monster hunter world review

Monster Hunter World: The revival of the series is a total success!

After several years of good and loyal service on portable consoles (PSP then Nintendo 3DS) and a bunch of variations, the Monster Hunter license is back on home consoles (and later at the end of the year on PC) with a World episode with a double promise: that of proposing a renewal of the franchise capable of both satisfying long-time hunters and attracting a new audience to the series. It must be said that despite more than 40 million games sold since the series began in 2004 on PlayStation 2, the Monster Hunter license has always struggled to get out of its niche game image, reserved for a fan audience warned. With very specific game mechanics and a progression geared towards the farm, the presentation of this Action-RPG series undoubtedly barred him access to a larger success. Today, Capcom wants to shatter this reputation with Monster Hunter World (MHW), an episode which, from its first minutes, breaks the installed routine, changes the codes of a saga to open up to a new audience without however, forget to address your veteran players. The series offers much more than a facelift, but an in-depth transformation and breaks with certain traditions to offer us THE next generation Monster Hunter game capable of attracting more players.

Announced during E3 2017, Monster Hunter World is led by the team in charge of Monster Hunter 4. If he registered his desire for openness at the first presentation thanks to many new features, the title does not say no plus a clean slate of the past and especially of the DNA of the franchise. Capcom has balanced its proposal, redesigned its gameplay to make it less cryptic, proposed a new handling, targeted an exit on consoles then on PC at the end of the year. So many strong messages sent to players in 2018: no, Monster Hunter is not a dark license reserved for regulars, it could even become one of your biggest slaps of the start of the year!

WHEN THE WORLD FINALLY OPENS

When Capcom takes liberties with its formula, it is a license that opens to make the game more accessible to newcomers, but also more digestible for all old ones. The first and significant change is that Monster Hunter World takes the form of a simulated open world. No, the saga did not stupidly succumb to the sirens of the Open World, it operates here a change long awaited by its players. Completed cutting into sub-areas subject to loading times, MHW embraces a construction more open than ever for an experience with a new breath of freedom. It is not, however, a real open world, the vast hunting areas are always subject to an initial loading time before their access and the map is divided into several environments with their own graphic personality (the Forest Ancient, the Termites Desert, the Putrid Valley, etc.)

And by the way, Monster Hunter, what is it?
Famous for having greatly boosted sales of the PSP in Japan, the Monster Hunter series places the player in the shoes of a monster hunter operating in several environments in search of challenge and of components necessary for improving his equipment. The thrill of the hunt lies in the particularly realistic (and violent) behavior of your opponents whose life bar you do not see. So it's about learning to analyze the behavior of monsters, which through a series of visual feedback, give an overview of their state of exhaustion during the fight. With a solid technical and rewarding gameplay, the saga based part of its success on its important multiplayer component. Monster Hunter subsequently arrived on Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, iOS, PC with an Online episode never released in the West and even Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and with several derivative games.

If this episode is not called Monster Hunter 5, it is both to mark this desire to break with Capcom, but also to emphasize the importance of the world at the heart of its experience. The environment is no longer just a simple combat arena, it becomes the major player in this opus. Cards are teeming with items to collect, monsters to face, and items to interact with.

A NEW WORLD FOR NEW HUNTS

Phew, the start of the adventure of this Monster Hunter World is slower at start-up than in the previous installments. Farewell to the endless imposed quests for harvesting and hunting small monsters without much interest since the player is immediately immersed in the first zone of the game against his first opponent, the great Jagras. This voluntary reduction in the number of main quests by Capcom allows the scenario to gain in scale and especially in interest over time. This is about investigating the mystery of the "Crossing of the Ancients", a cyclical phenomenon in which some of the most powerful creatures in the world migrate to the new world. In the footsteps of the imposing Zorah Magdaros, the hunters in your fleet will soon discover that something is disturbing the natural ecological balance of things and attracting the Ancient Dragons to these lands full of wonders.

Accessible from the city of Astera or via the global map of the game, the different environments of Monster Hunter World are teeming with life and interactions with the decor. The division into subzones subject to loading times is relegated to the attic, MHW embraces a construction more open than ever for an experience with a new breath of freedom. As useful to the hunt as it is necessary to breathe life into an ecosystem more credible than ever, the meticulous work of Capcom on the creation of the different environments of this episode is felt at all times. More sprawling and vertical than ever, the maps always offer an element to collect, an insect to capture, a narrow passage in which to squeeze in or a clue to analyze.

