Monster Hunter World: Iceborne - PS4 Review

Well fellow hunters, it’s finally here! Iceborne has recently dropped and let me tell you, I’m definitely pleased with how it turned out. With new monsters, a new area, a new gathering hub, and new moves for your old weapons, there’s a lot of new content to explore in this jam-packed expansion.

So let’s get started with how to access Iceborne. After clearing the main campaign in standard World (breaking into hunter rank 16), you’ll be given a quest that starts the Iceborne adventures. The reason it takes place after the main World campaign? That’s right, they’ve brought G-Rank **cough cough**, sorry, MASTER rank, into the equation. Tougher creatures and a harder challenge, G-rank is what I was wishing the standard World package had, and now here it is in all its glory.

As soon as you set foot in the new area, the Hoarfrost Reach, you’ll have that old monster hunter feeling: new rank melancholy, where all your gear is trash and you take enough damage to make you cry. Thankfully for those hunters that are maybe less proficient but just as gritty, there are a lot of expeditions for the master rank creatures that become available, meaning you can just throw bodies at the things until you get an armor set and weapon to help you on your way.

Speaking of weapons, there’s a slew of new things that Iceborne has brought about. The Palicos level and proficiency caps have increased, there are new moves to a bunch of weapons, and you now get access to the wonder that is the “Clutch Claw”. Let’s start with the cats. New moves are now available as you upgrade their old “classes”, and let me tell you, they are ridiculous. The shieldspire for instance throws out one of those inflatable noodle men that you see outside car dealerships to attract monsters. The vigorwasp gadget? Free feline insurance. In addition to these fancy new skills, you can also ride the tailraiders monsters now. Like Popo. I can tell you right now, if you’re playing online and someone wants to start a Popo race? Probably me.

Like your cat friend, new moves have been added to some of the weapons. While your mileage with the new moves may vary, I suggest checking out a brief guide on the new things you can do with the different weapons. Speaking of new things, the Clutch Claw. This is both the greatest and worst thing I’ve seen added into a monster hunter game. You can basically grapple onto monsters now, and after attacking them you “wound” them, turning that area into an increased damage zone. It’s fun, it’s great for areas on monsters you can’t normally hit, and I love using it as something is trying to run away. Why is it so bad? Expect everyone online to only be spamming it. That being said, it is super handy and fun to use.

So, the new monsters. There are new monsters not seen before, and a couple of returning friends. The Brach is back in all its exploding slime-y glory, and the thunder wolf is back to drop some sick breakdance moves, and I couldn’t be happier. Two of my favorite creatures that I wanted to see in World get added in Iceborne. Not to mention Iceborne also provides the “DLC” monsters, although those familiar with the Rajang might not be as enthusiastic. Stupid monkey/bull thing.

So what is my favorite part about Iceborne you might ask? Is it the new zone where you can draw inappropriate pictures in the snow?  The clutch claw in all its gropi-ness? The new/returning monsters? No, it’s the new gathering hub. Finally, we get a hub you never need to leave. Everything you could want to do is there: smithy, item box, tailrider safari, bounty manager, cultivation management, even a hot spring! Following a close second has to be the 2 player difficulty. That’s right, instead of scaling between either one or four people, if there are only two of you in a quest, it’s now adjusted for two people.

While this does mean the challenge that veteran hunters were looking for may be diminished slightly, those more casual players will certainly appreciate the difficulty adjustment, especially if you decide to go about crown farming. Because guess what? New guild card for Iceborne! It doesn’t replace your old one, you now just have two. The only gripe I have is the price point, but that’s probably just because I’m cheap. This isn’t so much a “DLC” pack as an expansion that can easily double how long you spent in the base game. Bravo Capcom for simply making everything better without destroying something else in the process.

So gather up your hunting party and find a doot-bro, drag those titles such as “the Barioth Basher” out of retirement, because it’s time to hunt!

P.S. Capcom if you read this, please bring back the Alatreon :3

Game Information

Platform:
Sony PlayStation 4
Developer(s):
Capcom
Publisher(s):
Capcom
Genre(s):
Action, Adventure, Grindfest
Mode(s):
Single Player, Multiplayer Coop
Other Platform(s):
Microsoft Xbox One, PC in 2020

Source:
Purchased

Article by Richard

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Richard’s Games of the Year – 2018

Estimated reading time: 1 minute

Game of the Year – Iconoclasts

I really loved Iconoclasts. It was a game I really didn’t know I needed, but I loved it all the way through

First Runner Up – Monster Hunter World

I’ve always been a monster hunter fan, and world gave the quality of life improvements to really push it further

Second Runner Up -Trails of Cold Steel 2

Gotta love some solid JRPG action

Biggest Surprise – Overcooked 2

This is a thing. It thinged, then I thinged, then there was a lot of thinging

Guilty Pleasure – Punch Line

The plot is good, and I like the gameplay concept…DON’T JUDGE ME

Biggest Dissapointment – The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2

