makes potions for you without having to stop. The more important crafting can then be left for when you are back at base and more importantly safe.

One sticking point for new players will be the chore of collecting resources for crafting materials as each armour set will need more than one hunt to complete. Each set needs a mixture of scales, quills, sacs and other bits. It’s helped slightly by researching monsters and the monster guides then tell you where to hit more to get the parts you need i.e the tale for more scales, head for more feathers. It makes things clear but probably too clear taking away some of the magic and making it more robotic. It would be nicer to up the drop rate but randomise it a little more.

There’s a lot of stuff in Monster Hunter World; loads of weapons, loads of monsters, loads of materials and loads of quests. All these elements combine make an impressive game that the old fans of the series will love. New players will also enjoy that game now there is more emphasis on hunting than there is on the complex menus of previous titles. The vibrant world and varied landscapes will keep you engrossed in the world wanting to move onto your next big challenge.

It’s still a little complex to get into as a newbie or even someone coming back after some time with a lot of systems and even more menus but it is time worth investing into. Capcom, Monster Hunter: World is a game well done.

Monster Hunter: World is a game filled with life and beauty but with that does come complexity that needs a little time to learn. It’s worth investing time into this game for both old and new players.