The zones are no more than simple static combat zones, they come to life before our eyes, populated by flora and fauna to be used to our advantage during the quests. Here, the lianas of a tree transform into a net capable of immobilizing a monster, there a bone point suspended from the ceiling waits only for a slight impact to fall on your target, for the player to discover and use with intelligence all of these interactive elements. Day / night cycle, weather effects modifying readability, elements to destroy everywhere in the decor, place in Monster Hunter of interactivity. We will be content for the moment with the starting proposal for this episode, five environments and one real city to explore: Astera. Too bad compared to the comprehensiveness of most of the previous installments, especially since MHW does not offer a snow-covered map when it comes out.

ALL ON THE TRACK FOR THE HUNT

Now is the time for interactions with the setting, including how to locate your hunting targets. You are a hunter after all, so why not analyze the tracks left by your prey to go up its track? Scratches on the bark of trees, footprints on the ground, traces of mucus, we are now tracking our targets thanks to Navicioles, small luminous insects capable of memorizing the smell of a monster and guiding you to other Ecofacts via a ecolocation system.

The more the player accumulates the evidence, the brighter the light trail of the Navicioles. We also find other traces during our hunts, those of other creatures present in the area to hunt if you have the time and the inclination. Collecting this ecological information has a persistent effect; a level of knowledge increases with tracking and allows to obtain more information on the behavior of a creature. The monster will then be located much more precisely from the start of a mission when you have accumulated enough knowledge about its habits. Over the tracks, your encyclopedia of monsters turns into a real wiki accessible via the compendium, you will find detailed information on the materials to be collected on each of the creatures in the game, their weaknesses in the face of elemental attacks as well as their different areas to damage or sever using your weapons.

We are evolving with new fluidity in these large open areas with a level design designed to encourage tracking. On the arm of our character, a sling also participates in the dynamization of the formula with a grapple to hang at many points to take advantage of the verticality of the places and ammunition of different types to be collected on the ground to use them then during the fights. These gameplay evolutions provide real joy in hand with a character who leaps, clings to branches, slides and explores his environment with much more agility than in the past.

Survival tools, in the form of capes to be worn for a short time, also activate powerful attack or displacement effects. For example, a cape allows you to take advantage of heights to soar in the air, another improves your physical defense against attacks or offers you the possibility of irritating a monster to force it to attack you during the time of its activation. It is necessary to complete certain main quests or requests to the administration to unlock new ones throughout the adventure.

14 WEAPONS FOR 14 DIFFERENT GAME STYLES

The 14 weapons of the franchise are back and are served by catchy animations with visual effects enhanced by the possibilities of the new graphics engine. If MHW leaves out the hunting styles and arts introduced with the Generations episode, it is for the benefit of a consolidation of most of the gameplay mechanics. New movements appear in return in order to expand the combat panel of an arsenal which has already proven itself. There will be for all styles of players: large sword, lance equipped with a heavy shield, hammer, sword capable of transforming into an ax and vice versa, each weapon offers a unique style of combat and benefits from a curve of very rewarding learning for the player.

Of all the arsenal, it is the ranged weapons that benefit most from this new reading of the HD formula. No more aiming with both feet screwed to the ground in first person view, hunting with a jet weapon (heavy and light spearguns) takes place like a TPS and therefore gains in mobility and dynamism. There is no need to use a set of armor specific to ranged weapons to take advantage of it since the entire equipment system also benefits from some very significant redesigns. It is for example possible to change all of its equipment during a quest by going to one of our camps. An important development which opens the way to new hunting strategies, especially during missions against several creatures at the same time.

An unchanging pillar of the formula, you will never see the life bar of a monster appear and only a careful reading of its behavior will give you an indication of its state of health. On the other hand, Monster Hunter World displays (or not, depending on your option settings) the quantified damage of your attacks. This information gives new perspectives to the optimization of your gameplay. To know if an element (lightning, fire, ice, poison, etc.) is really effective against a monster, to notice the increase in its power over the crafts, to know where to tap to cause the most damage, this is a very important datum for anyone who wants to become a good hunter.

A LAUNCHING REQUEST THAT ONLY ASKS TO GROW

If the license remains very attached to the great classics of its bestiary, such as the Rathalos, the Rathian or the Diablos, the cast of monsters of Monster Hunter World gives pride to newcomers. Of the 29 big monsters available in the game, more than half (17) are original creations specific to this episode. A great effort on the part of Capcom which does not rely entirely on its achievements to set in motion the future of the series. More importantly, these new faces are both successes in their design as well as in their behavior on the screen and the challenge they represent. Anjanath, Tobi Kadashi, Nergigante, Radobaan, Bazelgeuse, Legiana, this flock of new kids can easily find a place alongside the most emblematic monsters of the saga.

