Monster Hunter: World Review

The breakthrough is that the maps became places. Ancient Forest is one continuous ecosystem with a canopy, a river, a nest and a food chain, and a hunt that starts as tracking footprints can end with your quarry dragged into another monster's territory and losing a fight it did not choose. Removing loading zones sounds like housekeeping and instead changes what a hunt is. The weapons remain the deepest melee toolkit in the medium, fourteen genuinely distinct disciplines rather than fourteen damage numbers, and the insect glaive and the charge blade are still small games hidden inside a large one.

The narrative is set dressing at best, delivered by a research team who explain what you just watched, and the Handler is the most complained about character of her generation for reasons that are difficult to argue with. The launch PC port arrived months late and ran poorly, and the endgame before Iceborne thinned out quickly. The hunt itself is close to flawless.