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itsamoose

Monster Hunter World

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This is my first Monster Hunter, and after only a few hours playing it I find myself wishing I had tried the series out sooner.  The world is absolutely charming, and so far I really can't say enough good things about the community.  There is a ton of depth in this game, most of which is still a mystery to me, but for the first time in a while I'm incredibly excited about sinking my teeth into this one.  There are a few oddities when it comes to matchmaking and online play as well as a few structural issues that are really not beginner friendly.  In many ways it feels like this game has one foot in the modern era and one foot in game design from 10 years ago, which can be a bit frustrating after becoming used to AAA games that are polished to a mirror sheen.  For anyone who might be interested in this game but hasn't played one before, I'd recommend choosing the sword and shield as your starting weapon.  I made the mistake of picking a more technical weapon at the start which was ultimately an exercise in frustration.  Thankfully however there are a number of youtube videos, wikis and the like that are definitely worth checking out before jumping in to this one.

 

 

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I have tried to get into Monster Hunter in the past, in particular Monster Hunter 3 on the 3DS, but all those attempts ended with me inevitably losing interest after an hour, swearing i'd get back to it the next day, not touching the game again for another year, at which point I start another New Game from scratch. Rinse and repeat.

 

I took a leap of faith with World, and I'm glad to say it paid off. It is definitely way more accessible. It is still obtuse, don't get me wrong, but not to the point of driving me away.

 

I still haven't found a weapon that really clicked with me, but the open-ended gameplay and fighting these huge monsters, then turn around and fight somehow even bigger monsters creates constant moments of wonder.

 

Although, I feel like I'm in that state of mind where I only have negative things to say about the game. Not because I don't like it, I am enjoying it very much. It's just that unless I'm specifically prodded and directed towards a specific positive subject, I will naturally drift to talking about the myriad little things that don't work with the game which, despite not ruining my enjoynment, are just more interesting to talk about for me. I don't mean to wreck the mood right in the second post of the thread, so I'll stick to two things that have been bugging me:

 

 

 

1. The game has no named characters

 

That's a bold narrative choice. I never expected the game to have a deep story, nor was I under the impression that previous Monster Hunter games ever did (except perhaps the very deliberate exception in the recent Monster Hunter Stories on the 3DS). Still, going as far as not naming anyone? It feels like it's screaming "WE DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE STORY".

 

That's not to say the game has no characters. You are introduced to your handler in the opening cutscene and immediately embark on an adventure with her. She is a constant presence throughout the game, through which you take on new quests, and receive in-game advice geared towards the game's systems. She has no name. She is forever called "The Handler". When you first land in the mysterious continent the game takes place in, another hunter saves you from a giant moster. That hunter then shows you around your home base of operations, and is a constant source for combat advice in the game. He is the "Field Team Leader". These are voiced characters with plenty of lines, featured prominently in the story with many, no doubt expensive to make, cutscenes dedicated to them. Yet no one ever bothered to name them.

 

I'm flabbergasted by this attitude. I don't advocate that a gameplay-focused loot-grinder like this should have dedicated too many resources to the story, but the story and characters are certainly here, and you are forced to watch more than a few cutscenes with them, that they would end up as such a boring pile of nothing feels wrong, and not naming a single character strikes me like underlining and circling the problem with a bright red pen, making it impossible to ignore.

 

Also, I'm reminded of the Merchant in Resident Evil 4, and how it managed to be so memorable without a name or impact in the plot, just by looking and sounding really weird. Even if you never explored any of the backstory of the NPCs in the game, I think the game would be elevated if the "Second Fleet Master" that forges your equipment, and you'll dedicate so much of your time to, was memorable in any way.

 

2. Colonialist undertones

 

This is a less structured and even more subjective complaint. In the opening cutscene, when they first said they were about to reach the "New World", I cringed.

 

The game tries to frame itself as respectful of nature. NPCs occasionally drop a line about how it's about understanding nature, not killing. But the fact is that the "Mechanic Is The Message" so to speak, and no matter what these NPCs say, the core gameplay loop is still to waltz into this foreign ecosystem, kill these majestic creatures so I can make a new pair of boots, with which I can kill other majestic creatures.

 

That loop by itself is one none of us are strangers to, I'm certain. But there's something about framing it as "The New World", by making  your base of operations an overseas colony. Ostensibly meant for research, according to the narrative, but nevertheless one that takes everything from the environment around it, including its living creatures, to sustain itself. Suddenly this old gameplay loop of ours brings images in my mind of big game hunters. Of rich white men posing for photos in front of dead elephants and lions. The vast majority of the mosters you kill are not a part of any world saving quest after all, they're just the tenth of its kind you fell in row because you need more scales to make a coat.

 

I wonder if I would have ever felt similarly if the place was framed as your hometown and not a colony. I wonder if there was a better way to deal with the same subject. At least so far, I haven't seen any natives beyond the monsters. Is this a bad thing? Like the way that history often erases native people's contributions and frame the colonists are the source from which civilization flows from, and ignoring any claims of stealing resources? Would the game be worse if this "New World" did have its own native people? It's a game about contributing to an overseas colony, how would you frame that?

 

 

 

Like I said, these are minor things. None of them make me dislike the game. It's just that these things are there and I can't quite work them out. I can't quite understand why the game has a story, and as many cutscenes as it does, when it clearly has no interest on it, bar them feeling like they had to have that to be considered a AAA game, and I can't quite wrap my mind around the game's themes, whether intended or unintended.

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Never cared for Monster Hunter before. The world was always disappointingly rendered, the gameplay felt off (floaty, cartoony). Last week I tried out Monster Hunter World at an event and I loved it. It finally clicked. They've managed to create a striking, detailed environment, the combat was immediately challenging and immersive, and there's a gruff-looking cat chef.

 

Now all I need is a PS4.

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I'll probably check this out once it hits PC. I've not been able to get into the previous MHs but this looks like it's closer to something I can appreciate.

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Is anyone hunting monsters on pc? Because this video game is good. Very good. I wanna hunt monsters with y’all  

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I've been waiting for this game to come to a platform I could play it on for ten years... I tried it and did not like it at all. I was very saddened by that.

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