Monster Hunter Wilds IGN's Final Preview Reaction & Breakdown

[@bladechild2449]

Let's be honest, once you've played MH for such a long time, the only way you cart is by being one shotted or getting stunned. It's not even that surprising that people don't get carted in the high rank games anymore.

[@fishman21-f5b]

but i still want some challenge monster for veterant

[@ab2dii467]

i remember being stuck in world and seeing everyone complain how easy it is, i also remember some guy rage quitting low rank khezu in rise when everyone is talking about how easy that game is honestly for experienced players like us, we never gonna struggle during low and high rank, at most its gonna be something like advanced quest, something you get after you beat the game hell even when i went back to GU i barely struggled but i stopped playing before G rank

[@FlutterSwag]

Sucks veterans have to wait an extra year for the full game to come out

[@eduardobenassi3072]

600 hours will do that. But still, I have really minor concerns about difficulty.

[@Ryodraco]

​@@fishman21-f5bso long as you have to pay attention doesn't that count as some measure of challenge?

[@kingkuder8427]

It's crazy that IGN actually had a real gamer doing this preview. Not to mention a monster hunter fan.

[@JaxParowFF]

Yep. That was one hell of a whiplash

[@euphoricganjanath5625]

Im so used to the opposite I couldnt believe what I was hearing, it was more shocking than Congalala returning.

[@Guardsmen4]

yeah this was nice and crasy at the same time

[@Hakuja88]

Yeah. They did the same thing with a fan of Ninja Gaiden reviewing Ninja Gaiden 2 Black and it was also great. Is 2025 year of the passionate and real gamer IGN reviewers?

[@Tabnito]

did it with SF6 too. They are generally good with Capcom games tbh. Remember, the most important part of reviews from big gaming journalist things like this is who did it and wrote it. They usually have Bios that you can read. Like the SF6 guy is a fighting game guy, he does most fighting game reviews for IGN. It's really easy to just generalize and ignore all "gaming journalists" but thats because there's some gaming journalists that are more journalist than gamer. It has to be hard to hire correctly for it, like what are you going to do, watch the person play the cuphead tutorial before you ask to see their writing credentials?

[@LunarValkyria]

"Make low rank meaningful" it is meaningful. For those who are new to the series and are learning the games. You don't get flak for wanting more difficulty. You get it for going on tangents about difficulty using a bad measurement (carting) during a time where people are meant to be learning the game. The reality is you are a vet so like with souls games you already went through the learning process making a lot of those fights easy for you while it is hard for others. I found majority of the boss fights in Elden Ring easy. It isn't because the game itself is easy. It is because I have experience playing other souls games and that experience carries over. Not everybody has that experience.

[@thearcticferret]

This exactly. Low rank is for the new players to learn how to play the game.

[@tofuteh2348]

Low Rank had always been a challenge to veterans. MHGU, MHW and MHR have distorted that fact and make veterans forget that they still got their ass handed to them when they fought LR Gore Magala for the first time despite being a veteran. I managed to kill Rise's flagship in my first try with the starting Kamura armor set. That is disgusting

[@DonkeyBuns]

​@@tofuteh2348 Speak for yourself. Many of us never got carted by Gore our first run. Not trying to be a jerk but usually veterans have better game sense, response time and know their weapons well.

[@tofuteh2348]

@DonkeyBuns veteran just means people who have been playing for a long time. Skill level still varies between veterans and its far more likely that the average long time player carts to a flagship in their first encounter. And for the sake of argument that im some outlier whos just so terrible at MH, then it speaks volumes to how ridiculous it is that i managed to kill Rise's flagship for the first time without carting with just the starting armor.

[@kyril98741]

I see a lot of reddit post of new player struggling in low rank. Making it more difficult isn't making more sense.

[@WikiXIV]

The difficulty for the first group of monsters she listed makes sense based on the prev interviews with the Devs. They had distinct roles for each of those monsters to better introduce new players to the franchise Chatacabra - direct attacks Quematrice - area attacks Doshaguma - large monster pack system Balahara - environmental fights Congalala - status effects Lala Barina - quick repositioning Uth Duna (repell) - Apex repelling and 2 states (water shield, no water shield) So it makes sense that those being the "first 7 monsters" as feeling potentially easy to vet players, as they are very much designed to be a ramp up for new players. (what's weird to me is the "first 7 monsters" part, which means Rey Dau, the apex of the first zone, is fought _after_ Uth Duna, the apex of the second zone. Didn't expect that, tbh) If you played the beta, you might recall the star system. That is where I believe the difficulty for this group of monster lies for those who want more of a challenge outside of the standard story-quest difficulty. As 5star Doshaguma was _not_ a pushover. He had multiple one shot moves and was a lot more tanky.

[@beesechurger1]

that's very good design from the devs then, love this ngl

[@DerpHavenn]

@@WikiXIV To be fair, it is a repel quest, so it's still possible we'll get a proper Rey Dau hunt before a proper Uth Duna one. But also, given Rey Dau is likely going to be available to hunt very early anyway with the more open-world nature of the game, it's possible there won't be a required low-rank quest for him at all.

[@fishman21-f5b]

that is good design for game progress

[@MeStandby]

As a MH veteran myself, there isn't a single monster in world/iceborne that scares me, not until after the main story that is. There are still scary monsters post story, like raging brach, alatreon, furious rajang and so on. A friend of mine picked up world recently, as his first game, and watching him getting clapped by monsters like LR Diablos, anjanat and so on made me realize that the difficulty is fine. Rurikhan should also be aware of this considering he has been watching Preach play world for the first time recently.

[@hamandcheese4795]

Lol, I had the same experience watching a couple of my friends play world for the 1st time. LR Diablos put the fear of god into them. It isn't that monsters aren't scary anymore, we just got better.