Now remains the question of the number of creatures available at the exit of the game. By counting on the presence of two subspecies for the Rathalos and the Rathian, the cast is much more limited than on the majority of the previous PSP and 3DS opus. If the life of the title turns out to be more than correct with more than 50 hours to plan to overcome its simple story mode, we can not help thinking that a dozen additional monsters would not have done wrong with the MHW formula. It is however important to specify that as the "first" episode of the saga on the current generation of consoles, the bestiary of the title can not really be compared to that of the Ultimate stamped opus released in Europe in recent years, secondary versions to basic titles with a much more extensive cast. Capcom to enrich its proposal over the updates with new heads, known or new.

The clashes appear (for our greatest pleasure) much more unpredictable than in the past. Do not be surprised if one or more surprise guests come regularly to join your hunt. Sometimes scripted for the purposes of a quest, these unexpected encounters are linked to the reinforced systemic interactions of this episode. These unexpected bursts give a new epic breath to most hunts and pace our progress.

A CASUALIZED FORMULA?

After years of very slight variations in a grounded game formula, but somewhat rigid in use, the vast majority of the game's mechanics are gaining (finally) in dynamism and accessibility in order to conquer a wider audience than the traditional ones. veterans. This is felt from the first minutes of grip of the character on the ground: a simple slope is enough to perform a slide during a sprint, no need to stop your momentum to harvest the majority of the scenery objects or to exhaust your endurance to run out of combat. The title multiplies small changes like this to offer the public the most welcoming episode to date. To new players interested in the game, but perhaps intimidated by the liabilities of the saga, we can only advise you Monster Hunter World, it represents the ideal episode to make your baptism of the series. However, isn't this accessibility, as necessary to attract a new audience as pleasant in terms of getting started, the pernicious setback of reducing the usual challenge of the formula? Has MH World become a casual gamer oriented product at the risk of betraying its longtime fans?

In the light of our experience of the game and the wishes of its developers, there is neither ultimately here nor question of simplifying mechanics, nor of casualizing or westernizing them. It is above all a question of improving and developing the game formula to modernize it. We then understand why the episode was surprising in the eyes of some players, he arrives with a ton of new things in his bag, he turns a series that had never really changed since its release in 2004. No wonder then some veterans may have felt destabilized. But that doesn't mean that World will be the episode of simplicity. Did making this opus require shaking things up so much? For us, it is obvious. MH World was released in 2018, 14 years after the first Monster Hunter on PS2, so it was vital, more than ever, that its gameplay evolve in the image of graphic technologies or the vision of its creators.

A GROWING A LA CARTE

The first part of the game concerns the traditional guild quests, classified by stars according to their level of difficulty. We then access the expert rank missions once the first script arc of the game is finished; the monsters then become tougher and the rewards higher. But Monster Hunter World does not limit its hunts to timed missions linked to the progression of a story, it also offers the possibility of going on a free quest to explore other facets of the game like harvesting, delivering eggs, catching monsters, etc. Most of the game’s missions can be replayed at will, to raise money and materials, or just for gameplay. The five environments of the game can also be traversed without constraint of time or death in exploration mode, we come across the same monsters and the same materials to harvest, which allows you to farm without asking too many questions. In addition to future events to come over the weeks and arenas where to put your hunting skill to the test, the title allows you to pin a series of contracts in the quest log, hunts subject to specific conditions with rewards often more interesting than the classic missions of the game.

Already discussed at the start of the test, the collection of ecofacts in the field also increases a point counter to be used later with various NPCs in the city of Astera. We are thinking in particular here of the requests of the stewardship, of the à la carte objectives to achieve in common thread of your other activities of the moment. Completing them grants research points and opens the way to various improvements for the services offered in town (canteen, merchants, transmutation of objects, etc.). In short, there is no shortage of occupations for a game with rich content offered à la carte.

With the lack of G rank quests, some veterans feared they would experience a mixture of shortness of breath and lack of challenge once they got to the top. Pending the possible arrival of this difficulty mode via a future update, Capcom is implementing a system of "Alpha monsters" which will have to be traced to unlock the fight. These creatures pose a serious challenge for high-ranking hunters and can only be encountered once the game’s storyline is complete.

LESS CRYPTIC, MORE FUN

Between the lack of description of certain talents, the very tedious harvesting phases or a system of craftsmanship sometimes puzzle, it was necessary to hang on and regularly consult the wiki to have a good understanding of the previous episodes of the franchise. Capcom has finally decided to remedy this with a clearer game in its mechanics, more generous in explanations and endowed with an enriched interface. Examples include the appearance of a hunting codex filled with useful information on monsters and the terrain, harvesting without dead time and in the middle of the race or even the finally detailed craft interface.

