Monster Hunter World is a strange beastie (pun intended). Most everything about it makes it a perfect game for little ol’ William, you wander around a beautiful world, full of life, with your adorable pet and eat hearty meals before you MUDER ALL THE CREATURES! If the monster bashing was one thing then the cherry on top is taking their ruined carcass home and using it to craft new weapons and armour from their skin and bones! It’s the circle of life at it’s most perverse. I love my time in this game so it’s strange that I don’t play it more often, the most obvious reason I can think of though is that it’s a game for groups really, and that’s something I struggle to get together.
When I first picked up Capcom’s latest offering of Monster massacring, Luke and I had a fair few evenings of chipping away at creatures and exploring the land. Luke being a more seasoned player than me was showing me the world and all it had to offer while I ran about all starry eyed looking at all the beasts I could end up wearing and ways I could remove their teeth and tails. Though after a few weeks, that time seemed to end, I played a few more times with another friend but then walked about the world alone before finally putting the controller down… At least till I decided another game to play for a while.
This decision to leave hurt me though, I mean in what other game do you sit down to a massive meal prepared for you by a hench cat who is obsessed by gains?! What game I ask you!? None, that’s right, and the gaming industry suffers for it every single day… I might be focusing my rage in the wrong place.
Now though… It looks like Nomad the Axeist (who uses a hammer, work that one out) and his faithful Palico, Mittens of Maul are back! It’s time for this dynamic duo to whoop some monster tooshie! For the first few days of my return I’ve been back to exploring alone and reminding myself of the buttons and how to take down the various beasties, including the trickier but sometimes more worthwhile capturing mechanic. However, very soon I will be setting off on my adventures with Team Respawning featuring Luke and Joe, my guides in a world that wants to eat me before I can turn it into a new pair of boots or a hat for my… Cat. I think this’ll bring the game back to some serious prevalence in my life since Monster Hunting alone is one thing but being there with a team makes things all the more satisfying and frankly more tactical.
Let’s face it now, anyone who knows me or has spent more than 2 minutes in my presence is aware that rather than thinking things through, I prefer to smash though things and think about the consequences later (for first hand experience refer back to me and Luke’s stream on Wolfenstein), So hence my choice to wield a hammer in game; it’s easily the most simplistic weapon to use with only 3 real methods of attack, a smash with triangle, a charge up smash with R2 and repeated smashes with circle… Will likey to smash things. So, with all that in mind it’s safe to say I could do with some variety in my team. Luckily, I have just the ticket, Luke is a master of the dual blades and goes all in on a very “hit n’ run” style, doing huge swaths of damage before retreating and finding a new angle to approach or buffing himself. While Joe… Err… Dies apparently? I honestly don’t know yet, my only experience with Joe and Monster Hunter is that he seems to die often, exhausting the team’s lives. I only know this from an event a few weeks ago where my friends played the game while I was in the PS party but playing Destiny (only to review it I promise) and all I heard throughout was Luke and Salman lamenting Joe constantly being knocked down and apparently not knowing how to FUCKING HEAL HIMSELF!!!
I honestly can’t wait to get back to it and bring Nomad and his hefty hammer of the gods to the fold once again, who knows, maybe I’ll get another classic moment of riding a Monster’s back while my team cheers me on to break its spine with a powerful blow! Or maybe I’ll just end up being carted back to the safety of camp after whatever creature I’m fighting decides to tear me a new arsehole and make me look like a bitch in front of my friends, I mean honestly it could go either way…
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