(Playtime and finish date are counting base MHW)

Iceborne fixed a couple issues I had with the base game, but not by a whole lot. Story is still unskippable, weapon designs are just as uninspired as base World, and they added the fucking Clutch Claw to the game.

At least the soundtrack got better I guess lmao

To quote my original MHW review: World(and Iceborne by extension) is fine, but it chose to focus on things that I don't particularly think matter that much to Monster Hunter. Games like MH4U had a perfect balance of lore and environment detail while not sacrificing the pace and structure the series is known for.

One of the first actual worthy expansions that I bought separately from a game. It expands even more Monster Hunter World with more equipments, monsters, mechanics; just much more content in general. Definetely one of the best expansions ever made.

-Even more Changes
MHW already basically remade the gameplay of the Monster Hunter franchise, and Iceborne added even more things, some to continue in next games, somes don't.

The main new mechanic added on Iceborne is the Clutch Claw; a equipment that you can use, without sheathing the weapon, to do a "semi-mount" on the monster and attack him, if you get hit you dismount, unless you are using certain mantles. If you just attack with a normal attack, besides doing damage, the monster's part will be tenderized; if you are using a Light Weapon you need to hit 2 times, unless you are using a special skill; if it's a Heavy Weapon you only need to hit 1 time to tenderize it. You can also use slinger ammo while mounting with the Clutch Claw to send a monster into a wall to topple it or send it to a ledge to make him fall down; you can only use it when he is not enraged.
With this, it came a problem: tenderize a monster feels like it's mandatory. Because tenderizing a part gives so much bonus damage, the monsters were balanced to have more health and take less damage and even some skills were also balanced with the clutch claw in mind. This was made to influence the players to use the Clutch Claw, but now it feels like you need to use it all the time. The "Wall Bang", when you use slinger ammo to make the monster hit a wall, feels like the only correct way to do a lot of damage on a monster when he is not enraged.

All the weapons received new moves, some use the clutch claw some don't. Making all the weapons much more stronger and versatile and making the gameplay even more action focused.

New decorations and now Level 4 decorations.
Some skills can go above their max level.

A new snowy location called Hoarfrost Reach and another one that you unlock after completing the story and is really important for the endgame grind, it also makes the endgame here much more diverse and better than base world, that was basically hunt tempered monster to try to get good decorations.

A new base snowy village called Seliana was added, I fell that a lot players that played MH: Freedom Unite will feel kind of familiar with this new village. Seliana is MUCH better than Astera, being much more smaller with more convenient placement of things like the Smither, the Canteen, item boxes and the Tailraider Safari, also no loading screens except if you go to the also new Gathering Hall, that I liked much more than the other one on Astera.


-Even More Monsters
The base game had 36 Large Monsters, one of the smallest rosters in the franchise. But Iceborne added 35 new ones, almost doubled the roster, literally by 1, being the expansion that added the most monsters in the franchise; MHW Iceborne have now a total of 71 Large Monsters. Out of the 35 added, 18 are returning monsters and 17 are new ones.
Also, now we have a monke, a furious monke.

And of course, more monsters means more equipments, equipment that looks FUCKING SICK... except some weapons that, unfortunatly, still look terrible, though it's less than base world.


-Story
I kinda liked the story of Iceborne more than the MHW one because we have a little bit more of character development.
The new plot is basically: "there is earthquakes, monsters migrating to other habitats, ice and a weird "song" going on. Go discover what the fuck is doing that", is basically that, with a couple of cool moments.


-Soundtrack
The soundtrack is still outstanding. Honestly I just put this here to recommend some songs:

MHW: Iceborne's Main Theme - Succession of Light
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOIkiPeIbvY

Nay! The Honor is All Ours
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0xTx2BsLRc

Seliana's Theme:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jc-lYkl0lrc

Velkhana's Theme(Flagship of Iceborne)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtOcADX4v6k


-The Guiding Lands
Now this is the new endgame of World that is a major addition and adds a really different and better endgame from the base one.
The Guiding Lands is the new location that has a set of different regions in it; as I said, you unlock after beating the expansion's main story. All the monster materials that you grind here are all used to augment your weapon. Normal and Tempered monsters has different drops.

It has 6 different regions that you can Level Up but also Level Down, unless the levels are fixed. You can have 3 regions on level 7, the max level; 1 region. Also, you can go to other people's Guiding Lands if you don't to want to grind to level up or down your regions.

The monsters appear on different areas by the RNG; but you can control who appears based on the level of the region or just use Lures, that you get by completing special tracks or creating via Elder Melder.

The Guiding Lands was an amazing addition that motivates to continue playing a lot because is an major part on augmenting the weapon and is a total step forward compared to the endgame of base World.

Also there are monsters that you only unlock on the Guiding Lands.

-Conclusion
I wanted this review to be longer, there is things that i didn't talked about like specific unique monsters and mechanics that they added and title updates, that are now all on the game. But is mostly because I want players to experience most for themselves.

It was even more fun to watch the dev diaries; the final one was quite emotional.

Iceborne was the first expansion that I bought full price separately, and it was 100% worth it. It adds even more to an already complete solid game. It made World even better than it was and added +400 hours to my experience.
Like World, i recommend that you beat Iceborne on solo and them go multiplayer.

