Monster Hunter: World / Iceborne

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JaySevenZero
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Monster Hunter: World / Iceborne

Post by JaySevenZero »

Here's where you can contribute your thoughts and opinions of Monster Hunter: World and its expansion Iceborne for potential inclusion in the forthcoming podcast.

A friendly reminder that where the feedback for the podcast is concerned, we love it - but keeping it brief is appreciated. We do want to include a breadth of opinions where appropriate, but no-one wants a discussion podcast that’s mostly reading out essays. Better to save yourself time and cut to the chase if you can.
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duskvstweak
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Re: 452 - Monster Hunter: World (recording 16th Jan)

Post by duskvstweak »

I never played a Monster Hunter game before, but all the hype around World when it was released, along with those impressive, gigantic monsters made this game my first jump into the franchise. I was still a bit hesitant because of the talk about how the game could be complicated or the difficultly could be a bit intense, but I found it to be an easy game to slide into. And once I had the concept and control schemes down well enough, it became a wild tour through ridiculously detailed environments and biospheres.

I dug the MMO-sense of scale and quests, while allowing for solo gameplay. I like the balance of open world and direction the game has, giving me the option to just jump in a random mission to grab some materials or dig in for a bunch of "story" quests. I know it's still plenty big but it really did feel accessible for a new player like me!
2SmokingControllers
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Re: 452 - Monster Hunter: World (recording 16th Jan)

Post by 2SmokingControllers »

Being my first Monster Hunter game I only had a vague idea what to expect from the game. What I didn't expect was to spend a few hours and hunts getting tossed around by what I thought was a big monster to then be on a hunt for that monster and something much larger come along and toss it around like a rag doll. Then a few hours later it happen again to the larger monster you've been working out how to handle. The spectacle of the monsters going toe to toe is really something to behold and remains one of my strongest memories of my experience with the game.

Also, I watched the recent movie. It's not great by any means. But if you go in knowing what you're in for then it's better than what all the reviews are probably saying about it.
Tbone254
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Re: Our next podcast recording (16.1.21): 452 - Monster Hunter: World

Post by Tbone254 »

This game has an impressive amount of content. I mean the campaign is practically a tutorial. There are so many systems in this game. For me, the monster hunts were at their best when all these systems come together, and everything goes wrong. Like setting up a pitfall trap only have the wrong monster charge his way in from the trees and fall into the trap, or setting up a perfectly timed true heavy slash only to have another hunter launch me into the air at the last second with an upward swing from their charge blade. It’s hilarious and frustrating all at once and I don’t think I have felt that was about a game since the original Halo. Just a sandbox of systems with an object for you to accomplish and a friend to help. World is easily one of my favorite games of this generation.

Monster Hunter World was the first in the series for me. I had heard of the games before and the idea behind them always appealed to me, but I never took the time to sit down and play them. I came really close once. I bought Monster Hunter Tri for the Wii, but it’s still sitting on the shelf in the wrapper. I’m really glad I decided to pick up MHW because it has become a special game for me. My sister lives six hours away so we do not get to spend a lot of time together. Our family time is composed mostly of gaming sessions online. While we have played numerous games online before, those usually include other friends and family. For reasons I can’t imagine, no one else in our family and social circles enjoyed World, so it became the game for just the two of us. This isn’t something we have had since we were kids when we’d have nightly sessions of Four Swords Adventures and Crystal Chronicles. Today, careers, education, and family take up a significant portion of our time, so the nightly gaming sessions are gone, but about once a week we can hop online, just the two of us, and slay some monsters for a few hours.
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BasementShaxx
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Re: Our next podcast recording (16.1.21): 452 - Monster Hunter: World

Post by BasementShaxx »

The story may be lacking, and the game may still have some obtuse elements that new players to the series find off-putting, but thanks to that addictive core gameplay loop coupled with an enormous roster of monsters to hunt, some truly stunning environments, and a huge swathe of quality of life changes, it's no surprise that Monster Hunter: World is the most successful game in the series. It is still surprising that it is the most successful game Capcom have ever released, but that is just testament to how good it is.

I can't help but feel that some of the success of World is due to the prevalence over the last console generation of shared-world looter type games, such as Destiny and The Division, that were built on the foundations laid out by Monster Hunter and PSO. But with Monster Hunter: World, Capcom showed they are still the best at this, and with Iceborne they showed how an expansion to this type of game should be done - a gigantic new chunk of game that most other publishers (and indeed Capcom themselves in the past) would have put out as a new full-priced title.

I have cherished my time with this game, hunting with friends, answering SOS calls, firing off my own SOS calls and having them answered by Japanese speed-runners, and I look forward to spending the next couple of months playing even more until Rise comes out.

Je suis monté.
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Steve Arran
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Re: Our next podcast recording (16.1.21): 452 - Monster Hunter: World

Post by Steve Arran »

Monster Hunter World was the first game that I ever pre-ordered for my PS4. I had dabbled with the franchise before thanks to a friend of mine kindly loaning me his PSP, but I found the portable nature of the series to be a massive turn off (a view which may have been different had I had my own PSP to play multiplayer). Personal preference, but I like my big cinematic games on my big cinematic TV, and MHW does not disappoint in that regard.

It’s safe to say I love this game. I played it for 386 hours on release only to return this Christmas for IceBorn and add on another 40 (and counting). And this despite the fact that in many ways MHW is a fiddly, obtuse mess. This is most apparent in the multiplayer matchmaking - you think that they would have made it a little more streamlined to just join a hunt with your friends. Systems can also stack to uncontrollable heights should you take your eye off what you’re doing. Coming back for Ice Born I had forgotten all about the farming mechanics, the tail rider safaris, the trading ship and how best to exploit them all. It certainly is front loaded with a lot of info! However, the raw gameplay loop and sheer charm of this game eclipses all minor irritations of system management or user interface issues. No other game does impact like this game does; be it two monsters engaging in a turf war or slamming your great sword into a massive reptile skull, you feel the epic nature of your actions with a tactility that few other games manage. The monsters themselves are- for the most part- brilliantly designed and varied in their attack patterns; though I do feel that some AOE attacks from the like of Kirin and Velkana can seem out of place and sometimes cheap in their lethality, although this could just be down to the camera not working with you in certain portions of certain maps. However, the cuteness of my palico forgives a multitude of gaming sins- despite the fact that he has an annoying habit of delivering a vigorwasp to me AFTER I’ve downed a potion!

Truly, this is one of my all time favourite games, despite my criticism. Having taken a hiatus, I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to get back into the groove, or even if I would enjoy it as much. What reaffirmed my love however was coming across a side quest in which a VERY well known character turned up to conduct their own hunt and I knew right then that
1) I wanted this to happen in every video game ever, and
2) there’s no way I’m NOT going to put in another 300 hours.
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