I’m of the firm belief there has yet to be a bad Monster Hunter game, and though this applies to Worldborne, it’s definitely the most flawed so far (and might be a bit too westernized).
It lacks a lot of (at least what I feel) made old school special despite the jank, there’s a lack in variety when it comes to wyvern species and too many that look like lizards/dinos/dragons as opposed to anything super unique, some newer monsters lack the same design flare older ones have, most returning mons feel like a downgrade despite better hitboxes, base game has the weakest OST in the series (not bad but not nearly as good), the story of both major campaigns have good ideas but the writing and cutscenes are uh not good, and god the layout of most locales and Astera are garbage. There was a clear push to make it appeal more to western audiences by upping certain parts of the “realism” while sacrificing again the original charm. Feels too MMO-y and has a lot more match making aspects most big mainstream western games at the time had which does impact the player base.
That being said, there’s a certain charm to Worldborne too, and a lot of its faults come more from inexperience—this was a major leap forward for the series in a ton of ways so of course it would feel off. And hey, they made normal Fatalis an actual threat plus it easily has the best crossover event quests. There’s a ton of little details I love, endemic life collecting is amazing, and dammit you can’t help but be hooked.
Special shoutout to the fan contributions though. Aside from how a lot of newcomer attitude unintentionally spawned a lot of toxicity in the fandom that even bigger creators in the fan space fall victim to occasionally, there is a very neat community behind it. I love seeing all the mods and art made for it and I don’t think it necessarily has to do with popularity. Those who are willing to help newbies are awesome too :)
It lacks a lot of (at least what I feel) made old school special despite the jank, there’s a lack in variety when it comes to wyvern species and too many that look like lizards/dinos/dragons as opposed to anything super unique, some newer monsters lack the same design flare older ones have, most returning mons feel like a downgrade despite better hitboxes, base game has the weakest OST in the series (not bad but not nearly as good), the story of both major campaigns have good ideas but the writing and cutscenes are uh not good, and god the layout of most locales and Astera are garbage. There was a clear push to make it appeal more to western audiences by upping certain parts of the “realism” while sacrificing again the original charm. Feels too MMO-y and has a lot more match making aspects most big mainstream western games at the time had which does impact the player base.
That being said, there’s a certain charm to Worldborne too, and a lot of its faults come more from inexperience—this was a major leap forward for the series in a ton of ways so of course it would feel off. And hey, they made normal Fatalis an actual threat plus it easily has the best crossover event quests. There’s a ton of little details I love, endemic life collecting is amazing, and dammit you can’t help but be hooked.
Special shoutout to the fan contributions though. Aside from how a lot of newcomer attitude unintentionally spawned a lot of toxicity in the fandom that even bigger creators in the fan space fall victim to occasionally, there is a very neat community behind it. I love seeing all the mods and art made for it and I don’t think it necessarily has to do with popularity. Those who are willing to help newbies are awesome too :)