Half a year ago, Monster Hunter World was released worldwide for the PS4 and Xbox One. Sales skyrocketed, and the PvE action RPG received a lot of praise. But what is there left for long-term players to do in MHW?
Half a year since release: Monster Hunter World had its worldwide release on January 26, 2018. It was still freezing cold in Germany, and we were wearing sweaters. Now we are in June and wearing T-shirts. In recent weeks, there has been a bit of silence around Monster Hunter World. But what is happening after six months in Monster Hunter World?
There are regular events and free DLCs with new content
New monsters through free expansions: The game is still receiving new monsters that weren’t available at launch. Recently, the Flame Empress Lunastra was introduced. Soon, there will be a monster from Final Fantasy XIV, the Behemoth. And recently, the first tempered monsters were added.
How long will these free updates continue? That is still uncertain. Monster Hunter World has sold quite well and has even become the most successful Capcom title. We can expect that there will still be a few monster expansions to come.
What are long-term players focusing on now?
The free expansions are the highlights: When a major update with a new monster arrives, interest in Monster Hunter World rises again. This was particularly noticeable during the siege quest for Kulve Taroth.
The hunters have new monsters to defeat and can once again craft new gear for themselves and their Palico. Some of the DLC monsters come only as event rotations. Thus, Kulve Taroth or the tempered Daemonjho may make a visit to the new world from time to time.
Unlocking all trophies: Some hunters are completing their trophy cabinets and collecting golden crowns from monsters diligently. There are also other challenges; some complete all optional quests or set out to catch all pets.
Farming the perfect gear and experimenting with builds: Creating new gear is a particularly strong motivation for long-term players. Given the low drop rates of about Augmentations for endgame gear, hunters may have to take down some monsters more than a hundred times. With more than 30 monsters and their loot, there are different variations of weapon classes and armors. Completing them all and experimenting with them is a good long-term occupation for some.
Speedruns: A particularly good way to test new builds is through speedruns. Here, hunters try to hunt a specific monster as quickly as possible. In Monster Hunter World, the Nergigante is often used for this. It does not always have to be competitive or in its extreme form.
The big hype is gone for now: what remains is the grind
Monster Hunter World was never meant to be a “Games-as-a-Service“: After half a year, many initial players feel like “the air is out”. We have observed this in the comments on Monster Hunter World articles here at Mein-MMO. Capcom was inspired by MMOs. However, the developers never intended to build Monster Hunter World for multiple years. The game has already offered a lot of free new content that can still keep players engaged.
The repeated grind of the same monsters is not for everyone: The long-term players who remain after the initial hype enjoy the grind. Creating new gear and completing it brings them joy. However, the “casual” gamer may quickly find it monotonous. Of course, there are still those who log in occasionally and participate in some events.
What about G-Rank? If Capcom doesn’t have other plans, the G-Rank for Monster Hunter World could be the next big hype. The developers, however, are keeping quite tight-lipped and are not releasing any information. If Capcom decides to release a large paid DLC with the G-Rank, it would be expected in about another half year. That has been the interval between the base Monster Hunter games and the Ultimate version with G-Rank.
How about you? Do you still log into Monster Hunter World frequently after half a year?
