Thanks for the great comment @mikedynamo. I've been thinking a great deal on that narrative difference in other open-worlders and it's actually very refreshing to play MHW without what ultimately amounts to very little variance (and I say this as a big fan of all 3 of those games) in story.
And this is totally separate but a giant hammer slam to the face of a Rathalos is oh-so-satisfying. Much more than a Fallout mini-nuke.
Ha... yeah. There's something special about melee combat. Hell... I play Fallout with melee combat.
But it's fun to think about how much story really impacts the leveling mechanics. That's the idea you brought to me with your article, so thank you kindly.