Recent reviews by freetheorcs

Overall, a really solid and impressive game and a strong start to a great IP. I would give it a 7.5 or 8/10 judging it unfairly by modern standards and other RPGs.

Some things aged very well for a 1997 game (general combat, voiced/major characters, very creative worldbuilding and lore, strong RPG mechanics, interactivity with the environment that is common with CRPGs) while others definitely show their age. Off the top of my head, doors and ladders were frustrating to interact with, companions were very half baked with little dialogue, getting stuck in doorways, and shooting allies, and while the backstory of the Master and WestTek/FEV was very interesting, the actual quests in the current time main story were pretty barebones. Another nitpick that is very easily remediable are the confusing controls and interface, but there is not only an easily available manual, but an in-game control page (press F1 !!).

While it is cool that you could beat the game with prior knowledge in an hour, a lot of the game's best lore drops are easily missed, especially if you tend to focus on the main story or rely on modern questing design. (Especially The Glow, if you don't do BoS content or leave after getting the holotape, you can miss so much loot and lore.) Which is important, as the side content offers a lot more than the main story quests, which feel as if they are almost only there to make you explore the cool "dungeons" and interact with the unique settlements.

While I definitely have some complaints and the main quests weren't super engaging, I only spent 15 hours on my run, so there is definitely a plethora of side content that I missed (the side content I did finish was fun and immersive.) Eventually I will get around to replaying it, but Fallout 2 and 3 are next :D

On the technical side, I did have to mess around with the settings and files to make my 1440p monitor work and not have the tiniest UI/HUD ever. Also near the end, no clue if it was my save being corrupted but I experienced like 6 crashes between the Church and Mariposa, while having almost none for the rest of the game.

Definitely recommend, aged pretty amazing considering it has almost been 3 decades

Best monster hunter for first timers!!!

played ch1-4 and undertale in the same week for the first time and they are absolutely peak. roaring knight and jevil and generational bosses.

I had a generally positive review about two to three weeks after release, but seeing the lack of communication when it comes to the abysmal performance (personally the worst performance I've had in a video game especially considering the graphics are standard at best...) I am rescinding that review and giving a negative one instead.

While the performance is by far my biggest complaint, there are several glaring issues that have not changed since launch, and really is disappointing to see after 5th gen monhun. The way skills are allocated between armor and weapons makes build diversity even worse especially when it comes to choosing a weapon tree from one of the types (please just give us more deco slots on weapons or something if you want to give more agency when it comes to armor.)

Not only does this new skill system disappoint, but it remains meaningless to create an optimal build when most of the base game content, which is lacking in volume, is extremely easy even for new players or players with skill issues like me. For context, I have struggled greatly on many mandatory monsters throughout base MHW and Iceborne, and even had issues during MH Rise's story quests, as I carted or even failed multiple quests in both games. However, in MH Wilds, I did not cart a single time even when I was playing sloppy or didn't know a single move from a monster's moveset, which is alarming knowing I could breeze through content without learning a monster's moveset even slightly. Behind the unbearable performance, the lack of a decent standard of difficulty trivializes new monsters that have otherwise good movesets and designs, and makes an already barebones game feel even shorter.

My final criticism that comes to the top of my mind immediately is just the extreme drought of content that I just mentioned, which on launch I thought would be remedied given enough time. However, the title updates that have released and been revealed cannot compensate for the lacking base game content that almost any player could breeze through in a few days.

Overall, this review hurts to write as I am a new fan of the franchise that loved the last generation of Monster Hunter, and was extremely excited to play Wilds and be present as the game and updates were released. And on launch, I genuinely did enjoy the game, as things like the story were an improvement from world and rise, and the new transmog system for armor was exciting especially with how many cool looking armor sets there are. But any improvement to these systems and flashy new weapon mechanics cannot hold up against the inexcusable performance, and the straight downgrade to many of the other game mechanics that have been otherwise improved over decades of Monster Hunter games.

But to emphasize this once again because it truly is the greatest issue with the game, having this kind of performance on ANY video game regardless of graphics (which really aren't great, especially when you need to constantly compromise to make the game playable.) is extremely embarrassing and I genuinely don't understand how Capcom and the Monster Hunter team thought this was in any form acceptable. I didn't get my hopes up after the release of Dragon's Dogma 2 and their refusal to improve performance meaningfully, but even after constant negative criticism and scathing reviews, Capcom remains and probably will remain willfully ignorant.

absolute cinema.

i suck so bad and havent gotten far but there isnt another game like it

i love the famous writer alan wake :P

this game is ass hyperscape was better

bad performance bad balancing and the guns are boring

leons grunts and moans, along with his beautiful face and build, made me extremely aroused during his scenario

THIS GAME IS SO DAMN HARD FOR WHATTT