[@robertoorantes7346]

The difficulty of the monsters themselves isn't really what people complain about. If we couldn't constantly restock (as an example) then the game would be challenging without being impossible. People don't realize how much it trivializes everything just being able to restock any time you feel like it pretty much.

[@Mckudenomg]

well, this is why anecdotal data isnt worth for discussion, because it happened to absolutly opposite for me. I bought the game for a couple of friends, and most of them didnt bother with iceborne because the base game was too damn easy, the guardian set+weapons locking out people from having to actually gear and the fact that monsters repeat in low-high is a deadly combo when you try people to like the game.

[@robertoorantes7346]

@ If you're replying to my comment, that's not an issue with the monsters per say, the guardian armor trivialized the game up until master rank. The monsters themselves also aren't impossibly hard, but being able to restock at camp whenever you want can take away the challenge of the monsters. As an example, I have a habit of keeping hundreds of pitfall/shock traps in my box so i don't have to make more w hen i am ready to capture a monster, but then it also makes it so I can keep trapping a monster to kill it (aside from elders). When it comes to bowguns back in the day you had to get better at aiming and hitting the monsters but now it doesn't matter as much if you whiff your shots cuz then you can go and restock during the hunt.

[@devv197]

@@robertoorantes7346it still wouldn’t be much of a challenge until endgame High Rank/ Master rank. Once you understand monster movesets you get hit less and you need to heal less.

[@emrilde9616]

i'm sorry Ruri but has veterans, we can't be scared of early game monsters anymore. we're just old brother. :) :(

[@MrGshinobi]

A MH veteran not carting once in LOW RANK is not weird at all, i ask everyone worried about the difficulty in wilds to go back to your older title of your choosing and see that low rank has never really been that difficult and we veterans of the series just keep getting better over time. People should hold off worrying about the dificulty until we get the full release.

[@wholewheat8212]

Went back and replayed MHW recently and didn't cart until around the end of high rank. The oldest game I played was GU. I used Adept Greatsword and that shit was super easy.

[@jaesh9306]

Yup usually by the end of high rank is when carts begin for me and even still pretty rare. Also been playing for years. G rank is when the pain begins usually.

[@MrGshinobi]

@@wholewheat8212 for me i didn’t cart in world first playthrough until kirin in high rank lol, but i’ve been playing since 3U so its to be expected

[@Papanurgz777]

I recently went back to mh4u and plowed through all of high and low rank of the story line with cb with only like 3-4 carts so it really isnt just new games that are "easier" and does feel like vets are just more adept at not dying to stupid stuff or knowing your limits and knowing when to back off.

[@IAmCasualty]

She mentioned that the monsters she fought in oil well were high rank. so her first cart was in high rank. which is accurate for a veteran imo. low ranks as a veteran you usually only cart when you're unprepared or lack knowledge of a monster. I think difficulty will be fine

[@ironhelix45]

So glad she pointed out how over time she has become a better player and thus her lack of carts make sence. Its so frustrating that some of the old guard are so dead set that they should struggle against the first low ranks hunts cause they did in their first game when they were 10. My first game was 3u. I struggled to get out of lr. I was a kid. I went back like a year or so ago and i breezed through hr with 0 failures and only a couple carts. Ive become a better player the game didnt suddenly get easy after 10 years with a patch

[@dmanking11]

this, as a fellow tri vet, i was lost and so confused now, i can sleep through hunts because i can control the flow better

[@inanefabas4402]

I think the issue is that the player's ability to control the game's difficulty is out of whack. Seriously, in Sunbreak, your average endgame build had 2 whole pages of completed skills. So you could have your offensive, defensive, and utility skills all on the same build. If anything, the monsters are getting harder, but the Hunters are reaching goddamn apotheosis with each new title, and we're starting to get sick of it.

[@alb7466]

Exactly, people get better over time, I don't really think the games have gotten easier for the past like decade.

[@nuke2099]

Its not just people getting better. Capcom has made changes since 5th gen that straight up make everything easier. Its just a fact.

[@nuke2099]

@@alb7466 They have. Go back to GU and the game will kick your ass.

[@DTVizor]

I’m glad a lot of people in the comments express common sense. It’s really no surprise someone experienced doesn’t get carted in low rank. Plus, difficulty is closely related to gear. For all we know, this reviewer could be using high end gear provided with the build.

[@georgewashington7533]

They were. They were fighting ajarakan with his own armor, so the armor the had was provably stronger than it would be when you get there in game. Plus the weapons have white sharpness in high rank. Idk why ruri never understands in these videos that they give to reviewers good gear to ensure that they prevail. And not to mention the player is a seasoned monster hunter veteran, so the fact that they carted at all means the difficulty should be just fine.

[@Foreverskull0]

Why is difficulty only measured by carting? Realistically when you full cart to a monster it's probably because you outright did something dumb, or the monster had a one-shot attack that you didn't avoid. Is it impossible to find a fight difficult unless you cart to it? To me personally as long as I have to pay attention and put my full effort forward the fight is difficult regardless of if I cart.

[@euphoricganjanath5625]

because you used to cart a lot in older games....? This isnt a skill issue haha gg kind of thing, I mean like A LOT, a lot. Im completely okay with MH leaning into QOL features etc... but WORLD was flipping awful for carts. You just dont really die at all, in the grand scheme of things. However, I have 0 concerns about real difficulty, Risebreak exists, monster AI is just above and beyond better, monsters actually target you, the pacing of Rise might be different, but the fluidity of combat is improving a lot as well. World monster AI was boooooooty lmao. Ill take a game with good creative combat over flash pod/clagger spam and the monster sits there all day while you wail on its face. Ruris world simping is sad :(

[@sakuranohana1014]

​@@euphoricganjanath5625based.I tried fighting Sunbreak monster without bringing my buddies.It's very challenging. It's true that the monster AI is way better than in World

[@euphoricganjanath5625]

@ Yesssssss haha. Every time I take a break, theres always a lvl300 Shaggy or Primordial to remind me of my place. REengine really lets the devs refine things so I know itll get even better than Rise. If they make monsters more reactive in WILDS endgame, Im scared.

