Has Monster Hunter lost its edge? (Analysis)
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- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
- lmao my mind keeps creating these bizarre trails of thought
#MonsterHunterRise #MonsterHunterWorld
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I LOVE MONSTER HUNTER
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I actually love cutesy Monster Hunter. I love the Felyne village games and Tsukino is one of my favorite Monster Hunter characters.
We get it Jake you are a furry.
Ahem, FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYYY
@@ceoofcorn411 NOOOOOOOOO
@@jakobmonsterhunter you have been baned from the Mickey mouse club >:(
Monster hunter is basically onimusha
To me it always seemed like Monster Hunter was always goofy, cutesy, and flashy, it just didn't translate well in the past games due to technical and graphical limitations and various choices made. When it comes to monsters it's always been a mix bag of making them either terrifying or ridiculous, and everything in between, as each has its own personality and mannerisms compared to one another, adding to their individuality. Tone has shifted in some ways but I feel it's a more natural progression of the series. Honestly it might just be me but I prefer the new direction they went simply down to how I can't help to think how goofy the older games looked even though they were trying to be more gritty. They're just embracing one aspect of the design that's always been there and running with it
What do you think about world's aesthetic? To me at least, it feels less cutesy and playful with a bigger emphasis on realism, which turned off a lot of fans that started with, say, gu, complaining that its palette is too bland. I always dismissed this as world taking on the grittier aesthetic of gen 1 and 2, but with a tiny bit more color and charm (there are certainly cute interactions).
I kind of see a pattern with ichinose's games versus the main series games. The main series games tend to have a more grounded and cinematic experience (mh1, 2, 3, 4 and world) while ichinose (p3rd, generations, gu, rise) turns up the goofs by a lot and also has stylish action hunting
@@WisdomAkpan211 World to me hit the best balance of not being too soft or too hard in aesthetics. It's a great blend of both styles without relying heavily on either. There's elements that are definitely there to be cute and silly but others that go for a more gritty and realistic feel, while not overwhelming eachother or conflicting. The pallette is definitely vibrant and colorful, I don't know why people would think otherwise. It's more muted, yes, but I wouldn't go as far to say it's overtly dull. I'd use the word rich to describe the shades and tones used for colors in World. Games like GU are eye candy with colors that vibrant wouldn't even begin to describe, they're just overwhelming at points and feel disgustingly sweet, which can be someone's preferred tastes.
No? It's certainly not a "technical limitations" wacky games exist back then and they can make the games more cartoony if they want . It's just what early monster hunter art direction was, serious often intimidating with funny moments.
Meanwhile now, I wouldn't say funny with serious moments, but it's way less serious and more inviting.
@@m_riidi all very good points, but that's not entirely what I was referring to. While textures and art direction are definitely one thing, the pure mechanical basis for older monster hunters were far more ridged and stilted than they are now, which limited the range of movements the monsters and players had. So while I think in some sense they could be terrifying from my persepctive it kinda looks like you're fighting a ride animatronic with how robotic a lot of the monsters move. It's where the silliness creeps in accidentally and that's the technical limitations I was referring to.
@@WisdomAkpan211 this reminds me while i was hunting a Rathian, she snipped my palico and it flew away in an arc.
I really miss the art style of Medievalesque plate armor bolstered by animal hides and scales, like a caveman.
It perfectly sums up the worldbuilding, the technologically advanced , almost industrial society that still relies heavily on hunting & gathering .
I really do miss the feeling of "I'm fighting a dangerous creature in a environment where i don't belong" I do love the fun goofy nature 3rd Gen expanded upon but i think it's gone to the point of feeling too relaxed. I don't really feel intimidated by the monsters which just make them feel more like a video game enemy and less like a creature ready to kill me. I hope Monster Hunter 6 can strike that balance.
Edit: Also I LOVE the wirebugs for combat but i think they take away the feeling of "i don't belong in this environment" because it's hard to not feel at home when you can just climb and fly anywhere you want. It makes the maps feel more like a sandbox and less like a dangerous environment. I guess i miss feeling of being at the mercy of nature and still somehow overcoming it.
The 6th mh game will definitely have more edge than rise because it is made by the main theme.
@@marcusgo6784 my ideal monster hunter is basically the monster hunter world prototype. They got EVERYTHING right in it.
Not sure anyone know but mh monsters are also changed, from them being a world overrun by monsters with animal traits to animals with monstrous power in a fantastical ecosystem.
@@10kwithzerobitches20 I think mh’s tone change from 1950 dinosaur interpretations to 2010 interpretations of dinosaurs.
I think the Wirebugs break the game and make you feel way too superhuman
I adore World's aesthetic and environments. They feel alive, like you're in actual forest hunting a beast
As someone who started with Worldborne, your videos peaked my interest in the older games in the series and the features lost as the series evolved to be more mainstream. I will never stop loving Worldborne as that was my first experience, but as I played GU and got used to the combat I felt that the game was more methodical, and the many maps from older games had a feeling of history that World lacked because there weren't ruins due to world being uncharted territory. I played and completed FU low rank and was always satisfied when I beat a monster because of the prep, and because the stakes were high for each hunt. I agree with the sentiment that Rise took the streamlining too far. Since it was no longer a case of memorizing where the monster would be or go at the start of the hunt, or having tracked the monster enough for the scoutflies to know where it would be, it was just go as fast as possible to where the monster is on the map. And the removal of hot and cold drinks got rid of the stakes of hunting in hot or cold environments, the volcano and ice area may as well have been a forest. Also Kamura isn't nearly as deep as even the World village characters.
