Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (October 20th)

Velocity 2X

Monster hunter gen U all the way!
Pushing towards 200hrs gameplay target this weekend.

mercenaries saga/ocean horn (dark souls once payday hits!)

Just started a new Animal Crossing-New Leaf save file. Also gonna be playing my way through the divine Super Mario World.

Got Starlink last Friday. Have already 100%. Was too short for me. I thought this will be a game for months. Bought almost every ship, weapon and pilot and now I have no use for it. It's a great game, but way to less content. It's shorter than an original Starfox.
But tonight we will play it coop and some NeoGeo.

Splatoon 2. If anyone hasn't given it a look, the Halloween Splatfest looks great, with the ectoplasm-ish ink that's being used, and the rebranded logo on the title screen.

Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate and World

I'm new to Dark Souls so I'll be playing that. Depending on how things pan out I may also get in a bit of Train Sim World on PS4 or Madden 09 on PS3.

I took out the WiiU, first time since the Switch launch, and i am having a great time! Continuing my quest for Bayonetta and Bayonetta 2 completion, got Devil's Third cheap (really underrated!), revisiting Xenoblade Chronicles X, and playing Splatoon online (it's still alive)! Really good console, despite its shortcomings. And after getting used to Switch, i had forgotten how slow WiiU was in comparison!

I'm back into Splatoon 2 in a big way. I've already played a couple of hours of Splatfest and I'll be playing a few more.

I'll be adding more hours to the 55 I've already played of Stardew Valley. I'm in the middle of Summer in year 2.

I'll also be playing some Strikers 1945 II for the High Score Challenge.

This is probably the first time since the switch has been out that it doesn’t have a game I’m currently playing.

For this weekend I’ll probably be playing halo 5. They just dropped some new weapon skins and gonna grind out some wins to get those. Will probably also play some more of the new COD. So far I am really liking the multiplayer. They slightly upped the time to kill and added a health bar above and I think it made a big difference

Now that I'm done with Dragon Quest XI and Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Soulcalibur VI is my choice just before the MONSTER : RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2 !

Trying to complete Yakuza 6. Very lucky to find a second hand copy of Owlboy for Switch. Never even seen this in a shop before, seems pretty good. Thinking of buying a Stetson for next weekend.

dark souls and maybe some skyrim if i need a break

Already 50 hours into Shin Megami Tensei IV and I plan to sink another 10 this weekend

Super MP
Kirby star allies
And Maybe some Mario Tennis aces

Just picked up Bulbboy for £1.22, and waiting patiently for red dead

My dark souls physical arrived yesterday so will be starting that tonight. Was hoping to finish octopath (1 final chapter left then post-game) but I think trying dark souls for the first time will be too hard to resist.

I finally started Octopath Traveler a couple of days ago, and I'm already hooked. I'm enjoying it so much more than I did the demo, which seemed rather formulaic. It's also great for dipping in and out of. I'm now actually looking forward to a four-hour plane ride later this week...(if the battery can last that long)

I should also be playing Dark Souls this weekend, but the post hadn't arrived when I left this morning, so I guess that'll have to wait till tonight or tomorrow.

Completed God of war last night so will be mopping up some side stuff after work then maybe some Mario party and overcooked with the family. I'm a bit gamed out after battering people with kratos axe for the past 5 nights.

I'll play Okami and The Way. I bought The Way in sale for 3 euros, but I was a bit sceptical about the game, since the reviews were very mixed (including the review from this site). Until now, I have to say that the game is fantastic: the graphics are great, the puzzles keep me interested and overall the game creates a very sci-fi ambiance. I'd really recommend the game

This week I will be mostly playing:
Spla2n: Octo Expansion
Captain Toad (WU)
Luigi’s Balloon World Coin Grind

I'm sat on a plane for 8 and a half hours tomorrow, so just some 3DS games for me. I'm hoping to buy Starlink in the US on holiday for $74.99 at Walmart, which is roughly £57. That's cheaper than any UK store has it for!

@BladedKnight

I'm 100% with you buddy !

Just a question : I play SoulCalibur VI on PS4 and I'd like to know if on XBOX ONE, you feel the same as I feel...

What I mean by that is that the game looks even smoother than a 60fps... o_O dunno how to describe it better but it's almost like visually they made the game ULTRASMOOTH.
Do you experience the same on XBOX ONE ?

PS : RDR2 = NO SOCIAL LIFE ANYMORE !

Starlink. I probably won’t even touch anything else.

I had cautiously optimistic expectations for this game, but it’s turned out to be the digital equivalent of opium. I can’t put it down.

Most of the players playing a back-stab-simulation the most boring way to play hehe.

