Why You Should Be Excited About Monster Hunter World (Beta Gameplay and First Impressions)

I had a chance to sit down with my good friend Kalli and talk about Monster Hunter World for VGS.
We go through all the changes to expect, and our impressions from the beta last week:

Why is the loot grind so damn addictive? Games like Borderlands, The Division, Destiny, and before them, Diablo, have all found huge success through the tried and true formula, and now big AAA companies like EA are shelving promising single-player games to shift focus to loot-filled games like Anthem and whatever they’re turning that Visceral Star Wars game into.

While it’s great to grind through Destiny’s raid for the eighth time, praying to RNGesus for that specific drop, sometimes it’s better to have a little more control over your hunt for gear. Enter Monster Hunter, a series with explosive popularity on the other side of the globe, making its triumphant return to Playstation this coming January.

Monster Hunter took the loot-grind formula, and forged its own genre of game out of it. While a game like Destiny pits you up against squads of aliens and monsters, with the occasional boss fight thrown in, Monster Hunter is built entirely around the boss fights. Rather than hoping for a lucky loot drop, this game wants you to set your own goals, be it a sword forged from the webbing of a Yian Kut-Ku, or an sweet armour set made from the scales of a Rathalos. You hunt the monster you need, and craft the items from the spoils. There are countless “Hunter games” nowadays, including the very promising Dauntless, but Monster Hunter has remained at the forefront since its debut on the Playstation 2 in 2004.

After the second installment of Monster Hunter on the PS2, the franchise moved to the then brand new PSP, revamping the original two games as Monster Hunter Freedom. Because of the difficult learning curve and the lower percentage of handheld console ownership in the West, the Monster Hunter franchise struggled with the Western market. As a result, only two of the eight spin-off games, Monster Hunter Dynamic Hunting on iOS and Monster Hunter Stories on 3DS, ever made it to North America.

It’s been seven years since Sony has seen a Monster Hunter title, but Monster Hunter World is perfect title to come back with. This time, they’ve kept in mind the learning curve difficulties of the previous games, and have made huge adjustments to the game to streamline the skill and make the game more accessible to new players, without hindering the experience for Monster Hunter veterans.

Boss fights have always been my favourite aspect of most video games. The fact that this game is centred around them has me very excited. While I’ve seen plenty of Let’s Plays of the previous games, this is my first chance really getting my hands on a Monster Hunter game. Having played the beta this past weekend, it’s safe to say I’m on the hype train. As a new player, I can confirm that this game and its mechanics are daunting, but with this addition to the series, it really feels like they had new players in mind.

The new skill system is honestly a gift to all. It’s simple and much easier to manage, no more mathing the equipment skills points to add up to 10, 15, or 20 points to get skill benefits. Monster Hunter World recycles this system for a better system, where 1 skill point will give you the benefits, 2 will give you the second level and 3 will give you the third. During the beta, I made sure my equipment set gave me Critical Eye +3, increasing my chances of landing critical hits.
Also, no more paintballing! Previously, players would have to throw an item called “paintball” at monsters when they were discovered in order to track them when they left the area. In Monster Hunter World, you’ll have to rely on your “scouting” abilities, looking for monster tracks, then following the Scout Flies. This change not only builds on the theme of hunting and tracking monsters, but it also cuts out the endless area hunting of monsters from the previous games, and brings the player straight into battle.

Veterans that go back to Monster Hunter Freedom one remember listening to the UMD spinning and scratching during the full two-minute loading screen between areas. Now that doesn’t sound too bad until you chase a monster into an area, (load, load) Enter, get blasted back immediately (load, load) and then furiously run back into the hunt (load, load.) Great news for people who hated that. No more loading between areas! Though, without the area numbers, it makes it a little harder to communicate with your teammates where the monster has gone.

Watching the monsters interact with each other was a rare thing to see in previous games of the franchise. Though it did happen sometimes, it wasn’t very common because two monsters were rarely in the same area at once. I think Monster Hunter World wants to really bring the world to life, and brings more monster interaction and monster battles to focus.
On top of the beta’s release this week, last week’s PSX gave us a look at the game’s story, with an absolutely gorgeous trailer. It’s clear that mechanics aren’t the only big change we’ll be seeing. There’s a much larger focus on the story this time around, with a large cast of characters leading your character through their quest, full voice acting and cutscenes unlike any previous Monster Hunter title.

The story looks great and all, but the real draws to the game are the monsters. Each one is designed with such care and thought, it’s hard to pick a favourite. Most importantly, they made feathered dinosaurs look good! Every monster has specific gameplay mechanics tied in, some focusing on their environment. A Barroth will cover itself in mud as protective armor before charging its prey, and the Diablos strikes from underground, pulling your team into its nest. You’re not fighting an endless series of bullet-sponges. There’s a strategy involved in approaching each battle.
What do you think? Did you have a chance to play the beta? Are you as excited as we are? Or are you worried that these changes made to the game are sacrificing too much in the hopes of drawing in a new audience? Let us know in the comments below!

Happy hunting and remember to bleed for your art!

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