TheGingerborn
2020
A masterclass game with only two flaws that stop me giving it 5 stars.
I dislike the 5e combat system, and whilst Larian tried to fix a few things it still just falls flat to me. Makes the game feel repetitive.
And the final act, act 3, kinda blows.
Other than these two issues I have, I love the game.
The level of detail is pretty insane and I know they will make a sequel, I just hope it can hold up.
I dislike the 5e combat system, and whilst Larian tried to fix a few things it still just falls flat to me. Makes the game feel repetitive.
And the final act, act 3, kinda blows.
Other than these two issues I have, I love the game.
The level of detail is pretty insane and I know they will make a sequel, I just hope it can hold up.
2021
I love the first game but just couldn't click with 2.
The combat isn't better enough to carry the direction change with the rest of the gameplay for me.
I feel like half of darkest dungeon to me was the management and build-up of the town and your roster throughout, so this was a let down. Though I do understand some people's frustrations when losing higher levelled dudes, but I miss that personal attachment.
The modding community was huge in 1 and it doesn't seem to have much going for it here. I'm not sure if it's the switch to 3d models, or just a lack of modding tools but it's definitely a step back.
I can certainly see how many people may enjoy it and I may change my mind if modding becomes big again (mainly if overhauls become a thing), but for now it just doesn't work for me.
The combat isn't better enough to carry the direction change with the rest of the gameplay for me.
I feel like half of darkest dungeon to me was the management and build-up of the town and your roster throughout, so this was a let down. Though I do understand some people's frustrations when losing higher levelled dudes, but I miss that personal attachment.
The modding community was huge in 1 and it doesn't seem to have much going for it here. I'm not sure if it's the switch to 3d models, or just a lack of modding tools but it's definitely a step back.
I can certainly see how many people may enjoy it and I may change my mind if modding becomes big again (mainly if overhauls become a thing), but for now it just doesn't work for me.
2023
The story and characters are very 50/50 and the art style is extremely mid, but I really enjoy the gameplay this entry has to offer.
I do wish the story scaled better with levels as if you do anything extra other that just the main story you'd be overlevelled and make it a cake walk.
I played this on Classic/Hard first time around.
Edit: I replayed it again recently, and I wasn't a fan of the gameplay at all on a replay. Just felt too easy and there too many options for players to just win. removed .5 stars
I do wish the story scaled better with levels as if you do anything extra other that just the main story you'd be overlevelled and make it a cake walk.
I played this on Classic/Hard first time around.
Edit: I replayed it again recently, and I wasn't a fan of the gameplay at all on a replay. Just felt too easy and there too many options for players to just win. removed .5 stars
I played on both 3DS and the WiiU but mostly on 3DS.
Personally this is my favourite game of all time, I really can't doubt that for a second. My first monster hunter was FU on the PSP and whilst I enjoyed it a lot I always had moments where I would sigh and say "Do I have to fight that?". MH3U is the only monster hunter game I don't say that to, every single monster I love fighting in this game. I know that to most people it's a divisive factor but I absolutely love underwater combat, it takes some time to get used to and I think the difficulty with it at first puts a lot of people off but once it clicks it's extremely engaging and in my opinion beats out the repetitive and cheesy mounting of 4U any day. It's one of the best ways the series shows you "You're in my domain now"
I think it might be weird to say but it's the only Monster Hunter title that has truly immersed me into the game.
The games story is also pretty basic but the characters are really fun. I'd have to say that this village alongside maybe Yukumo are the most interesting to me. Each person in the village has their own little personality and I cannot lie, the village sweetheart is my favourite quest-giver in the series she's just too cute. Your companions are two shakalaka, rather than the felynes of previous and later titles. I find that Cha-Cha and Kayamba have so much more personality compared to the cats who just make puns all day. They also have a unique mask & dance system that has them donning masks you create to give them powers like a rathalos mask that lets them shoot fire balls and roar. I think it's on par with what we get in 4U and onwards just a bit more personality to it.
The online was WiiU only but has since been taken down I believe though 3DS and WiiU can still do local multiplayer. When it was still fully online the game was great fun and is where I met some good friends. The local multiplayer is still great, though unless you have a sibling or friends that live close-by that are willing to play I doubt you'd get to see too much.
The locations in the game are really fun to traverse especially with the underwater sections. I think it has the perfect blend of good arenas to fight monsters in that feel like they are living ecosystems. I tend to find that previously and later games in the old-style are mostly just arenas without much flavour and MH:W just has flavour without fun arenas (outside of the interactables but to me that doesn't count towards a good fighting arena).
All the weapon types barring the insect glaive and charge blade are here, that's because those two get created for the next instalment. The weapons you get are very well balanced in my opinion and most of the differences come down to playstyle. It's also great because in this game most weapons can be used in a variety of ways like guard vs evade lancing etc. that I never really saw previously but thankfully carries on into the later old-style games.
Overall this game, in my opinion, is the foundation of the best the series has to offer. People might prefer GU or 4U but it's hard to doubt that here is where that solid foundation really settled. Previous titles had that foundation but it was still a bit rocky, here is where I feel they perfected it. To those who might be going back it can be a bit harder to get into but I would say that it is well worth it.
