I spent a good chunk of my weekend roaming around aimlessly in Monster Hunter World. I was not terribly certain about this game… until I unlocked expeditions. I’ve talked a little bit about my aversion to timed content, and I was deeply concerned that everything I had been picking up from the quest board involved some sort of a timer. While I had managed to complete most of them well within the time limit… my initial Great Jagras hunt was roughly 27 minutes out of the 50 minute limit. The problem is knowing there is a timer hanging over my head keeps me from doing the things I want to be doing… which is largely exploring and learning the map. Once I realized there was a mode of gameplay that worked much like patrols in Destiny 2… I was all on board with this concept especially since it meant that I could still hunt the big monsters freely on my own time table there. I’ve been spending most of my effort trying to learn the longsword and at this point I have upgraded to the Bone Shotel II… and need a M class monster bone to upgrade to the third step.
My biggest challenge however is now that I have found expeditions… my desire to do any other than bounties has pretty much dropped off the face of the planet. I know I should be progressing the main story through the quests, because I realize I am on somewhat of a timer to complete the Horizon Zero Dawn quest before it disappears. I’ve heard you can join missions from folks already doing that quest and just get your six parts that way, but I would actually like to reach the level required to properly do it. As of last night I got a full set of Bone Armor equipped on both me and my palico and have upgraded all of my pieces to rank 2. I did what so many others seem to have also done… and named my Palico after my real life middle cat Kenzie. It’s fitting because if I was going to go out adventuring with one of my animals… it would absolutely be her. She is my shadow most of the time and can deliver quite a wallop with her paw if she needs to.
If you look at my card it looks like I have made ZERO progress in the game, but I am just sorta doing it in my own style. At this point I have fought Great Jagras and Kulu-Ya-Ku and have been training up tracking on Pukei Pukei and Anjanath which I will tackle before too much longer. My biggest problem right now is the fact that I know going into a big monster fight is a serious time commitment, and as a result I am reluctant to start one because I am not entirely certain when I will get pulled away from my screen. My wife needed my help with something in the middle of the Kulu-Ya-Ku fight yesterday and I was trying desperately to finish it off quickly. Side note… until last night I had no clue I needed to be sharpening my weapon in the middle of these fights so in theory things might go a little smoother next go round. There are so many of those little things that I am starting to pick up this time… that I absolutely did not in Generations. It almost makes me want to go back and give Generations another go… but I realize a big part of why I am starting to grok this game is the fact that it isn’t on a tiny handheld screen. I am definitely not bouncing the way I have in the past and I want to spend more time getting into this title… but also I still have the desire to play other things as well so it is a bit of a juggling act right now. At some point soon I hope to meet up with Stormrazer in game and join his Squad. The whole grouping thing feels like it could have been a lot more transparent and still feels like it was designed for handheld interactions where you are sitting across the room from the people you are playing with. Hopefully they will tweak it over time and make it less obtuse. All in all though I am enjoying myself quite a bit, and I am happy to finally grasp at least the basic concepts of the game that allow me to hunt things without fainting all of the time.
The 50 minute timer is barely worth noting. The investigations you get that give you a 30 minute timer, though…. hoo boy. I took a 30 minute Pukei Pukei investigation at one point and ended up finishing it with sub-5 minutes to go because at one point it managed to fly up to a level of the Ancient Forest that I didn’t even know existed, and then back down again – and I had to find my route back down! The rewards for the 30-minute investigations are marginally better than the 50, but you have to be damned sure how to track and kill what you’re hunting.
I wouldn’t get too hung up on learning to track or fight Anjanath. You’re going to open another area via the story missions first and do a couple hunts there before you double back to “officially” hunt Anjanath. As an aside – it’s easier to find Monster Bone M in the second area, so that may help if you want to keep upgrading in that line.
The only thing I haven’t particularly enjoyed with the online play is that doing the same story mission at the same time is extremely janky if it starts with a cutscene – everyone has to go into their own instance, watch the cutscene, return to town, and then leave together. It feels like they’re probably meant to be soloed, unlike investigations, and that you’re “meant” to only join people on story missions you’ve already cleared – because this doesn’t happen if you’ve already seen the cutscene (though I think you may have to wait on the other person to watch it before you join them).
“My biggest problem right now is the fact that I know going into a big monster fight is a serious time commitment, and as a result I am reluctant to start one because I am not entirely certain when I will get pulled away from my screen. My wife needed my help with something in the middle of the Kulu-Ya-Ku fight yesterday and I was trying desperately to finish it off quickly. ”
This is my biggest concern too. I almost ran out of time on one quest when a 2nd monster engaged me while I was tracking the first. I couldn’t seem to lose it, so I opted to fight it and by the time I had killed it, the timer was counting down. I finished the quest, but it was a very near thing. Had I been pulled away I would’ve been pretty frustrated.
Problem is, at some point you have to push through the main quests to unlock new areas/monsters. I kind of HATE that Horizon Zero Dawn limited time thing because that’s another level of time pressure.
I’ve been answering SOS calls, generally picking player with katakana names so I know I won’t be expected to chat. It feels good helping out a stranger like that and usually those don’t take very long.
The 50 minute timer, by comparison, is a gift versus the beta test timers, but I can understand the stress of having a clock overhead. It’s why I barely see the inside of Nightfalls in Destiny 2.
As for the way you play; you’re doing it right in that you’ve found a way to enjoy, are learning your chosen weapon at your pace and are only moving to the next challenge when you feel ready. All are wonderfully sound strategies.
For what it’s worth, I am willing to join you for stuff at the firing of a flare or invite to your session. <3