Topic: Monster Hunter Rise

@Ganner THANK YOU!

Geez this thread got dark. I’ll come back when it is safe.

@Ryu_Niiyama It should be (Soon) some won just spiked the potion's.

@Snatcher Yeah of course, you're always welcome.

@TeeJay Thanks.

@Ryu_Niiyama
How's the progress coming. You starting to understand the game a little better now?

@JaxonH
Thanks for checking in.

Um. Kinda.

I still don't understand everything in the HUD, like the little weapon symbol that appears next to my palamute's weapon sometimes. I've read the online manual twice...sigh. I thought it was a type mismatch with the monster I was fighting but I have been trying to select weapons to match typing. Granted, you don't find out what to use until after you bang your head on a monster and slay one but still. Not a fan of the dual blade tree though. I feel like it takes forever before I can get a new weapon, so I make sure my buddies are well equipped to cover for me still using the same bone blades III. I wish you could like poison your blades but the hunting helpers help with fixing that since they can give access to posions or fire or whatnot. I did finally figure out that you can and should go into your tent (i didn't know you could change equipment mid mission at first). So that is helping me make a strategy when I fight.

I'm not having fun though. But it is one of those moments where I'm willing to put in more work to get the muscle memory down before I give up on it (besides I spent a ton of cash on this game.) I still hate the movement, but I think for now dual blades is the closest to what type of fluidity I expect from an action game (I'm also constantly reminding myself that in addition to SF which I love for its speed and fluidity, Capcom makes Onimusha and Dragon's Dogma which are far more restricted in movement but are games I enjoy). I do like the NPCs so I feel a little invested in the town and I am trying to learn each region before I move on, meaning half of the time I do the exploration quests.

There also doesn't seem to be a way to cancel combos with dual blades which is frustrating. That being said I do feel that this is probably the best game for me to try to actually get into it as the wire bug mechanics add some needed versatility and maneuverability. I've been forcing myself to slow down and play this like a souls/sekiro game (even though sekiro has some more movement options but it still has the same hard commit and slow pacing) and that is helping me not be frustrated. But I think the annoyance is in the fluidity of the monsters versus the player. It feels like I'm playing at 30 fps but the monster is 60fps. I'll keep hitting the dojo though.

I don't like the rampages so far but I feel that is a lack of intuitiveness with the camera so that I can get to the stations quickly to set them up. Because tactics and fighting games are my jam and I normally eat stuff like this for breakfast.

I did have one fight where I must have picked up the monster rhythm intuitively because it almost felt fun. the monster lunged and i did the spinning leap in the air which allowed me to not get hit and keep landing attacks...I did that three times in a row in that fight and smiled for the first time while playing. I did have another moment of fun when I wrecked a Royal Ludoth. I think I'd passed its tier because I'm so focused on upgrading weapons and armor and I just broke so many pieces off of it quickly and I sorta felt like was how the game was supposed to feel all the time. but those moments are rare...however I don't wanna start another action game and mess up my muscle memory for this one. Which sucks cuz that means I can't play Sakuna for a while (I love that game, very fluid fighting system). But like i said I get glimpses of where I can almost understand why ya'll love it so. I do enjoy all the secondary systems like the dango.

The good thing is I am not as frustrated as I used to be playing these games, so that's why I feel I need more time. I took your fighting game analogy to heart and treat it the same as I do a fighting game, which means i block out time to train daily. I do have to take breaks to go play games that I enjoy though. So I'm not at the point where I'm playing for fun.

I still can't cut a tail though.

@Ryu_Niiyama
Don’t sweat the small details. Even I don’t know what those mean half the time. I’m pretty sure they are buffs and debuffs such as attack up, defense up, defense down, etc.

There’s not really a “type matching” like in Pokémon. Yes, all monsters have different weaknesses to different elements, but it’s only a small percentage of the overall damage you’re doing. The majority of your damage comes from raw attack. The elemental damage is just a nice little bonus. Rarely if ever do I worry about the monster’s weakest element. You can- there’s nothing wrong with that and some people do, it’s just not really necessary. It might shave off 1-2 minutes of your 20 minute hunt. Nothing you’re going to really notice. And statuses are nice, but again, pretty inconsequential in the big scheme of things. Give me 10 higher raw attack over a status or element any day (nothing against them- I enjoy having them, they’re just not that important to the extent you have to feel like you’re missing out when you’re not using them).