[@fishman21-f5b]

cart a lot mean that monster is not joke and you need play it safe

[@Cumbernumb]

It’s almost as if low rank isn’t for master rank level hunters???

[@handsoapinc]

Man, this specific video was frustrating to watch. I wish Rurikhan would do an uninterrupted watch first, then go back with pauses. Because this video was him interrupting a person to make a point that she was just about to make. Rather hear him actually listen to all of the points first, then react.

[@amatsumegasushi285]

@@handsoapinc Yeah, he had a lot of knee jerk reactions this time. And more often than not it wasn't justified because like you said if he'd wait 10 seconds she'd have addressed his concern.

[@georgewashington7533]

Fr just let her speak bro 😭 Most of her points become fragmented because he interjects himself mid sentence.

[@jacobflint3152]

super hyped to hunt with you all, great video rurikhan

[@devv197]

I have thousands of hours in GU, World, and Rise. I dont think I’ve triple carted once in any of my low rank/ village hunts. Low rank/ village is how people new to the series can get used to the game. Veterans will likely not have any issue and that is perfectly fine. When you get through the game you will start to face actual challenges.

[@Vyo1983]

I agree with her, we all got better and not only that, we are used to years of master ranked challenges and we will start out in low rank. Also I am pretty sure they were given equipment that is appropriate for the region. They didn't transition from low rank to high rank and getting destroyed, just because they have no armor.

[@DashXero]

The only way you can be scared by monsters at this point is if MIB Agents Jay and Kay hit you with the Neuralizer and tell you that you haven't been playing Monster Hunter since Tri, but you're really interested in playing MHWilds. That's the only way.

[@sekiro_the_one-armed_wolf]

What I’m saying lmao

[@Noctula]

Dude when is the last time you carted in lr or hr?

[@fishman21-f5b]

that not what it mean the game still need some challenge monster make you fear it and play safe

[@berni32323]

You never mentioned the star difficulty system that will also make the monsters much harder 5 star alpha doshaguma was harder than Rey Dau for instance. The IGN hunt video for black flame shows that it was only a 3 star, and that was the one that carted the previewer I really think the star system is going to allow even vet players to experience a good amount of difficulty.

[@Vyo1983]

I am on your side, but to be fair, he mentioned the star system.

[@fishman21-f5b]

but it do matter for game progress it not gonna put 5 star monster on story

[@goose-gz2ik]

All assumptions

[@behemothking6081]

I think you're just very skilled, Ruri. I still can't do Deviljho and Rajang solo and i'm a third fleeter.

[@littleladlarry]

If it's a feeling of terror you're after, the most terrifying fight I've had in any monster hunter game was origami rey dau. There was no was of knowing where it was going or what it was doing.

[@ab2dii467]

6:35 we go to endgame, thats what i expect monster hunter is a very unconventional game to play, there is a reason why its so common to hear a story about someone hating the game first but loving it later, it dosent feel as snappy as souls and weapons are complicated, our character isnt an overpowerd guy they get beaten up, thats why you cant have the average difficulty increase with each game like souls games ofcourse once you understand how it playes you realise how satisfying the game is to play, but you need to go there first and thats what low/high rank is for when MHrise became free on the plus a few months ago the subreddit was absolutely flooded with people struggling with the game, and thats rise the one people complain about how easy it is im hoping for end game quests to be difficult, something like tempered or any endgame mechanics that makes the game harder, i dont wanna wait for master rank lol

[@MasutaMJ]

Basically if you're a MH veteran in any capacity then the beginning of Wilds should be a cake walk.

[@azoth5420]

@@MasutaMJ “I played this game before !!!”

[@JGuy97]

Just like essentially any Monster Hunter game since Tri.

[@ashenphoenix6869]

The lady has it right Ruri. You and I and veteran hunters are just to experienced to struggle in Low rank. Wait for high rank and G Rank to struggle.

[@Holy_san]

Anjanath in the World was my nemesis, I didn't upgrade until him, and at the first quest i was like "wow cool ,pink dino " then he enters rage state and fried my soul lol

[@IdkWhoiam-d4h]

Yeah he was my first wall also 😅

[@fishman21-f5b]

i still think mhwild will have first wall for player

[@shatterpointgaming215]

Mine was MR Diablos. The horror.

[@TBr0III]

Rise and sunbreak was insanely easy, no one can argue that. I really hope wilds is not as easy but I fear it will be. I hope high rank will be at least a challenge this time, we want a challenge like the old games.

[@htfs493]

Seeing people whine about difficulty is so tiring. I just want to get excited with people over new monsters man.

[@Torinn1X]

I think the feeling of “being scared of monsters” is gone after playing your first monster hunter and (imo) I don’t think you can ever experience that again but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the game but means that you won’t be challenged anymore which is perfectly fine for me.

[@CreamIc7]

The moment I beat anjanath in world my first monster hunter I almost never felt scared again

[@mr101aaa]

For sure! With World, I had already completed 4U, so many of the monsters simply surprised or interested me instead of confounding or scaring me. This came to a head with Nergigante and his seemingly un-blockable, un-dodgable flying meteor move, which I quickly ended up fearing every time he flapped those wings, ESPECIALLY if he had stunned me just before initiating the attack...And once I finally figured out how to defeat him solo (and more importantly, figured out how to avoid the attack besides superman diving) I was once again a hunter without fear, up until the Elder Dragons of Iceborne.

