Monster Hunter World is one of the greatest games to ever exist. It really is hard to overstate my praises of this game. There is nothing quite like it. I will attempt to cover the various aspects of this game that make it the perfect game for me, but to quickly summarize: meticulous worldbuilding, fantasy-zoology, the back-and-forth nature of the fights themselves, weapon specialization and skill expression, and the overall feeling of the “hunt” combine together to create an experience that is truly unmatched by any I’ve ever had in all my years of playing games. 1) Wordbuilding Monster Hunter as a series has always done worldbuilding in what I consider to be the only correct way to do it in a video game: you must experience the world to understand it. This is exemplified in looking at monster behaviors and their interactions with the world. Monsters behave as real animals in this game, oftentimes ignoring you if they do not perceive you as a threat to their territory and engaging in activities that reveal more about the nature of their biology and their fights. Watching Nergigante preen his spikes by violently rubbing them on the ground or Velkhana strut about knowing she is the ruler of the Hoarfrost Reach does more to relay to the player what they can expect of their fights and personalities than any amount of explaining can do. The monsters and their respective environments tell you a lot about how they fight and their places in the food chain well before you fight them. 2) Fantasy-Zoology Branching off of the monster behavior topic, this series hits a particular niche I have yet to find a good alternative to, something I like to call “Fantasy-Zoology”. While many games in the action-RPG and Medieval (in terms of weaponry) genre lean fully into either realism or fantasy, this game creates a world that is decidedly fantastical but implores you to accept the rules of its world through self-imposed limitations. There are the occasional god-like monsters to be sure – Kirin summoning lightening from the sky or Kushala spitting tornados come to mind – but in relation to the heights of fantasy other games might reach even these feel grounded. The world is one in which the natural history of the planet is that of monsters, and many aspects of these beasts reflect those of animals in our own world. You don’t need to wonder how Namielle spits water and electricity at the same time, you see it in the jellyfish-shape of her wings and the bioluminescence in her veins that reflects those of animals in our own world. The monster live and behave by the very instincts animals in our own world do, carving out their own territories and niches and competing for resources even outside the watchful eye of the player characters. It is a world that is lived in, and it scratches an itch that a child who grew up obsessed with dinosaurs and natural history spends a life-time trying to rekindle. 3) The Fights I came primarily into this series from a background in Dark Souls and other FromSoftware games. After coming off the initial high those games offer, I found it difficult to find a series that pushes the 3rd-person action RPG genre to the same heights. Boss fights in those games are about observation and execution, not simply attaining the highest stats possible. Spending time learning the enemy movesets in-and-out, mastering your own moveset, and responding in turn with a bit of personal flavor on the battle gives way to a unique combat experience that is tough but very satisfying to master. Monster Hunter expands on that in ways even I never anticipated. Every fight is a dance, one that is meticulously designed so that you must use the knowledge you’ve gained from the previous two points, i.e. observing the monster’s behavior and place in the natural environment to determine how you must approach each battle. You are rewarding for identifying Diablos’ weakness to Screamer Pods when it is underground, for identifying Rathalos’ tail sitting closely to the ground when it flies allowing for a quick cut into a dunk, and for noticing that Deviljho cannot resist the urge to fight other monsters that come into its territory. You can make use of environmental hazards, traps, consumable buffs, and even the divisive clutch claw to turn every disadvantage into an advantage, and this is even more pronounced when you have a full team of hunters with various skillsets and specializations. All of this allows for a level of personal expression that takes an already fantastic fight into a phenomenal experience. 4) Weapon Specialization and Skill Expression Speaking of skill expression, Monster Hunter uses the Golden Rule of good game design: less is more. It understands there is beauty in simplicity. Fourteen weapons may not seem like much, but in using a similar design philosophy to fighting games, each one provides such a unique and deep experience that picking up a new weapon feels like picking up a new game. Using mobile weapons like Dual Blades or Sword and Shield allows one to dip in-and-out of battle, utilizing i-frames to dive through monster attacks rather than away, providing an experience similar to that of Dark Souls. Conversely, some weapons like Greatsword and Lance require you to stand your ground, identifying safe-zones in monster attacks and positioning yourself for an incredibly satisfying punish. There are ranged weapons for the run-and-gunners out there, weapons that fly, and weapons that have the mechanical complexity to their combos that fighting game enthusiasts will enjoy. In short, there is something for everyone in this game, and it’s difficult to play it “wrong” when there are so many “right” options. 5) The Hunt The mark of a great game is something I like to call the “Experience”. This is a combination of the mechanics, the story, the music, the tone, the art design and everything else that goes into a game to create the “experience” or “feel” of a game. Going back to Dark Souls, I fell in love with that series because of the experience of being a lone soldier in a dying world. The games relish themselves in the feelings of the morose and the macabre, and you can feel the sad state of the crumbling kingdoms and fallen knights around you as you struggle to not simply be another Hollow in the great web of failure the world is spun from. The game feels oppressive in every aspect from its mechanics to its music. And while this is not a review focused on gushing about Dark Souls, it is necessary to understand this concept to understand why Monster Hunter’s actual “hunting experience” is so damn good. Every point I’ve talked about thus far as well as those more artistic ones that I have not (namely color scheme and music) all work together to create an experience of a “hunt” that no other game series can match. I understand many veterans believe the “hunt” feeling of the game has been lost from previous titles, as pre-quest preparation is not as big a focus in this game, but I believe the overall experience is alive, well, and thriving in this game. When you observe a monster’s features, relate it to real world animals, use that to infer something about its natural place in the world, watch it interact with its environment and other monsters to see how it fights, then put your own knowledge and skillset with your chosen weapon into battle against that monster, using all the tools and resources you’ve gathered from your time in the wild, all of that feels like a true “hunt”. You are the hunter, this is your prey, and the more time you spend studying it and its environment the more success you will have. In conclusion, I’ve spent 1000 hours playing this game over the past two years and I’ll spend 1000 more engaging with its colorful cast of crazy crocodilian carnivores just to experience the joy of the hunt. I hope to see all you hunters out there and in the Wilds when next we meet. Happy Hunting! Mad Lord Flynn
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