You won’t enjoy rampages until you understand the combat mechanics, and it sounds like you’ve got some work to do in that respect. I really don’t think dual blades are a good choice because it gives you the impression this is a game that doesn’t revolve around animation commitments, yet animation commitments are the heart and soul of MH. Literally everything is based around the length of animations. Dual blades have combos that you can’t cancel, and that’s no different than any other weapon because when you attack with any weapon you are committed to the animation. But at least with other weapons it’s only one attack, not a string of attacks.

So while Dual Blades may feel closest to what you think the game should be like, it’s actually the farthest from what the game actually is. I recommend Switch Axe. That’s a solid weapon it’s not too slow but not too fast.

Really sounds like you’re focusing a bit too much on the small details that don’t matter, and that’s not your fault because you’re new to the game and you don’t know what’s important and what’s not important. But the little debuff and buff symbols are not that important. You can learn that later when you’re hundreds of hours into the series. For now, your #1 objective should be learning a weapon like the back of your hand. And as long as it feels unnatural to be stuck in an animation then you haven’t fully acclimated. You have to learn the weapon to the extent that when you press a button (or a series of buttons) you know exactly what’s going to happen in your mind before it happens, and when you get to that point, the actions on screen align with your expectations, and that is when it starts feeling “right”. Maybe there’s a combo you can’t cancel out of. Then you know ahead of time not to do that combo unless you have a large enough opening, and you know how long it takes to complete before regaining control, and you learn to judge your Windows of opportunity. Maybe you play it safe at first and only commit to long combos when you’ve knocked the monster down or trapped them with a shock/pitfall trap or stunned them or whatever.

I really don’t think dual blades is good though for a new player though. Everything else in the game is based around committing to animations. Drinking potions. Dodge rolling. Sheathing. Unsheathing. Attacking. Eating steaks. Etc. And half the skills are reductions of animation length. Speed eater skill speeds up how fast you eat steaks and drink potions. Quick Sheath speeds up sheathing. Speed sharpening speeds up sharpening. Rapid Morph reduces the animation length when switching modes with a Switch Axe or Charge Blade. So much of the game hinges on managing animations. But dual blades trains you to think “instant gratification” and then the rest of the game feels weird by comparison. And when dual blades trap you in an animation for a combo, it feels weird because you’re used to that instant gratification. That instant response and lack of commitment.

My advice would be to try not to sweat the small stuff and just focus on getting comfortable with combat. That’s number one. When you get comfortable with your weapon everything else falls into place. And dual blades are especially bad because it’s a weapon where you don’t really sheath and dodge roll. You dash and move fast with your weapon out. It seems like it would be the best weapon for a newcomer, but I’ve honestly changed my opinion on it recently, for new players at least. But ya. Stressing too much over inconsequential things instead of just learning the combat and having fun with the challenge of the fight will probably result in frustration. Perhaps you’re just not playing the right weapon. But also perhaps it’s taking things a bit too seriously. Training is good. Paying attention to things like elements is good. But it’s nothing to stress over. The majority of the game should just be getting out in the field and fighting monsters and learning through experience as you play.

@Ryu_Niiyama
So, here’s a quick video of someone hunting a Mizutsune with Switch Axe. Even disregarding the specific weapon of choice, watch their tactics and approach. See how they use Advancing Morph switch skill to close the gap with the monster with super armor during roars (certain moves that can’t be interrupted). Observe the cadence of combat.

Ive found one of the best ways to get good at MH is watching someone who knows what they’re doing.

Also. Don’t feel super committed to one specific crafted weapon. You’re not meant to stick with one crafted weapon and wait until you can upgrade that one weapon, because as you said, it could be a really long time and some weapons skip entire upgrade levels and you don’t even get to upgrade until you get higher rank parts.

What you should be doing is crafting every single weapon you can make and collecting as many of them as possible, and then upgrading the ones that you can as you play. Because every weapon will require different materials to upgrade, if you have 10 different Dual Blades, for example, or Switch Axes, or whatever, then just by playing the game you’re going to naturally get the materials to upgrade 2 or 3 of them. And then those upgraded versions are more powerful than the one you were using before, so you switch to them. And you keep doing that, cycling between different crafted weapons as you upgrade and create more powerful ones. The larger the pool of crafted weapons, the better the chance you can upgrade a few of them. Maybe down the line you end up with the right materials to upgrade the weapon you were originally using and you come back to it later. But it sounds to me like you’re using an out-classed weapon because you’re solely focused on upgrading that one specific weapon, and that’s just not working out.

