Boy Meets Monster Hunter World

I've known about Monster Hunter for almost ten years now and never once did I feel like delving into it. The game series looks hard, has a ton of grinding involved, and looks extremely complicated.

Back in 2009 when Monster Hunter Tri came out for the Wii, my thought process was:

1. Your weapons can break? Nope.
2. Complex crafting system that involves hours of grinding? Nope.
3. Hidden game mechanics that aren't explained too well? Nope.
4. I have to prep before going into battle? Nope.
5. Boss battles (hunts) that can last several minutes...just to collect items? Nope.

That's what kind of gamer I was back then. But the SoulsBorne franchise has since changed that. I now understand the joy and satisfaction of patient gaming. I love figuring out patterns and developing strategies. I learned to love practicing techniques to overcome larger than life bosses. I have gotten used to weapon durability and learned to appreciate the way it mixes up gameplay (should I fight until it breaks and possibly end the battle quicker? Or repair it and give the enemy a chance to recoup?). And crafting can be a joy of its own when done well. Mixing and matching to create new, more awesome weapons is a enormous self-gratifying experience.

But...that's all from my experience with one series of games. Monster Hunter World (MHW) is not like Soulsborne. Just because both have a slow and steady pace to their gameplay does not make them equatable. MHW is a difficult game to get into; even though it's praised as a good entry point for new fans. If complex menus and constant grinding is not your thing, then the game will never be a good entry for you. That is what this game is about. For me, however, I am trying my very best to like it. I have already planned to devote at least 30 hours or so to getting into this game. All because every Monster Hunter fan that I have talked tries to actively sell me on MHW. They won't let it go, and it makes me feel like I am missing something.

Talk about icon overload

One major problem I'm having with the game is the user interface. I'm still having a hard time using the menu to just...compare stuff. The game allows you to take a base weapon and upgrade it based on what item drops you get, but it can be really weird figuring out what all the stats on each weapon does. Then there are in-game menus for the items in your supply box and in your pouch. Within your pouch there are two separate sub menus you can access while you're on the hunt. Just trying to navigate through these menus on the fly has taking a while for me to figure out.  And when you're in the middle of a fight with a raging beast, it's not fun to search for items you put in your pouch at the start of the mission.

Get used to running after everything

And then there are the fights. I love boss fights with huge monsters, but Monster Hunter really makes you work for them. All hunts require you to first track down the enemy the same way: look for foot prints and...uh...bodily fluids. Afterwards, it's all about either sneaking up and surprising the monster or attacking the thing straight away. In any case, the fights (so far) have taken a long time. And just when you think it's over, the monster will run away. I am okay with all the other parts of these monster fights, but chasing after your prey in this game gets tedious.  Once again, maybe I am not getting it. And I don't know if I will.

And don't get me started on the way the game highlights all item pick-ups and monster tracks. "Scoutflies" are introduced very early in the game and sort of are a radar of sorts that highlight everything you can interact with in the game world. They can even lead you to certain monsters. It's a great concept for Monster Hunter beginners like myself, but it doesn't execute properly. I'm stumbled around the game map trying to actually hunt for the things my scoutflies identify. But sometimes the things are too small or so out of the way that I can't actually see them. Usually this happens because it takes scoutflies so damn long to fly over to something that I run past the thing in question long before it becomes highlighted.

What wraps up this lament, is that Monster Hunter is designed to be a grind. The same monster will most likely need to be killed over and over again to get enough materials to upgrade equipment. When a hunt can taken anywhere from 10-50 minutes, the grinding turns into an investment. The game makes sure that no small task is quick. Everything takes a long time and the game just doesn't feel rewarding in the same vein as other games I've played.

At this moment, I've only been able to put in about 10 hours. Maybe I need more time. Maybe I'm just really bad at the game. Maybe I'm just preparing myself before battle enough. Or maybe it's just that my lifestyle has changed significantly through the years and a game of this magnitude is simply not for me. MHW has really hit the message home that I'm now an adult with more responsibilities than I've ever had before. I love video games, but I can't play every game everyone says is good. And I don't see why I have to struggle with a game just to see if I can make it fun for myself.