Don’t get me wrong, I liked the game, it just could’ve been so much more

Anndddddd because Richard had so little words this year, he also gets,

Honorable Mention – Xenoblade Chronicles 2

I picked this up a little too late to have it in the standard list, but what I’ve played makes me think I’d put it in here near the top of my ranking

 

Article by: Richard

 

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Robert’s Games of the Year – 2018

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

 

Game of the Year – Far Cry 5

While I have spent some time with the Far Cry franchise, I never really got into it until Far Cry 5 came out. After some goading by my brother I finally picked it up given its co-op campaign, a rare delicacy these days, and was not disappointment. Whether it be sniping from a ridiculous distance, running-and-gunning, or causing vehicular mayhem in the open ranges of Hope County, Montana, Far Cry 5 is great on its own, but is so much more with a friend. From flight suits to animal attacks to your very own canine companion, Far Cry 5 gives you, and a friend, plenty to offer and in true Ubisoft fashion, there is no end to the sheer number of sidequests that are spaced throughout the utterly massive and incredibly hectic Far Cry 5.

First Runner Up – Kingdom Come: Deliverance

I had longstanding mixed feelings about Warhorse Studios’ ambition RPG Kingdom Come: Deliverance for quite some time; I thought that they might be biting off more than they could chew and fortunately I was wrong. Set in the Kingdom of Bohemia (part of what is now the Czech Republic) during the 15th century, Kingdom Come: Deliverance set out to be something of a unique bird in a flock of standard roleplaying games and it succeeded in the most wild of ways; from the multitude of minigames that are the crafting system to the innovative yet extraordinarily challenging combat, Kingdom Come: Deliverance did just that. Unique, challenging, and massive in scope, Kingdom Come: Deliverance is a healthy 80-romp as Hal through Medieval times.

Second Runner Up – Ancestor’s Legacy

Ancestor’s Legacy came out of left field and hit me like a semi-truck; I mean come on, who builds an interesting and relatively unique single-player RTS game these days? The great folks over at Destructive Creations, that is who. In a world plagued by MOBAs, Destructive Creations took a turn at bringing something unique to the RTS genre and they succeeded where many others have failed. A pile of interesting campaigns? Check. Well balanced and brutal medieval European combat? Check. Implemented an utterly phenomenal cinematic combat camera? Check. I only hope that Ancestor’s Legacy is the first in a long line of stunning squad-based RTS titles from Destructive Creations as the world needs more of it.

Biggest Surprise – Warhammer 40,000: Gladius – Relics of War

I was utterly floored with the initial quality of Warhammer 40k: Gladius – Relics of War as it was one of the first Warhammer 40k titles in a long time that did not immediately set my gag reflex going. With the Warhammer franchise being such a long-standing and respected franchise it was only a matter of time until someone, anyone, would bring us a decent game; fortunately the great folks at Slitherine Ltd. And Proxy Studios finally did so. Climbing to the top of the veritable pile of garbage that has been the last decade’s-worth of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 titles comes Gladius – Relics of War, a semi Civ-like 4X strategy title set in the 41st millennium and it is glorious … “You carry the Emperor’s will as your torch, with it destroy the shadows.” Versus of Sigismund, Book CIV, Verse 1

Guilty Pleasure – Monster Hunter: World

PY in all of his glorious cutscened render

I never really bought into the Monster Hunter titles but the latest offering, Monster Hunter: World looked interesting with its drop-in multiplayer that is not all that unlike Destiny, massive monsters, and hilariously huge weaponry. When I first loaded up MH:W I was smitten almost immediately; the lush and stunning settings, the varying tactics, the interesting weaponry… it all added up to something I was not expecting … a rich and diverse universe full of memorable moments. Not even a year out from launch and certain smells or sights or sounds will send the pangs of nostalgia through my chest that ultimately drive me back to the enchanting lands of Monster Hunter: World.

Biggest Disappointment – Strange Brigade

It pains me to say this but Rebellion really dropped the ball here; fresh off the gravy train that is Rebellion’s portfolio and distantly following up the super excellent Sniper Elite 4, Strange Brigade set out to be something of a Zombie Army Trilogy meets Indiana Jones and … it failed. “Puzzles” were lackluster, combat stale, graphics were naught but varying shades of brown, and a forced-and-fake competitive model in a cooperative title were all mashed together to make “standard soup.” Perhaps the issue is that I was expecting a level of cooperative excellence as found in the Sniper Elite or Zombie Army franchises when in reality Rebellion was trying to dish out something more party-based (ala Mario Party), I do not know, but what I do know is that the 15-20 hours that I sunk into Strange Brigade amounted to nothing more than disappointment after disappointment. Hopefully Rebellion can take this one on the chin, pick up, and move on to their next project in quick succession; I would like to get the bad taste of Strange Brigade out of my mouth sooner rather than later…

Article by: Robert

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