Monster Hunter: World is an action RPG developed and published by Capcom released January 26, 2018 for PS4 and Xbox One, and is scheduled for PC in fall 2018.
History
The ancient dragons, the most imposing and powerful creatures in the world, left every 100 years in the direction of the "New World". This trip greatly intrigued the research commission, which decided to study the phenomenon. Especially since, for some time, this migration occurred every 10 years. The research commission therefore decided to send, several decades ago, expeditions to the New World in order to follow, study and understand this migration.
The first fleet set out 40 years ago, made up of the most qualified people to survive in a hostile environment. A few years later followed the Second Fleet, composed mainly of people capable of either establishing a viable colony or of equipping the hunters. Later, it is the turn of the third fleet to leave for the New World, composed mainly of researchers and scholars with the aim of studying this mysterious migration and especially, this virgin continent until then of any human trace. The Fourth Fleet followed closely, with new researchers, but also people who can help with development, such as farmers, botanists, etc.
The fifth and final fleet is the largest of all. It is made up of hunters, and it is in the latter that the player arrives. But, bad luck, she landed at the same time as one of the great dragons performing this migration, the legendary Zorah Magdaros, Ancient Dragon the size of a mountain! The player therefore arrives in a New World, unknown, seeking to unravel the mysteries of this continent.
The story of Monster Hunter World is well developed, more than in the previous episodes. And while it's not the script of the year, it does have a lot of interesting strengths. In addition, the fact of landing on a new continent allows both those who have played all the opus as well as those who are discovering the saga with this opus, to understand the scenario.
It will take you about thirty hours to go through the scenario as a whole. The regulars of the series will certainly take a little less time, while the new ones will take a little longer!
Game and gameplay
The game begins with the creation of characters. This part is very developed and you can really do more or less what you want. The same goes for the Palico, a faithful feline companion who will accompany you everywhere!
As said above, the game includes a more developed scenario aspect than the previous games. This scenario can be performed both solo and with others. However, there are still some constraints. The player who launches the mission must first have seen the cutscene before his companions can join him. However, a few rare missions will require the player to complete the mission alone. It is not worse, because these missions are at the same time important for the scenario, but will require to face monsters with possible new mechanics and / or a new peak of difficulty. Forcing them to do them solo pushes players to improve and avoids reaching a high level without knowing what to do or how.
Forcing the player to wait until the player has seen the monster encounter cutscene before his companions can join him is also a good idea. So the player must explore the area, hunt down the monster and discover the places where it is hiding, the paths it takes, etc. Of course, if you wish, you can try to do the entire game solo. And if you come across an enemy that is too powerful for you, you can always launch a "distress rocket", this will allow any player in the world to be able to join your game and come to your aid!
Once a mission is completed, you are entitled to a "reward" screen, which lists money, experience and research points earned, experience obtained by your palico, and so on. If you play in multiplayer, you will also be entitled to a screen which recapitulates the “big actions” carried out by the players during the hunt.
One of the major novelties of this opus lies in the zones themselves. The previous opus proposed zones cut into smaller, forcing to undergo loads while passing from one to the other. In MH: W, there are 5 large open areas that you can walk around freely, without loading, waiting or anything. These areas are quite large, but above all, very "labyrinthine", spreading over several levels, both in height and in the basement. The areas are full of fauna (in addition to giant monsters to hunt) and flora. Fauna can be neutral or hostile towards you depending on what you do (or don't do). Herbivores will be neutral, but can threaten you if you hang out a little too close to them and can even attack you. Hostile monsters will jump at your throat on sight, but you can scare them away by killing a few for example ...
The flora is also abundant. You can collect a whole lot of things: mushrooms, plants, seeds, honey, etc. But you can also pick up a whole bunch of other items like ore, bugs, you can even fish and do some gardening!
The game thus offers great verticality and offers many possibilities for exploration, such as the grappling hook used via the slingshot (which you can find our guide right here), how to climb ivy, how to scale ... There is also no fall damage in the game (this is a good point, like a bad one, depending on everyone's point of view! )
But this verticality is also very useful when it comes to hunting, and this is what I will address now, hunting! As you know, there is the good and the bad hunter. The bad hunter, he sees a monster, he attacks! The good hunter, he sees a monster, he attacks it, but he is a good hunter! Well in MH: W, it doesn't work that way! Indeed, the good hunter will have to show cunning, preparation, but above all, knowledge! The method "I rush in my underwear with my wooden sword and come what may" will absolutely not work in MH: W.
