I remember Archie showing an interest in how Monster Hunter veterans would perceive the revamped World, and seeing as Robio is on a long hiatus, that only leaves me.  I'll be adding to these impressions as I go, so far I've only done a few of the earliest quests and have only fought one larger monster, the Jagras.

First things first, graphical fidelity in this game is unprecedented for the Monster Hunter series.  Seriously it's so sharp it sears my eyes.  The World suffix relates to how the stages you fight in are no longer divided in seperate, smaller arena like areas, but are one interconnected whole.  This is both very cool and rather annoying as it allows the devs to incorporate much more maze like level design, meaning it's harder to memorize everything.  There is also a side effect that it's possible to be battling a large monster in a passageway between larger area's where movement is much more restricted.  It still works, but it's nicer to have a bit more room to move around in.

Not only are the stages larger and more complex in terms of level design, the same can be said about the level of detailing.  There is a lush look to the whole game, but I disagree with the devs in that this means every item of interest needs to be highlighted by your tracking flies as you pass it by.  It breaks the immersion when every other piece of scenery starts glowing when you approach it.

And this brings me to the second big change in World: accessability.  The game still requires a lot of your time, but a lot of the 'friction' has been removed.  It's still early days, but for now I still long for the more purist experience of old.  Some examples: you track down monsters by finding tracks, which results in your tracking flies picking up the scent of larger monsters, after which they guide you to it's current position.  I understand how the devs deemed this neccessairy due to larger, more complex stages, but I feel it is detrimental to the need to learn the lay of the land like you did in earlier games.  It's the difference of driving somewhere with a map or with the GPS enabled.  You're just not as aware of your surroundings.  The need to hit them with a paintball to keep track of them has also been thrown out, the flies keep tracking it, and  you'll even get an icon on your map indicating the monster's current position.  There's less friction, but also less skill involved.

Another immediatly apparent difference to older games is also the opening scene of the game.  There are many more cutscenes to wade through, making the whole thing more action-ey and cinematic.  It's clearly a play for the mainstream market.  I didn't mind it, but it wasn't what I was expecting.


Controls and menu's are still more or less untouched, but crafting gear and weapons has seen a major change: you can level weapons down and get the monster parts you used on them back.  I do not approve.  It robs the leveling system of its sense of commitment.  Nothing is final.  It changes the forging and upgrading that is the main manner of progression within the game to something more resembling a skill tree.  Interchangable.

So far all the rest has been sufficiently monster hunter-y.  Everything is bigger and bolder, meaning there's a larger learning curve for returning players, but the core gameplay is still very much in tact.  I'm wielding a Switch Axe, a weapon first introduced in MH4, and will probably swap it in and out for the trusty Hammer and a sprinkling of Hunting Horn for multiplayer.  So far I'm enjoying it massively, but despite the game's play for accessability, I find it's larger level of scale to make the whole even more bewildring.  I guess it'll just take some adapting.

Well, I'll tell you this. You'll get used to the busy-ness of the environment pretty quickly. Think about it: Would you rather be following a blip on a map after you paint-ball a Monster or would you rather keep your eyes on the screen and follow the flies? After a while you'll get to know what is a resource and what is not and use the flies as a guide rather than see them as a distraction. You'll also still get to know the maps pretty intimately, pretty quickly. Monsters have their environs they like to hang around in, and they have their lairs they'll retreat to when they get injured. You're not going to want to rely on the flies to guide you when they're slowly gaining back health, sleeping. You're gonna bust your ass to get to them fast!

As for the weapon roll-backs... There's a lot of weapons in each weapon tree... A. LOT. You're not going to want to waste your precious resources on a weapon you made in error. You're going to appreciate the fact you can roll something back and use it's resources to build a Thunder Axe, instead of a Water Axe if you need to hunt a specific foe. There's a way to 'Favorite' a weapon blueprint and see exactly what items you need to get for it, so as you get more experience, you'll find the need to roll-back lessen, but I guarantee there will be times you glad you can!

Some other observations: I appreciate how they don't make you build items like Pick-Axes and Nets now. You know you're going to. They know you're going to. Why waste gameplay gathering rocks, or iron,when you can have ONE indestructable tool so you can concentrate more on... I dunno... HUNTING!  

SupremeAC said:

HUGE FRIGGIN' HAMMER!

I will toot my own horn now...

I got a Miniture Crown Trophy the other day. I beat a Diablos, Barroth, Kulu-Ya-Ku, Jyuratodas and Rathian in one mission in 50 minutes... ALL. BY. MYSELF!  

Yeah, I'm playing solo for the moment as well.

Which is a bit odd, considering getting a good deal on XBL Gold was the reason for me buying MHW so soon, and not after I had beaten other games I had already bought for the Xbone.  Of course, maybe the XBL thing was just an excuse for me to get MHW anyway, as it was one of the main arguments for getting an Xbone in the first place.  

Beat my first Barroth yesterday.  Hammered him good, broke his ridge, his legs, and apparently even his tail as I got a Barroth tail at the end of the quest.  Not sure how that happened.

Haven't really started using my slingshot thingamajig.  I guess I probably won't use it much untill certain missions start requiring it.

So close to the end of Story Mode, but I'm not rushing. I plan on completing the Weapons Tree for the Switch Axe. Then, maaaaybe I'll start working on Armor Sets. It's the kind of game I can go back to again and again and keep myself occupied. I'm loving the Spring Festival as I can get a lot of the rare items I wasn't able to before.

I'm over 114 hours now with no signs of slowing. That's even more than Nioh last year, I think!  

Also, concerning the changes to the perk system: what we have now is a lot more manageable than the earlier system, where it'd require at least 10 points for a perk to be triggered.  I'd say it's one of the better changes, even though I enjoyed mixing and matching gear to be able to combine exactly those perks I wanted.