Edit 1/17/24: Don't like this writeup anymore, still have tons of problems but didn't get at them well here
THIS IS FOR THE BASE GAME ONLY
I've written too many positive things lately, let's change that. Here's an unhinged rant, written in a paroxysm of rage. If that doesn't sound appealing then click off; otherwise, read on.
---
Finally, Monster Hunter has reached the AAA market! The series's core systems have been massively improved in a few important ways: graphical fidelity has been increased, the game is on home platforms, and the marketing budget is much bigger. Unprecedented sales numbers, especially in the West, are a natural consequence of fans noticing how these changes make the game fundamentally better to play.
Ostensibly this is a return to the grounded aesthetic of Gen 1 and 2, of being in touch with nature and your place in the ecosystem. And of course, what better way to do that than with loads of unskippable cutscenes and NPCs chattering at you in the field? If we have characters constantly say "Wow, isn't nature beautiful?" then it should be clear how much deep resonance the plot has. Games like Super Metroid, Dark Souls 1, or Monster Hunter 2 are far too subtle in their execution of themes. But that method is perfect for addressing important combat mechanics like sharpness damage modifier, staggers, and true raw!
With Ancient Forest, by taking inspiration from the iconic area 9 of Forest and Hills, Capcom has truly managed to capture the essence of a hostile environment, clearly shown by player comments like "Why the fuck is Anjanath camping in the hallway?", "Why do I keep doing sliding attacks?", and the repeated "Where the fuck do I even go?". The other maps are disappointingly playable, but luckily still have readability issues and their own obtrusive environmental gimmicks to keep flow state at bay.
In a break from past games, monsters will fight each other when they get close. This is impresively scripted and repetitive, but unfortunately falls flat by keeping the focus on the 1v1s that the combat is built for. Luckily, non-target monsters can still disrupt players by entering, roaring, inciting the target to roar, roaring in response, then leaving, wasting 10+ seconds and possibly causing the player to take damage. Phew, dodged a bullet there!
Don't think Capcom has forgotten their roots though. In a brilliant reprise of one of the most beloved elements of Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, Lao-Shan Lung key quests, the new titanic monster Zorah Magdaros appears twice in the story of the game. Hammer users will be delighted to hear that underneath the bombast, the same thrilling Triangle-Triangle-Triangle gameplay is alive and well. Wisely, Capcom dedicated a large amount of dev staff and time to this, more than any other monster, to make sure that the 2 hours players spent in their 100+ hour playtime would be memorable and thrilling.
One of the most disappointing aspects of Doom 2016 is how it presented a flawed-but-promising base to build upon that was distinct from the classic Doom games. It's clear the team working on World was aware of this pitfall, as they adopted a decidedly different mindset: haphazardly change core mechanics and let the other teams sort it out. By removing commitment in potion drinking and weapon sharpening, and allowing gunners to both shoot and reload while moving, they've managed to deftly replace decision points dependent on monster knowledge and situational awareness with flowcharted reaction tests. Add restocking items from camp, which completely breaks the gunner ammo system and enables potion spam indefinitely, and the picture is complete. It's obvious that this approach has worked wonders when you look at the janky, fight-specific mechanisms like DPS checks, strict time limits, and Farcaster bans that Iceborne's Alatreon and Fatalis designers were forced to resort to when creating difficult endgame fights.
The logical counterpart to making the players more powerful is to make the monsters weaker. Fights in World are satisfyingly lethargic, exemplified by new monsters Pukei-Pukei and Paolumu as well as returning favorites like Barroth and Diablos. Monsters stagger extremely often, which wisely rewards unskilled aggression and hit trades. Flagship monster Nergigante is a perfect example: breaking his spikes before they harden will trip him, giving you an opportunity to damage the other spikes. Skilled players will be rewarded with an unengaging fight where the monster is completely locked down and unable to fight back!
Reactive combat, a concept lurking in the background for the series for several years now, also makes its triumphant entrance into the starring role. Past hunters leveraged positioning and prediction to commit themselves to risky decisions, but this is antiquated, clunky gameplay that belongs on the NES. NES games are old and terrible, so to advance the series, monsters now move randomly, erratically, and often. Small positioning differences thankfully aren't very relevant anymore, and those disgusting-looking head turns are long gone.