Hunting a monster in MH: W will therefore require you to prepare following your hunt. For example, you are not going to hunt a monster that can fly and a monster that can burrow underground the same way. Your weapons will not be your only allies, the slingshot will play a very important role, as well as the decor. You can use the latter to set traps for the monster: by dropping rocks on its head, by making its legs tangled in lianas, etc. But you can also use the scenery to jump on the backs of monsters, hence the importance of verticality!
Wildlife can also mingle in the fighting. Besides, animals will not necessarily be your enemies! They will be able to attack the monster you are hunting. On the other hand, they will also be able to “ally” with him and attack you. But that's not all ! The monster you are hunting could very well be attacked by another large monster that you can hunt! Or, you also attack and there ... well, you are in trouble!
But what would a hunt be without the stalking? Indeed, you are not going to be placed right in front of the monster and presto, you kill it. You will have to track it down and to do this, analyzing and tracking the traces of enemies is important. In addition, the more you hunt down a monster, the more information you will have about it: on the places it frequents, on the detection of its tracks and so on. And, at the highest level, it will appear directly on the map along with other information.
In addition to the main story missions, the game offers many other missions. There are the requests, which will ask you to browse the areas in search of certain specific materials (mushrooms, ores, etc.) or to perform several quests and / or hunt certain types of monster.
You will then find the contracts, that is to say very specific missions which will require you to achieve certain specific objectives, such as capturing 2 specific monsters within a given time, with a limited number of players.
You also have the deliveries: a little special missions, because only unlocked according to certain situations, for example, in the fact of finding an abandoned camp.
On the quests side, there are certainly the missions, which are the missions of the main quest. And next to it, you have the "free" quests, which will allow you to do what you want and the events which allow you to carry out ... the events?
In short, you have plenty to do!
One of the last important (and capital!) Elements is the forge! You're going to spend a lot of time there. It is thanks to the forge that you will be able to forge (Captain Obvious has struck again!) Your weapons and armor.
On the armor side: once forged (some can be bought, but the most powerful must be forged!), Their level can be improved to make them even more resistant and powerful. There are even armor sets, which grant additional bonuses if you manage to craft all of the items in the set.
As for weapons: the same, you can improve them once forged. There are many variations for each weapon, with several "evolution trees" for each of them and even several "bases" (metal weapon, bone weapon, dragon weapon, etc.). Very interestingly, it is possible to downgrade a weapon if you want to upgrade it to another branch. This saves you from having to make a new one and have to upgrade it to the level of the junction.
Even if the basis of the game remains the farm, it is enormously diluted in all the “scriptwriting” possibilities (quests, missions, contracts, deliveries, etc.) and makes it enormously more pleasant to do and even, in the end. , we do not really realize that we are farming, the components are obtained "by themselves"! There is even the possibility of separating you from your feline love in order to send it on a "safari", that is to say make it leave with its feline friends to browse areas and hunt monsters in order to recover elements!
Graphics, audio, and optimization
For my part, I play on PS4 slim and I find the game very beautiful and above all, extremely well detailed. There are a lot of details, elements, etc. on the screen. The lighting effects are very beautiful and the game even offers us some magnificent panoramas!
On the soundtrack side, the game mostly pulls out of the game on the sound effects and sound effects side. The roars will give you chills. The sound of guns ricocheting off a monster, the sounds of fauna, the whispers of flora ... all of this is also excellent. The music, on the other hand, is good and beautiful, although not really offering any striking themes that will remain in your minds.
And finally, let's move on to optimization. As I said in the graphics section, I'm on PS4 slim (it's not a PS4 pro) and the game is smooth. I haven't had a slowdown, IPS drop or anything. The game is very well optimized.
Conclusion
For my part, I had not touched a Monster Hunter since the very first on PS2 over 10 years ago and I am absolutely not disappointed. The game is really very good, the handling is simple even if to master the gameplay, it requires training (especially for weapons, the game only offering the "basics" of their operation). Many complain about the "low" number of monsters to hunt (around thirty) compared to previous games. But you should know that, unlike the previous games, the monsters are not just a simple import and a copy / paste. In addition, Capcom has announced that many monsters will be added for free very soon, which promises a good follow-up of the title without having to slam tens of additional euros.
On the lifespan side, the scenario already offers a good 30 about hours and apart from that, the lifespan is almost "infinite". It would be a shame if you were put off at the start of the game because of its relative difficulty (especially if you are not used to Monster Hunter). Persevere because this game is worth it! If you love action-RPGs and like titanic combat, MH: W is for you!
Small clarification, however: Monster Hunter: World requires to play online, like the vast majority of console games, the PS + / Xbox Gold subscription!
- All editions (official site)
- PS4 digital version
- Xbox One Digital Version
