About 10 hours into Monster Hunter: WORLD so far and it's been a really fun experience.
Definitely interested in looking at future titles, maybe Rise if I decide to ever actually use my switch.
As someone who quite enjoyed the experience of World (on PS4), for its "living breathing world" feeling of atmosphere.
I will say that Rise feels incredibly shallow and "video-gamey" by comparison. (In that the level design and monster AI are quite shit, to be frank.) But if you do happen to play and like Rise, for its endless content of combat without context. (Then you may very well like the rest of the series too. Since the game reminded me of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate on the DS.)
Though I guess the expanded character customization is nice.Plus something that I can't comment on. (Since I didn't play long enough to find out.) Most seem to claim that the single player campaign is quite short, and that the endgame content is lacking. If that's something you care about, at all.
So have you ever just stopped playing a game at the final boss? Because instead of a challenge, it feels more like a miserable waste of your time? (No, just me?)
Well my last one before yesterday was "Jotun", where the final boss just runs around the arena and RNG summons all the other bosses you already fought at the same time. And patience for trial and error gameplay, was not a skill I had that day...
I got the Switch port of "Baulders Gate: Dark Alliance" on sale. (Because I know that'll be fun to play again.)
Yeah...
Well I remember beating the game so long ago with the dwarf warrior. (One of three classes. And frankly the least well-rounded of the bunch.) But I decided to play the mage this time, and forgot that the last boss is straight up immune to magic. And unlike the prior magic-resistant bosses, she can insta-kill me in one hit, seconds after the battle starts.
So my encounters go something like this; I load up from the nearest save point and go upstairs where the boss is. Then I watch a slow unskippable animation of evil sword lady putting down her arms and helmet. Then I waste even more time with either 5 or 30 dialogue bubbles, depending on if I tell the boss to shut the fuck up or not. Then I watch another slow unskippable animation of evil sword lady putting it back on. Then the fight happens, where she throws an undodgeable heat-seeking sword at me and I die.
I can use the barely-functioning block button, to cut that down the damage to around half health instead. But she never *stops* throwing the weapon. So endless potions and blocks only get you so far. Rinse, and repeat.
So, to add on to my frustration, let me explain just how screwed I am. You see, there is no shopkeeper at the end game. And there is no way to go back to the previous levels. The mage's "carry weight" means you basically cannot wear good armor. Or use the best/two-handed weapons either. (Platemail, the best generic armor, is almost 1/2 of the mage's carry weight.) You cannot respec skill points. The actual "challenge" of the boss is suppose to be how you shouldn't stay near her too long, because she's "A mastah at cLoSe cOmBat". Meaning, the ranger class/bow weapon is the intended only viable option. (I have no bow. I have no carry weight to use that bow. And arrows weigh a lot more than they have any right to.) And the cherry on top, is that a Switch version glitch, turns your dropped loot invisible every time you load up. So, I can't reasonably *
find* whatever shit bow might've been dropped by monsters at the end dungeon.
So uh...yep. Those were hours well spent. Moving on to the next game!