Many weapons have been changed to align with this new focus. Greatsword now has most of its damage in the very last hit of a set of 3 charge moves, which pairs beautifully with the new highly random monster AI. Longsword takes some much-needed inspiration from other action games by adding an overcentralizing, generous iframe move that bypasses meter management. Disappointingly, Switch Axe's forms are well-integrated with each other, but some missteps are understandable.
Overall, I'm glad Capcom has finally modernized this old, clunky series. Modern gaming has come a long way, and a lot of the classics, while great for nostalgia, simply don't live up to modern AAA standards. Hopefully the new Silent Hill 2 remake can recognize how flawed a PS2-era game must be, and follow in Monster Hunter World's footsteps!
THIS IS FOR THE BASE GAME ONLY
I've written too many positive things lately, let's change that. Here's an unhinged rant, written in a paroxysm of rage. If that doesn't sound appealing then click off; otherwise, read on.
---
Finally, Monster Hunter has reached the AAA market! The series's core systems have been massively improved in a few important ways: graphical fidelity has been increased, the game is on home platforms, and the marketing budget is much bigger. Unprecedented sales numbers, especially in the West, are a natural consequence of fans noticing how these changes make the game fundamentally better to play.
Ostensibly this is a return to the grounded aesthetic of Gen 1 and 2, of being in touch with nature and your place in the ecosystem. And of course, what better way to do that than with loads of unskippable cutscenes and NPCs chattering at you in the field? If we have characters constantly say "Wow, isn't nature beautiful?" then it should be clear how much deep resonance the plot has. Games like Super Metroid, Dark Souls 1, or Monster Hunter 2 are far too subtle in their execution of themes. But that method is perfect for addressing important combat mechanics like sharpness damage modifier, staggers, and true raw!
With Ancient Forest, by taking inspiration from the iconic area 9 of Forest and Hills, Capcom has truly managed to capture the essence of a hostile environment, clearly shown by player comments like "Why the fuck is Anjanath camping in the hallway?", "Why do I keep doing sliding attacks?", and the repeated "Where the fuck do I even go?". The other maps are disappointingly playable, but luckily still have readability issues and their own obtrusive environmental gimmicks to keep flow state at bay.
In a break from past games, monsters will fight each other when they get close. This is impresively scripted and repetitive, but unfortunately falls flat by keeping the focus on the 1v1s that the combat is built for. Luckily, non-target monsters can still disrupt players by entering, roaring, inciting the target to roar, roaring in response, then leaving, wasting 10+ seconds and possibly causing the player to take damage. Phew, dodged a bullet there!
Don't think Capcom has forgotten their roots though. In a brilliant reprise of one of the most beloved elements of Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, Lao-Shan Lung key quests, the new titanic monster Zorah Magdaros appears twice in the story of the game. Hammer users will be delighted to hear that underneath the bombast, the same thrilling Triangle-Triangle-Triangle gameplay is alive and well. Wisely, Capcom dedicated a large amount of dev staff and time to this, more than any other monster, to make sure that the 2 hours players spent in their 100+ hour playtime would be memorable and thrilling.
One of the most disappointing aspects of Doom 2016 is how it presented a flawed-but-promising base to build upon that was distinct from the classic Doom games. It's clear the team working on World was aware of this pitfall, as they adopted a decidedly different mindset: haphazardly change core mechanics and let the other teams sort it out. By removing commitment in potion drinking and weapon sharpening, and allowing gunners to both shoot and reload while moving, they've managed to deftly replace decision points dependent on monster knowledge and situational awareness with flowcharted reaction tests. Add restocking items from camp, which completely breaks the gunner ammo system and enables potion spam indefinitely, and the picture is complete. It's obvious that this approach has worked wonders when you look at the janky, fight-specific mechanisms like DPS checks, strict time limits, and Farcaster bans that Iceborne's Alatreon and Fatalis designers were forced to resort to when creating difficult endgame fights.
