Video game review: ‘Monster Hunter: World’

Zach Carioti
Fri, 02 Mar 2018 03:54:33 +0000
Arts & Life, News, Pop culture, monster hunter, monster hunter: world, video game review, video games

“Monster Hunter: World,” which hit the market in January, is the latest installment in Capcom’s action-role playing “Monster Hunter” series. Throughout the game, players take the role of a hunter within the world and are given the task of hunting down the monsters within each environment by either killing or trapping them.

This game is great for first-timers who are new to the “Monster Hunter” series. Right off the bat, players are asked to create their avatars and then create their palicoes –– pet cats that can attack monsters and heal you when your character is low on potions. Once you’re finished making your avatar, you immediately encounter one of the biggest monsters in the game. After you’ve finished fighting off the giant, you’re in the world of “Monster Hunter.”

“Monster Hunter: World” is the latest installment of Capcom’s “Monster Hunter” game series. The open-world, action-role playing game was released in January. Credit: Zach Carioti

Storyline

The story behind “Monster Hunter: World” is pretty basic, and covers the reasons you’re hunting down monsters, specifically the Elder dragons, and why they’re migrating into the “New World” during the event known as the “Elder Crossing” in the game, which occurs every 10 years. The point of the game is mostly for survival and research for the “Research commission,” and those that are doing the research are called the Fifth Fleet. Throughout the game, your avatar is accompanied by an assistant called the Handler, and that’s the one grudge I have with the game. She’s supposed to help move the story along, but trust me, when you’re halfway through the game, she gets annoying.

Game environment

The environments within “Monster Hunter: World” are absolutely amazing to explore. From the beautiful ancient forest to the hot wildspire waste, there just so much to take in. There will be times when I just explore freely and get lost in the environment.

Gameplay

The point of “Monster Hunter: World” is pretty basic –– you hunt monsters. That’s pretty much it. Once you hunt one down, it’s going to take you about 30 minutes or more to defeat a single monster. If you’re playing with a friend online, they take even longer to kill off since the difficulty increases. However, there are ways to speed up the hunt a bit. Every monster has a weakness — it could be around its legs, neck, wings, tale, etc. –– pretty much anywhere. You can also learn where a monster’s weak point is by looking in your journal, which you get at the beginning of the game and serves as a map or guidebook for players.

The combat is mostly in the style of Western role-playing games. Basically, you keep on hunting it until it’s dead —?or until you’re dead. But make sure to keep your space because monsters aren’t afraid to fight back. Not only that, but they’re able to poison you, set you on fire, attack you with their tails, electrocute you and even try to eat you. They’ll do anything they can to stay alive. It’s not easy because they’re literally the size of dinosaurs.

However, “Monster Hunter” gives players a ton of weapons to start off with, making hunting down your prey a little more interesting. Here are some of your options: the great sword, which is great for blocking attacks; the long sword, which has good reach; the charge blade is beneficial in preparing for heavier attacks against the larger monsters; the switch axe can also become a longsword; and the light bow shoots magic arrows from a far. The game also provides some weapons that I don’t see anyone really using like the gunlance — first it’s a gun then it’s a lance –– ?and the hunting horn. However, from what I’ve heard, using these two weapons are supposed to help out your team. For beginners playing, a good weapon to start off with, in my opinion, is the sword and shield since it’s basic. Some other good options for first-timers are the ?heavy bowgun, which works like a sniper rifle, and the hammer, which will be helpful in heavier attacks. Last, but definitely not least, is the insect glaive –– it’s great for getting up on a monster’s back, and once you’re there, you can launch a number of attacks at once, though they’re not the strongest.

Conclusion

“Monster Hunter: World” is a fun game to pick up. It’s great for players who want to get into the series, like me. It’s easy to follow, the multiplayer option is great, and of course, the graphics are amazing.

9/10