So ya, craft tons of different weapons. Upgrade as many of them as you can, and just use the most powerful one you have at any given time. Never get super attached to a specific crafted weapon. And if there’s a specific weapon that you’re really close to being able to upgrade but you need like one part, maybe go hunt the monster you need to hunt to get that part.

edit
FYI, that blinking weapon symbol next to their Palamute is one of their palamute’s weapons recharging or something like that. It’s inconsequential for you.

edit 2
Also, are you playing village quests or hub quests? Because cutting tails should be pretty easy in village quests. Unless you’re trying to cut a tail that can’t be cut. Not every monster’s tail can be cut. You’ll learn which ones can through experience (or just google or ask us/me). I suppose it’s not that important to cut a tail. You’ll get better at it with time, but when you’re new I think it’s better to just focus on fighting the monster rather than trying to fight the monster while specifically targeting one body part when you’re not that good at the game yet. That’s just going to make hunts take even longer and it’s going to be frustrating if you don’t succeed. And dual blades are one of the harder weapons to use for tail cutting too.

@JaxonH I appreciate the help. I will likely have to edit the heck out of this since I am in my phone so please wait a little before responding.

I’m not diagnosed with OCD and I think it is incredibly dangerous/stupid to self diagnose so I won’t say I have that. I am a woman that likes to learn a game system as much as possible, so while I get the “don’t sweat the small stuff” advice, (and I appreciate your perspective) the small stuff right now is the fun part. I think if I didn’t spend time prepping for the locales or the monsters or focusing on armor upgrades, my issues with the movement would have caused me to drop this game already (seriously, I have had some games open up after a second try or putting in some serious time but this is the longest I’ve done for a game that doesn’t give me good feels- I think I am at 40 hours)

I also have a horrible short term memory so I tend to main weapon types or characters pretty hard to keep from confusing myself/making things worse. (There is a reason I have been a ryu/mitsurugi/haohmaru main for decades despite usually liking/wanting to play other characters and that accounts for the change in these characters that I have to relearn between entries. SC saved my life once they started the full character creator in IV) Everybody’s brain is different and all that.

The point of all that is to say is it is a little too difficult for me to cycle through weapons and would take the better part of a year for me to do that in a fashion that is fun. I can learn matchups, but I have never been the player that can press random on a fighting game and play high level (of course I would understand the foundation of the game which helps but it’s not the same) and that applies here.

I have started working on making sword and shield (the thought behind that if I can’t play it like a fast paced action game like say bayonetta or devil may cry then I can sword and board and defend without sacrificing movement as much) trees. I am hesitant to just craft everything that isn’t armor because of what I said about my learning style and since the gameplay loop isn’t fun yet that will turn this game into grinding (the not fun kind) and that will eventually drive me away. I’m trying to give it a fair shake. As for the arena I’m only surviving that because I get the wirebug and riding mechanics (and I am learning the monsters) but it’s really, really awful because I usually can’t play dual blade.

I agree about your assessment of rampages but part of my problem is the camera felt unwieldy so I would locate the defense stations too late. Playing the tutorial a few times has helped with that even though I still don’t enjoy them for now.

I get what you mean about the animation commits and I have been playing with that in mind from the start. However lack of cancels means if I misread the monster or if it is a new to me monster then the punishment for wiffing is great. Again my issue is more the player moveset, speed and range vs the monster. I get it to an extent... it isn’t like i can run down a cheetah but sometimes it feels the monsters have this massive dodge window and movement pattern with speed that is so much greater than the player and that is frustrating. Wirebug movement helps but I almost feel like Capcom made it deliberately like this so the movement looks flashy or imparts a false sense of triumph/mastery. I just gotta keep banging away at it I suppose.

Thank you for figuring out the symbol meaning. That is actually useful as the pincer attack pattern means it is in my interest to watch that for set ups. As I said I am a foundation player first because it opens the game up.

I will look at the long sword as well (I would have to drop working on sword and shield) the switch weapons are a bit too much information to track right now.

Please note I am doing ok with one weapon camping... it is just frustrating (i will likely actually like the game more once I have more of the weapon tree for the versatility). I have only fainted once so far and I am 4 star rank on the village and 3 star on the hub (which may mean noob to you, haha but I feel like I am chugging along ok). So even with a low class weapon i can manage it well enough to slay monsters... it just isn’t short or massive damage (part of that is due to the weapon I play) or any tail chopping. Some of it is basic stuff like i didn’t know you could aim your kunai for a while. That helps with set up and baiting. I don’t use traps yet (take too long to set up and i usually get broadsided when I try or the monster leaves the area...leaving my trap useless. So far dung, trapbugs and flash and sonic bombs work for me. As i can try to herd the monster a bit.

