Monster Hunter World Review- a true joy which avoids modern industry practices

Originally published 29^th January 2018

In a current gaming industry that is filled to the brim with shady moneymaking methods, it’s truly a breath of fresh air to see a AAA game like Monster Hunter World strut onto the scene that doesn’t include loot boxes, preorder bonuses, day 1 paid DLC, season passes, and all those other laundering techniques plaguing the industry right now. A game you can simply buy outright, pop into your PS4 and enjoy dozens of hours of entertainment for your upfront payment.

The game concepts and mechanics of Monster Hunter World are deep and intricate, without every feeling overwhelming or frustrating. You can choose from one of 14 weapon types to suit your playstyle, and embark on quests with your trusty cat companion to hunt down and eliminate fearsome monsters causing chaos for the local villages and its inhabitants. The variety of enemies you fight throughout the story is wonderful, starting you off hunting fairly simple fat dinosaurs with dreadlocks and fire breathing t-rexes, but quickly ramping up to the weird and wacky like inflating furry flying rats and icy bird dragons.

With the addition of each weapon in the game essentially like playing a completely different game, the gameplay just never starts to feel stale with so much variety in the combat with both your and the enemy’s movesets and approaches to attack. The huge and heavy Great Sword has you swinging around a huge blade three times your size for massive damage, at the expense of mobility. The Bow however lets you freely move around firing shots from all angles, but you cannot block hits with it and must keep your distance. All of the weapons are incredibly balanced with their own pros and cons, with varying levels of complexity. Because of this it doesn’t matter if you’re an experienced gamer looking for deep and intricate combat systems, or a complete novice who just wants to wail away at something with Dual-Wielded Blades.

The attention to detail of the monster designs and ecology is truly superb and a milestone of evidence which exhibit this game’s 5 year development time. As an example, one quest tasked me with stealing some herbivore eggs from a local dinosaur nest and taking them back to base. The Kulu-Ya-Ku, a strange scavenger monster crossed between a raptor and a peacock, was roaming around near the nest. I presumed this guy would be the major roadblock to my success, so I swooped into the nest once the docile herbivores and Kulu-Ya-Ku had their backs turned, nabbed an egg and sprinted away at full speed. As I looked behind me in horror, the peacock monstrosity was belting after me at full-speed…Only for him to completely overtake me as we exchanged passing glances. For HE was also holding a giant stolen egg and escaping the angry stampede of dinosaurs behind us, serving as a very appreciated distraction drawing away the attention of some very angry mothers-to-be. The many small details of genius like this carved into the land of Monster Hunter World kept me smiling with pure joy throughout the entire story as it drew me into its vast, beautiful world.

Overall the game truly does bring something for everyone, with dozens of hours of content and lovable character designs (especially in the form of your feline cat companion donning an adorable suit of armour). Monster Hunter World truly is an exemplary exhibition of a modern AAA video game ‘done right’, with maybe its biggest flaw being it left me wanting more. Fortunately CAPCOM have plans to release free monthly DLC in the form of new monsters, weapons and armour sets to keep players coming back without needing to spend an extra penny aside from the initial asking price. Now, if you’ll excuse me… I need to get back to playing.

Overall score:

9.7 / 10

Pros:

- Addictive “just one more hunt” gameplay mechanics

- Can be used as a platform to continuously release new content

- Battles always feel fair, monsters telegraph their attacks and punish you for not paying attention

- Your cat uses a little rubber boat when following you into water

Cons:

- Can be intimidating to newcomers with its steep learning curve and many complicated systems

- Multiplayer with friends is needlessly complicated with private rooms requiring a randomised 12-didgit password

- You can’t recruit more than two cat companions at a time