The logical counterpart to making the players more powerful is to make the monsters weaker. Fights in World are satisfyingly lethargic, exemplified by new monsters Pukei-Pukei and Paolumu as well as returning favorites like Barroth and Diablos. Monsters stagger extremely often, which wisely rewards unskilled aggression and hit trades. Flagship monster Nergigante is a perfect example: breaking his spikes before they harden will trip him, giving you an opportunity to damage the other spikes. Skilled players will be rewarded with an unengaging fight where the monster is completely locked down and unable to fight back!
Reactive combat, a concept lurking in the background for the series for several years now, also makes its triumphant entrance into the starring role. Past hunters leveraged positioning and prediction to commit themselves to risky decisions, but this is antiquated, clunky gameplay that belongs on the NES. NES games are old and terrible, so to advance the series, monsters now move randomly, erratically, and often. Small positioning differences thankfully aren't very relevant anymore, and those disgusting-looking head turns are long gone.
Many weapons have been changed to align with this new focus. Greatsword now has most of its damage in the very last hit of a set of 3 charge moves, which pairs beautifully with the new highly random monster AI. Longsword takes some much-needed inspiration from other action games by adding an overcentralizing, generous iframe move that bypasses meter management. Disappointingly, Switch Axe's forms are well-integrated with each other, but some missteps are understandable.
Overall, I'm glad Capcom has finally modernized this old, clunky series. Modern gaming has come a long way, and a lot of the classics, while great for nostalgia, simply don't live up to modern AAA standards. Hopefully the new Silent Hill 2 remake can recognize how flawed a PS2-era game must be, and follow in Monster Hunter World's footsteps!
12 Comments
i loved world on release but can also totally see why somebody more attached to the old games would hate it (along with some really obvious baffling decisions like unskippable cutscenes.) messing around with portable 3rd/freedom unite a bit lately, their mathematical precision is very cool to me. the more frequent stagger in gen 5 games didn’t actually occur to me until i spent more time with those PSP entries, and i have to say on total surface “how does this feel in the moment” level (i.e. not accounting for the consequences it has on challenge and strategy,) my monkey brain does kinda prefer it. something about hitting a big dinosaur with a charged GS slash and having it actually visibly respond just feels “right” to me. i suppose what i’m saying is, i can appreciate either approach for different reasons. i wonder how much iceborne improves and how i’ll feel about it once i finally get to it.
>stagger
I'm actually okay with somewhat frequent staggers, it's a great mechanic and I would even say some of the newer games (SB) have too few. The problem is when it's combined with 1. wet-noodle fight design and 2. rich-get-richer mechanics e.g. Nergigante spikes. Iceborne has significantly better fights in general which helps a lot with the first part at least.
>old games
World was actually the first MH game I really got into, if you told me this would be my opinion a few years later I would've WTFed. But after I went back and played the old games more, I slowly flipped. GU has a shitload of problems but the drop in fight quality from Glavenus, Mizu, Astalos, to literally any World monster is shocking. Also I really hate how the player character feels to control in 5th gen, it doesn't take me out of the game but it's so much worse than old stuff.
I'm actually okay with somewhat frequent staggers, it's a great mechanic and I would even say some of the newer games (SB) have too few. The problem is when it's combined with 1. wet-noodle fight design and 2. rich-get-richer mechanics e.g. Nergigante spikes. Iceborne has significantly better fights in general which helps a lot with the first part at least.
>old games
World was actually the first MH game I really got into, if you told me this would be my opinion a few years later I would've WTFed. But after I went back and played the old games more, I slowly flipped. GU has a shitload of problems but the drop in fight quality from Glavenus, Mizu, Astalos, to literally any World monster is shocking. Also I really hate how the player character feels to control in 5th gen, it doesn't take me out of the game but it's so much worse than old stuff.
I appreciate the scathing sarcasm review. I feel like this is a style worth imitating because it tempers the negativity in a way.
I now understand why none of my Monster Hunter friends wanted to play this 1 with me. A close friend of mine keeps trying to get me into Unite (which you have marked as your favourite). I had trouble getting a solid foothold, but I definitely get a sense I should give it a 2nd try over reading it now.