I will leave tail cutting alone for now then. So far I can craft what I need so it isn’t a urgent matter. I just wanted to understand that system while I flesh out my knowledge on this weapon/the game.

@Ulysses I have watched some stuff but mostly I hit the dojo and read the manual. For me, I don’t learn well watching others without a basic foundation. I am a terrible mimic. So knowing how I learn is how I play. For me, repetition, and then theory works best. Playing offline as my schedule is random and I never got into online gaming beyond fighting games so I would not be much use. I also instinctively don’t find online gaming with randos appealing and everyone here is a vet. So I will waffle around until I get it or get fed up with it.

As for the speed, I am trying. It’s just frustrating. I have demoed most of the weapons which is how i settled on dual blades. Not saying they aren’t worth a second look, but I don’t wanna totally demolish my progress. At least not yet.

@Ryu_Niiyama
So, it seems like you're hung up on the movement.

It is true the monsters can move much faster, and that's by design. The game imitates how it would really be fighting these incredible beasts as a hunter gatherer. That's what makes it fun. The challenge of fighting these incredible beasts that are so fast and so powerful, and yet you are gonna take em down.

I feel like every new player ever complains about the movement, but most adjust and then come back later and say wow, I can't believe how fluid this game feels and how fast paced it feels to me now. And the fact that hasn't happened for you yet makes me a little concerned, tbh. I feel like either you just aren't adapting or, the more likely scenario, you're doing something wrong and don't know it, because without playing with friends or watching videos you'll never know what you're doing wrong. I'll give you an example.

A guy I was helping mentor kept complaining how slow the game felt. I couldn't understand. Like, I understood new players tend to feel that way until they adjust, but they weren't adjusting and they made it sound so extreme. Come to find out, they weren't sheathing their weapon in between spurts of attacks. So they were moving slowly with their weapon drawn like a sloth (that's less a problem for dual blades btw, but for other weapons it's SUPER slow with weapon drawn). You're supposed to attack, attack, dodge roll out of the way (if needed), sheath weapon and then run around to reposition, holding the R button to run while sheathed. Since you're way faster running with weapon sheathed. They didn't know that. They were clumsily lumbering around with their long sword drawn, even when the monster had repositioned away from them, and so they were missing tons of openings because they weren't fast enough to respond.

That's just one example. Another example was someone who was playing hub Quests solo instead of village Quests, which are more difficult. They kept asking why the game was so hard.

I feel like I want to play with you, do some hub Quests together, just you and me, and have some fun. I think that experience could really help you. Isolating your experience is a recipe for disaster in a complex game like MH. This is a series where watching some vids every now and then, Hunting with a friend every now and then, asking questions in the forum every now and then, can go a long ways to clear up misunderstandings that hold the experience back.

I can put on low rank armor and weapon for hunting. Let me know if you'd want to hunt. I'll heading to work but I'll be home later.

@JaxonH Howdy. Just popping in real quick. I’m booked with work this weekend. Got a project that has blown up so I am attending to that. Won’t be gaming as much this weekend. But perhaps next weekend or end of the month.

Sure, give me two F*** almudron plate's, but not one gem, I swear, I hate gem hunting in this game.

Meanwhile I've been getting showered in gems whenever I play it feels like. Just got two Daora gems after the only hunt I did today...

@TeeJay The desire sensor is real!

Just beat the Kushala Daora (I think that was its name?) urgent quest. Cool monster, and pretty intimidating at first, but the fight ended up being pretty easy once I got used to its attack patterns (the exact opposite of the dopey Chameleos, who actually caused me to fail a quest when I first fought him!)

Might have helped that he's so aggressive that he attacks every monster in the zone. There was a really cool turf war that involved a mid-air battle between Magnamalo and Kushala. It looked like Magnamalo was using its explosions to vault back up and continue attacking Kushala after it started falling.

Look maybe its just me, and maybe its bc I played alot of world, but does the input's in this game feel slugish to anyone? Now i'm not going to get into all to reason's why I think it is, but It just feels like moves take longer to get out or not as fluid as other game's (Not just monster hunter) Like I will try and to a move that has you press two button's at the same time, and sometime's my hunter just wont do anything.

Like I said maybe this is just me, and i'm not hating on the game, after a wile I got used to it, but I still kinda feel it you know?

I've never felt anything like that personally.

@TeeJay Ya, its sounds like its just me or i'm to used to world's.