Monster Hunter World is a really fun game in which you track and hunt down various large monsters and do combat with them.

I have to say right out of the gate I hate how this game handles it's cooperative multiplayer. In order for your group of friends to begin playing together in this title is to first SEPARATELY and INDIVIDUALLY have all four hunters launch their own version of the SAME QUEST, run to the area where the monster is located in, watch it's introductory cutscene which SEAMLESSLY transitions you into combat with the monster, ABANDON THE QUEST and then REPOST the quest so that all four hunters can finally band together and take down the monster. I HATE this about World and it's the ONE THING that detracts perfection from this game's score.

It is my first monster hunter title and I initially loathed this game. Everything about this game made my soul scream out in rage. Why are the weapon attacks so slow? Why is it so clunky? Why doesn't it seem like the monsters react to my attacks? WTF WITH THIS ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ NERGIGANTE DIVEBOMB??

I wanted to rip my hair out and go bald. Then I really started teaching myself about the combat. I delved into online message boards and youtube videos in order to see what I was doing wrong (which was a lot) and finally discovered the magic of MH combat. Everything becomes so readable once you understand it.

Then there's the ecology. Man I love the ecology of this series. There's so many little creatures just living their life in this game. some of which you can capture, some of which you can ride on and some of which will try to fight you.

Iceborne rolled in and introduced the Clutch Claw. What a divisive little tool. It's function is to allow you to latch onto a monster part and then use a weapon attack (or two if you use light weapons) in order to tenderize that part and make it more susceptible to damage, as well as turn it into a weakpoint. In order to allow hunters to do this, they added the "clagger" mechanic to monsters. If you deal enough damage, the monster will stagger and drool for an extended period of time allowing you to get tenderization hits in. The monster will also briefly extend this window when you first latch onto it during this time. Another primary feature of the Clutch Claw is to wallbang a monster. By attaching yourself to the head and having ammo in your slinger, you can claw attack a monster to re-direct its facing direction before sending it off into a wall for big damage and a guaranteed knockdown.

Honestly I dislike the Clutch Claw, it's implementation is clunky and unfun. So many times I've aimed my claw at the head of a monster and somehow ended up on either an arm or wing. I'm glad Wilds will be doing away with it and that tenderization will be a natural part of combat.

We also got the Guiding Lands in Iceborne, or as we all like to call it, the GRINDING Lands. The first time leveling up the grinding lands isn't really that bad, it's mildly exciting. Every locale in the game is connected and linked up in one area, except that they each only have two areas. Two Ancient Forest, two Wildspire, two Coral, two Vale, two Recess and two Hoarfrost areas. You could consider all of the inbetween areas also ancient forest areas, but they don't contain bonepiles and ore deposits. You have to run around, mine, gather and fight in order to level up areas in order to challenge more powerful monsters. You need these monsters parts in order to augment weapons. Every monster only drops one part and usually a bone of some kind, every wallbang drops a shiny, every knockdown drops a shiny. The shinies are equivalent to carving. You never need to defeat a monster, only collect its shinies. Unfortunately you can't level up every zone to maximum without doing an improbable amount of hunts, this can make the Guiding Lands overstay its welcome by a large margin. You never quite know what parts you'll need or from where until you get them.

The Guiding Lands were an interesting idea, I loved the idea of all locales being linked together as well as being able to fight all monsters in one place. But since they only each have two areas and the grind stinks, I'd prefer never to see this again.

Iceborne also introduced the Raider Ride, which was them exploring the idea of adding mounts to the game. The Raider Ride is a function I never use, but it is plenty useful. I don't use it because I can't control it, the Palamute from Rise is far superior in this regard.

Tempered Monsters are something I hope doesn't return to this series, just regular monsters with a shiny coat of paint, flash resistance and more damage doesn't make for a very exhilarating experience. Arch-Tempered falls into the same category, but at least these add some kind of special attack instead of being ULTRA STRONG FOR NO REASON. Which they are.

Alatreon rolled in and oh man, what a freak of nature. Not only did this thing have access to every element in the game, not only did it have very little chill, NOT ONLY DID IT DO A BOATLOAD OF DAMAGE, but this thing demanded you run a strong elemental build or suffer the consequences. Escaton Judgment. If you weren't able to topple and break this bad boy's horns, you were erased from the arena with no remorse. If you did topple and break its horns, you had a chance to keep fighting.

Then Fatalis dropped. I still cannot solo this thing. On top of it being so reactionary to where you are and all of the damage it does, you only get 30 minutes to defeat it. Talk about brutal. But when you set off that dragonator, ohhh BOY does that feel good.

All in all, I ended up liking this game. A lot. I'm hoping it'll be much of the same when Wilds comes out. I'd love to dump another 2500 hours into MH. I also want them to fix their server problems because I'm sick of randomly disconnecting from lobbies and hunts mid-fight.