Also appreciate the laser focus I've noticed across your work, you're a great writer (sorry this has nothing to do with MonHun I have no familiarity with these games lol >.<)
See ya around.
I now understand why none of my Monster Hunter friends wanted to play this 1 with me. A close friend of mine keeps trying to get me into Unite (which you have marked as your favourite). I had trouble getting a solid foothold, but I definitely get a sense I should give it a 2nd try over reading it now.
Also appreciate the laser focus I've noticed across your work, you're a great writer (sorry this has nothing to do with MonHun I have no familiarity with these games lol >.<)
See ya around.
>sarcasm
Interesting you say that, I used this style because this game irritates me so much haha. It's more playable than the 2/5 would suggest, but I can't bring myself to put it higher, it's like how the Bayo 1 fans feel about 2 if you've heard of that. Also this isn't the consensus either, most MH fans like World.
>Freedom Unite
I like to think there are two types of masterpieces: the gem polished to a mirror-shine and the game whose problems are outshone by its sheer brilliance. Freedom Unite is absolutely the latter for me. There's so much stupid stuff in it and I use the emulator's speed-up liberally, but the combat and atmosphere are nearly unmatched IMO. It's a bit of an acquired taste and has some friction to it, I don't blame people for bouncing off.
>writing
Thanks for the compliment! I try to do mostly mechanics analysis, but it's pretty tough to get right. In this review I kinda just throw it in at the end without much explanation. MH in particular seems to resist me, it's really hard to pin down exactly what's so different about the new games beyond gesturing to this nebulous concept of "reactive combat".
Interesting you say that, I used this style because this game irritates me so much haha. It's more playable than the 2/5 would suggest, but I can't bring myself to put it higher, it's like how the Bayo 1 fans feel about 2 if you've heard of that. Also this isn't the consensus either, most MH fans like World.
>Freedom Unite
I like to think there are two types of masterpieces: the gem polished to a mirror-shine and the game whose problems are outshone by its sheer brilliance. Freedom Unite is absolutely the latter for me. There's so much stupid stuff in it and I use the emulator's speed-up liberally, but the combat and atmosphere are nearly unmatched IMO. It's a bit of an acquired taste and has some friction to it, I don't blame people for bouncing off.
>writing
Thanks for the compliment! I try to do mostly mechanics analysis, but it's pretty tough to get right. In this review I kinda just throw it in at the end without much explanation. MH in particular seems to resist me, it's really hard to pin down exactly what's so different about the new games beyond gesturing to this nebulous concept of "reactive combat".
you say the reactive combat concept you mention is nebulous but honestly I think you pretty much nailed the details: being able to consistently bait headturns and guess attack patterns based on subtle (or frankly not so subtle) movement quirks was an essential part of earlier games for controlling the pace of combat, whereas fifth gen the monsters very much set the pace (outside of four-player beatdowns) with less predictable and controllable attack patterns. in return the agility of the player has been increased and need for commitment has been decreased, so it basically turns into combo recitation; just loop your seven hit BnB with evasion on reaction if needed. I think part of that in terms of positioning is that there's not really any mid-range play in fifth gen; you're expected to be up in the monster's crotch or head area for 90% of the runtime thanks to stuff like ridiculously long evade extenders or guard weapons getting forward hops (much less blast dash... which rocks don't get me wrong). in older games judging the efficacy of your approach when you aren't in hitting range was key to avoiding unwanted damage or walking into a hitbox that the monster hasn't yet put out and took up much more time when you didn't have busted movement options at your disposal. to some extent the solution to this has been the trap-based monster movesets that rise/sunbreak lean heavily on that make positioning requirements explicit aka any ranged projectile or status effect that moves independent of the monster or remains out for a while a la magnamalo's explosions or lots of chameleos's new kit. which works imo, but is still a notable departure from how the older games handled these issues (though the magala family in 4th gen is def a precursor to the trap-based movesets I mentioned prior).
some other big things that affect the combat stylings of new monhun that I was thinking about today:
- inflated health pools make longer combo strings de rigeur and make individual hits feel less weighty. I have a lot of issues with FU (I think 3rd/4th gen is my sweet spot, currently working through 3U on and off) but that game is radically different in terms of how many hits you actually need to connect with in order to clear a fight in a reasonable time. fifth gen not only requires more consistent attacks but also makes elements like clutch claw and wyvern riding mandatory for extra damage (speculating on iceborne anyway from what I've heard people say about it).
