Monster Hunter: World Review - Is It Worth Playing In 2023?

Updated:

15 May 2023

The fifth installment of the Monster Hunter franchise has been critically acclaimed as the best title in the series. 5 years have passed since the game’s release, and it received its final update in 2020. Therefore, is the Monster Hunter: World still worth playing today?

In this article, I’ll give my unbiased opinion on whether you should play Monster Hunter: World in 2023.

About Monster Hunter: World

Monster Hunter: World is an action RPG from Capcom's long-running franchise. The game takes players into a world of giant deadly monsters where players must take them down to create better weapons and armor to take on bigger and badder beasts!

The game was released on 26th January 2018 and became an instant hit, pleasing both newcomers and veterans. MHW’s player count is still going strong today, with an average of 10,000 to 16,000 daily logins, according to Steam Charts. These numbers don’t include players on PlayStation and Xbox, so the community remains incredibly healthy.

Monster Hunter: World has been in development for 4 years and successfully sold over 2 million copies in its first week. It is considered Capcom’s best-selling video game. An expansion dropped in September 2019 with the Monster Hunter World: Iceborne DLC, adding over twice as much content that the base game offered.

Monster Hunter: World’s Story

The NPCs wear all these cool armors and carry weapons but I’m the one doing all the hunting.

The story closely ties in with the gameplay, where the main quests tell you to slay the beasts of the New World, starting from the easiest monsters and building your way to bigger and harder ones. This also ties in with your character’s progression, which starts from low rank to high rank. The story’s plot eventually ends, but the game itself won’t end, as you can continue playing for up to thousands of hours.

I think the game’s story isn’t its strongest aspect. But none of Monster Hunter’s story has ever been engaging and interesting, as the game mainly focuses on its addicting gameplay and combat.

Monster Hunter: World's Gameplay

How are Rathalos not extinct as we’ve been hunting them down since the first game?

You begin the game by creating your character, starting by choosing gender, race, hairstyle, face prints, tattoos, and more. You also need to choose a Palico (a cat companion) that will offer support throughout every hunt. The character you create takes the role of a Hunter who travels to the new world as a member of the Fifth Fleet.

The game’s world offers several biomes, including rainforests, deserts, fantasy coral areas, volcanoes and many more. You’ll be hunting down monsters that are only found in any of these specific regions.

You’ll encounter many NPCs throughout your journey. These include other hunters, the handler, who will guide you through every quest, the general commander, who assigns most of the main quests, and the blacksmith, who’s in charge of forging and upgrading your gears. I think the NPCs aren’t particularly interesting as they are only there to support you during your hunts. But then again, no one plays a Monster Hunter game for the NPCs.

There are no class systems in Monster Hunter: World. However, the game offers a total of 14 different weapons. This ranges from cutting weapons which consist of sharp, bladed edges that can slice through the monster's flesh from up close. Also, there are gunner weapons that can be loaded with tons of ammunition and lets you keep out of the enemy’s claws.

Every weapon has its own movesets and mechanics, which also come with specific strengths and weaknesses. Players will focus on upgrading their weapons which requires specific materials and monster parts.

Monster Hunter: World's Combat

The combat is where players will spend most of their time in. It’s flashy and aerobatic, even more so than the series’s previous entries. After all, players will be slaying some of the largest enemies seen in any video game! The combat may take some time to get used to as players can experiment with all 14 types of weapons; some are more complex than others.

MH World - Diablos - 2'17 - Longsword - No Damage

The combat features combos and stamina and revolves around effectively using any of the weapons to chain together combos strategically to do massive damage. Players can do this by combining light and heavy attacks in patterns. It’s challenging to start with, but once players master a weapon, they’ll unleash a plethora of special attacks which consist of more powerful and stylish moves.

You’ll be thrusting, slicing, charging, and firing without any break. And looking at how much damage you’re doing to your prey is truly satisfying.

If players are having trouble slaying a monster alone, the co-op multiplayer feature lets them work together with up to three others to make every hunt easier. This will let you develop tactics to bait out monsters and unleash powerful chains of combos from all angles to inflict brutal damage on them. You can create squad parties to hunt with your friends or random matchmaking and take down the most formidable monsters together.

Monster Hunter: World’s Quest System

Players will spend a lot of time in Astera, the primary base of the game. It acts as the main hub where you can take on both main quests and side (optional) quests. The quests systems are pretty straightforward; you get to choose a quest that presents the target monster you’ll need to kill. The quests vary in difficulty; the higher the difficulty, the better rewards you’ll get.

Besides that, there are also “investigation” quests where players must complete a hunt within a time limit. These are considered the highest difficulty quests and offer the best rewards in the game. They also make the game’s excellent replayability due to fresh challenges and random rewards you can get.

Monster Hunter: World’s Graphics

Besides hunting monsters, you can gather materials, catch rare animals and even go fishing in the game’s living, breathing world.

In terms of graphics, Monster Hunter: World certainly offers the best in the series, even better than the newest entry, Monster Hunter: Rise (originally released on the Nintendo Switch). However, when compared to current-gen games, MHW’s graphics may be considered a little outdated, but far from the worst.

But its mid graphics shouldn’t be the reason players turn down this game, as its engaging combat and animation are what shine the brightest.

Monster Hunter: World’s Developer

Capcom’s best-selling video game of all time has gone through numerous updates throughout its lifespan of more than 2 years. This includes new monsters, weapons, skills, events and world improvements.

Just like what Blizzard did with Diablo III, Capcom offered countless experiences and a huge expansion, and it didn't end there. The developers delivered on community feedback and created a game that continues to engage players, keeping fresh and relevant challenges even after a few years.

It's an incredible dedication and fan service for a game that isn’t built on a subscription or free-to-play. This shows how Capcom understands its player base and that players have spent hundreds and even thousands of hours on the game.

Price of Monster Hunter: World in 2023

The game is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, XBOX series X and S, XBOX ONE, and PC. The base game is currently sold at around $54, but players can get it at a discount which may go as low as $15.

The game doesn’t offer any in-game purchases or pay-to-win elements. However, players can purchase accessories, poses, and others which are considered as DLCs.