Topic: Monster Hunter World PS4

Apparently you guys don't have a dedicated forum for this game yet, which kind of surprises me because it's one of the best series of all time, I think.

Not really sure how many people here are paying attention to this game, but I'm hoping there's enough people here who will be playing the game to party up and hunt. We used to have a fairly lively community in the NintendoLife forums for past games.

There are a lot of people on here playing the beta, so I'm sure the thread will go swimmingly. I haven't had a chance to play yet due to PSX work, but I've absolutely loved this game at events.

i have the beta downloaded but i haven't had chance to play it yet

thing is the last time i played a MH game was on the PSP so i guess i got a lot of relearning to do

Ya. There's been a lot of forward progress made since the third generation, particularly the 4th gen. This game makes the most strides forward... without question. Even for me it seems a little strange and foreign.

I just got done playing all 3 quests in the demo. There's a noticeable drop in difficulty relative to past games. The first quest I didn't even take damage and the second quest I think I got hit twice. The advanced quest was deeply satisfying though. Granted I did it on my first try- whereas in Monster Hunter XX demo for Switch, I still, to this day, haven't beaten the advanced quest without triple carting. So I guess that's both good for newcomers but at the same time, it is a little concerning for me, particularly since there is no G rank in this game and apparently monsters are not scaled in difficulty when playing in multiplayer as they were in past games.

The only other issue I have is the camera- it seems to be a little closer in this game and it makes it really hard to see when you're in the middle of a fight. That aside, there are a lot of improvements that I like in this game. You no longer have to hold L and use the left and right buttons to pan through your items. You can if you want, but there is now a radial menu for quick access and it even lets you customize the radial menu. Which is awesome. So much less clumsy than panning through your items one by one. And the auto crafting is genius, and I can't believe it's taken this long for them to implement such a feature. Either way I'm glad it's here now.

There were a few settings I needed to change as a veteran hunter though, so if there's anyone else who has played the games before you'll probably want to go into the settings and turn off auto sheath, and change the camera lock on settings so that tapping L once targets the monster and tapping twice swings the camera behind your back. That's been the default settings for years. And it just doesn't feel natural any other way, at least to me.

Still not sure how I feel about the scout flies. I'm not convinced the paintball mechanic would have still worked in a game of this size and scope, but I noticed that my focus was always on the scout flies rather than paying attention to all of my surroundings and exploring. I hear you can turn them off though, but I think the game is kind of built around the mechanic so I'm not really sure how well it would work with out the scout flies turned on. I do like how they work once you've already confronted the monster though. With the world so big it would be easy to lose track of where they went if you didn't have a trail to follow.

The Great Jagras quest is definitely easy; that dude's just like a freakin' punch bag. I do wonder if the demo's difficulty is dialled down a bit because of the sheer number of newcomers who will be trying it out. Doesn't make sense to alienate everyone from the off — especially when they're targeting a larger audience for this one.

They have dialed back difficulty of the demos in the past, so it wouldn't be unprecedented.

Played a few quests did not really enjoy the combat but sure a lot of people like this series.

Yeah, as a complete noob on this series, the beta is plenty hard for me. I handled the Jagras fine, but the intermediate beast knocked me out. Of course I stupidly tried a new weapon I had no clue how to use and keep getting hammered by the monster while trying to figure out how to reload. The whole beta is actually very overwhelming to me. So many things to try to keep track of. It’s pretty confusing. I’m sure it just takes time.

I would recommend a melee weapon if you're new to the series. The ranged weapons are a little more advanced and require a lot more micromanagement from the ammunition side and applying coatings and all kinds of stuff that you just don't have to deal with when you have a melee weapon.

And as far as melee weapons go, I think it's best to start out with a faster weapon. The Insect Glaive, Charge Blade and Switch Axe can be quite complex though despite being faster weapons, and both the Lance and Gunlance require a very particular play style with slow movement and constant defense.

Imo, the Longsword, Dual Blades and Sword and Shield are the best starter weapons. Hammer, despite being a slower weapon, would also make for a good choice because it's not quite as slow as the Hunting Horn or the Great Sword.

I will say though, nobody really plays Sword and Shield because it's a "jack of all trades master of none" weapon. They may have revamped it for this game, but I can't speak to that. The Dual Blades are fantastic, but the catch is you're doing so many hits per second that it dulls your blades way faster than any other weapon, so you'll be sharpening your weapon a lot more often. Also, the demon dance mode drains your stamina so a lot of the more advanced players will bring mega dash juice drinks that grant unlimited stamina (something you won't have access to right away at the beginning of the game). Longsword is pretty straight forward- a very solid choice. Hammer is also a very easy to learn weapon.

Mind you, all of the weapons have considerable depth and complexity that you will want to master. Your weapon is everything in this game. You want to eventually learn it like the back of your hand. There are a number of tutorials and videos online that teach you the intricacies of each weapon (GaijinHunter has the best videos), but of course you won't want to worry about all of that right away. Just know that regardless of which weapon you choose, there are advanced movesets and complex combo loops and special features that you will want to master... the sooner the better imo.

I have mastered at least 5 or 6 different weapons in my 1500 hours with the series. There's another 6 weapons that I'm proficient with but have not yet mastered. And 2 of them that I'm just not very good with at all. This should give you an idea of how complex these weapons are. You may learn the movesets right away, but to master the nuance of the weapon it takes nothing less than experience. Focus on finding a weapon that feels good and a little easier to learn, and master it. Once you feel you have that weapon down to a science, start learning another weapon. It's good to know at least 2 or 3 weapons proficiently. For my first MH game, I learned LongSword, Dual Blades and Hunting Horn. Of course, Hunting Horn is an interesting weapon inasmuch that you are dealing damage while simultaneously providing support via strategically comboing different notes (each attack is a different note) as you attack to play a special song that provides a buff to the entire team. So if you want to master that weapon, just know that it is expected of you to provide support.

