Monster Hunter: World - Iceborne

There was no doubt: after the incredible success of Monster Hunter: World, published in January of last year, there would have been a sequel. It is now a consolidated tradition of the Capcom series to present a second extended version of each chapter without making the fans wait too long, for this reason, they were not taken by surprise by the announcement of Monster Hunter World: Iceborne. Nonetheless, the wait for this definitive version was unique: primarily because the base game quickly became the best-selling title in Capcom history, with over thirteen million copies distributed, also because it was at the center of an advertising campaign of quite different from the other "2.0" series.

A shower of trailers, demos playable in live and remote events, with news revealed little by little that make the hype fever rise up to exceed the guard levels. I have already had the opportunity to deepen the amount of content to say the least remarkable of Iceborne, so as to make it stand tight the nickname "expansion", and in the meantime other innovations have been added, such as the return of the poisonous Yian Garuga (who could also remain at his house, if you want my opinion) and the Zinogre - always my favorite "non-dragon-elder", who consequently made me throw a lot of shrill urlettini when I saw him appear on the screen in this new version.

It was the new monsters to hunt the first thing that kept me glued to the controller, trying hard to make me forget that I would have had other things to do too. We start with the inhabitants of the new Brinose Wastes, Beotodus and Banbaro, to whom the ungrateful role of beasts passing from the high to the Master level belongs; well done task, especially from the second, perfectly in line with the surrounding environment and equipped with attacks that hit hard but on average slow and a massive body full of weak points to hit. From there you immediately jump into the arms, fangs and spines of the variants of monsters already present such as the Tobi-Kadachi Vipera or the Paolumu Onirico: as in the past, these special versions help to give new life to wild beasts that otherwise, after the first hours of play, would naturally end up in the background.

The Master Rank then, like the G of the past (not too far away, since in this same period of last year I was dealing with the review of Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate), it does not only mean more damage and more life points for monsters: old acquaintances are enriched with attacks never seen before and new arrivals bring (lethal) winds of fresh air ... but that's not all here. The approach to hunting changes, with some very effective tools in Monster Hunter: World, such as the Lightning pods, very weakened (in line with what has already been seen with the Arci Temprati and the Behemoth Extreme) and, for example, monsters that tend to get up very quickly after being ridden and successfully landed. The difficulty level in Iceborne progressively rises in the first hours of the game, without reaching the peaks of the most difficult event missions of Monster Hunter: World ... at least for the moment: it would surprise me not to see anything like this coming in the next few months, especially after the announcement of the return of Rajang. However, the challenges posed by this expansion are generally more complex than those of the base game main story (as was logical to expect).

These adjustments are the direct consequence of the addition of the Rampino Claw, which provides new (and valid) tools to the hunters without revolutionizing the game system, but rather fitting between the mechanics present, taking advantage of the winning elements already seen in the past; same thing for end-game activities, which leverage one of the aspects I preferred about Monster Hunter World compared to its predecessors, that is, the presence of more lively environments than in the past, which manage not to give the impression of being only arenas specially prepared for the player. Furthermore, the grinding of the parts of the monsters, already partially contained in the basic version of the game, in Iceborne seems to have really reached an excellent balance. We will talk about these three things in detail before long.

Although there is really a lot to be happy about, not all that glitters is gold. Monster Hunter is an angular saga, famous both for its strengths and for some limits that it seems that it just can't manage to leave behind. Even today, despite having done so much before in Monster Hunter World and now in Iceborne to file these most annoying aspects, there is still work to be done.

The first component of not making a good impression is the story - although it is clear that it is not the real heart of the game. After all these years, despite a more lively ecosystem than ever and the beautiful background suggestions, Capcom cannot fail to re-propose the same narrative structure made of real, fake or hidden threats, experienced through the eyes of a character - the Assistant - never well enough characterized to be an effective protagonist of a series of events that would like to involve the player, but which instead quickly slide into oblivion and bring the finger towards the "Jump" button.

Some now classic problems, such as the apparent impossibility for developers to give birth to a complete and simple interface, had been partially solved in Monster Hunter World and further sweetened in Iceborne, while not remaining intuitive. The new HUB, Seliana, comes to the aid of the player by bringing together (finally) in one place all the various useful menus and, in addition, new items have been added in some windows to facilitate navigation: while remaining far from being optimized , at least now they are easily accessible.

From the point of view of the monsters, one still has (sometimes) the impression that the hit hit boxes are all too generous: it happens, as already happened in the basic version of the game, that one is struck by something ... invisible , when you already felt safe. It is certainly not a constant, but in a game that puts so much emphasis on precision, these inaccuracies are noticeable. Some problems already encountered last year, such as the low consistency of the long-sword-breaking blow of the helmets, always seem ready to jump out again when you least expect them.