[@Zamoxino]

i replayed world/iceborne "twice" this year and monsters are still scary imo. they still can true combo you cause u have no wirebug recovery. i did one rush with IG and hardcore 1 life run twice...(on first run with my main IG i died to greeding on alatreon and 2nd run was with SnS that i didnt rly master and i died to shrieking i think...) i can kill fatalis with 4ppl scaling solo but early/mid game is still scary with evasion weapons cause u dont have that evade window and monsters still hit like truck... one major mistake or unlucky RNG and u are eating dirt but who knows maybe im just autistic or something

[@JGuy97]

You can definitely still be challenged as a returning, experienced player, but you’re unlikely to find that challenge in low rank or even early high rank.

[@milt3k]

No offence Rurikhan. If you as seasoned player want to get carted in early low rank, where new and unexperienced players have to learn? That's so bad take. With this mindset playerbase would get smaller with each new instalment becouse games would get harder and harder to meet experienced players expectations.

[@euphoricganjanath5625]

No offence as well, but maybe "we" collectively need MH to be "harder" because its not about "the difficulty", its Monster Hunter, not some other game. Monster Hunter has always been different and niche, say it with me, this is Monster Hunter. The community GREW because of the complexities and difficulties of MH....? That is such a flat out lie lmao. MH grew because of good word of mouth, because the combat is so good, you get your friends addicted to the games even when its hard af. When I played my first MH, I got my butt wiped by all the first tier monsters. I was carted and carted and CARTED by the simplest monsters in the game because even if they arent "hard" per say they use all sorts of tricks to cart you. A good example thats not a drome would be Arzuros, his attacks are not "hard" but when you start the game, and you have this bear who wont stop doing very annoying attacks, youre going to cart because you dont know how to manage stamina yet. Arzuros "difficulties" TEACH you how to play the game.....? With "this mindset" the community grew and grew and grew so large that the devs made WORLD, as a love letter to the western playerbase who stuck by MH. Then again, same thing always gets said about Souls games. Wah wah wah, dont make it hard, poor wittle new players will struggle!!!! Sorry but no. The reality is that MH and Souls games are niche, the difficulty of these games INSPIRE people to play them, because the experience is worth it. After years of making titles, these two devs teams are now the top dogs in gaming. How strange isnt it? but you said that this is bad for players?

[@supercarl7104]

@@euphoricganjanath5625 dark souls veterans play better than dark souls noobs. Game mechanics are similar

[@JJGateway01]

Completely agree with this take. The master rank games always end up being hard anyways. I mean look at Rise’s low rank story compared to Sunbreak’s endgame. They clearly can make the game difficult, but starting off at such a high difficulty would turn off a lot of potential players because the learning curve from MH is already huge

[@euphoricganjanath5625]

@ Didnt a dude who plays dark souls games etc.. pick up MH, and get destroyed by Khezu? Hmmmm lmao.

[@orewaren8549]

@@euphoricganjanath5625stupid take

[@00eshi]

One thing you need to notice is that she is using ajarakan's armour, which should have a fairly high fire resistance. That's probably the reason the basin monsters don't seem to do much damage (like the grab of nu udra) and she doesn't cart much

[@benturtl9076]

Not to mention thst the oilwell basin preview hunts 100% have custom gear. Every single weapon in these hunts has the same sharpness. And the armor probably has boosted stats aswell

[@jhank0cean]

This doesn't explain her killing all of the monsters she mentioned in the beginning without carting once. They don't show a lot of footage of this but there is a clip at 5:30 where she seems to be wearing a base armor set while fighting Lalabarina

[@MrGshinobi]

@@jhank0cean the explanation is that ITS LOW RANK, no monster hunter game will have you struggling against the first 6-7 low rank monsters you encounter unless you’re new to the series

[@hamandcheese4795]

@@jhank0cean Low rank is an easy game to anyone who has a fully developed brain. Any person who has at least beaten a monster hunter game before should not struggle against any low rank monster.

[@theoaremevano3227]

She mentioned them being High Rank, and was getting HR materials, but she didn't mention the Star Rating for the monsters. I'd like to know if a veteran player and a player having trouble could reach the same mission and diverge, with one hunting a weaker target to get past the mission, while the veteran hunts the strongest version so they can test themselves more. The comments on Gravios actually sound pretty promising, because there are definitely a few cases in Monster Hunter where I felt like certain attacks, even in some later games, had outdated hitboxes that weren't coinciding well with the fine detail on screen. I'm glad to hear they've done some work in that area.

[@MyName_is_Shao]

for new players, its their challanges, for veteran like us, its enjoyment. We can enjoy the games first guys, because MH team know the real challanges is waiting for us in master/G rank

[@Lexaegis]

I feel relatively confident that there will be some challenges in store for us this game. There was some cut footage that showed the Nu Udra from the build being a 3-star individual (at least in one hunt, idk if all the Nu Udra hunts were 3-star). so if she carted to that then I can only imagine that 5-stars and up will be a much bigger challenge

[@kevadu]

I really don't mind if the low rank story missions are easy. Just make sure there's a decent endgame. Curious how the whole star difficulty system is going to work.

[@daneonate5714]

rurikhan please be so forreal, as someone who im sure has thousands of hours in monster games do you really think you'd actually cart in low or high rank?

[@rurikhan]

I would like to, is the point.

[@sekiro_the_one-armed_wolf]

@@rurikhanthen make shitty decisions in a fight like it’s the first time you’ve ever played a monster hunter game.

