Story:
You are a hunter in the fifth fleet. A group of hunter, techs, handlers, and others sent to the new world to help study it and the monsters that live there. During your voyage to this new world, the ship you are on is attacked by the elder dragon, a huge monster that the research commission wants to study. and the ship is destroyed. You and your handler make it to shore where you meet up with the rest of the survivors and the make it to camp where the game beings.
Gameplay:
The gameplay of this game is similar to other Action RPGs that people have played, but it has it’s own twists and mechanics that make it unique. While the main goal of the game is to make it through the story quests and find the elder dragon, there is nothing stopping you from going out into the wilderness and hunting on your own for fun.
Hunting:
This game is all about hunting. From the moment you enter and area, the world around you in teeming with life. Plants that can help or hurt you, animals that run away or try to attack, frogs that you kick and they can paralyze you. The game is hard but rewarding. As you navigate the world you will find footprints, scratch marks, and other signs of a large monster in the area. The more you discover and investigate the more you will know about the monster you are going to be facing. Once you get the level high enough, your ‘scout flies’ will be able to lead you right to where the monster currently is. Then it is your choice of do you kill, or capture.
Fighting A Monster:
One of the best parts about this game is that no battle goes exactly the way you expect it to. Once you are through the first few missions and the game gives you the freedom to do as you like, the world becomes unpredictable. One of the first times I went out on my own and tried to fight the ‘Great Jargas’, a second large monster came in and started to fight the two of us. This can be a double-edged sword since the other monster can help you defeat the original prey of your hunt, or they can both come after you at the same time. A small side note is there are no health bars for monsters in this game. There are visual cues that tell you a monster is hurt, and a small skull shows on the minimap when the monster is close to death, but other than that there is nothing.
Grind City:
This game is all about the grind, and that can be a turn off to some people. The idea is you start with some basic equipment, and are thrust out into the wild. As you hunt monsters and take items from them you go back to the smithy who can craft new items and weapons, or upgrade your existing ones. Then rinse and repeat this until you have equipment that can take down bigger monsters.
In Progress Conclusion:
This game is fun, and unforgiving all at the same time. While I hate to compare it to this, the game is a ‘souls like’ game. You dodge attacks, stick when the time is right and pray that you make it through to the next area alive. Monster Hunter World is way more forgiving when you faint, but it still sucks. I have less time to play through games after my second child was born, but this is 100% one that I plan to stick with and see to the end. It is a game jumping off point for people like myself who never owned a Monster Hunter game before, and I highly recommend it.