Monster Hunter World Catch-All

Shadout wrote:

But reception from people who played the series seemed very skeptical. 'Mainstreaming', 'watered down', 'not real MH' etc.

I'm picking up on this small portion of your comment just because I think it will be somewhat accurate for the beginning of the game. I'm mostly using this quote as a jumping off point for a general topic.

Despite how little information commenters give when they say things like 'mainstreaming' or 'watered down' I think the general reason those comments get made is that they are judging from a place of having experienced the toughest challenges from previous games and seeing demonstrations that aren't meant to be showing difficulty.

I don't think I've seen a single video that is just a straight hunt of a monster that doesn't take time out of the action to showcase some of the new features. The last video that Dyni posted showed a lot of great stuff but to some of the experienced MH fans they will see players actively ignoring the monster which likely gives them the impression that the fight isn't challenging.

To be honest the only thing that seems like a challenge so far is Diablos. Historically Diablos has a narrow window where players can get in some offense while also being a pretty high aggression monster. For this to translate into MH World I already think that as a solo player ranged weapons and high defense weapons are the most reasonable way to face it. For those that have played a MH with and without mounting mechanics how has your experience been fighting Diablos when you can jump on it's back?

Gimpy_Butzke wrote:

To be honest the only thing that seems like a challenge so far is Diablos. Historically Diablos has a narrow window where players can get in some offense while also being a pretty high aggression monster. For this to translate into MH World I already think that as a solo player ranged weapons and high defense weapons are the most reasonable way to face it. For those that have played a MH with and without mounting mechanics how has your experience been fighting Diablos when you can jump on it's back?

Diablos is a huge challenge with or without mounting mechanics. Remember, mounting is just like any other status effect. Each successful mount means the next mount will take a lot more effort to activate. It's a nice additional tool to help with monsters like Diablos, but it doesn't magically make him easy.

I've already seen it confirmed in several places that monster damage has been toned down for the demo. That's why everything looks like hit hits like a wet noodle. They don't want new players getting plowed by demo monsters when they have 10-15 minutes maximum to figure out a complex combat system. It makes sense. I'm sure there will be plenty of challenge in the full release.

Also, a non-trivial amount of the videos that have come out are the "here are all the weapons" videos, and in those videos it is nearly obligatory to show several strings of players pulling off the various combos without a hitch, which gives the monster the impression of being little more than a practice dummy.

It's not actually obligatory though, and it would have been a bit interesting if in those videos showed similar strings of hunters eating it when they were talking about the negative traits of the weapons.

Dyni wrote:

I've already seen it confirmed in several places that monster damage has been toned down for the demo. That's why everything looks like hit hits like a wet noodle. They don't want new players getting plowed by demo monsters when they have 10-15 minutes maximum to figure out a complex combat system. It makes sense. I'm sure there will be plenty of challenge in the full release.

I wonder if this is a response to the demo for Generations that I played at PAX in 2015. The damage values were pretty normal, which meant when I brought my new player friends to even the easy hunt they got destroyed. It was a bad new player experience, and an even worse demo.

now i'm imagining diablos horns as wet noodles.

How do you know your diablos is done?
You throw him at a wall and see if he sticks.

I'm open to both. Assuming it's not a sh*tshow at launch on PC, of course.

Yonder wrote:

Also, a non-trivial amount of the videos that have come out are the "here are all the weapons" videos, and in those videos it is nearly obligatory to show several strings of players pulling off the various combos without a hitch, which gives the monster the impression of being little more than a practice dummy.

It's not actually obligatory though, and it would have been a bit interesting if in those videos showed similar strings of hunters eating it when they were talking about the negative traits of the weapons.

True. There are a few simple reasons for that.

1) Hype is overflowing right now, so people are probably being a little less critical since things seem to be shaping up nicely.

2) Damage has been heavily toned down for the demo, so the monsters do look a bit like practice dummies right now.

3) Most importantly, the people playing the game are either completely new to the series, or they are Monster Hunter veterans. 20 minutes is not enough time for a new player to assess the strengths and weaknesses of these weapons. It can take several hours to really get the hang of a new weapon for someone with MH experience and much longer for a brand new player.

Most of the veteran hunters posting videos are already intimately familiar with most of these weapons and so are their audiences. There are a few new details for each of the weapons, but for the most part, it looks like their strengths and weaknesses have not changed from previous versions. There's a lot of assumed knowledge, for better or worse.

If you're looking for a pro/con list for the weapons, here's a fantastic one from MH Generations: https://www.polygon.com/monster-hunt...
There will be some differences from Generations, but I would bet that those pros and cons translate almost perfectly to MH World.

And if you just want to see someone screwing up a bit, skip to 6:40 of this gun lance video:

That's a MH veteran using a weapon they're not very experienced with

So I just watched Arrekz' video on the charge blade. There are a couple of big quality of life upgrades that make the weapon easier to use and another level of complexity tacked on. Is this consistent with the other weapons?

Gaine wrote:

So I just watched Arrekz' video on the charge blade. There are a couple of big quality of life upgrades that make the weapon easier to use and another level of complexity tacked on. Is this consistent with the other weapons?

I've watched his videos for Charge Blade, Switch Axe, Gun Lance, Insect Glaive, and Hunting Horn so far. And yeah, I'd say it's consistent. There are some big changes for all of them.

I can't wait!!!!!! Bring it onnnnnnnnnnnn

I've always been a fan of the Switch Ax, but the videos have me excited most for the ranged weapons. Maybe I'll be spending time upgrading 2 weapon paths.

Does anyone know if their planning to support HDR? I found online that they're discussing PS4 Pro support in general, but I haven't seen many specifics.

