This was my return to Monster Hunter from the PS2 original I played as a kid. What a fantastic game, and I don't think it's any wonder that it's CAPCOM's best selling title now. Having played it pre and post-Iceborne I can say I put significantly more time into the base game, and the clutch claw cheesing started cheapening the experience for me. I suppose it's using every tool at your disposal, but when a monster is CC'd for the entirety of a 5 minute fight it's not exactly fun interactive gameplay.

Balancing aside, the movesets are great, the Iceborne changes were all fantastic additions and QoL updates and even despite the fact it had a rocky start (I couldn't play Iceborne for 3 months until they fixed the performance issues), I gave it another chance and was impressed once again. Hundreds and hundreds of hours in, I can say this was more than a worthwhile investment. The gameplay can take a little bit of getting used to (weapons have 'weight' to them, so a lot of new players say it feels 'slow' when using things like great sword, lances, etc.)

Pros:
+ Fantastic Gameplay and every weapon feels unique
+ Great Co-Op experience
+ Good mix of returning and new monsters
+ Beautiful graphics
+ You can replace the Handler with Mr X

Cons:
- Alt-tabbing can still disconnect from online sessions with friends
- Some balancing issues
- Decorations are more grindy than necessary (In all my playtime I wasn't able to get a Mighty Bow jewel to be able to play bow properly, and I just melded one with the latest update)

Overview:

An incredible experience if you enjoy the gameplay loop of 'Hunt thing to make better thing to hunt more things', with a weapon to suit almost every player. While definitely better with friends, the community is also great from my experience, so don't be afraid to fire SOS flares and watch your hunt fill to max! The end-game is still fun and challenging even when you have completely meta armour (which was the same as base game), and you can easily just wear lower gear if you want to go hunt with newer players / friends you just introduced to the game.

This was my return to Monster Hunter from the PS2 original I played as a kid. What a fantastic game, and I don't think it's any wonder that it's CAPCOM's best selling title now. Having played it pre and post-Iceborne I can say I put significantly more time into the base game, and the clutch claw cheesing started cheapening the experience for me. I suppose it's using every tool at your disposal, but when a monster is CC'd for the entirety of a 5 minute fight it's not exactly fun interactive gameplay. Balancing aside, the movesets are great, the Iceborne changes were all fantastic additions and QoL updates and even despite the fact it had a rocky start (I couldn't play Iceborne for 3 months until they fixed the performance issues), I gave it another chance and was impressed once again. Hundreds and hundreds of hours in, I can say this was more than a worthwhile investment. The gameplay can take a little bit of getting used to (weapons have 'weight' to them, so a lot of new players say it feels 'slow' when using things like great sword, lances, etc.) Pros: + Fantastic Gameplay and every weapon feels unique + Great Co-Op experience + Good mix of returning and new monsters + Beautiful graphics + You can replace the Handler with Mr X Cons: - Alt-tabbing can still disconnect from online sessions with friends - Some balancing issues - Decorations are more grindy than necessary (In all my playtime I wasn't able to get a Mighty Bow jewel to be able to play bow properly, and I just melded one with the latest update) Overview: An incredible experience if you enjoy the gameplay loop of 'Hunt thing to make better thing to hunt more things', with a weapon to suit almost every player. While definitely better with friends, the community is also great from my experience, so don't be afraid to fire SOS flares and watch your hunt fill to max! The end-game is still fun and challenging even when you have completely meta armour (which was the same as base game), and you can easily just wear lower gear if you want to go hunt with newer players / friends you just introduced to the game.