MonHun

[VoiceOfReasonPast]

I dunno Rise still had some silliness in it. You're base of operation is a Naruto ninja village, you ride on a fucking dog, and you send your minions to expeditions via ninja kites.
Plus ordering some meal causes this to happen:


If I wanted post-apocalyptic MonHun I could just play God Eater. Even comes with the proper angsty battle music:

[Kugelfisch]

Rise was still made by the handheld division. Don't expect that to last. Rise is the last remnants of proper MonHun.
Take a gander at Wilds. Feels like you're on heavy anti-psychotics.

[rabidtictac]

Thinking about it more, and trying to identify what it is about old gen monster hunter... I think it's because these games, all the way up through Gen U, were a relic of older console design sensibilities. Monster Hunter started on ps2, then moved to handhelds. Its design was left firmly in pre-HD philosophy. The handhelds it was popular on were all pre-HD. It had its most popularity with Freedom Unite on PSP and 3U/4U on 3DS. Both of those systems are pre-HD displays.

You wouldn't think the visual output would affect design, but it seems to me that the design team for those games fundamentally retained the same philosophy as you encounter when you play other pre-HD games. One could describe the philosophy as "pure fun." Whatever is fun, whatever is funny. The game is hard, but it's lighthearted despite that. It's the kind of game where you as a player have to learn what the developers want you to know, or else the game has no problem slamming down a brick wall to progression. It's a grindy game yes, but there are also elements of the gameplay that have nothing to do with grind, like learning when it's safe to attack a Tigrex vs when you're about to get charge combo'd into oblivion.

When I look at World, I see a lot of the ps3-4 era design creeping in. Anything that was "cumbersome" or "repetitive" was taken out. You can heal while moving. There are free context-sensitive trap items everywhere to use against monsters. Item management and prep is less a part of the experience. The visuals definitely have that hd-era glop over them, where everything looks dim and washed out because IT'S HIGH DEFINITION GAMING, MOTHERFUCKER.

World has more emphasis on shitty scripted story battles too. Remember those? The uncontested worst parts of the game?

Gen U feels like what it is-a celebration of pre-HD gaming. Back in the era when "sequel" meant "everything the previous games were, but MORE STUFF." More styles. More cats. More monsters. More missions. Stuff the game chock-full of absolutely everything until there's no more room!

Modern sequels try too hard to be shitty movies and (((reboot))) or (((reimagine))) old games. When Gen U sends you to Pokke, it's the same place. Looks the same as it ever did. They're not reimagining anything, you're just visiting a cool place that psp players sunk hundreds of hours into. It's just nice.

[VoiceOfReasonPast]

Also don't forget that the HD entries wasted time and resources on real voice acting. Thankfully they still have the gibberish option, as the games were meant to be enjoyed.

When Gen U sends you to Pokke, it's the same place. Looks the same as it ever did. They're not reimagining anything, you're just visiting a cool place that psp players sunk hundreds of hours into. It's just nice.

A cool place with not nearly enough black representation for Current Year.

[Kugelfisch]

My problem with the supposed streamlining is that it's just window dressing.
You can heal while moving but monsters move faster with less tells.
World Rajang has two very different attacks with the exact same windup for example.

Armor skills are easier to activate but they often make much less of a difference.
You don't need cool or hot drinks anymore...in a game where there's several camps you can instantly come back to without either having to deal with it or quitting out of the quest.

Less material is required to make equipment, which just cuts out a few hunts, the whole point of the game. Meanwhile, decorations and amulets are an even more tedious endgame grind due to insane RNG.

Preparation, crafting, gathering and setting your own goals all were greatly diminished. All in a game with a much smaller roster of monsters with less variety among them.

I quit World mid-hunt on Deviljho. Dude got angry and did some utter bullshit AOE explosion attack that insta-carted me. A huge explosion all around it, twice of what a Teostra would do in the older games, only that it did dragon elemental.


Sure, G-Rank monsters are faster, have some powered up attacks and can totally combo you sometimes. Just the other day I got triple Plesioth hip checked into a wall and carted.
But I wasn't mad. It didn't feel as bullshit as you'd think. Bad positioning and not enough patience on my part did me in.

Dork Souls and Daemon Tools ripped off MonHun combat wholesale. You realise that it's tough fights but on an even playing field. The monster has to commit to attack animations just like you.
Gen 5 makes the same mistake Ebin Ring does. Flashy combat that looks a bit more fluent but really is every bit as rigid with now utterly stupid boss attacks that don't just look like bullshit the first time around, they actually are plain bullshit.

It's a game that doesn't want you to be able to become too good. Remember, unfair but random game design appeals to less skilled players.