I do disagree with the sentiment that World was intentionally making light of colonization, and I think that "The New World" motif was more meaning to represent how MH is now a mainstream franchise that has players all around the world, especially now in America. Looking back you can see that over the course of the games the Guild goes from a single village to being a worldwide organization, and they're actively pursuing elder dragons because their migrations cause mass destruction, so it would be wise to find the cause and try to stop it. (Also apparently the cause is Fatalis awakening, and Fatty is supposed to be the epitome of humanities past mistakes so it all makes sense.)
I think mh 6 will probably be more worldlike and much more grittier than rise
Have to disagree on Kamura being worse than Astera, Astera is pretty bad. Although It's cool how Astera is made of ships, so It has character in that respect, but Kamura being a simple little village doesn't really take away from it's atmosphere
@@ortah2616 Well I didn't say it was worse than Astera, I just meant that there's no depth other than it just being a village. Astera is a big mess and Astera doesn't have that homely village feel. And the fact that it was so unnessarily big and had a weird layout.
What I meant was there wasn't much to Kamura beyond "the people here are happy, except for when there's the periodic monster rampage." I mean we've seen that in Dundorma, I'll use MH4 Dundorma in this case, Dundorma has been under seige many times in its history and actually incorporates its history into its design, and since its basically the capital of Elder Dragon research it has villagers who have their own histories and functions that go beyond just being cute, there are hunters, and researchers and also civilians that just live there.
So to be clear Kamura is just so basic, I'd say it's on par with Kokoto, with a slight edge to Kokoto because of its legend about the "Hero of Kokoto" and the sword in the stone.
Like villages can and are supposed to be comforting but I think Kamura was a bit too much.
@@jjam424 You're partially wrong, but also partially correct. Kamura's villagers do all have their own history that you can read up on, but a lot if it is offline only.
The village really doesn't have the feeling of a village that is sieged by monsters though. It could be just because everyone's gotten so used to it, but saying that is just filling in the gaps for the writers
@@ortah2616 Well I'm not trying to be wrong or right it's just my opinion.
Also yeah I know about the secret notes and dialogues, like how Minoto wants to be good at something like her sister or how the Blacksmith is initially disappointed in his son until after the LR story is finished. But there really isn't much beyond that.
I never even said that Kamura was the worst I just felt it wasn't deep enough to hold my interest, if you love it more power to you.
But then there's the LR story in MH4U with the Ace Hunters who you compete with or they at first question your ability as a Hunter, and then you become trusted comrades, and the Caravan who is composed of a bunch of fun misfits who all have fun personalities, and quirks, with the centerpiece being the Caravaneer trying to figure out what the Article is. There isn't much to Kamura imo than just being cute.
Other examples include Felcote being a secret Agent for the guild, the isolated village in 3/3U being initially disconnected from the Guild and the villagers having to deal with that, and some quest ladies being guild knights or former hunters.
It honestly seems like there's a divide between the main and portable titles. I was wondering why I tend to enjoy the more grounded games like 4U and World over the more flashy games like GU and Rise.
I do like the deadpan snark one-liners the avatar protagonist can say during battles. They are fun to listen to, in my opinion. Especially the female hunter with the cockney british accent.
I kinda like the Aerial in GU
They are made by different people after all. There's bound to be differences, and the fanbase is quick to notice all of them.
Is world more intense than rise?
@@fadedjate7230 Yes
One thing I've noticed missing since the gen 1/2 maps is that ambient music which plays in certain areas of the map. Tracks like Beyond the Fog (even though it was a recycled track from RE4 and DMC) playing in certain areas of the Old Swamp highlights those areas and to me makes map exploration have a more lonely feeling. I feel this feeling makes exploring the old maps and paying attention to small details feel more fulfilling in comparison to 3rd gen onwards where the maps are more visually impressive but feel less engaging in a sense. While 5th gen has added ambient music to fights with small monsters it keeps the focus of the game on those monsters and doesn't add to the feeling of exploration you get from running into an area of the map with a cave or ruins or something.
I don't really know how to really put this into words though it just feels like a vibe thing.
I totally agree with you, that aspect of the old maps was really cool to me. Imagine coming across a specific area in a newer, seamless MH map and having ambient music play. I will say that there was a small hint of that in MHW when you enter the Gajalaka hideout. Also I think the inclusion of dynamic music was such a great idea in world, I felt like it was a little lacking in Rise, but overall a charming decision.
My favorite maps were the old maps of MH freedom unite, the game which was my first. I know the old jungle and the old volcano were from Monster hunter 1 but for my argument I‘ll just use them anyway: I liked how they tried to do it like they did in World, the old jungle was so full of plants to the point where I sometimes lost sight on the Nargacuga I was hunting but it still had that mysterious tone to it.
In later games the areas seemed more like arenas with less live but still had the fog mentioned in the video, especially the freedom unite Tower that I actually had to climb up. For the villages I really like what they did in 4U Cathar and the Beach were amazing places to be in and almost brought me the serene feeling I had in Pokke back then.
someone once described monster hunter as "cavepunk" and I couldnt agree more
the hopelessness the older games made you feel when fighting these huge monsters, the feeling that you'll die and not kill the monster is kind of gone now. I remember playing Freedom unite and feeling scared fighting even the smallest of monsters! I also actually loved how much longer it took to gather materials and make the armor, because it felt much more rewarding when you completed a full set. Now all it takes is 3 runs and you have a full set.. which is not very rewarding at all.
