I’m Sticking With One Weapon Only In Monster Hunter Wilds

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In Monster Hunter Wilds, I was blown away by the sheer variety of weapons they’ve got on offer – an impressive 14 types! From the moment I stepped into the hunt, I found myself spoilt for choice with options like the Great Sword, Long Sword, Sword & Shield, Dual Blades, Hammer, Hunting Horn, Lance, Gunlance, Switch Axe, Charge Blade, Insect Glaive, Light Bowgun, Heavy Bowgun, and Bow at my disposal. As a newcomer to the series, I must admit it took me a while to wrap my head around all these choices before I could even start hunting. It’s one of many early game decisions that can catch you off guard, but part of the fun lies in finding what suits your playstyle best!

To prevent feeling overpowered in the character creator, I designed my Hunter to resemble Kaladin from Stormlight Archive, and my Palico to mimic Liv the Dog, my real-life greyhound.

Meeting Monster Hunter Halfway

This game series has left me stumped in the past. I’ve invested around 24 hours each into Monster Hunter World and Rise, but I failed to progress beyond what seems like the early stages in both games. It wasn’t the challenge that I found off-putting, rather it was the sense that the core gameplay loop was the only thing driving me forward, and I never reached a point where I felt in harmony with its rhythm, as many ardent Monster Hunter fans seem to.

In the latest version, Capcom is making significant efforts to engage players such as myself by placing more focus on the game’s narrative. The storyline includes quest lines and characters that serve as incentives for venturing out to hunt. Instead of confined maps, there’s now a larger, open world to explore. The game also introduces its mechanics gradually, allowing new characters with distinct roles to join your base camp over time, so you don’t have to learn everything at once. All these changes seem tailored to draw in players like me – those who either stopped playing before the end credits or never picked up these games at all – and encourage us to give it a shot.

In light of Capcom adding numerous connections to the well-known Monster Hunter World, I find myself needing to meet this game halfway. To do so, I am choosing to avoid unnecessary stress by selecting a single weapon from the diverse arsenal and focusing on mastering that one instead of becoming overwhelmed with options.

One Weapon Is Enough

As a devotee of Monster Hunter, I’ve dabbled in its intricacies and followed countless online debates about the series. The Hunting Horn and Insect Glaive certainly catch my eye, with the Insect Glaive being my initial choice in World, but truth be told, for a newcomer like myself, the Long Sword appears to be the most approachable weapon. It offers a decent range, speed, and is not far removed from the familiarity of a standard sword. Reminds me of the trusty blade I wielded in Ocarina of Time back in my childhood days. I’ve grasped its fundamentals and feel more comfortable with it in the heat of battle.

Although the Long Sword appears user-friendly and less intimidating among the game’s arsenal, it doesn’t equate to being simple to master. There are numerous moves you can pull off with it, but remembering them all while under pressure, such as when your character is about to be engulfed in flames, isn’t always instinctive. Truthfully, I find it more challenging to become proficient with multiple weapons than with just one. Consequently, my strategy for excelling at the game is to focus on mastering the Long Sword rather than constantly switching weapons.

In my persistent play of this game, I’m discovering just how one-of-a-kind Monster Hunter truly is. Unlike other fighting games that offer multiple characters for players to engage with, those characters are primarily designed to clash against each other, showcasing distinct abilities that can be mastered to expose their foes’ vulnerabilities. It’s uncommon for a game to provide such a wide array of tools to capitalize on its flaws. Rather than the usual rock-paper-scissors dynamic found in many fighting games, where you must strategize to outwit opponents, Monster Hunter challenges you to bring appropriate resources to the battlefield and adapt them according to the situation at hand.

Let me elaborate on this further using an analogy: Just like some people consistently choose one move in rock-paper-scissors throughout the game, that’s what I plan to do from now on. Brace yourself, White Wraith, because I’m coming at you with a firm resolution, symbolized by the scissors.

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2025-03-11 21:04