I have gotten a days worth of play into the game now. All I can say is WOW! The graphics and maps are still superior to most other games. The maps even have some that are completely new. This is great because we needed new areas to explore and hunt in. Slowly the features of most the old games have been coming back. I have not unlocked everything but I have now gotten new towns/bases. There have been some things so far unlocked as in the farm is a single table and Fishing options will be coming up soon I am sure now that the main camp is growing and I am finding bait.
As long and tedious as this game series may have been the best thing I have found added was the directions to complete a story of tasks. In previous games you didn't know what you were aiming for unless you looked up the specific quest or hunt to progress and gain your rank. Now there is a guideline to objectives to complete. I have not completed all of them but I have found that they are numerous and in different categories. You can have some that are by request or research. Others you get are general hunts to expand your base.
Lets talk about the side quest options. There are a few different option. The most confusing is investigations. These are limited hunts of sorts that you can do multiple times. This is limited but the numbers gain quickly and can seem tedious to complete. These are not always useful but they have a point. You can start a day with a specific big monster needing its research level raised. You will want to hunt this specific monster to get the resources to gain teh levels. You gain two types of levels. One is research levels you don't lose and the other is the hunting research that you do lose. This can go up or down depending on the results of the tracking and hunting used on the quests. The only real use I have found for this is when you are farming specific resources in the field from these large monsters. Otherwise I haven't really needed to complete them in mass to get the 3 levels or better to show them on the map from the start. So far this is not required but can help if you are trying to make that next advancement in weapons or your armor.
Next I found there were some unlocks from individual side quests for vendors and other NPCs on the village maps. This has created challenges to saly multiple regular monsters or capture specific large monsters. There are limited other options so far but this is how you get your base to grow. have unlocked the cat expeditions, farming point for resources and new weapon and armours levels. There are more I am still in progress of unlocking but I will get to those options soon enough as I continue to play.
Next is the new locations. These seem to cover new villages, new maps to hunt and few other things. The maps cover the styles of previous games and some that are completely new to me. The maps start out completely unexplored. This is fun because finding all the locations may be difficult but as you are unlocking areas on the maps you are also mapping where items and resources you can farm are located. As you collect things you slowly get them showing and populating the map for things so you know some of what you will find in these areas. As basic as the maps are they do not give all the details like when a wall is one directional and where caves or crawl spaces may have entrances. Basic enough for a game that has made the gameplay almost dumbed down but with purpose. The main map rather than on screen map does help correct some of the showings and issues and they stack so you can look at levels you are aiming to find resources or hunt in.
The weapon and armour options still a little difficult to guide through actually much better when it gives you a tree to follow development progress. You can sort through it as a progression tree now and see what you are building towards. This still has things to hold you back. If you want a specific weapon type you can see the revealed branches to create it but you cant see further than what you have materials for and what has been unlocked based on your game progress. This is where the progress is slow. I have unlocked a few options in these trees but cant hunt to get to the end of any of them by what is available to continue. I just know that there are things I have not found and cannot farm for 2 levels unlocked further than I am in the game so far. That's ok because they will eventually be unlocked and built. The armor option is better because you can get the armor you have unlocked and match to get the skills and protection based on teh stats. The few other things in this you can progress as needed but so far again not important to current gameplay.
The monsters and large monsters you can hunt are showing many familiar ones and mostly new ones. It seems you basically just see the old ones but have to progress through killing and capturing the new ones alone. This isn't to bad so far except that you need pieces from all of them to continue through the game. This will so far be another thing bringing you back to the investigation quests for another reason other than just hunting. I have found a few things I need to hunt but lack the ability to find them in the investigations. I have seen that I may need to go do explorations in some areas if they are listed in those places too.
Still a lot to be unlocked and found in the game but I will share some of the gameplay I have done. I will be doing another release blog on this and after I complete a couple more things in game I will do a video showing things I have unlocked and experienced. There are a lot of features I can do to make a video on this and just want a little more insight to the game as I learn and play further into it. I
know anyone that like a constant action type game or exploration and hack and slash game this is the one for you to play. Still as beautiful as the past games with some better looking areas and some morbid ones. Just the same it's a great game for any of the fans out there of any of the previous games.
Monster Hunter World Gameplay (in order from after starting to current with missing intro and one quest)
I'm basically in agreement. It's different, but still the same. I'm really impressed by the quality of life enhancements that have been made to the series. I like not having to worry about bug nets or pickaxes. Huge improvement! And the auto combining while in the field is super handy, too!
How far into the game are you? I just unlocked the Coral Highlands last night.
Yeah not having to have nets and pickaxe is best part. I just got past the corral area and farming a bit to upgrade a couple weapons.
Nice! I just found out that I'm pretty capable with a bow last night. In prior games, I NEVER would have considered the bow a usable weapon for me!
Yeah I have used some different weapons in the game lately and found they seem to be more friendly now compared to previous games.
Same here. I don't know if the feedback is better with controls on the PS4 or if I'm just more patient now, but I'm finding all of the weapons I've tried so far to be pretty good and easy to use. I was a fan of the bug staff ever since it was introduced but I've been trying other weapons in this version. I'm liking the hammer almost as much as the bug staff.
I like the special move with the switch axe currently
Hammer is fantastic for Barroth. You go into a barroth hunt with a hammer, you will make friends. I had scalps for days in MH3U!
Hah, I just unlocked that area after reading your comment last night!
I didn't mind the pickaxe/bugnet thing, but not having to farm sharpening stones is priceless.
Agreed
That gets an upvote. It's so nice that that's a permanent item that doesn't fill a bag slot!
wa? I only just realized, after writing up my entire reply, that you meant was.
Interestingly, when viewing it in Japanese the label is "Free". Edit: no, wait, that's optional...
I think it's just to separate it from the "assigned" quests, but I'm not really sure.
Ah, are there actually new villages? I haven't been to any yet.
Yeah, sometimes while hunting stuff in that first area I can't tell if they've gone up the tree or down under.
Have you figured out how to tell the scout flies to go after a specific target? It took me forever... you do it from the map view, by selecting the monster name and ... oh man, what was it, hit X? This made it a lot easier navigating the ups and downs trying to get back to a monster after having feinted.
I don't think I have even touched the details in the game yet. Regretfully it didn't have even instructions or anything for many features in the game.