Also the old monster hunter games kind of showed me to not give up in the face of adversity as corny as it sounds! Because I would absolutely be getting destroyed by a monster but I wouldn't give up and I would kill it at 1 cart remaining and it would feel so good! It also goes well with the proof of a hero ost, the weak human hunter becoming victorious over an apex predator that nobody would think twice about facing. its just so cool.
Sorry for the messy writing, love your videos.
I think the change in tone is two things, A most players who I've seen have celebrated the sillier aspects of the series and B the charm of said tone seems to help monster hunter contrast from games it games compared to whilst also making it more mass appealing.
As for what I think, I'd like to see the portable continue with the sillier tone but have the main team focus on giving back MHs edge because if we are gonna have two MH teams capcom should at the very most use that to their advantage and please both sides.
In Generations it's a bit insulting in how overly silly it gets, especially with that dance video with that wyverain girl at the end of that game. How did we go from the gritty eeriness of Freedom 2 to that?
@@unicorntomboy9736 generations was a celebration of the series. It was never meant to be gritty and realistic.
@@sekiro_the_one-armed_wolf Which monster hunter is gritty and realistic? Wtf have you guys been playing?
@@evilformerlys4704 none of them were. That’s my point.
@@unicorntomboy9736 Where the hell is the gritty eeriness exactly?
There is one time i recall getting the feeling of dread and mystery in iceborne as i did when playing the MH1/2 Its when you fight black val vaalhazak and he turns the entire map into a greenish fog
Very interesting points. I got my proper start with the portable series in MHP2G, so I got attached to the goofiness elements and think of it as a core identity to the series.
I also thought the same about how MHW lost the “charm”, when in fact, it appears to be the closest to the very root of the series. IF IT ONLY HAS FOGS!!😆
Speaking of which, I also strongly agree that the Shrine Ruins in Rise could use a more isolated, creepy and mysterious atmosphere…which it is supposed to be according to the settings and the lore behind the place. But at this point, it’s like public park for the Hunter to casually stroll around on their day off. It’s not scary enough but it’s also not that beautiful aesthetically (compared to other similar places like the Misty Peak). In this case, that Chameleos’s induced fog makes the place looks WAY, WAY better!
It’s also such a sin to not have any weather effects whatsoever, like the much needed rain in the Flooded Forest. A heavy snowfall in the Frost Islands would also look fantastic, as well as increase the challenge by fighting monsters with obscured visions.
The music is also another great point. The older music really caters to the monster and makes them more intimidating, while the newer music are more exciting and cheerful to make the game more…well, exciting! Especially in Rise with the vocal which also inserts the human elements into it, levelling the playing field between the hunters and the monsters. So it’s a very big shift from the tone in MH1 where it’s a “struggle” against the monster, into a “slugfest”.
Also, I can no longer see Monster Hunter as a serious game after witnessing Akuma doing a Mew Mew cat pose and blowing me a kiss.🤣
The intense weather effects in Rise would probably be too much for the switch, I'm sure they wanted to but it would've been too much.
The music I feel still keeps darker tones for some tracks eg: Nakarkos, Shagaru, Safijiva and Gogmazios
Well, i love the environment of world.. it made the maps feel alive. And when i go back to play older games or even rise i just feel like something is off with the maps. Then i realized i got spoiled by how alive world's maps are
I’ve been thinking about the feel of monster hunter a lot lately. What really stood out to me when I first saw the older maps was the sound design and the element of mystery. In the old Swamp, as soon as you enter into the fog you’re bombarded with a grim jingle and it slowly fades out into the sounds of the swamp. Not to mention those little areas that had specific ambient music play. Regarding the element of mystery, fog plays a heavy part in that for me, but also the various ruins left around the maps. I think Tolkien once said that one of his goals while writing The Lord of the Rings was to include many allusions to different events that took place in middle Earth, so that the reader would wonder and search deeper to find out what these allusions refer to. I don’t see the mystery in much of the newer areas.
I feel like the old monster Hunter took was lost in the middle of third gen, the grit was lost in MHP3RD.
Also, I was also upset that none of the new areas had any weather effects, or even Kamura always being travers I left during the day. Why doesn’t Kush get his storm like he does in the MHDos opening cinematic, he’s not as scary to me.
Thanks for another great video, I thought you weren’t gonna make any more videos on this channel, but I’m always glad to see another discussion-prompting video from you :)
Also, if you take a look at any remade MH maps, whether that he in Rise or MHGU, they’ve been totally stripped of any dark tone. I’m thinking specifically of the Marshlands. I didn’t like the Marshlands at all in MHGU just because of how ugly it was, and it’s music didn’t instill the type of fear I’d assume a swamp would. But going back and hunting in the swamp in MHDos, I can appreciate it a lot more. The tone is much more interesting in my opinion, and the swamp theme from MHDos slaps
@@ripporoo2771 yes the “Swamp” is much better than the “Marshlands”. Unnecessary name change as well lmao.
@@ripporoo2771 I prefer the GU/MHFU/Frontier swamp theme over the Dos theme though I agree with everything else you said.
@@slenderhatesmillennials195 that’s fair, it’s all subjective anyways :p
Dude, I saw this video appear in my recommended like a week ago and just barely saw the thumbnail before I refreshed UA-cam and lost it. Ever since then I’ve been looking for this video not knowing what channel it was from because this topic intrigued me so much. How did Monster Hunter change from what it was it what it is? What’s an improvement and what was lost? Finally I can watch!