- individual monster phases blend together more easily and thus don't matter as much anymore. the escalation of rajang in older games was a major aspect of that fight's pacing ie when you could take breathers and when you were fighting for your life, whereas in rise I barely ever seen him in his non-electrified form bcs of the insane DPS. goss harag in MR is one I was fighting today where I really noticed that his ice claw phases appeared at random to the extent that it barely felt novel or tense when they appeared; honestly just easier damage because of the huge weak spots it reveals in that particular case.
- in rise's case specifically the combat arenas are shockingly flat. world has a lot of map issues and sort of goes too hard with the verticality but it also makes for memorable individual fights. rise added all of these new traversal options and they're virtually never used in battle (for me anyway) because each actual area to fight in is basically a circle as if we were back in pre-4th gen days. the area balance is better in that sense I suppose but it makes fighting in different areas feel meaningless and flavorless when the stakes or positioning considerations or exploitable factors never change.
some other big things that affect the combat stylings of new monhun that I was thinking about today:
- inflated health pools make longer combo strings de rigeur and make individual hits feel less weighty. I have a lot of issues with FU (I think 3rd/4th gen is my sweet spot, currently working through 3U on and off) but that game is radically different in terms of how many hits you actually need to connect with in order to clear a fight in a reasonable time. fifth gen not only requires more consistent attacks but also makes elements like clutch claw and wyvern riding mandatory for extra damage (speculating on iceborne anyway from what I've heard people say about it).
- individual monster phases blend together more easily and thus don't matter as much anymore. the escalation of rajang in older games was a major aspect of that fight's pacing ie when you could take breathers and when you were fighting for your life, whereas in rise I barely ever seen him in his non-electrified form bcs of the insane DPS. goss harag in MR is one I was fighting today where I really noticed that his ice claw phases appeared at random to the extent that it barely felt novel or tense when they appeared; honestly just easier damage because of the huge weak spots it reveals in that particular case.
- in rise's case specifically the combat arenas are shockingly flat. world has a lot of map issues and sort of goes too hard with the verticality but it also makes for memorable individual fights. rise added all of these new traversal options and they're virtually never used in battle (for me anyway) because each actual area to fight in is basically a circle as if we were back in pre-4th gen days. the area balance is better in that sense I suppose but it makes fighting in different areas feel meaningless and flavorless when the stakes or positioning considerations or exploitable factors never change.
that ended up way longer than I intended my bad lol, just saw y'alls comments earlier today and it inspired me to play some sunbreak, which in turn started me down the rabbit hole of thinking about these issues
i get og monster hunter heads taking issue with some of the design decisions, the worst offenders for me being the drawn out cutscenes and difficulty grouping with friends, but that's only really a problem on your first pass through the game and there are mods which largely negate these problems. it did a pretty great job bringing the series in to the next generation while keeping the soul of the series alive without so much busy work and jank which plagued the previous titles. i personally love the emphasis on the living, breathing ecosystem and the more realistic monster behaviour, there isn't anything else there that really captures that feeling. the previous games did have a pretty high barrier for entry to be fair so i get some of the criticisms towards simplifying some aspects of the design.
2 stars does feel insultingly low however, unless you're basing that entirely off of direct comparisons to previous entries and what your preconceived notions of a monster hunter game should and shouldn't be. more insulting though is mentioning the silent hill 2 remake in the same breath as it, which doesn't really scan, cause despite its missteps mhw is still lovingly crafted and clearly has actual soul. even if it doesn't resonate with you, the comparison feels cheap and falls short imo.