So, overall 3/5.

Monster Hunter World is a really fun game in which you track and hunt down various large monsters and do combat with them. I have to say right out of the gate I hate how this game handles it's cooperative multiplayer. In order for your group of friends to begin playing together in this title is to first SEPARATELY and INDIVIDUALLY have all four hunters launch their own version of the SAME QUEST, run to the area where the monster is located in, watch it's introductory cutscene which SEAMLESSLY transitions you into combat with the monster, ABANDON THE QUEST and then REPOST the quest so that all four hunters can finally band together and take down the monster. I HATE this about World and it's the ONE THING that detracts perfection from this game's score. It is my first monster hunter title and I initially loathed this game. Everything about this game made my soul scream out in rage. Why are the weapon attacks so slow? Why is it so clunky? Why doesn't it seem like the monsters react to my attacks? WTF WITH THIS GODDAMN NERGIGANTE DIVEBOMB?? I wanted to rip my hair out and go bald. Then I really started teaching myself about the combat. I delved into online message boards and youtube videos in order to see what I was doing wrong (which was a lot) and finally discovered the magic of MH combat. Everything becomes so readable once you understand it. Then there's the ecology. Man I love the ecology of this series. There's so many little creatures just living their life in this game. some of which you can capture, some of which you can ride on and some of which will try to fight you. Iceborne rolled in and introduced the Clutch Claw. What a divisive little tool. It's function is to allow you to latch onto a monster part and then use a weapon attack (or two if you use light weapons) in order to tenderize that part and make it more susceptible to damage, as well as turn it into a weakpoint. In order to allow hunters to do this, they added the "clagger" mechanic to monsters. If you deal enough damage, the monster will stagger and drool for an extended period of time allowing you to get tenderization hits in. The monster will also briefly extend this window when you first latch onto it during this time. Another primary feature of the Clutch Claw is to wallbang a monster. By attaching yourself to the head and having ammo in your slinger, you can claw attack a monster to re-direct its facing direction before sending it off into a wall for big damage and a guaranteed knockdown. Honestly I dislike the Clutch Claw, it's implementation is clunky and unfun. So many times I've aimed my claw at the head of a monster and somehow ended up on either an arm or wing. I'm glad Wilds will be doing away with it and that tenderization will be a natural part of combat. We also got the Guiding Lands in Iceborne, or as we all like to call it, the GRINDING Lands. The first time leveling up the grinding lands isn't really that bad, it's mildly exciting. Every locale in the game is connected and linked up in one area, except that they each only have two areas. Two Ancient Forest, two Wildspire, two Coral, two Vale, two Recess and two Hoarfrost areas. You could consider all of the inbetween areas also ancient forest areas, but they don't contain bonepiles and ore deposits. You have to run around, mine, gather and fight in order to level up areas in order to challenge more powerful monsters. You need these monsters parts in order to augment weapons. Every monster only drops one part and usually a bone of some kind, every wallbang drops a shiny, every knockdown drops a shiny. The shinies are equivalent to carving. You never need to defeat a monster, only collect its shinies. Unfortunately you can't level up every zone to maximum without doing an improbable amount of hunts, this can make the Guiding Lands overstay its welcome by a large margin. You never quite know what parts you'll need or from where until you get them. The Guiding Lands were an interesting idea, I loved the idea of all locales being linked together as well as being able to fight all monsters in one place. But since they only each have two areas and the grind stinks, I'd prefer never to see this again. Iceborne also introduced the Raider Ride, which was them exploring the idea of adding mounts to the game. The Raider Ride is a function I never use, but it is plenty useful. I don't use it because I can't control it, the Palamute from Rise is far superior in this regard. Tempered Monsters are something I hope doesn't return to this series, just regular monsters with a shiny coat of paint, flash resistance and more damage doesn't make for a very exhilarating experience. Arch-Tempered falls into the same category, but at least these add some kind of special attack instead of being ULTRA STRONG FOR NO REASON. Which they are. Alatreon rolled in and oh man, what a freak of nature. Not only did this thing have access to every element in the game, not only did it have very little chill, NOT ONLY DID IT DO A BOATLOAD OF DAMAGE, but this thing demanded you run a strong elemental build or suffer the consequences. Escaton Judgment. If you weren't able to topple and break this bad boy's horns, you were erased from the arena with no remorse. If you did topple and break its horns, you had a chance to keep fighting. Then Fatalis dropped. I still cannot solo this thing. On top of it being so reactionary to where you are and all of the damage it does, you only get 30 minutes to defeat it. Talk about brutal. But when you set off that dragonator, ohhh BOY does that feel good. All in all, I ended up liking this game. A lot. I'm hoping it'll be much of the same when Wilds comes out. I'd love to dump another 2500 hours into MH. I also want them to fix their server problems because I'm sick of randomly disconnecting from lobbies and hunts mid-fight. So, overall 3/5.