Nah it was always like that. A lot of what you consider "core" wasnt a design decision but rather technical problems and limitations. I played the old games and I never got the "dark" vibe from them, quite the contrary as a matter of fact.
I tried the older games but I just couldn't get into them, but I'm playing World rn and its so much fun. I think adding a story to the game gave me more motivation to actually grind to progress in the story as oppose to just grinding to beat a monster and then grinding again to beat a stronger monster until I beat the strongest one.
This is actually funny, because as a new player who played through World first, I remember hearing older fans whining about the serious tone not being goofy/colorful like the older games. And now I'm hearing that the actual OG games that came first were the opposite, and were more serious and dark.
Thats a good point xD. Many fans started with the highly saturated games of gu and 4u.
@@WisdomAkpan211 I know it goes down to personal preference here but after seeing how dark and eerie some environments looked, I much prefer that look over the colorful wonderland looking ones. Makes the world you're in actually feel dangerous.
@@OTBASH That’s why i fell in love with MH. The world felt dangerous. But that started to slowly fade.
@@abyssalrayz9499 me too..
I'm so glad I was able to find someone who shares my sentiments about the franchise and can eloquently put them to words! I just recently finished your over-three-hour-long video essay on MH2Dos, and I absolutely loved the points you had to raise (except the one about MH1 being unplayable, which I wholeheartedly disagree with). If you have anything, ANYTHING more to say about these games, I truly hope you can find a reason to continue making videos.
I’m gonna eventually give MH1 another try (actually MHG) because private online servers haha
i loved every single monster hunter game i played since freedom 1 (i even importet japanese MHP3rd and downloaded a german patch to play it), and i always loved the serious tone while on a hunt, and the calm and quiet atmosphere in the village. i loved that the monsters are not just these typical fantasy dragons, but living creatures that adapted to their surroundings.
but the question you asked haunted me the last couple entrances of the franchise. did it get too fast and flashy? (well, rise is a looot too flashy). but imagine if they released a game with the same slow gameplay of freedom. it wouldn't feel up to date, and half of the community would criticize that.
IMO they always found the right way of keeping traditions of gameplay and adding new features that didn't ruin the experience for vererans. and the monster-design was always on a high level
borry for sad english, greetings from germany
Before even seeing the video, the title reminded me that for a very long time i've wanted to make a video about how MH lost it's grounded, harsh, hostile world in favour of a more gamey, friendly one that feels very different.
I don't even know what the point of having resource gathering is anymore for example. It has been completely undermined by the floating health creature thingies in World and Rise and that's without mentioning the tonnes money and resrouces chucked at the player. The game bends over backwards to help the player.
I knew the philosophy had fundamentally changed when they changed the Bowgun. Specifically when it became that if you run out of ammo in the clip and press shoot again, it automatically reloads for you. That's the game becoming less complex, requiring less of the player, automating something that you had to do yourself or siffer the consequences. It also takes away from the groundedness of the world - that these are sort of primitive weapons that have limits and are not perfect and have to be learned to compensate for their weaknesses.
Another change is when it became a standard 3rd person shooting weapon rather than before when you had to stop to shoot. Again, making the game less tactically complex and more generic, speeding it up to the point it might as well be Godeater ot Toukiden.
There's so much more i could say. MH has lost the grounded feeling. From the world to the combat.
Mh4 has a teddy bear hammer
Mh lost its groundedness when mh is made
@@marcusgo1160 by Mh3u the change had already started. When talking about groundedness the contrast I had in mind was between FU and Rise/World/Xx.
@@MA-go7ee Tbh, you might disagree with this but to me, World definetly feels like Mh with the most atmosphere
theres a trade-off between hunting immersion and more fantasy action i guess. theyve been edging closer and closer to the latter
I think the tone is something like Avatar: The Last Airbender; it has its cute, lighthearted moments such as the Yian-Kut-Ku, the Palicos' antics etc. But it also has stuff right out of your darkest nightmares like Gore Magala, Narwa, Fatalis, and Dire Miralis.
It seems the answers depends on the team developing the game.
Ichinose’s games seem to play up the fantastical, gamey aspects of the series.
3:53 touhou cirno what she doing there it's vary cute picture and vary good video keep up the work.
no need to apologize for this video mate, I think you make a good point and somehow you actually managed to convey what you mean too despite the complexity of the subject. Good stuff, I'll sub.
Monster Hunter has always been a silly game just read the quest texts and the hunting helpers the feasts and many more things,
the fog in the older games was placed there so you would not notice the bad parts of the Graphics
So true!
Must be a Nintendo simp. The only thing silly about Monster Hunter is it being on switch.
@@Izuku-Midoriya7 I mean, it’s been on the 3DS and Wii before, as well as numerous hand held consoles. Monster Hunter doesn’t discriminate what system it’s on, as long as people enjoy the game.
@@Izuku-Midoriya7 ratio
@@Izuku-Midoriya7 sounds like you just don’t have one 🤣
the growth of the game does add to the change in tone, with the first games you had barely any information of the world of MonHun, the vagueness and unknown aspects added to the bleak nature and atmosphere and a theme where realism has more weight than its fantastical side, as the game progressed the balance shifted more to the fantastical and with the expanding knowledge of the game world, the scary parts seem less scary
I feel its more because how the character is potrayed with all the new changes. In more recent games you basically are the main character, your skills and arts and all moves are on pair with the mosters, both you and it are forces of nature clashing with each other while you just grow stronger and stronger and basically everyone knows that, you are the hero, you have the main theme in the background and have all the tools for besting the monster, you wear the flashy armor and cool weapon for flexing and to show off
In older games the atmosphere was more empty, silent, almos as if the world itself was afraid of what was lurking in the shadows, you didn't wear the flashy armor and cool weapon for looks, but beacuse that was the bare minimum for survival, the monster was that, a monster, not just a creature bigger and meaner than usual.