PS4 over here.

The new ability to stock completed melodies and recite them later has me super-pumped for Hunting Horn.

Having weapon-tree details at the blacksmith is awesome. Also, Monster Hunter Stories includes a list of drops in its Monsterpedia entries so here's hoping Capcom carries that trend forward.

Has anyone actually played Stories? I've tried the demo briefly, didn't make me rush out to get the full game.

I have the demo DL'd, but haven't gotten around to it yet. I'm not sure I want to commit to another game with Destiny 2 about to drop and a new MH not too far away.

It's a generous demo and I've put a few hours in. Simplest way I'd describe it would be...

Take a lump of Monster Hunter, a smaller lump of Pokemon, chuck them in a blender and press whizz.

The look of the world, monsters, characters, weapons, clothes and patterns are all recognisable as MH but seen through a filter of cuteness.

Gameplay wise the MH collecting, crafting, upgrading, questing are all there, albeit far simpler so far. The combat though is a turn based Pokémon type affair battling with monsters you've collected as eggs, hatched and added to your creature crew.

Edit. I should say that your character is in the mix too during battles and controlling them. Early doors, but monsters seem to kind of do their own thing.

Kind of enjoying it, enough to pick it up sometime soon I'd say.

Bubblefuzz wrote:

It's a generous demo and I've put a few hours in. Simplest way I'd describe it would be...

Take a lump of Monster Hunter, a smaller lump of Pokemon, chuck them in a blender and press whizz.

The look of the world, monsters, characters, weapons, clothes and patterns are all recognisable as MH but seen through a filter of cuteness.

Gameplay wise the MH collecting, crafting, upgrading, questing are all there, albeit far simpler so far. The combat though is a turn based Pokémon type affair battling with monsters you've collected as eggs, hatched and added to your creature crew.

Kind of enjoying it, enough to pick it up sometime soon I'd say.

This is kind of why I'm on the fence for this one. I want more Monster Hunter, but if I'm going to be putting more hours into a Pokemon-like RPG, I'd might as well put more hours into Pokemon (and finally put in the time to get me a competition-ready HA Dragonite).

Sounds like something that I would hate, but I'm glad it exists. Thanks for the write-up, Bubblefuzz!

For what it's worth, I was not planning to pick up Stories. I thought it would be too simplistic. Given a free demo though, I certainly wanted to try it.

I ended up doing almost a 180 on it and have a copy on the way for release. I found the companion monsters too cool looking and the prospect of collecting some of my favs pretty appealing. The translation of MH to pure RPG is very faithful. The combat, while simple, was a lot more fun than I expected.

It is really hard to balance all the releases you find interesting with what you actually have time for. I can relate to that.

Seems like the general consensus is that I definitely need to at least try the demo.

Gaine wrote:

This is kind of why I'm on the fence for this one. I want more Monster Hunter, but if I'm going to be putting more hours into a Pokemon-like RPG, I'd might as well put more hours into Pokemon (and finally put in the time to get me a competition-ready HA Dragonite).

This is where I'm at too. Still wandering my way through Alola, collecting some mons still in X. Think I'll pass on this.

Now the question is whether to still hang on to hope that XX is being released in the west, and continue my 4U or go with Generations.

I don't think we're going to get XX in the West. They're too worried it'll take market share from worlds. Maybe after worlds comes out. But I could also see "Worlds Generations" or something like that as a tie-in on switch.

Skiptron wrote:

I don't think we're going to get XX in the West. They're too worried it'll take market share from worlds. Maybe after worlds comes out. But I could also see "Worlds Generations" or something like that as a tie-in on switch.

Unfortunately, I agree here. The silence about localization only indicates to me that they're not going to because of Worlds. I was hoping that Worlds would make the jump to Switch, but that also seems unlikely which is aggravating. If Nintendo said "MONSTER HUNTER AND SMASH BRO'S TO SWITCH" I would buy one almost immediately, but it seems that both of those franchises are moving away from Nintendo now.

We do have to take into consideration the fact that Monster Hunter Stories got localized way after X/ Generations. I really think it comes down to resources and time. When Worlds is complete, it wouldn't surprise me if we saw a Double-Generations announcement.

Gaine wrote:

We do have to take into consideration the fact that Monster Hunter Stories got localized way after X/ Generations. I really think it comes down to resources and time. When Worlds is complete, it wouldn't surprise me if we saw a Double-Generations announcement.

Agreed, they'll have free resources and Worlds will have already gotten the market share it's going to.

Arrekz tackles skills

drdoak wrote:

Arrekz tackles skills

I'm glad there are still thresholds of some kind, but that makes me wonder about some of the stronger abilities. If every point activates at least the base level of a skill, how do you balance for something like razor sharp, mind's eye, or sharpness +1 where the points usually cost more of the "power budget" of a piece of armor?

On the bright side, it makes mixed sets much, much easier.

Hopefully the skill names will make sense now with the restructure of the system.

I'm not sure how to feel about the skill system seemingly getting rid of negative armor effects. The negative affects of armor sets typically meant the player would use slots to get rid of the negatives or create armor sets specific to the needs of a particular monster or setting. If the new armor system only gives skill advantages I wonder how hard it might be to obtain the equivalent of HG Earplugs or Fencing.

I'm looking forward to the scent bugs now. I've been playing a lot of MH3U and once you hit high rank where your spawn is randomized it can make tracking a few of the monsters a real pain. I just searched for a Rathalos for a good 5+ minutes because once I missed it's initial spawn it went to odd spots on the map.

I hope some of the criticisms of the bugs in MHW are reaching the devs and they allow you to turn down their visibility so that they aren't so obtrusive when tracking monsters.