Access to consumables during the fighting is also made easier by the arrival of a radial menu which quickly becomes second nature to use. Gone are the moments of panic where you scrolled at full speed your objects from left to right at the bottom of the screen while your character was in serious danger, everything necessary is accessible with a simple hold of the L1 key and a direction of the right stick.

MULTI TASTE HUNTING

And how to ignore the other udder of the series, the one that made his fame in part with the public, we are of course talking about his multiplayer mode. The latter also benefits from a modernization of its presentation and its accessibility. If hunting alone provides great thrills, a small group trip of up to four players is always appreciated, if only to speed up the farming of equipment. Monster Hunter World offers for the first time connectivity between players from all over the world, without zone restrictions. With friends or with strangers, you have the choice of creating a multi-function lounge from the game menus or sending a distress rocket to the skies, even in combat, to call players to your rescue. Note however that the power of the monsters adapts to the number of hunters present in the group, but that the percentage of life and of the creature remains the same whether you are two or four players.

Most of the content of MH World can be produced in multi. The group game is largely put forward in this episode with the introduction of a clan system similar to similar guilds that can accommodate up to 50 players grouped under a common banner in the idea of sharing their game session with ease. Each hunter is free to join up to 8 clans at the same time in order to maximize their participation in various events available only through this social feature. Looking to the future and anxious to keep the game coming back again and again, each daily connection to the game allows you to collect a daily reward and go and join your friends in a minimum of time and manipulation

MORE BEAUTIFUL, MORE GOURMET?

If the graphics are not everything and if the series remains primarily focused on its gameplay, the release of the game on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and later before the end of the year on PC offers new perspectives to the license. Beyond making the game more beautiful and therefore exploration more enjoyable, the technique of MH World makes possible things that were not before on 3DS or PSP.

The environment is a real pleasure to explore, teeming with small details and a level of animation very advanced on the vegetation. The monsters benefit from the same concern for realism and reach a level of credibility never reached in the past in the series. The scales of the dragons are visible, the feathers come alive in gusts of wind, and our attacks very visibly damage the overall appearance of the creatures. We also salute the good work of the Japanese studio on the general behavior of the bestiary, rarely taken for want by the artificial intelligence of the title and always capable of surprising the hunter with a different action. Some collision bugs sometimes occur on the screen, a monster that hangs for a short time in an element of the decor, an unexpected jolt, if these rare concerns of the physics engine do not ruin our gaming experience, they prove that the The development team still has a little room for improvement over the next updates.

Richer graphics, with better animations, monsters that seem even more alive, new interactions or even more detailed equipment that really pays tribute to the work of Capcom artists. These graphic and technical evolutions translate into notable differences between the versions of the game. If the title is capped at 30 FPS on PS4 and classic Xbox One, it sometimes has trouble maintaining the stability of its framerate when many elements are animate on the screen, that is to say quite regularly. Falls below 20 frames per second are sometimes observed, especially in multi mode when all the hunters unleash their attacks. You have to turn to the PS4 Pro or the optimized Xbox One X version (with shorter loading times than on PS4 Pro) to unlock three specific display modes: a first favoring the quality of the shading and details displayed on the screen. screen, another the framerate and a last resolution with an upscale in 4K. We will privilege the framerate mode for an unlocked display between 40 and 60 fps in the least dense areas.

The notes
+ Positive points
A slap of interactivity in environments
It's beautiful, it's teeming with life and details
Goodbye loading times between zones
A new cast of monsters, successful, charismatic and violent
A huge effort made in the accessibility and understanding of most game mechanics
An energized formula
Always as technical and rewarding fights
The epic breath of battles between monsters
High quality entertainment
An à la carte mission system that should keep you occupied for hundreds of hours.
Multi mode has finally become very easy to access
A real effort on the stage of staging
Soundtrack true to the series, powerful and bewitching

-Negative points
A launching bestiary that lacks a bit of scope
Sawtooth framerate on classic PS4 and Xbox One
Some rare collision bugs from the monster side
Lip synchronization to be reviewed in cutscene

The double bet is therefore successful for Capcom which offers with Monster Hunter World an episode with partially reworked mechanics, endowed with very solid arguments capable of attracting both veteran hunters and novice players. This opus of renewal has solid arguments to convince you: vast areas crammed to the brim with interactions, a cast of very convincing new monsters, a multi mode with finally intuitive access, enjoyable and flawless playability and, to top it off, the promise of regular and free content additions from developers. This long-term vision makes it possible to minimize the impact of a bestiary and somewhat limited environments at the launch of the game. Monster Hunter World clearly represents the future of the franchise, a future that is grasped under the best omens . You have been warned, so go for it and the hunt begins!