Dont get me wrong I love the new games, 4u has to be my fav and cant wait to play rise (too poor to buy it atm) its just that the monsters feel more like rivals and equal adversarys that you just have to dance around to best rather than monsters that everyone was afraid and you were just the poor bastard that took the job to an almost secure death... ok maybe not that extreme but still they felt a bit more hopless, and just so happens that the graphical limitations making everything less brigther helped with that situation.
...that being said i fcking love to best a monster almost naked with a fish for a sword and 2 cats doing noncense on the side, its all part of the charm and I wouldnt want monster hunter without it
I would go into the old swamp gathering quest just to sit look, and listen to the environment
good analysis, this is what ive been saying to my friends, the terror and achievement is not their anymore, especialy with rise, world was when they first started to feel like less of your a tiny human about to get smacked by a elder dragon and more of your this OP player and elder dragons should be afraid, i remember in monster hunter freedom 2 the first time you saw a tigrex and the terror of not wanting to die and get carted and that was just a brute wyvern now after world elder dragons dont even give that sense of dread, vaal hazak when i first saw him was a little dreadfull but then after 1st fight its a cakewalk, i feel that everything now is handed to you, i remember when you had to for real come back after each quest to mine ore in the mining field and rare armour was not easily accesible and that was what made me fall in love with the game, it didnt hold your hand but when you took down your 1st big wyvern that was the best.
Some really great points made in this video in regards to style comparisons. That said, I think there is a concept that comes up in all media and even hobbies that I dont agree with and that is “older is better.” It’s like the base opinion shared by almost everyone about everything. Everyone likes older music more than newer. Older anime more than newer. Cars? They all like the older ones better. Games? Older is better. So its just very hard to take criticism seriously when you see there is an overwhelming bias towards older things in pretty much all things entertainment.
The combat in newer Monster Hunter games is something I think is objectively better. It’s flashier because you can do more. An argument could be made that combat was only a factor in a hunt and not the primary facet of gameplay amongst prep, tracking, then finally fighting to complete a hunt. In that sense, maybe the older style is a more “complete” experience but…the combat in my opinion has only improved with each new iteration. Worldborne did a great job of mixing classic tracking/hunting with big damage flashy combat.
I have more hours in Monster Hunter World than I do most other MonHun titles. Monster Hunter World is a good game, I never said the older is objectively better, but there is a reason many people have bias and complain:
They want Monster Hunter 1 (or 2 or 3 or whatever) to be BETTER. And unfortunately Capcom (like most other video game companies) stops improving old titles and switches direction significantly to cater to a different audience (and potentially make more money). The original audience naturally gets confused because it's no longer the same product. So whether or not the product is good or if they like the product, a bias naturally forms.
@@jakobmonsterhunter Yes, Capcom is great at confusing the player base and drastically changing trends in their games that don’t need fixing. My favorite game is MHGU because I feel it has the best elements of all the MH games well incorporated into one package with a giant roster. What’s yours? Enjoyed the video, btw.
@@superdash7192 My favorite is a tie between Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate and Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate! It's hard to choose between them. :)
@@jakobmonsterhunter Makes sense! MH3 was my first! Thanks for the reply, looking forwaed to more vids!
seeing tri next to 3u really opened my eyes. I didnt even notice the difference back then
Actual literal lol at the art reflecting life, great as always
yeah the old swamps and the tower definitelly has the best dark mysterious aesthethic which i love.
just look it up "soul of the world" its a song they gave you after clearing all the quest in the game (Dos/FU). you'll understand why the dark grounded tone is more beatiful in the old world.
Gritty and dark? Maybe if the monsters were ever shown chowing down on people or at least some human bones around the dens. It's always been goofy
Something funny is mh3u was my first monster hunter, so I thought world was the edgy one, and rise was the return to form
playd world and rise and the first thing i noticed was the way the maps looked... it feels like every number on the map is blocked by a wall i need to climb over. the only difference is that in worlds you go to this new location that has a INSANE looking biome i fell in love with. in Rise I'm ninja spiderman and my dog can carry my whole fat ass while wearing very heavy armor.
i like the maps in worlds more but for some reason the new monsters in rise feel a bit better because they have that Japanese demon lore behind most of theme (but that something i like).
This was a good video, i liked it, keep making more mate don't overthink it hahah
Also with Autism and Monster Hunter it made world so tiring to play as there was so much clutter and there were hi def objects everywhere - forced my brain to try focus on every stupid bit of scenery as much as the monster. Its why I was psyched for Rises maps but i dunno most of all I like the segmented maps
Palamutes make sense bro. Hunters need dogs.
I don't mind the goofy artstyle, it is true that caught me off-guard while questioning the "cool" aspect of the game.
I didn't like it at first, specifically MHTri and U3, I didn't give the proper patience and learning the game and hated all MH games since then. The lack of tutorial and just throwing you there.
I gave it a chance with MH4U thanks for my friends and got convinced. MH: World had what I thought it would be at my first exposure of MH games. Now, I'm playing Rise and I love it. No matter the aesthetic. I hope MH6 have World + Rise mix.