[@Cumbernumb]

@@rurikhanyeah but after managing to solo fights like Fatalis when will any low rank ever be a real challenge for u or anyone whose done master rank and endgame high rank? Low rank isn’t designed to challenge veterans it’s designed to teach new players and introduce new monsters and mechanics

[@DonkeyBuns]

​@@rurikhan Even in older MH games like Tri and such I never carted in LR. Only carted low rank a bit in my first MH game because it was such a learning experience(a beautifully enjoyable one). It's to be expected with excessive experience that we have as veterans that LR is just fun rather than a struggle. 🤙

[@stickman583p]

they went over how multiplayer will connect. while you still have to experience the cutscene solo, you can stay connected on a back ended party system and then join into someones world at any point after the cutscene. almost like instead of being in a party in your instance, your partied up in the game as a whole, then you join their instance

[@juggernaut6666]

They can't balance the games difficulty around people with 3k+ hours playtime thats like WOW balancing around mythic raids

[@kenganomega6515]

I mean.... if u are a veteran MH player, the difficulty at release is almost never gonna be a challenge not including "powered up monsters" we are not truly gonna face difficulty til master rank high tier monsters are release, for most just releasing master rank will be enough

[@thenadei9477]

20:05 After that Rompopolo, I know what you said you silly goober I was confused why the video suddenly vanished, but now I get it, and I'm honestly glad I caught it because it's so funny, you're a good dude

[@crestFall1]

Oh yh what'd he say? Paused the vid for a bit and it disappeared for a while

[@TheDevilDucker]

​@@crestFall1he revealed a Yet unannounced Monster basically.

[@crestFall1]

@@TheDevilDucker I've seen some of the leaks. Who?

[@thenadei9477]

​@@crestFall1 To respect his wishes (since he removed it from the video) I won't say which monster he removed, since I do respect his best attempts at not spoiling the game to others

[@luigiongaming3959]

The problem is youve played so much monster hunter that unless they made the game exclusively for veterans nothing short of an endgame challenge is going to be tough for you. The game is gonna be challenging when we get to the endgame im sure. We vets just have to enjoy the building process on the way.

[@fulminus]

Excited about so many things to see early February!

[@RevelRosa]

If it’s too easy for you, just play naked and don’t use charms, bro, like damn.

[@sakuranohana1014]

Play naked in MH is too insane bro.Every monster attack will one shot.

[@zbug84]

I get the want to be afraid of the monsters again, but after putting at least 1k hours in Rise and World, I dont see that happening with out a sharp increase in difficulty that would sour the new players that Capcom and the MH team are probably expecting to come with Wilds. Im fine with them leaving that for G/Master Rank.

[@jeradclayton9124]

Im thinking something few mention or consider is she carted once, yes, while fighting with apptopriate gear for the monsters, due to the save state. Surely everyone remembers getting to vaal hazaak and fighting it the first time without any or only minimal miasma defence causing him to be nasty. But once geared appropriately he becomes trivial. Unless everyone grinds monsters for full sets of armour and weapons each hunt, probably a little underpowered when you get to each monster past the training montage.

[@Frvnklin]

The Star system will be our diffuculty slider and I have a feeling that Story quests are 1 star versus the highest 5 star diffuculty(excluding tempered and arch-tempered or wtv new difficulty they give us)

[@ShivaX51]

I remember my first run through MHW getting repeatedly checked by Anjanath, struggling with Tobi, dying on Nergigante, Barioth making me run out of time. Then I came back a few years later having only played some Rise/Sunbreak (and that being a year prior) and basically stomping everything until the end of the story. I don't think anything carted me until Icebourne. Maybe Nergi because I forgot the dive tells or something like that. As far as "non-essential" stuff the first thing that comes to mind is freaking ammo and I'm glad farming for basic ammo isn't a thing anymore. Edit: And if I never have to haul a stupid egg, that I can't set down for no reason, across an entire zone for a cooking ingredient I'll be ecstatic.

[@DonkeyBuns]

They learned their lessons with egg quests a while back and they'll never do it again. We've ALWAYS hated them lmao.

[@Rytom]

The hunter getting better is an half truth. The games are also getting increasingly easier and permissive. I don't know why people still try to keep up this narrative. Just look at Wilds and how every move is safer, and requires less commitment. How you can guard faster between moves, the focus mode that allows you to ignore positioning, the sekhret coming at your rescue when you're down, the healthbar telling you a big attack is coming. I could go on and on.

[@EvgGaar]

I would say some of these are legitimate painpoints that needed to be addressed. Unresponsive blocking, for example, is akin to something like the screen blacking out every now and then leaving you blind, and then calling it an element of "difficulty". The mount being a huge "let me heal for free real quick, with 0 risk or planning" button is definitely not welcome though.

[@drachenbuster]

Exactly, I don't understand why people look at difficulty in such a black & white manner. Its always either "new players struggle while old players will have a breeze" or "old players struggle and new players are gatekept by absurd difficulty". When people ask for challenge they're not asking for some kind of absurd difficulty like MH2. And I think its reasonable to believe that a middle ground where the game can maintain a level of challenge for old and new players can exist.

[@DyingMixTape]

I think they mentioned. At least some of these, you can turn off

[@mystere4838]

​@@drachenbuster Something closer to MH3Tri. In terms of difficulty in hunts, best balance you can have.

[@averoth5922]

@@drachenbuster The fact is that if the learning curve is too steep it will push away some new players before MH "clicks" for them. I understand the desire to be challenged in low rank, but if low rank is challenging for someone with thousands of hours in this series across multiple games and their G rank versions, it's going to be too much for someone who is still learning the basic combos and abilities of their weapons (how to counter with LS, guardpoint with CB, tackle with GS, etc.) In my personal opinion the ideal balance of difficulty in a Monster Hunter game is one in which the difficulty starts off easy and then spikes near the end of high rank, leading into a sufficiently difficult endgame. I think we should reserve judgement on difficulty until we see what the and of high rank has to offer.

[@DustedArchivist]

from my beta experience, I got carted twice by 5 star dosha. I'd like to note as well I've solo'd every monster in world and iceborne including Fatalis, so while I'm sure I won't struggle much In wilds, there will be those moments where you're caught off guard.