2 stars does feel insultingly low however, unless you're basing that entirely off of direct comparisons to previous entries and what your preconceived notions of a monster hunter game should and shouldn't be. more insulting though is mentioning the silent hill 2 remake in the same breath as it, which doesn't really scan, cause despite its missteps mhw is still lovingly crafted and clearly has actual soul. even if it doesn't resonate with you, the comparison feels cheap and falls short imo.
@polaroidplayboy Not to play defense for reasoned weaknesses of the text, I don't know HotPocket personally or anything but there was a disclaimer of it being "an unhinged rant, written in a paroxysm of rage." so if anything unfair comparison and a feeling that a project of love is ultimately too squandered is the belly of the beast on this one. I mainly only feel like butting in because I tend to view this sort of response as giving writers a hard time and risking a more homogenous 'neutral' approach. Negativity is one of those things I think is a matter that lags behind kinda hard in game criticism circles, for reasons that are probably obvious, and so the only way any of us can improve is by actually trying to do so.
On that note, its a 2 stars sure, but its also 4/10. HotPocket also doesn't play many game he doesn't like so the ways in which is fails, especially to a fan of the series, I think it's fair.
On that note, its a 2 stars sure, but its also 4/10. HotPocket also doesn't play many game he doesn't like so the ways in which is fails, especially to a fan of the series, I think it's fair.
@Erato_Heti
all fair points! i've just witnessed a lot of gatekeeping with the monhun titles similar to that of the souls community, and i don't necessarily think it's a bad thing that the devs have managed to find success and a bigger audience at the expense of some of the more archaic and kinda dated aspects of the earlier entries (which i'm not against either, i admire the old games for their difficulty and particular design philosophy). but i feel like mhw does a good job of introducing new ideas and refining some of the rougher edges while still retaining the core of the series, which is kinda rare in this day and age. each to their own though, the only problem i had with the review (which is excellently written too, may i add) is the comparison to the silent hill 2 remake which i just can't fuck with no matter how hyperbolic and tongue in cheek it may have been lol.
all fair points! i've just witnessed a lot of gatekeeping with the monhun titles similar to that of the souls community, and i don't necessarily think it's a bad thing that the devs have managed to find success and a bigger audience at the expense of some of the more archaic and kinda dated aspects of the earlier entries (which i'm not against either, i admire the old games for their difficulty and particular design philosophy). but i feel like mhw does a good job of introducing new ideas and refining some of the rougher edges while still retaining the core of the series, which is kinda rare in this day and age. each to their own though, the only problem i had with the review (which is excellently written too, may i add) is the comparison to the silent hill 2 remake which i just can't fuck with no matter how hyperbolic and tongue in cheek it may have been lol.
Fair enough, thank you for having the good graces to not take my response in a volatile direction, have a wonderful day c:
@Pangburn
>reactive combat
Good analysis, the lack of neutral play is probably what kills it for me. I don't think you can really get away with this in a 1v1 game, traditional action games compensate by throwing multiple aggressive enemies at you at once. What's interesting is how you can see a lot of this creeping into 4th gen, but some of those monsters still manage to be super fun to me. Boltreaver Astalos might be the best monster in the series for my money.
>maps
Something interesting is that a lot of Gen 1 and 2 zones actually aren't all that large. Being aware of and playing near the wall is common, especially since the ubiquitous charges will take the monster there. In Rise though this doesn't really happen, the zones are just too massive.
@polaroidplayboy
Thanks for commenting!
>2 stars
Yeah honestly a lot of the points are pretty low-hanging fruit, I could name similar things about games I love. I actually think the world, endemic life, etc. is a major strength of the game, and I would love to see a more survival/simulationist take on the series that leans into this. It's really the mechanics changes that kill it for me, if the game was more fun to play then I would overlook most of the flaws. Also like I mentioned in another comment the rating is a bit of a personal feeling, realistically the game is very playable.