It lost its age the moment it drop it sharpness. I mean till this day we still have to sharpen our hammers
I think it's more getting more out of the lower graphics, with more realistic stuff, not really edgy or gritty.
i think the key difference is that old monster hunter focused more on show dont tell, and newer ones tell more than show. like, as he says, old ecology and intro cutscenes were like nature documentaries. they displayed the personality of each monster to be seen. whereas the rise intros and world story told you what things were like and explicitly stated things that could easily have been left to the player to interperet and feel more accomlished for doing so.
In a Game Informer interview with two devs from MHW and Iceborne, the interviewer asked the devs "good goofy and silly is the game?" and both of them said 10/10 while laughing.
So we could assume they want the game like this, thats how the game should be in their vision. I guess the game feels more like an fantasy adventure when you have this silly and overdesigned elements, its just more upcheering and it just makes you more hyped when hunting and therefore makes more fun.
I think there are certainly darker and sometimes even practically horrifying things in the two most recent games, Rise and Stories 2 (spoilers ahead).
For Rise, it's mostly in some of their monsters. Goss Harag is a borderline axe murderer who does a horror movie walk at you dragging his blade along the ground when you are stunned, while Rakna-Kadaki is just straight-up nightmare fuel. Not to mention the Rampage of monsters actively trying to smash into a village to main everyone inside, or the eldritch monstrosities responsible for the Rampage that are Ibushi and Narwa. Also not to mention that both of our friends in the story get borderline POSSESSED by said eldritch monstrosities.
It's not much with Rise, but it certainly shows that there are still darker elements to Monster Hunter.
Then you have Stories 2, which hides some fairly dark concepts and scenes behind what outwardly appears to be a game for somewhat younger audiences. Half of the cast wants to stab your best friend Ratha because of an insane and ultimately misinterpreted prophecy, every scene with the Wings of Ruin is actually terrifying (especially the first one), a character you thought you could trust ends up being the leader of what amounts to an END OF THE WORLD WORSHIPPING DEATH CULT THAT IDLOIZES A WILD ANIMAL THAT WOULD LIKELY KILL THEM AT A MOMENT'S NOTICE, as well as the guy somewhat leaning into being a LEGITIMATE WYVERIAN SUPREMACIST near the end, and you get to watch as Guardian Ratha, the very helpful and amazing companion of your late grandfather, gets FUCKING MEAT GRINDED TO DEATG BY THREE GIANT ELDRITCH WORM HORRORS WITH BLOOD FLYING EVERYWHERE, with all that prevents this scene from raising the age rating of the entire game being some obstructive lighting.
There's just about as much of a darker, grittier, and sometimes actually horrifying elements to modern Monster Hunter as there is the sillier, happier tones, and I think that's part of what makes this series so great.
listening to all the points made here I...can mostly agree, the games have sped up, gotten flashier and a bit too strong (gods the longsword) and is deviating from the original charm but I do have...1...minor nitpick at the moment. forgive me for having such a minor point but I don't think brighter colours and less fog makes the games inherently goofier, I mean the earth itself is filled to the brim with all sorts of bright colours. would less saturated areas with fog add needed tension to certain fights? yes and as an example Certain monsters like The Magala Trio and Gogmazios are proof of this (maybe not foggy but still a lot less colour with the only bright colours being the purple of the Frenzy or the bright ominous orange of Gogmazios) but I dont think it makes all hunts more goofy. I do think a game with even more dynamic weather (including Fog) could make the games feel more alive though.
tldr: no fucking fog
On a more serious note, nice video, I agree with a bunch of things you said, and especially with the notion that MHW and MHR took inspiration from specific older titles. I think the best case scenario for future games is that they enable environmental effects as much as they did in World without adding too much load on systems. World definitely runs harder than Rise, and I think the laziness of Rise can be attributed partially to the sacrifices for optimization the game has.
Man the old ecology video in the 1 and 2 gen was so cool
For me, MH doesn't have to be dark. I've played it for 10 years now (started with Freedom 2/Unite). The tone is there but is negligible. As long as I can live in it.
As for the music, I believe it doesn't cheer the monster on. It IS the monster. Tigrex, raw power. Narga, a hunter. Zinogre, electrifying.
The only thing that bugged me, but still it's a shame that I didn't get my hands on it is Frontier Z. That's the most over-the-top MH can go and it really looks weird to fight a Khezu version of a shounen protagonist.
Going to Rise, of course I still see nothing wrong with it. It is indeed too anime about how it's presented. Super lively little dango girl, dragon sisters, lots of talking when fighting, whatever the hell Kagero is.
It's a massive shift in tone but not once it bothered me because I can still live within it.
back when hunters hit khezu 7 times in a row for good luck
PRAISE THE FOG
The games were always a bit goofy and weird, but the art style shift in 3rd gen and after if when things started getting less gritty. I love Monster Hunter, but it doesn't feel quite the same as it used to.
well, sure recent mh games admittedly gone pretty bright and incredibly different than the first few gen of the franchise
(played since mh2ndG)
though honest, im ok
since it shows the monster hunter universe has many, many different natural environments we can imagine
from the darkest of the fortress and swamps, to the brightest of forest and fields?
soo monster hunter wouldn't be popular unless it continues to improve
(they still keep balance between scary and goofy)
love ya video! aaa
Rise is the MHP3rd of World. MHW was kinda dark, while Rise has calmer vibe.