@JaxonH Very useful instruction, thank you! I tried the default Steel Axe for the first hunt and then it was some kind of a gun blade (I forget the name) for the second one. Each weapon having 2 different forms was just crazy hard for me, and I kept frantically trying to hit a slash move and accidentally would shealth my weapon. 🤣 It was pretty comical actually, how bad I was. The items and the upgrade system and the equipment, and all the secondary animals, .... so much to try to absorb in a short play time.

Just got done playing some 4 person hunts with TeeJay, Sinalefa and Logantx...

NOW I'm really feeling it!

I figured out there is a way to zoom the camera out a little bit. There's actually a second page to the camera controls and the very last option lets you zoom it out to "far". It's not much but it's just enough to make the difference. It's perfect now. That was my one serious complaint and it's now been eliminated.

I also hunted a Rathalos, Diablos, and that Plesioth looking monster from the trailers. These monsters offered much more challenge then the stock quests. Those were some absolutely amazing hunts and I can't wait for the game to come out now. I'm starting to get the hang of using the slinger and the mantle and the quick menu and... basically everything else in the game that was new to me.

Even the scout flies don't seem as bad to me now. They were actually quite helpful when I was lost in these huge areas looking for monsters, although I wish there was a way to change the target monster that your scout flies are chasing. It seems that regardless of which monster you have locked onto, the scout flies will only follow the quest monster.

All in all though... fantastic hunts. Incredible game.

@Th3solution
I remember my first hunt in MH3U. It is a lot to take in, although, this is the best game in the series for newcomers so it's not nearly as bad as it was for me when I started lol. Once you find an easy weapon and go to the training area to learn the combos (learning combos is important so that you can maximize your damage per second and get in that rhythm of combat without pausing every two attacks), and once you mess round with how to use items, and how to run and crouch and dodge roll and safety dive (safety dives are crucial for when you don't have time to dodge with weapon sheathed) and use the slinger and all the other basic mechanics of the game... you'll start getting in the swing of things. Keep at it though. You'll learn something new every time you play, and before you know it you'll realize you're getting the hang of it.

I really do recommend turning off the "auto sheath" function. It's absolutely horrid and sheathes your weapon automatically whether you wanted to or not. I find it best to be in full control of what you want to do. If you want to sheath your weapon then you press Y to sheath your weapon (sorry, Square to sheath your weapon).

The game is awesome. I considered myself a noob as well but me and my friends managed to complete all three quest last night before I went to bed. I didn't even use the training mode so I spent most the time during each quest trying figure out the controls for the different weapons I was using which was funny.XD

Being a complete newcomer to the series myself I admit I definitely did not find it easy and I only tried the first hunt.There seems to be a lot to take in and I don't know if it's just me but I found the text a bit too small to read which didant help.
Still,I DID enjoy it and may have another go at the other quests later.I'll probably test out the weapons in the training ground this time though.

The game is definitely complex with a lot to take in. But once you reach a certain threshold it becomes much more manageable.

Learning a couple basic combos with your weapon of choice is definitely crucial to the experience.

It's everything I wanted it to be and more.

Ya it's great. They've been needing to progress the series for a while now. The games have always been incredible, but it's nice having the seamless world and some of the quality of life additions that eliminate tedium, such as gathering more quickly and auto crafting.

The best thing about this game though, is it really sets the bar in terms of quality of life improvements and scope. It's great knowing all future games will now at least follow this template. Even handheld entries will now have to step it up... and honestly that's what the series needed to keep it from getting stale. I love the games but even I will admit by the time I got done playing MHXX, I was ready for a shake up. There were just so many entries I played back to back to back, year after year that really didn't do much different. The only reason I still had interest in MHXX was because it was on Switch and thus had HD graphics and proper controls... which at this point I kind of feel was a necessity. As much as I enjoyed the 3DS, it's time has finally passed. Going forward, they should keep making console entries for PS4/X1/PC and make separate handheld entries on Switch, where we can get a proper portable experience that's far closer to this than the 3DS entries of 3rd and 4th gen. I think that would be the best solution for the fans, which have been dispersed among so many platforms over the years.

Anyone manage to defeat Rathalos or Diablos?

Total Monster Hunter newbie here. I've had a cracking time with the beta.

The first thing I did was hit up the training area and try out a bunch of the weapons. I settled on one or two that I enjoyed using, and tackled the Great Jagras or whatever he's called (the beginner level guy). He was super easy!

The other two I struggled with for a while. I went online with a friend and after a few attempts we conquered the Barroth (intermediate guy), and it was a really great feeling. I think the problems I was having were mainly down to getting used to the way the game handles. I think I was expecting it to be a much faster game than it actually is, and was getting frustrated by the long-winded animations and stuff like that. But once I got to grips with everything, like making sure I'm well in the clear before I drink a potion or use a whetstone, it all started to click, and I've been having a lot of fun with it.

I played it a fair amount last night and defeated the Anjanath or whatever (advanced dino guy) several times over within a group of four, and it's clear that this is the way to play it. Really good fun. Far more interested now

I've seen videos of people taking out the Rathalos and Diablos, but I haven't been able to (haven't tried more than once or twice though).

Took out the Plesioth looking monster and Barroth in the same hunt, but Diablos is tough. I'm used to fighting him with high grade earplugs for all his roaring. Took his tail off, but that's about it.

Rathalos is just too hard to find in the time allotted. He flies off too. If these were 50 minute quests it would be alot easier.

New monsters will be added for via free updates.

http://www.siliconera.com/2017/12/11/monster-hunter-world-wil...