[@Timberpelt]

I've put well over a thousand hours into world... and yet in the beta the doshaguma and the rey dau had fainted me on several occasions... we're hunters... and we've been around a while. New monsters with new tricks up their sleeves will still trip us up. And even then... there needs to be a reasonable starting point for new hunters that isnt brutally challenging. We'll get our scary monsters and hard hunts in high rank, and even more in master rank. What we need to do is make sure we can help our fellow and fledgling hunters fall in love with the series that has become so near and dear to our hearts. The true hunter's way. Together.

[@jhanlec]

White fog is a way devs can to reduce the need for long distance rendering which is a much friendlier way to improve graphics and performance. This is doubly helpful for Switch relative to something like a high end PC or the PS5. Not saying this is why they did it but it is a strategy.

[@tetz1238]

After playing rise and moving onto both world and gu i can say that I did not cart once in both low ranks and also only carted once in all of base game world, the difficulty is not a big deal, the early parts of these games haven't been hard for a loooooong time

[@DiscoFinalBoss]

I hope it’s not a breeze especially in HR but we have indeed become better players after so much experience playing the other games. Another thing that factored into the difficulty of the older was the jank which has been largely addressed.

[@StormyWeathery]

I understand people care about difficulty so much. But this is not a from soft game. Games are supposed to be fun. Not bull crap artificial difficulty adjustment relax. Its not the end of the world and world was not even hard it was just cheap shot central untell you got use to it or the devs got lazy and made the monster just be a 3 or 2 or 1 shot hits aka artificial difficulty adjustment, which is not a good hard difficulty. It's just bull crap until you get used to it. You can't balance a game around people that have with X amount of hours on older games. You gotta keep that in mind. Andthis is low rank for all we know this is going to be harder then we all think it is all so.

[@floofmeister52]

Everything from chata to Uth is low rank, please tell me the last time the first 7 monsters in low rank gave you any trouble outside of your very first MH game

[@iq_damn4397]

I might not worry too much on difficulty if we can get 5star level of every monster. Remember the 5 star doshaguma in beta? That thing hit like a truck

[@shomejuan2179]

19:13 At 2:30 she says the Oilwell Basin was a different play state. So she fought the first 7 in story order then she was dropped into the Oilwell Basin.

[@Coach__Matt]

To challenge vets, the star values of monsters have to make a real difference. They could let newer hunters start low and gradually increase, and would let vets hit the ground running. But general health and damage increases are not gonna cut it, they need new moves, more aggressive behavior, and stronger defenses. The increased rewards will also let vets upgrade faster and move on to the harder stuff sooner.

[@handgunbobcat4451]

I don't know how its surprising at all that someone familiar with the series didn't cart against the first seven monsters in low rank. That feels like it would be expected.

[@navi8801]

Regarding difficulty, I do think it's important that Vets get challenged. However, it's a bit of a delicate balance imo, how do you make something challenging for someone who's been playing for 10+ years while also not overwhelming newer players? You always have your tempered/arch temp or anomaly monsters, but those are deep into the game. With the changes to the quest system and the "star-rating" of quests we saw in the first beta, I hope they expand upon that to customize to each individual players experience level through the game. an example would be like the difference between a 2-star doshaguma and a 5-star doshaguma quest, so we can see those changes immediately instead of having to wait on a specific quest or TU to get them. I know it would be a bit superficial, since it's most likely just an hp and damage increase. I don't think we'd see moveset changes, but having the option would be healthy for everyone overall Edit: ruri does take the star-rating system into account, didn't get that point yet before typing this lol

[@elliottrichmond1579]

I think it's important to remember that her play sessions were split between 5 hours of the story, and hunting the 4 monsters in the oil well basin. We know she had veeeery strong gear in those oil well basin hunts, likely high rank strength gear judging by the very generous white sharpness all the weapons had. So i think the indicator of difficulty in those sections specifically is not fully representive of what *our* first time encountering those monsters will look like

[@Crashh965]

I hope IGN has her do more Wilds and other MonHun coverage!

[@capellozapellini6074]

Rurikhan will probably get his copy 2-3 weeks before release. I wonder if he will have already played the full game while we are playing the second beta

[@TheFarslayer]

She made a great point . I think the “Mh Purists” need to chill a bit, just cuz Mh isn’t super tedious, hard, and annoying anymore. That doesn’t make it worse . I think we all need to let the new generation of hunters get into the series easier than some of us did

[@MrRenanHappy]

It wasn't tedious and hard in MHW. These are not objective measurements of what these mechanics did. Youre just keen on undermining any preparation and challenging elements in this game.

[@draconiansoul7570]

​@@MrRenanHappyCrazy. I'm pretty sure people said the same thing you're saying about World. Fiver was a insult for a while for a reason

[@sekiro_the_one-armed_wolf]

@@MrRenanHappy you’re right, world wasnt tedious and it was shit on for it by MH purists.

[@PomaReign]

Since Wilds is basically Worlds 2.0, the skills and experience from Worlds will naturally carry over to Wilds so the difficulty would seem lower for Worlds veterans. Of course they can't design Wilds difficulty for Worlds veterans and cause new Monster Hunter players jumping into Wilds to get hit with a difficulty wall.

[@fishman21-f5b]

but i hope it still have some difficulty wall like mhw anjanath

[@otrikas]

@@fishman21-f5b I mean of the 7 first monsters I bet one of them is supposed to be a wall. But it wont be a wall for you or me who played hundreds of hours of world.

[@memeteme8893]

I mean, even when I was brand new to the series with MH4U, I didn't cart once until Gore Magala. I hadn't learned about the superman dive and the big Frenzy explosion was walling me. A friend told me about the superman dive and then I beat Gore Magala without carting on my very next attempt after practicing how to dive with a couple of Tetsucabra hunts. Now that I've been playing this series for years, it's rare I cart outside of Hazard quests at all.