Me: *reads title*
Also me: YES
I like the cheerful monster hunter, it's just my personal preference, I've had the same problem with FNAF, it's story seemed too grim for me and I used to even hate it, with the introduction of the newest security breach I feel calmer about it... Maybe because I just miss my childhood, adult life in general is usually not as happy and problem free like it was when you were a 7 year old kid
5:10 totally agree! Haven't played Rise myself yet but the soundtracks in World sound more heroic and epic than in MHFU or MHTri. This may not be a bad thing but I'd love some sort of balance. Imo the soundtracks for the most part should sound intimidating and in favor of the monsters especially in scary or mysterious areas like swamps, caves and such. To be fair though, everyone has their own opinion of the music and how it affects them. Just want me some good ol MHF Desert theme
Even the 1st gen (while still being darker) were generally light hearted and goofy. The weapons and armor are inherently goofy.
What is the instrument behind the vocals?
Its hard to ut into words but part of the reason I liked how world looked and not how rise looks is that its so goddamn... neon
The biggest thing for me is that Monsters no longer feel intimidating. In the old games, it actually feels a bit scary to encounter certain monsters like Rathalos.
Deviljho in 3u was a menace to me at times. I remember once fighting in the flooded forest and the jerk stood on the shore trying to snipe me with rocks while I'm swimming fighting another monster.
Always like to see yoyr videos on my feed, they are actual discussion pieces, open to opinions and not the overrated content you ALWAYS see on youtube only trying to push an agenda or a belief. Thank you for using your brain and sharing thoughts with us! :D
alternate title: "has monster hunter lost its fog?"
when I saw the title of the video I was very worried what I was walking into, but I am glad I clicked on this because it does feel it's lost some of its edge. Now i'm not saying Monster Hunter was, dark and gritty for the sake of it. but rather that that darker tones that the games did have, that it went out of their way to implement are sort of gone. With World I was glad to see the living ecosystem. Monsters fighting with one another, turf wards, etc. but I found that the rest of the game felt like it was trying to hard to take itself seriously sometimes. in a game where the cutscenes were once told through hunter speak, I felt it took a nice page out of the old Lego games book. and took that as an advantage to be more light hearted. 4U had great intro cutscenes as well and it got me pumped up to hunt monsters. My point being, I think MH had SOME intentional edge that has come and gone with the series. it's weird, and I'm sure that either the next game or one later down the line will have it again
monster hunter was always goofy and has progressing in goofyness iv been playing mh freedom of recent
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate is probably my favourite MH game and while I’d say it still sticks somewhat to the style of the older games it definitely is very bright and colourful. I still like it though lol
I think you make a lot of sense. I feel the same way. MH be changing and it's leaving me behind. I started with Freedom Unite and I loved Tri because it still held mostly to what I loved about the franchise. Even the underwater combat appealed to me while a lot of other people hated it. I think maybe as a lance main the under water fighting suited me. I liked 4U a lot although I could tell It was changing away from the heart of why I fell in love with MH. The riding mechanic was new and easily abused, but it still was the monster fighting to throw you off instead of being a meat puppet. only when World came around I did not enjoy the the game play any more. It changed to many of the core mechanics and I did not find myself enjoying the hunt anymore. Rise is completely new and unrecognizable as a monster hunter game to me, but I'm actually enjoying it for the most part. I long for a return to form with updated graphics. something like a mixture of MH FU, and Tri with World graphics would be awesome for me. I cut my teeth using the "claw" to control the camera and now I'm forced to use the lock on just to keep up with the coked up fights, and that saps my soul.
Old MH is about experience.
New MH is about fun.
I’ve put many hours onto freedom2 and returning to the series on rise. I remember the background noises feeling eerie and mysterious. The monsters ruled these lands. And now I’m wipe lashing after monsters like a local sex offender on the new title.
I know I’m late but like- most places don’t get a lot of fog? Only when it’s really wet do most places get fog, so… why would there be fog everywhere in MH? If anything, imagine being popped down into the Desert and you go “oh hey, all the regular desert stuff, cacti, lil animals, fog-“
imagine monster hunter 6 bring back the scary vibe of the games.
I completely agree with this. I have been playing MH for a decade & typically put hundreds of hours in each title. However, I couldn’t bring myself to finish Rise. I didn’t buy Sunbreak either. I just don’t enjoy them like others.
Monsters in Frontier have this kind of unnatural power- they are, quite literally, monsters at first glance. When you fight them, though, you slowly get to see past the spikes and unfamiliar movesets to the actual creature beneath. They’re believable to a point- but they’re also these otherworldly creatures that don’t really seem to belong. Some of them are outright aberrations and really play into a fear of the unnatural- looking at you, Unknown.
Frontier’s not afraid to affect your screen with fog mechanics(see Taikun Zamuza phase 1). Maps still play carefully with colors. They don’t- can’t- overshadow the monster and distract the player, or risk disrupting the hunt. Sure, there’s almost no ecology scenes, but the monsters show their personalities through the hunt. Kuarusepusu’s first fight *is* an ecology cutscene, teaching you its mechanics through gameplay.
Music is almost always threatening or heavy on the tempo and percussion.
I’ve been doing way too much research on this game. It’s such an interesting path for the series’ design.
Considering the fact that the canonicity of Frontier is still sort of hazy and dubious, despite getting the flagship into Rise, these unnatural, threatening, almost dreamlike feelings from the music I've heard is all too fitting.
