Monster Hunter World Beta: First Thoughts

So, as this week is heading towards a close, we get closer and closer to the time when the world is going to go crazy for hunting monsters! That’s right, I was caught up in the craze going on for the release of Monster Hunter World and had to check out what all the buzz was about. So, I am looking forward to diving into the full game on friday and once I do that you’ll get a full review. However since finding out about the game and getting the PS4 we have had some free betas come out for it, three of them to be exact and I played in all three. So let’s just jump right in an get into this game.

With it being a beta, only some things were available for us to try out. Basically, we got hit with 3 hunts that got more difficult as they went on and they each had a 20 minute time limit and you were able to faint I think it was 9 times (though it may have been 5 and I’m just insane). There was also a training area that let you play with all the weaponry. And we can’t forget about your furry little companion the Palico!

Weapons are fun! From small little fast moving daggers to huge assed slow moving hammers that knock the hell out of a monster to long range gun bow things the weaponry covers all your options. Some of my favorites so far have been the Heavy Bow so I don’t have to get close to the monster and the dual demon daggers which hit fast and sure. However, I have had a lot of fun with the bone hammer as well with the wild swings that can knock a giant monster out. The only weapon I haven’t been thrilled with was a lance so far because I think it was too slow but even that had some interesting explosions and such with it. Now an interesting thing is when we get into the main game, I don’t know how much of this stuff we are going to have to craft on our own or what pre-made weapons we will have access to initially.

In the beta, the first and easiest monster to fight was the Great Jagras which is also known as the Great Devourer. This is an iguana looking type of monster that swallows its prey whole. This monster was easy to kill with every type of weapon I tried with it and was good practice to see how the world interacts with you and itself. In the beginning of the world, you see some typical small monsters that you can kill for raw meat (which you can then cook up to give yourself either life or vigor later, on I forget which). When I first found the Great Jagras it was living up to its name out by the ocean by devouring some of these smaller monsters whole. Just pouncing them and scooping them up sending the others running. During this first encounter, my little catlike friend befriended and started to ride on one of these which I think was called an Aptonoth. With my Palico on it the Aptonoth helped me attack the Great Jagras and we took it out. I tried this fight many times with the quick blades, with huge hammers and with the bowguns I think the only thing I didn’t use were the change axe swords because I can’t quite get down the workings of something that changes from axe to sword.

The second beast to go against was a huge monster known as a Barroth. It took me several times to finish off this beastie as I tried various weapons against it. I found out certain weapons work better than others and have higher damage potential. This of course makes sense just like the whole thing with the swords getting dull and needing to be sharpened. So in this battle, I started with the dual swords and had no luck so I switched out to some long range weaponry. I had better luck with this and even got a kill without getting a kill. Yeah funny story there. If you have two HUGE monsters start fighting just sit back and let them go at it. I was stupid and tried to get in the middle of two monsters fighting and of course I was all beat to hell until I fainted. I then set out to find the monster and finish him off only to have my scout flies take me to the wrong monster as they started tracking the one who had been battling the Barroth. It turns out the giant aquatic beastie had killed my hunt and so the scout flies decided to hunt it instead. I brought up the map and found my original hunt and it said dead but I wasn’t able to get back to it and make it official before time ran out. I finally found my weapon of choice with this monster to be the Bone Hammer. It hits hard and has a chance to paralyze your monster victim. I found that the huge swing can finish off the beast quickly and not let it run off as far as it did when I was using other weapons. The hammer was the only way I finished it off in the amount of time given.

Third and last monster we went against during the initial 2 Beta’s was the Anjanath. This monster was hard as can be and I wasn’t able to take it out on my own. I wasn’t sure what I would think of doing a multiplayer as there are many multiplayer games I just don’t like with too many toxic players. During this time though I also wondered what others would think of me as I had no microphone having lost mine. So it took two tries the first try we had two out of three members just disappear a few minutes into the battle but the second time we had a full complement of hunters. We had two guns one was a lighter gun and mine was a large one then we had a dual sword fighter and a staff fighter. Between the 4 of us we were able to bring the Anjanath down but there was almost a loss of time as by the end we had only 5 minutes left.

During this last Beta, I was only able to play for a few minutes but they had added a new monster known as the Nergigante. This beast took me out in two seconds flat when I tried to go after it. One hit took away at least 80% of my health and a second hit flattened me. I tried 3 times and all three times it did this. This guy is definitely one you have to go after in a pack.

All in all, I can’t wait to go out tomorrow and get the game and start playing for real! I will be playing it on the PS4 and have a gamertag of XyanyaVieme if anyone wants to send me a friend request and go out hunting with me. Feel free to hit me up for a good hunt but beware I might be streaming it on twitch!