[@Fang1st]

While I do understand wanting to cart early game for experienced players, that just means new players are going to be stone-walled super quickly and probably quit before getting into the game.

[@TheBulletProofGun]

World monsters scared me. Just the other day I was doing the quest for the house cat to capture a Seething Bazel, and even though I had fought Bazel before I was still like "Man, I dunno if I can do this..." In Risebreak, I almost never felt that way. Like maybe half of the Title Update monsters had me worried the first time, and only the TU Narga variant still gives me pause. I want monsters to be legitimately scary. They're giant monsters, they should scare you. Like, okai, maybe Chatacabra and the first few monsters are push overs, but fighting one of the apex monsters of an area shouldn't be like "I beat it with one hand on my first try"

[@huitui]

So Rey Dau isn't one of the first 7 monsters in the story. How much harder will he be than in the beta, I wonder?

[@xemtra]

i tihnk your overblowing the difficulty. she has hundereds of hours of MH under her belt. not a good judge imo

[@vsrobojoe892]

I get where Rurikhan is coming from with wanting the games to be challenging, but the issue is that players like us have accumulated legacy knowledge and experience beyond a critical threshold that just makes all low rank and most of high rank monsters too easy. If the devs tried to make the monsters artificially more difficult for playres like us in low and high rank then most new players would never make it to high rank and would quit. I went back after World and Rise and played older games and I can say that even with the controls and weapons feeling different I did not cart at all during low rank and not until halfway through high rank. At some point you just have to take the enjoyment in these games from the new gimmicks and the new monsters or maybe bringing new players and teaching them. I think the best part about difficulty going forward is to remember that every monster has a 1 to 5 star difficulty now in addition to whether the monster is low or high rank. From what it seems from the beta the scripted first encounters with monsters will probably be 3 star monsters as the default. So if you want a harder fight you just have to go for the 5 star version of the monster. I know that there was considerable differences between a 3 star and 4 star Doshaguma so until the game comes out and I don't find even the 5 star monsters a challenge I am going to give the team the benefit of the doubt on difficulty. Also the fog is there to cut back on rendering and memory. You can't have a game look like this with all these moving parts and different monsters and have an infinitely rendered field of view if you want this to run on a console. Fog is literally one of the oldest tricks in the book to cut out on rendering while allowing the underlying logic to still run so that the rendering can take place when you get close enough to clear away some of the fog.

[@kylequinn1963]

I agree with you, the difficulty is going to be key in this game. I started playing world, have around 300 hours or so in that game (never played MH ever before) and when I played the beta, I found it was VERY easy using the Charge Blade. I took down Rey Dau in 20 minutes on my first try.

[@bluefiredemon448]

From the Japan Review. You dont have to bring cool drinks per se at hunts. There is something called Cool clothes that give the same effect The journalist said that wilds is like Elden ring as in open world

[@rivius8151]

The "fearing the monster" part, probably has more to do with the fact that hunters keep getting stronger entry after entry regardless of player's skill than people seem to realize, i think. Just compare a low rank "build" to 4th gen and prior end game, the gap in the number of active useful skills is massive. All that said, i'm less worried about general difficulty of the base game, and more worried about power creep, specially on TU monsters and their gear. Also the having a "smart" health and status heal button is fine, as long as they don't remove the actual different items. I like the gathering, and crafting items/traps and most of the "inconveniences" related to item management and preparing before the hunt that seem to be slowly pushing to the back.

[@kildaver]

Early game monsters’ value is how their layered armor will look.

[@kazetsune]

Started with freedom unite, but it’s Risebreak that clicked for me. Spent 1000 hours on it. Played Iceborne and breezed through all of the base game monsters and most of iceborne. The first wall I ran into was raging brachy. Experience in MH makes you better, and experience removes the fear of facing an unknown monster. I remember being afraid of facing Rajang solo in Rise. Never had the same feeling when facing furious rajang in IB.

[@Simbad_Garcia]

I'm not ashamed to say I carted a lot of times on rise village quest, reason is it was my first monsnter hunter and I went totally blind, no preview, no combo guides, nothing. But once I learned how to play, very very rarely I carted unless I got one shot or something similar, after that I went an played worlds, didn't cart until fatalis so in me experience world was a lot easier than ride but that was because I already had all the knowledge and experience I needed.

[@ripxdoc]

commenting for algorithm & encouragement

[@BeefCakeOfficial]

Im not like a pro or anything but Rey Dau carted me a couple times in the beta, and i can tell ive gotten better since world. There will definitely be a lot of monsters i cart on

[@robertjoseph6765]

Everything can't be a Souls game, that's not what MH is and never has been. Souls has spoiled everyone into thinking that if you're not constantly at risk for dying to lower level enemies the game isn't hard enough.

[@MLPRucenas]

Lowrank giving you a challenge would be fun but honestly i expect that mh veterans are gonna breeze through low and maybe even high rank quests, i just hope they throw in some tougher challenges via updates till G-rank drops

[@DonkeyBuns]

Don't forget the star level of monsters make a noticeable difference in how much damage they deal and how much HP they seem to have.

[@Hakuja88]

Casey unconsciously throwing shade throughout the review at grandpa Ruri. 😅

[@luongbui2865]

I think the player struggled with the octopus monster. That’s why she summoned those NPCs. I can be wrong, but that’s the only monster that she did that. You can tell by the way she fought solo. Not really aggressive like others. I can be wrong. Octopus is hard because cant read its move set like other monsters.

[@cherdnad2630]

Difficulty-wise, it's the same with souls-like, the hardest game is your 1st game barring one shots. That's why I always change my main weapon every iteration of MH I play. Turns me into a newbie everytime.

[@th-bk8ez]

Since there is a Lightning, Water, and Fire area, I expect the MH Direct to introduce the Ice area. The Dragon area will probably be the final area.

