My first attempt to take down the mighty Anjanath did not end in success. After managing to stay on my feet for a few solid minutes—thanks to some nimble rolls and dodges, punctuated by a handful of rapid-fire volleys from my bow and arrow—it took little more than a few untimely movements to mess it all up. Having placed myself in front of the giant beast with little stamina left to evade its next attack, the creature lunged forward with its massive hindquarters (crossing a considerable horizontal distance in the process) and crushed me. It only went downhill from there.
For the uninitiated, Anjanath is but one in a long succession of increasingly fearsome wyvern creatures Monster Hunter World places along your journey towards the end credits scene and beyond. The goal, as always, is to track down each monster and subdue it—either by slaughter or capture. This particular creature, made to resemble a fire-breathing Tyrannosaurus Rex with splotches of pinkish fur and a pair of stunted wings that unfurl when enraged, serves as an early challenge spike and a gateway to the game's next environment. It's a test of mettle and readiness. Whereas players might have skated by against previous monsters, the Anjanath is less forgiving of your bad habits and sloppy mistakes.
The next day, after consulting with a coworker who was a Monster Hunter veteran, I returned to the mission with a plan of attack. First, I saw to upgrading my gear, starting with a full set of furry, luminous armor courtesy of a few slayed Tobi-Kadachi (a silvery lightning-charged beast that glides through the environment like a gigantic flying squirrel) that I quickly dispatched with the help of some fellow online hunters. Satisfied with my new duds, I packed my inventory with a checklist of special crafted items and set off.
The strategy paid off. After inducing the beast into a drowsy slumber with some fully-charged shots of my sleep-coated arrows, I set up two gunpowder-filled barrels on either side of Anjanath's enormous jaws. I stepped back, charged up my powerful "Dragon Piercer" special attack, and woke the bastard up in the most violent way possible. It worked so well the first time I tried it again. Through caution and focus, I defeated the monster without a single feint (Monster Hunter fights are typically a three-strikes-and-you're-out affair). While the entire hunt lasted over 40 minutes, hardly an impressive accomplishment, for me it was a validation that my skills were improving.
It was this and hundreds of victories to follow that made me fall in love with Monster Hunter World, a game that never fails to entice me with some new goal or challenge—a new armor set to craft, a new weapon type to master, a new monster to topple just to prove to myself, once again, I've got what it takes.
While the core loop remains the same—fight tougher monsters, use their remains to craft better gear, repeat—it's hard to overstate the endless variety of nuanced expression the game affords. Playing solo is like a throwback to action games of yore, an endless string of boss fights in which each encounter becomes a thrilling display of mano a mano combat. Playing with others, in teams of two to four, is something different but equally rewarding. At worst, it's a clash of uncoordinated attacks and untrained players causing unintentional grief. At best, it's a magical synergy resulting from asymmetrical play styles and strategies coming together in spectacular harmony and efficiency. The hammer wielder stuns the monster with a well-timed blow to the side of the head, the long swordsman severs the downed monster's tail with a vaulting vertical slash, and the gunlance hunter steps up to deliver a killing blast of energy to the face.
None of this even gets to the matter of singing the praises of what makes Monster Hunter World in particular such a modern masterpiece. We're talking major quality-of-life improvements for the long-running series that now lets you access your inventory in the field, gather plants and mushrooms on the fly, and track your targets without hassle. And the visuals—my God! You've never traversed such gorgeous fantasy environments—forests filled to the brim with lush flora and scampering fauna, festering natural graveyards, and so much more. This is brilliant design from every angle.
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"On the List" is a series where I talk about games that could conceivably appear on a best-games-of-all-time list.
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