So, I sort of finished this game...? I beat Zorah Magdaros this time, and there was a credits scene! Now, there's a meaningful post-game to this story of course, and I feel like I should probably get there buuuuut... I dunno, just wasn't interested in fighting these monsters a whole bunch of times again just to track down a pink Rathian? Anyway, I consider myself finished with it and it sorta cemented my decision to skip Iceborne, so here's my review!
I may not LOVE Monster Hunter, but I sure as hell respect it. What do you do in this game, Monster Hunter? You hunt monsters! No fuss, no "Disco what now??" feelings on the title, just good ol' killin' nazis. I mean monsters! Each monster has a name and their own personalities, and that is 99% of the combat and gameplay in the game is taking on these big beasties. Each monster lives in an ecosystem in each of the 5 maps with others, some are exclusive to a 'zone', but some are found in multiple areas. This can lead to some superb moments where others will show up in your battles leading to some epic clashes. More than once Anjanath (a firebreathing, furry T-rex. Oh and it has wings too) showed up during my hunts to take on whatever I was tangling with at the time and I would politely excuse myself off to the sideline and watch them duke it out. It was never not awesome to watch one mini-Kaiju bodyslam another one and shoot fire at it.
The primary loop for the game is hunting monsters for their bodyparts, building up new weapons and armor, and going to take on bigger and better challenges. This is generally pretty 'easy' during most of the game, but eventually led to me getting to the first first 'ending' of the game and calling it quits. Normally I'd only have to kill a monster maybe one extra time, often not even that, to get necessary parts or just to move the story along. However in the 'post' game, you have to hunt many new 'versions' of the previous monsters to track down the big bosses, and they didn't feel very new or interesting to me so I ended up calling it quits at that point. The core gameplay is certainly great but I just don't have time to kill three dragons 6 times each to make sure my gear is up to par for the next fight...
Story and character wise, the game is pretty much a wash. You're a blank slate, your Palico is just a yes-man with cat puns, Mercer plays a team leader whose grandpa is still in charge of the New World base... you'd think there might be some drama or intrigue in this story, some sort of tension about giant monsters roaming the land but.... Nah. Nothing much. Not terrible but not great.
Overall a very interesting and enjoyable game that is one of the finer 'treadmills' I've seen, but I'm just a bit too old and short on time to really give it its' due.
I may not LOVE Monster Hunter, but I sure as hell respect it. What do you do in this game, Monster Hunter? You hunt monsters! No fuss, no "Disco what now??" feelings on the title, just good ol' killin' nazis. I mean monsters! Each monster has a name and their own personalities, and that is 99% of the combat and gameplay in the game is taking on these big beasties. Each monster lives in an ecosystem in each of the 5 maps with others, some are exclusive to a 'zone', but some are found in multiple areas. This can lead to some superb moments where others will show up in your battles leading to some epic clashes. More than once Anjanath (a firebreathing, furry T-rex. Oh and it has wings too) showed up during my hunts to take on whatever I was tangling with at the time and I would politely excuse myself off to the sideline and watch them duke it out. It was never not awesome to watch one mini-Kaiju bodyslam another one and shoot fire at it.
The primary loop for the game is hunting monsters for their bodyparts, building up new weapons and armor, and going to take on bigger and better challenges. This is generally pretty 'easy' during most of the game, but eventually led to me getting to the first first 'ending' of the game and calling it quits. Normally I'd only have to kill a monster maybe one extra time, often not even that, to get necessary parts or just to move the story along. However in the 'post' game, you have to hunt many new 'versions' of the previous monsters to track down the big bosses, and they didn't feel very new or interesting to me so I ended up calling it quits at that point. The core gameplay is certainly great but I just don't have time to kill three dragons 6 times each to make sure my gear is up to par for the next fight...
Story and character wise, the game is pretty much a wash. You're a blank slate, your Palico is just a yes-man with cat puns, Mercer plays a team leader whose grandpa is still in charge of the New World base... you'd think there might be some drama or intrigue in this story, some sort of tension about giant monsters roaming the land but.... Nah. Nothing much. Not terrible but not great.
Overall a very interesting and enjoyable game that is one of the finer 'treadmills' I've seen, but I'm just a bit too old and short on time to really give it its' due.