[@Drakthus]

mmmm that MH World's sound effect when you hit a monster with the hunting horn, so glad they brought it back in after beta 2:45

[@Rathadude]

I was a veteran by World and still carted in low rank. I played Rise didn't cart once in low rank. Went back to World and carted yet again in low rank. Difficultly is objective because there are objectively mechanics in Rise and Wilds that aren't in the older games that make the game easier. You could not roll backwards in older titles. That objectively made the games harder because you had to be more conscious of your positioning than you do now. Wilds also seems to have massively nerfed stuns as I only got stunned once in the beta by Rey Dau while I had thinder blight. Got ragdolled by 5 star Doshaguma and didn't get stunned once and survived every big hit because I could just call uber bird to get away and heal for free. That objectively makes the game easier.

[@thearcticferret]

Yes, there are things that make the game objectively easier. That doesn't change the fact that the games are also still getting subjectively easier. Almost everyone in this comment section has stated that they would go back to a game they struggled with and find it super easy so you're definitely in more of a minority there.

[@Rathadude]

@@thearcticferret Even Ratatoskr, who started with World, went back and played 4U for the first time and said he struggled more in that game's low rank than World. Obviously, games people have already played will be a little easier when they go back to them. The difference is how hard new monsters are in new games the first time you fight them. If the problem is simply me getting better at the game, then I wouldn't have carted at all in World's low rank as I had played every western released MH game since Tri before then. Even Casey, in her final preview, admits to "sweating a bit" when she refought Anjanath, which she doesn't say about any of the first 7 monsters she fought in Wilds.

[@Gavincie]

20:05- cheeky edit there I see, naughty naughty rurikhan

[@crestFall1]

What'd he say? I'm assuming that's why the vid disappeared for a while

[@ifldiscovery8500]

​@@crestFall1 mentioned unrevealed monster by accident.

[@wolfmcknight3043]

At some point, difficultly becomes a balancing game. Do you want inflated health pools, less time in hunt creating a dps check, that most people would call artificial difficulty. Its a sad truth but there are limits to difficulty based off the technology at hand. But unfortunately games generally get easier with each iteration. Dragon's dogma 2 was a joke compared to the first. Sad thing is most people now days dont want to be challenged they want to be entertained.

[@Cyanoblades]

I'm fine with the campaign being easier, the end game is where the real challenge should be. This keeps the game accessible to everyone.

[@baconx6476]

The game has gotten easier due to the need to reach out to more players, and we've gotten better as hunters. At this point post 5th gen, if you're a veteran, don't expect much resistance until G-rank, and even then, only towards the few endgame monsters and TUs.

[@AwwHeckASnek]

Of course a long time veteran hunter isn't going to cart often. The game doesn't really seem any easier, we're just more competent players than we were when we first picked up the series. I was going back and playing through 4U, GenU/XX, and World recently, and it was a breeze for much of the game, the games didn't get easier over the years since I first played them, I just got better and got comfortable fighting much more threatening monsters.

[@Krynis]

as others have noted I would also like to note that Casey DeFreitas is no normal writer, afaik she is a mon hun fan through and through.

[@dumptruck4083]

6:51 exactly that’s what makes me excited, I want to feel like I’m actually fighting a dangerous monster.

[@Duppy0906]

Me watching this and the video suddenly goes private and the mistake i commented about gets changed 😌

[@castlecragnizab]

This is unironically the best thing I've seen from IGN in over a decade.

[@raptorxd2146]

The 7th monster should not make you afraid as a monster hunter veteran. That's litterally low rank still. The difficulty should not lie within the story. Yes, it should have difficult fights, but the actual challenges that you sought after should mainly be after the story conclusion so that even casuals can finish the story and aren't forced to face challenges made for veterans

[@dikardvondoom3574]

I’m all for streamlining the early stages. Lower the early game curve for newcomers and ramp it up later for the vets who will stick around a lot longer. Getting into the meat of the game faster might help retention of new players as well. Honestly, I’m not worried about how the whole game will turn out. They seem to be drawing a lot from World but on a grander scale and I’m all for it.

[@fabionunes7081]

Gonna be honest, Im worried about the game being too easy. Still im hyped

[@fishman21-f5b]

let see when game out

[@Sisterofthesea]

rompopolo, a cross between a mosquito and a wasp fused with a raptor's body

[@CupOfJoe91]

I get what you’re saying about wanting to be scared of the monster…but fam…how many hours do we have at this game franchise? Unless you’re using a weapon you’re not used to playing, how realistic is it for a veteran player to cart in early Low Rank???

[@jockpackage1770]

Can't wait for the next trailer, I'm expecting the ice map. I kind of also figured that either Capcom was going to reveal the second new beta monster during IGN's coverage, like with gypceros, or at the end of it. But, now that we know this is happening, I'm guessing they'll set aside a bit of time to announce the second beta monster at this event. I'd be kind of shocked if they didn't tell us and we found out in the beta. I would be happy, if that happened, but I don't expect it. Why not have both new monsters in both beta windows? That would be weird. Also the star system, stop wining. Maybe that employee has experience with other game journalists, the types that hate gaming. Yes, a veteran of the series won't have much trouble with LOW RANK's FIRST 7 MONSTERS!!! That's not a bad thing and she addresses that very concern, rather well. Hell, it was a journalist build so they may have made it much easier/given overtuned gear in the oilwell basin, just to save time and so the journalist that aren't Monster Hunter fans didn't wine. I did also think that lala barina was going to be after balahara but that's fine. Rise is easier by design. The team admits that they make it easier, as a whole. To accommodate shorter play sessions and so you try more new things like; new weapons, switch skills, etc. Her point about World is totally valid. Restocking is another issue, entirely. Yep, we can debate where that line is but there are some things we can mostly agree on that are on one side or the other.