I Love Monster Hunter: World. That’s it.

Last March 15, my girlfriend and I tried out the Monster Hunter: Rise Demo to see if we would be interested in buying the full game.

Our friends have been urging us to get Monster Hunter: Rise and assured us it was fun despite its grindy gameplay.

Sadly, I did not enjoy it as much as they thought I would.

I found the Wirebug and Ride-On mechanics to be fun and an upgrade in traveling, even improving combat with more acrobatics, attack variety, and tools of evasion.

However, I felt underwhelmed with the world design and graphics.

The environmental assets looked very low quality, and the world did not beckon me to explore its nooks and crannies.

As told in one of my Dragon’s Dogma articles, I played Monster Hunter years ago and I expected more from Monster Hunter: Rise after a decade of not playing any game from the series.

When comparing Monster Hunter: Rise to its predecessor, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite on the PlayStation Portable, the graphics looked better, but it still looked subpar compared to its contemporaries.

Fortunately, there was another Monster Hunter game that had my attention.

Monster Hunter: World is the 2018 entry of Capcom to the Monster Hunter franchise.

Just like Monster Hunter: Rise, it has a paid expansion in the form of Monster Hunter: Iceborne.

I have actually been torn for months thinking of which game to buy: Monster Hunter: Rise or Monster Hunter: World.

It was only until I tried out the Monster Hunter: Rise demo that I knew which one was better.

A Glimpse of the Old World.

But before moving forward, let’s briefly glimpse at my past with Monster Hunter.

Back then, I was a hammer user who thoroughly enjoyed breaking parts and crushing monsters to a pulp, or so I wish.

I was a (very bad, but) very enthusiastic hunter who always played whenever I got the chance.

Whenever the neighborhood kids wanted to go on a group hunt, I almost always agreed to join.

Needless to say, I most often use up all the available faints and then get scolded after our hunts. This is pretty much still the same, even ten years after.

I am not that much of a “professional” nor an avid fan of the series, but I was deep in the Monster Hunter world during my playthroughs of Monster Hunter Freedom to Freedom Unite.

Taking Out the Old Hammer.

So, just a few hours after trying out the demo on March 16th, I talked to a fellow hunter and fan of the franchise about it (Hi Bryze).

Then, at 3 in the morning of March 17th, I opened up Steam and finally bought Monster Hunter World.

Suffice to say, all I needed was a light persuasion.

I installed Monster Hunter World immediately, and after seeing the start screen, I knew I made the right choice.

The graphics were impressive, and the environmental backdrop was vibrant and full of life

I started creating my character and wasn’t too surprised that the character creation was simple. I did not expect it to be complex, as I had more expectations on the gameplay, world design, and environmental graphics.

The opening of the game was one of the most intense and wild starts in any video game for me.

Similar to Dragon’s Dogma, Monster Hunter World sets you up for an intense and action-packed adventure from the start.

You are first introduced as a travelling hunter of the Fifth Fleet, newly venturing the New World, until your ship crashes unto a colossal monster we know later on as the Zorah Magdaros.

You fall off the ship and are sent crashing down on the colossal monster’s back and traverse it until you eventually get flown away and thrown off by your wyvern to the Ancient Forest.

You are now tasked to meet up with your fellow stranded hunters on the other side of the map, but not everything is as easygoing as it could be.

As you are almost at your objective, a Great Jagras and Anjanath block your way to safety, and they start to fight each other.

This introduces a new mechanic in Monter Hunter World called Turf Wars, an event where two apex monsters meet in a territory and fight each other.

It was such a cool introduction, showing you the first Elder and colossal-sized dragon called Zorah Magdaros and two of the first large monsters you eventually have to fight: the Great Jagras and Anjanath.

Aside from constant fascination, there was not much development in my feelings and emotions.

My experience progressing through the Low-Rank hunts was a roller coaster of emotions.

I continued to face off monsters one by one from the Kulu-Ya-Ku and Great Jagras, Barroth and Diablos, Paolomu and Legiana, and finally, the fated Zorah Magdaros.

Within the first three days of having Monster Hunter World, I had already clocked over 50 hours of gameplay.

Even when I had work, I always had Monster Hunter World open in the background, ready to hunt.

Whenever a friend comes online in Discord and mentions going on a hunt, I was ready to press Alt+Tab and click on Monster Hunter World.

Playing Monster Hunter World made me feel young again, to be that 13-year-old playing Monster Hunter with my neighbors on a hot summer afternoon.

Holding Myself Back.

However, there was one thing I regret after playing the game for quite a bit.

For some reason, I felt like I was breezing through one monster after another.

The Anjanath did not pose a problem for me, neither did the Daiblos, the Odogaron, or the Rathian and Rathalos.

That was when I realized, playing the Guardian Armor set was such a cheat code.

I was using the Guardian Armor Set until the Pink Rathian, and I was afraid that my adventure with Monster Hunter World would abruptly come to an end.

Thankfully, I managed to have the self-awareness to hold myself back and farm for another set of armor.

The armor I chose to switch into was the Radobaan Armor, due to its bulky and astronaut-like appearance.

It was so funny and cute watching my character wobble and run with the Radobaan Armor Set. Add to that the goofy appearance whenever I was swinging my hammer.

By this point, the speed that I was hunting and progressing the story slowed down significantly, but it did not stop me and only encouraged me to put more hours into the game.

The next thing I know, I was 80 hours into the game and was about to fight the Elder Dragons.

Nearing the End.

Facing up against Nergigante, Teostra, Kushala Daora, and Vaal Hazak served as a great roadblock in the story.

I was very scared of fighting them and it took me quite some time to muster up the courage to do so.

It also took me some time to remember that I once faced Kushala Daora and Teostra in Monster Hunter Freedom Unite.

While fighting them, it always seemed weird to me that they look and moved familiar. Thankfully, this vague recollection helped me when I faced them down.

Nearing my 90 hours of playtime, I was now up against the Xeno’jiiva.

For some reason, I was not afraid of this monster compared to the other ones.

Fighting against the Elder Dragons also taught me to have confidence in my abilities, and so I went on to finish up my preparations quickly.

I killed Xeno’jiiva on my first try. It was so weird. As a final boss, he felt too easy.

However, it wasn’t until I was stuck in the long credit sequence that I noticed my girlfriend was having a much harder time than I was.

In some way, this gave me a tinge of happiness and satisfaction — I am a hunter now.

Anyway, this is just a long appreciation post for Monster Hunter World.

The monsters felt great, the mechanics are all seamless and well-executed, the environmental reveals were awesome, and the graphical details immerse me in its world wonderfully.

After buying and playing Monster Hunter World, I can confidently say that this is not a regretful purchase. If there is anything that I regret doing, it was not playing this game earlier when it was still being updated.

It is such a shame that they stopped supporting Monster Hunter World, especially when I look back at Monster Hunter Frontier which lasted for more than a decade.

Oh well, I don’t know where to end. It also took me more than a week to finish writing this.

Whenever I started recalling my experiences and tried to write them down, I always opened Monster Hunter World.

It is now April 5th, and on March 22 I bought the Iceborne Expansion. It has been some time now and I think I will hold off on playing it.

I will see the Tigrex and the Rajang again in September, and by then I hope I am a much better hunter.