@@friskycalibri2293 Yup! All the monsters with unique themes feel incomplete without them. Frontier is my favorite execution of the concept of Monster Hunter yet, with how its music, visuals, and gameplay generally lock into a cohesive and thematically engaging whole. If you ever manage to play it yourself- do yourself a favor. Fight Duremudira. Fight every monster that seems unfair. Fight gods made flesh. Disufhiroa. Conquest War Shantien. Road White Fatalis. Every Zenith. Fight ‘em all- hell, fight Raviente and fight it alone. Frontier is an MH game like no other.
@@fridgegremlin5496 I was planning on doing so after upgrading my pc, actually. I cannot wait to have some free time to dig into Mezeporta.
Classic desert theme is best theme
Well yes and no, MH has always been sorta jokey but when you look at it through context becomes more serious and scary, the same applies with rise but we have yet to get there.
Mhw had that especially with the end game and the black dragons. Alatreon literally kills you using a volley of elemental energies clashing all at once and fatalis can burn you into a crisp.
The horror of rise is more so in the little lore tidbits
Alternative title: has Monster Hunter Lost his fog?
Been playing the monster hunter games since the PSP. I do miss those plain drab grey surroundings and that difficulty curve. I don't mind what MH World and Rise did, it's a welcome change, but I do miss the old days.
I'm miss old school monster hunter. MHR pushed it into a cartoonish game and while it's a fun game, it just doesn't give me the same feeling that old-school games gave me.
Really cool dark caves and hazy environments are great if you're sitting alone in a dark room, but if you go out with a portable gaming device to play with other people, not being able to see anything going on because there's sunlight and stuff, is less than fun. Also the world of monster hunter would be pretty boring if it didn't evolve, it would stagnate and just become a constant rehash of the same game over and over again. You might as well play every Madden game that comes out and think that they're completely different. New games should feel new imo, and Rise is definitely a new experience to World, and world was new to MHG, and MHG was new to 4U, etc etc.
Its been that way since my first game on Wii. And I know it was before then from the forums
Are we really gonna fall into this trap of judging video games that were just "Tough" cause we thought it was?
Or saying something was less tough and more unfair at times with how shit the hitboxes were and how relentless the monsters could be?
Man, the first time I played World demo and could fucking dodge under a Diablos tail swipe I felt a euphoria I rarely every felt.
Old mh were focused on strategical side while new mh is very much an arcade game now
It has lost its edge. It’s down to yellow sharpness and needs a whetstone
Lol the darker "tone" you think the series has was just visual and hardware limitations kiddo
I generally disagree with this video, but the Shrine ruins becomes really beautiful when Chameleos gets enraged, and I wish the default Shrine ruins looked like that.
Monster Hunter is slowy losing the "Hunter" part and turning into Monster May Cry: Special Edition. Imo this will not work in the long run as slower and methodical pace up to gen 4 was what captured the core audience.
Personally, I prefer the new format over the older ones. It's now easier to spot items in the wild due to the distinct and vibrant visuals, and the new mechanics are fun to utilize during gameplay. The pace is a lot faster yes, but I like it that way since I don't have that much time to play anymore compared to when I was still playing MHFU on PSP. The older generations are great, but I just prefer the new generations.
I joined the series in 4U, so to me the games have always been goofy and silly, yet badass as hell. That's what I love and have always loved about the series, it doesn't take itself too seriously, and I hope that it never goes away.
I thought I was the only one who felt the same way about MH1s intangible qualities.
Glad to see you back!
I agree with rise being too cheery and colourful especially when hunting...
My biggest issue with rise was that is was just OVERLY bubbly.
If it loses its edge you just gotta bite your tail and sharpen it up! :P
I wanted to stop playing Rise as soon as i booted up the game and they immediately started singing to me. I wanted to stop even more when the annoying overly cutesy marshmallow girl started singing to me. I finally stopped after I soloed all the low rank Hub quests without carting and with minimal gear upgrades. What finally broke me was going back to the village quests and hearing the villagers say im not strong enough to take on Magnamallow yet as if I'm not wearing its entire armor set. Hopefully Sunbreak includes a hard mode or something as well as G-rank. Hopefully a real canteen too instead of 3 marshmallows on a stick
I’m happy he’s still making videos
Thought he was gonna stop
I like his opinions
KEEP IT UP I LOVE YOUR VIDEOS SO MUCH!!!!
It never had a dark tone if you could buy a teddy bear hammer then it never was a dark game
Old = good i mean c'mon... Imma hardcore fan of the monster hunter franchise, started playing on the ps2 MH dos, is this yall do nowadays? It sounds like the type of guy who says dc is better because its mature and hard, blood and not like those marvel child movies. Man cant people accept them as they are, it might not be for you but for others its fun.
it's a complicated topic, for one I like highly vibrant monsters, villages and players, I like the goofy felyne shenanigans, and I adore when some monsters are just goofballs meant to be taken a bit as a joke but I also adore that whimsical mysterious vibe, the fear of the unkown at every step in every locale, gritty looking beasts that will make you feel small and unprepared, I think that keeping it as a bounceback between mainline and portable is a good idea? but it's been kinda inconsistent, with the tone varying slightly with artstyle changes and new hardware allowing for higher graphical fidelity, still, my 2 cents are that main MH should take it's approach mainly from world (who based itself on the original MH trailers) to have a more dialed down tone, to allow itself to be slow, gritty, to make the player feel small and that they're taking on a huge challenge every time they go out to hunt (but of course, not entirely) and let portable flip the script and go wild and over the top, I love both sides of monster hunter and I think that's the best way to have both present