May the odds be ever in your favor.
Just what is Monster Hunter?
Monster Hunter is one of Capcom’s oldest franchises. It has spanned for over 21 years, hitting its 20th anniversary in March of last year. A game focused on (you guessed it): hunting monsters. Simple, effective and repeatable, are words you would use to define the gameplay. It essentially pits the hunter (you) against a variety of monsters. That have a plethora (although less recently) of classiffications: Wyverns, beasts, dragons, insects and even a hip checking fish. You hunt and carve the monsters in a boss rush style of gameplay.
Except the arenas aren’t just a colosseum, if that’s what you were expecting. Since its first iteration Monster Hunter (MH) has always strived (even with the era’s limited technology) to show a living, breathing world. Originally there was one huge map with areas that needed a load screen everytime you traversed the different zones. What made this essential to the gameplay, was the fact that the Monsters each had their own favorite zones to move and there used to be no map markers (except for the paintball).
You started out in a small town, you were part of the monster hunting guild (typical of DnD or fantasy anime’s). You were assigned quests based on “skill level” working your way up to more dangerous monsters eventually facing beings strong enough to scorch a whole kingdom in the spawn of a few hours, make storms great enough to sunder a continent, a mecha or just an outright floating island.
Just daunting or is it fun?
By now some of you are asking yourselves: Just how are you expecting us to face this world ending threats? Oh well, with your trusty sword. Remember what I said about the gameplay? Hunting, Carving, Repeating. Well that’s pretty much it, you get a few weapon options to choose from. 14 to start out with the trusty Ore tree and Hunt. The more monsters you hunt the more the trees expand some branching from previous ones; some completely new trees. Each time you finish a boss you earn “Monster Parts” to use for the weapon you like best and advance with it. In the newest generations there is even a way to get upgrades through gems.
Now that I’ve given you a background of the franchise and what it comes with and what you can expect from it. Let’s talk about what makes it great. In the beginning I summed it up in one word: odds. The way I see it MH and its franchise always seem to find a way to pit you against impossible odds. Sure in the beginning the odds (at least for veterans) seem very low, yet for new players it can be daunting.
The odds are against you
If I had to sum it up In one word: Odds.
Focusing on just MH: World. One of the new entries in the franchise did it perfectly (in my opinion). You start fighting the Great Jagras , Pukei-Pukei then the Tobi Kadachi and as the first difficulty spike comes the Anjanath. The odds seem stacked in your favour after a few Great Jagras hunts, and once you master your movement and Tobi Kadachi’s you eventually become quite good at it. Yet, Anjanath shows up to dial everything up to 11. A monster that embodies perfectly what I mean by Odds. Your weapon isn’t as effective (unless you go the water route) and the AI is aggressive and intelligent enough to make it an interesting fight. From here onwards, the odds never seem in your favor for the fights anymore. It’s always fighting against the odds.
You fight the Odogaron, Nergigante, Kushala and others. The fights become harder yet more rewarding once you master them. Always facing bigger and bigger odds, becoming the best hunter of your regime. Failure? It’s always an option; hitboxes, miss-timing and sometimes just outright foolery turn the game into a high stakes high reward. You constantly face the odds and eventually persevere.
The future of Hunting?
Now, with the upcoming MH: Wilds we are seeing what I believe is the biggest love letter to the new and old fans. Now the environment is dynamic, when lightning storms form; raindrops and lightning hit the ground. The volcano constantly has fire spouting and the areas will damage you. The greatest improvement is something that MH:World started, a living environment. Monsters now move as herds and have hunting patterns, retire to different areas and even have selected prey.
Yet the overarching theme of the odds against you remains. The stakes are upped seeing as how these new monsters are finding the way to use their numbers advantage against you. Others are using their environment like the Rey Dau by bringing in storms to accentuate their lightning theme. Monsters are tougher and smarter, the odds yet again being tipped against players.
Even after all this, the feeling of the reward of overcoming a challenge is still present. The zones having more “living monsters” following you or just you entering their area proves that odds are being stacked against you. Perpetually making you feel like the underdog in a championship or fighting an opponent way over your class. Yet they found the perfect way to feel even more rewarded by doing the hunt on your own. Nevertheless, hunting with a party is always a possibility and asking for help is never something to be ashamed of. Yet, if this makes you think hunting is going to be easier let me tell you it won’t. The game compensates for your party by beefing up the monsters to balance the odds.
It’s this constant odd increase that makes the game worth it; facing new monsters with different limbs, teeth, maws and even elemental attacks. Yet once you hunt them the thrill brings you back to tip the odds in your favor for future endeavors. That’s what makes the Monster Hunter franchise great. The odds start against you, and though you may manage to tip them somewhat there’s foe’s who never manage to have enough openings to be considered easy (cue the Fattalis theme). Goodspeed on your hunts.
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