Personally this is my favourite game of all time, I really can't doubt that for a second. My first monster hunter was FU on the PSP and whilst I enjoyed it a lot I always had moments where I would sigh and say "Do I have to fight that?". MH3U is the only monster hunter game I don't say that to, every single monster I love fighting in this game. I know that to most people it's a divisive factor but I absolutely love underwater combat, it takes some time to get used to and I think the difficulty with it at first puts a lot of people off but once it clicks it's extremely engaging and in my opinion beats out the repetitive and cheesy mounting of 4U any day. It's one of the best ways the series shows you "You're in my domain now"
I think it might be weird to say but it's the only Monster Hunter title that has truly immersed me into the game.
The games story is also pretty basic but the characters are really fun. I'd have to say that this village alongside maybe Yukumo are the most interesting to me. Each person in the village has their own little personality and I cannot lie, the village sweetheart is my favourite quest-giver in the series she's just too cute. Your companions are two shakalaka, rather than the felynes of previous and later titles. I find that Cha-Cha and Kayamba have so much more personality compared to the cats who just make puns all day. They also have a unique mask & dance system that has them donning masks you create to give them powers like a rathalos mask that lets them shoot fire balls and roar. I think it's on par with what we get in 4U and onwards just a bit more personality to it.
The online was WiiU only but has since been taken down I believe though 3DS and WiiU can still do local multiplayer. When it was still fully online the game was great fun and is where I met some good friends. The local multiplayer is still great, though unless you have a sibling or friends that live close-by that are willing to play I doubt you'd get to see too much.
The locations in the game are really fun to traverse especially with the underwater sections. I think it has the perfect blend of good arenas to fight monsters in that feel like they are living ecosystems. I tend to find that previously and later games in the old-style are mostly just arenas without much flavour and MH:W just has flavour without fun arenas (outside of the interactables but to me that doesn't count towards a good fighting arena).
All the weapon types barring the insect glaive and charge blade are here, that's because those two get created for the next instalment. The weapons you get are very well balanced in my opinion and most of the differences come down to playstyle. It's also great because in this game most weapons can be used in a variety of ways like guard vs evade lancing etc. that I never really saw previously but thankfully carries on into the later old-style games.
Overall this game, in my opinion, is the foundation of the best the series has to offer. People might prefer GU or 4U but it's hard to doubt that here is where that solid foundation really settled. Previous titles had that foundation but it was still a bit rocky, here is where I feel they perfected it. To those who might be going back it can be a bit harder to get into but I would say that it is well worth it.
Just to mention I wrote this review during patch 0.4.21
If you don't care too much about stuff outside of combat then I would recommend this greatly. It has amazing turn-based D&D 5e styled combat that is still in development so I can only imagine how much better it can get. There is a little jank with some animations and such but overall it is the best part of the game.
Outside of combat though it felt a bit bland. I enjoy the idea of picking character personality traits that change what they say during dialogue. Even the player made characters are voiced it's really great to see. However, the writing seems a bit off, I do hope it does get worked on as a lot of lines just sound odd even if you ignore the voice acting. The voice acting in my opinion is a bit hit and miss at the moment and the pauses between line delivery can be a bit off putting.
The premise for first campaign is kind of plain but in a good way, it's a good stepping stone for new players in my eyes but I kinda hoped for a little bit more out of it. The world in general is kinda the same nothing too crazy or out there but it does have some interesting points to it.
At the moment the options for races and classes are pretty basic. I do hope to see less "human" looking races in the future and some more classes would be nice to see. I do enjoy the subclasses the team has made they seem fun and enjoyable.
I think even though it doesn't bother me I should say that the character models are not the best looking and from character creation it puts you off. Outside of the cutscenes the game looks alright but once it starts zooming in you can see some problems.
There is a lot of potential in this game. Like I said amazing combat but the rest of it falls flat to me. I am looking forward to seeing how the development progresses.
If you don't care too much about stuff outside of combat then I would recommend this greatly. It has amazing turn-based D&D 5e styled combat that is still in development so I can only imagine how much better it can get. There is a little jank with some animations and such but overall it is the best part of the game.
Outside of combat though it felt a bit bland. I enjoy the idea of picking character personality traits that change what they say during dialogue. Even the player made characters are voiced it's really great to see. However, the writing seems a bit off, I do hope it does get worked on as a lot of lines just sound odd even if you ignore the voice acting. The voice acting in my opinion is a bit hit and miss at the moment and the pauses between line delivery can be a bit off putting.
The premise for first campaign is kind of plain but in a good way, it's a good stepping stone for new players in my eyes but I kinda hoped for a little bit more out of it. The world in general is kinda the same nothing too crazy or out there but it does have some interesting points to it.
At the moment the options for races and classes are pretty basic. I do hope to see less "human" looking races in the future and some more classes would be nice to see. I do enjoy the subclasses the team has made they seem fun and enjoyable.
I think even though it doesn't bother me I should say that the character models are not the best looking and from character creation it puts you off. Outside of the cutscenes the game looks alright but once it starts zooming in you can see some problems.
There is a lot of potential in this game. Like I said amazing combat but the rest of it falls flat to me. I am looking forward to seeing how the development progresses.