What the base game lacks in charm it loses from the old games it more than makes up for it in the new mechanics. Going back to the old style is so slow, even just attacking twice in a row in a direction you want is jarring and hard to steer. Here they really focus on getting you to the fight as quick and as fun as possible. Harvesting items takes no time at all, all the small minutia of not fun inventory management is gone and zipping around and exploring is quick and versatile even without a dog to ride. Big fan of monster riding and the rampages as well. As of writing this I’ve only cleared out the base story and the main hub story at rank 50 but might go back and do the rest of the village stuff someday.