…And in the darkness bind them. Monster Hunter World is the latest addition to this famous license that is Monster Hunter. Released on January 26, 2018, for Xbox One and Playstation 4, developed and published by Capcom.
We were promised a game that should appeal to old and newcomers alike… Well, I've never been a fan of Monster Hunter, I even remember using several terms at the time to refer to them: ugly, boring and archaic gameplay. I had never touched it, just watched a playmate rave about the pleasure of hunting monstrous monsters. So it was quite normal to never really be interested in it until I was presented with this famous Monster Hunter World. So I will write this article mostly for the uninitiated, and I will avoid at the same time to overwhelm you with information, the game will do it for me and much better.
Why do you absolutely need to play Monster Hunter World?
– You will finally be able to say that you know the license and that you played the best episode of it.
– You will be able to create a male or female character with a more than correct editor.
– The game is beautiful maybe not as much as current standards, but for a size of about 14GB, and when you see the head of the penultimate MH (editor's note: Monster Hunter), you can say with great ease that MHW is a masterpiece next door.
– The richness of the beasts encountered and their hunting will give you a satisfaction rarely equaled in any game.
If you are still here after these few qualities stated in haste, I only have to detail the bottom of my thoughts after having played thirty hours in just a few days, having passed respectively between boredom, joy, rage and rage sprinkled with a strange satisfaction of having concluded an extremely complicated fight by proclaiming loud and clear "I screwed you up!».
I arrived in Monster Hunter World with little preconception since I had learned little about the game (I do not really like trailers or BA) and I was not seized by this intense hype around the game. However, I will undoubtedly be as unanimous as other testers, this Monster Hunter World is undoubtedly one of the best Monster Hunters of the license, if not the best. So you will tell me, difficult to judge when you have played no MH? However, no MH has ever managed to make me play it given many problems of heaviness related to an outdated gameplay, a hunt far from being as pleasant as in its last born … And I'm not talking about the graphics that are just horrible. If we should not judge a game by its graphics, the fact remains that it can be off-putting, especially if other defects join the party.
Moreover, you will be very quickly carried away by the cinematics of the game all particularly successful, the light shows, the environments and the monsters will make you eye every time … But do not be shocked by the first minutes of play because yes, the game will seem to you… Abominable. But it is not, once in the first environment, you will see that the facelift was successful, not as much as we could have expected from a game released in 2018 but whatever, what counts above all is the general feeling. Yes, the game is beautiful, and suffers from very few bugs, slight fluidity problems at times yes, but all in all minimal and caught up by environments all very different, a forest, a desert, a most colorful area … Whose name I would not give to let you discover. The music or sound effects of the environment are pleasant, and do just as much honor to the fights of great monsters (even if they are almost all big!).
Just know one thing, you will have to hang on, it will take you about 10 to 15 hours of play to feel comfortable in the role you have been given, a lot of information will be given to you at the beginning and then throughout the game… The game is already very complete but is explained all the more because it is the last of a long series… But do not worry a tutorial of a small page or two will give you the proper explanations and the game will continue to grow as the hours go by. Between the management of your inventory (communicating chests on Astera your "home"), the forge to create your armor and weapons, the training area to test your weapons, the canteen, the garden, the arena … You will have many things to do and it will be impossible for you to get bored outside of the main story as you will have so many things to do and plan. It is true that progress may seem slow at times, interspersed with side missions, contracts or quests for your companions, but it is never in vain or useless. Each act will allow you to progress and evolve to make you a more seasoned hunter and more able to continue the adventure in the best conditions. MH will never hang you by the hand, at best it will tell you where to go but it will be up to you to do all the work, that's what we expect from a video game after all!
When I told you about the richness of the game, I was talking mainly about the forge aspect. Each monster (or almost) has its own dedicated armor, obviously the more you evolve in the game and the more powerful the armors of the monsters will be, they are upgradeable slightly but do not expect that your Jagras armor, even if it is pretty, last more than a few hours in the game. In addition, some armor will protect you from the elements: while Tobi's armor will protect you from lightning, Anjanath's armor will protect you from fire. The same goes for weapons, many upgrades will be available from the moment you discover the resources needed to craft them, they can have elemental attacks or status effects like poison. My preference is for fast weapons, or at least that allow you to dodge some rather rough monsters more easily, double blades or the sword with the shield may be your friends in this case, but a long blade (katana style) or the volto-axe (shield sword that turns into an axe) can just as much do the job if you are observant to know when to hit or when to flee. That said, many styles are available, something to please everyone. We can regret that there are no real combos even simplistic, however the difficulty of getting out some shots will quickly make you forget this slight defect. Monsters are sometimes quite vicious and can dodge your blows or simply put a well-placed tail blow on you to the point that they will nail you to the ground during your beautiful failed flight. Truth be told… The fights are always epic and unique. If some will not cause you real problems, other monsters could reserve you surprises …Not necessarily at your first meeting and that's the most magical thing in Monster Hunter World, if we can imagine that the game will be redundant at some point, it will not necessarily be the fact that you fight the same monster several times.
And speaking of gameplay, the hunt is fun, especially equipped with your navicioles. They will highlight your fingerprints: the more fingerprints you examine, the more effective they will be at finding your target and giving you valuable information about them. The same goes for recovering certain materials…Once your target is spotted you will only have to hunt it down, the combat phases are presented in several aspects: fight, flight, fight, flight … Until you almost hurt your target to death, it may start limping, or flee to reach its nest and sleep…You may also see a skull on your map. Be aware that all this is random and it may be that none of its phases appear (especially if you have evolved well in the game after your first meeting). Indeed, these phases are interesting to discover to allow capture. The capture will allow you to recover more materials than if you kill your target and in addition it shortens the fight…Which in itself is not always a bad thing. Even a monster wounded to death can be formidable. If some monsters are boring because they tend to flee the fight often, the fact remains that it allows you to shark yourself by healing potions or other and sharpen your weapon. Indeed, by hitting your weapon blunts, and you will have to sharpen it regularly to do maximum damage, do not worry your whetstones are unlimited.
Which brings us to another interesting point of the game, craft. Many crafts are possible, between healing potions, various antidotes or strength potion, not to mention bombs, traps for capture or ammunition for your ranged weapons… In short, enough to make you really happy, personally I am not a fan of ranged weapons but for those who are interested there is really a way to have a personalized style of play. Having tested the multiplayer mode a little, it does not really interest me, maybe when it comes out on PC I will let myself be tempted to play with my friends to immerse myself in epic hunts. But the game can very well be done only solo, and if a monster were to resist you nothing will prevent you from asking for help from other players. The only problem in my eyes is that the game is multiplayer oriented to the point that even in solo session you will not be able to pause. Even after all that, I almost forgot to tell you about the ease and fluidity with which your character moves, climbs, jumps… It literally feels like you're sliding on the ground or floating. Your character will make you want to wander and hunt monsters at every corner of trees or rocks.
As someone who doesn't like the farm or redo the same things several times in games, how can I not be won over by such a rich and successful game? It is difficult for me to find a real flaw in Monster Hunter World, it should appeal to all players who love dinosaurs, or seek the satisfaction of fighting an animal 10 times larger than oneself, and raised by a difficulty not simulated by gameplay flaws. Whether you like the license or not, whether you are a newcomer or not, Monster Hunter World is a big nugget and a big crush, which deserves to be put in all hands to finally have the chance to have its name on everyone's lips.