>old vs new
I don't even want them to necessarily make Freedom Unite 2 or whatever, if they make a good game I'll play it. I talk more about this in my Sunbreak review. Keep in mind I play a lot of other action games (ZOE2, Ninja Gaiden, Nioh, DMC, ...) so this isn't about them making it "too fast" or whatever dumb shit people usually say, I am judging based on my tastes and experience in the genre. I'm under no illusions the old MH games were flawless, far from it; they have so many stupid elements that either never made sense or stopped making sense after MH2 flopped. But in World's case so many of the changes just don't feel like they're meaningfully rethinking these systems. Inventory for example is a total mess, they either need to restrict it more so that your decisions matter (i.e. Resident Evil) or just remove the limit and add some other healing/ammo restriction like Dark Souls Estus or whatever. But instead it's in this bad middle ground where it's not really doing either. Also I'm just really not a fan of the fights in World in particular, Iceborne and Sunbreak are both much better about this.
>SH2 remake
It's kind of a cheap shot, especially since I'm not familiar with SH. But that mentality of "old game needs to be modernized" is something I've seen extremely frequently in MH discussion, and I imagine many SH fans feel a similar frustration to me. The well has been completely poisoned on the term "QOL" because of people using it for blatant mechanics changes like potion roll-cancel, and many popular Freedom Unite YT videos are basically dismissing it as a shitty old unfair game. Making fun of new players isn't cool, but sadly it's a two-way street.
Bloober Team probably wants to do right by the original work, I doubt they are coming into this with the goal of disappointing SH2 fans. But execution is what matters, and without either a strong understanding of the original or a solid new vision to follow, I don't see anything good coming out of it. That's basically where World is to me.
>reactive combat
Good analysis, the lack of neutral play is probably what kills it for me. I don't think you can really get away with this in a 1v1 game, traditional action games compensate by throwing multiple aggressive enemies at you at once. What's interesting is how you can see a lot of this creeping into 4th gen, but some of those monsters still manage to be super fun to me. Boltreaver Astalos might be the best monster in the series for my money.
>maps
Something interesting is that a lot of Gen 1 and 2 zones actually aren't all that large. Being aware of and playing near the wall is common, especially since the ubiquitous charges will take the monster there. In Rise though this doesn't really happen, the zones are just too massive.
@polaroidplayboy
Thanks for commenting!
>2 stars
Yeah honestly a lot of the points are pretty low-hanging fruit, I could name similar things about games I love. I actually think the world, endemic life, etc. is a major strength of the game, and I would love to see a more survival/simulationist take on the series that leans into this. It's really the mechanics changes that kill it for me, if the game was more fun to play then I would overlook most of the flaws. Also like I mentioned in another comment the rating is a bit of a personal feeling, realistically the game is very playable.
>old vs new
I don't even want them to necessarily make Freedom Unite 2 or whatever, if they make a good game I'll play it. I talk more about this in my Sunbreak review. Keep in mind I play a lot of other action games (ZOE2, Ninja Gaiden, Nioh, DMC, ...) so this isn't about them making it "too fast" or whatever dumb shit people usually say, I am judging based on my tastes and experience in the genre. I'm under no illusions the old MH games were flawless, far from it; they have so many stupid elements that either never made sense or stopped making sense after MH2 flopped. But in World's case so many of the changes just don't feel like they're meaningfully rethinking these systems. Inventory for example is a total mess, they either need to restrict it more so that your decisions matter (i.e. Resident Evil) or just remove the limit and add some other healing/ammo restriction like Dark Souls Estus or whatever. But instead it's in this bad middle ground where it's not really doing either. Also I'm just really not a fan of the fights in World in particular, Iceborne and Sunbreak are both much better about this.
>SH2 remake
It's kind of a cheap shot, especially since I'm not familiar with SH. But that mentality of "old game needs to be modernized" is something I've seen extremely frequently in MH discussion, and I imagine many SH fans feel a similar frustration to me. The well has been completely poisoned on the term "QOL" because of people using it for blatant mechanics changes like potion roll-cancel, and many popular Freedom Unite YT videos are basically dismissing it as a shitty old unfair game. Making fun of new players isn't cool, but sadly it's a two-way street.
Bloober Team probably wants to do right by the original work, I doubt they are coming into this with the goal of disappointing SH2 fans. But execution is what matters, and without either a strong understanding of the original or a solid new vision to follow, I don't see anything good coming out of it. That's basically where World is to me.
MalditoMur
1 year ago