If you loved World, I highly recommend Iceborne. Is an amazing example on how to make a worthy expansion that adds even more to an complete game.

oh boy, what can I say about this game without writing a 50 page essay... It's a beautiful masterpiece and one of the best experiences one can have if played with friends. It's also great when played alone but the multiplayer aspect enhances the experience sooo much. The game is pretty hard sometimes and you've got to strategize what to do against each monster with their diverse variety of movesets and attributes. The weapon types also make for a really fun and long lasting game without being repetetive. God, I love this game to death and I reccomend this to pretty much anyone, especially Dark Souls fans.

One of the better Monster Hunters after it fully released. Terrible endgame monsters you can tell were stunted by the pandemic shutting down development (Fatalis and Alatreon are really terribly done fights, especially Fatalis who has weapon matchups that are insanely bad to the point runners will avoid them) but there was a soul and care put into this game not found in most other games. There was finally an actual gameplay loop, albeit way too grindy. The clutch claw and tenderization nerf was atrocious and should be modded out of your game ASAP if you're on PC. It has a few flaws holding it back, but many of them are moddable on PC. The game boasts far, far more pros than cons without a doubt. Great MH game. Aged a bit better than.... some other entries.

My first review on Backloggd, figured I'd start with my favorite game. Anyway, the base game of MHW and its add-on Iceborne are just, immense. With the amount of content and fun I've had with this package, I'd easily pay over $100. You've just got it all in terms of action, gameplay loop, visuals, music, and more (definitely not the story, but come on lay off).

In terms of action, the balance between style, environmental tactics, pattern recognition, and knowledge of your weapon's move set is easily the most impressive mix of gameplay attributes I've seen in any game. At any given moment, a player makes so many decisions on the fly without even recognizing it. Okay Tigrex charged forward so I know if I stay close enough I'll have the chance to trigger its tail whip which leaves it open for me to try to stun it, and from there I can climb to that ledge to get mounting damage, or grab the ammo that it dropped, or shoot my slinger at the rock above, or try to weaken it with my clutch claw attack. And it helps that these weapons do some really cool shit, like you can be an attack helicopter with some weapons in this game god damn. I found the difficulty to be perfect, and was a great challenge for me throughout. I had never played a game this hard before, and had my ass completely handed to me during the first 20 hours, but I felt like a genius once things started to click (and once I switched to hammer). While the game gets significantly easier once you're fully acquainted with your weapon, the creativity and intelligence the game allows the player to have with the environmental factors and move sets of the weapons and monsters always ensures the fact that this game is just fun.

Even while not in action, the gameplay loop that occurs outside of combat is what really keeps your gamer brain hooked and juiced up. To begin with, the footprints, scratchings, and other various traces of a monster informing the Hunter's notes is a genius method of collecting research on these creatures, and I was really disappointed it wasn't brought back in Rise. Collecting this data and using it to find a monster's weaknesses and materials informs the player of how to go about a fight before even initiating it with the monster, as opposed to simply going in blind. These little DNA samples being scattered across the map maintains that the player always has mini rewards throughout a hunt, and it just feels cool to be a monster researcher! What's more is the gameplay loop of constantly gaining new armor and weapons, which, like the combat, look cool as shit. Along with the research data, the crafting and refining of your loadouts makes preparing for a fight often times nearly as fun as the fight itself. It's like a little project every time there's a new monster! This game is so good man. Okay last thing about the gameplay loop, the design of each level is amazing, I keep finding new things in each map, even after 3 years of playing the game. Swinging from vines with the clutch claw, jumping off of huge mountains for a mounting attack, the amount of small caverns, this map design is so full of life. I could go on, but know that even though I'd consider the combat a 10/10, I think the game outside of that is somehow better.

The visuals, geez... GEEZ. This game is GORGEOUS, and the amount of detail in the locations, monsters, and weapon/armor is astounding. Every single map in the game is brimming with beautiful set pieces and imaginative creatures that make for an immersive experience like you wouldn't believe. Lets talk about those creatures. People kind of shit on the monster selection because its a bunch of big lizards, but shut up big lizards are awesome. Especially when they climb trees like a flying squirrel and have storm powers and have a flame sword tail and are also just a moose. The returning and new monsters are so varied and lovingly crafted, real shame that you're going to kill most of them that you meet. Beyond the monsters, the smaller endemic life, plants, and scenery in each map reaches the point of almost being superfluous, there's something to look at everywhere and its all PRETTY.

Lastly, the music in this game is just as varied and lovingly composed as the creatures in the game, with a bunch of different tracks. The main theme with the booming brass section gets you ready to kick some major ass and is filled with the same triumphant cheesiness that the characters in the game are. The battle themes, unique to each area and sometimes to monsters never, ever got old to me, and always aided in my immersion of each fight. The Guilding Lands batle theme??? Come on. The more ambient music of finishing a quest or sifting through menus in the hub world, this game nails the pieces in composition and in where they're used. There's never too much of a soundtrack, never too little. I'm getting tired so point is: music really good.

Sure, the story sucks, I feel bad when Anjanath starts limping, I wanted to rage quit for the first 20 hours, and the amount of THINGS in this game is a little overwhelming, but this game is very close to perfection in my eyes. There's so much I didn't mention regarding the great hub world, variety in weapon move sets, multiplayer, and more, but there's an astounding amount of things to love in this game. This was my first monster hunter, is not my last, and may always be my favorite.
Favorite weapon: Hammer gang
Favorite monster: Glavenus