Starlink, Splatoon 2, and some other games.

Dark souls!!

Just me playing Luigi's Mansion then? 😆😆

Starlink and Splatoon 2 mostly.

Splatoooon 2 and super Mario party if I get a chance.

Crossout on PC
maybe some Rocket League
and maybe I will also try the beta of Generation Zero again

Luigi’s Mansion (I’m actually already on my second play through as I missed a Boo the first time) and Shadow of the Tomb Raider (I’m still trying to hoover up all the collectibles).

@Krull add a powerbank in the bag and you will have plenty of hours!!!

1. Animal Crossing New Leaf (3DS)
Long time no play. I play my third town (Xepher) and beautify the landscape with some Path patterns.

2. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)
I play some Rounds on Versus Play to collect more coins.

3. Nintendo LABO Toy Con 01 Variety Kit (Switch)
Today i will finish making the Motorbike cardboards. Later, i will try to play Mario Kart 8 Deluxe with Motorbike cardboard.

Switch still lacking to fulfill my needs, finished Starlink & now the console is collecting dust until another new AAA game. I'm playing a Beckett's Books demo, the Everett Kaser's new puzzler on my laptop.

@Pluto14 I also bought the way on that sale and have to say that it starts really well but at certain point the puzzles get really obtuse and the also the game wants you to perform tricky jumps when the gameplay is as tank as it can be

Had something of a retro Mario week. I've already finished Super Mario Bros 1 and 2 this week, so will probably wrap up 3 this weekend - which I'm happy to say is still one of my favourite platformers of all time. Other than that I just downloaded Alien Isolation which for some reason I haven't really delved into before.

Just bought Dark Souls and started it last night. That intro is INSANE. I must say I’m a little shocked at how stiff the combat is, though I suppose that’s deliberate on the part of the developers to up the challenge. And maybe BotW has spoiled me. The atmosphere and visuals are top-notch, though, and I’m hoping this weekend I’ll reach the point of no return when it comes to gameplay immersion.

Otherwise having a blast, and a much needed ease of gaming tension, aggressively acquiring moons in Mario Odyssey.

Happy gaming everyone!

Finish my second play though of XC2 (best game on the system) and bought a few games on sale and/or using gold coins.

Inoclast - nearly done with it and while the gameplay is not bad the story is so boring that I ended up skipping almost every time

Cave story + - did not play much yet but very strange/smart idea of getting you weaker as you get hit by enemies

Syberia 2 - let's see how the mammoths story carries on...

Good gaming everyone

@BladedKnight

Yes I do, I play on a PS4 Pro. ^^
Thanx for the reply dude.
They really made an excellent job with this game... Congrats to BAMCO !

I’ve been playing my 3DS a lot more lately. Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, and Smash 3DS have all sucked me back in.

I’ve also found my copy of Smash Melee, and it still works! 😃 I still have to unlock a few characters.

I’m also playing the Splatoween Splatfest in Splatoon 2 (say THAT five times fast!). Let’s go Team Treat!

Luigi’s Balloon World also got me. I’ve been grinding for coins to get the DLC outfits, despite telling myself I wouldn’t. 😂😅

Everyone have an amazing, safe, God-blessed weekend! 😃

If possible, I'll play Mega Man 11. The weekend is gonna be work, work, work...

I'll be playing Splatoon 2, I totally forgot about the Splat Fest, I'm excited to play that this weekend.

I'll also be playing more Crayola Scoot. I am really enjoying this game. I was a huge fan of the original Tony Hawk series, and this game reminds me of that game.

Finally, I'm hoping to get some time to swing around in NY as Spiderman.

I should be playing my recent purchases Dragon Ball FighterZ, Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze and Mario Tennis, and I am a bit. (That Owl boss in Donkey Kong is killing me though!)

But I still can’t tear myself away from Dead Cells. I thought I hit a wall and was about to have a break, but then I beat the Time Keeper on my first run against him and now I’m addicted again.

I broke away from Starlink just long enough to type this

Starlink and Monster Hunter GU

Splatoon 2 splatoween! Some super mario bros 3 on switch. And mostly Dark Souls remastered. Games pretty tough thus far but I'm enjoying it. Only thing that concerns me is that I'm not catching on to what everything means in the game or what I'm supposed to do wit it. Also, I've been kicked off of playing twice( just on the regular story, not playing online) and it says there's a problem with the server or something. Kind of wierd has anyone else had that happened to them?

For me this weekend I will be hitting the links in Golf Story, I won my first open and am eager to continue my good string of luck, this game is pretty much exactly what I want from a Mario Golf type of game!

@Fake-E-Lee I Hate Running Backwards looks intriguing. Your recommendations are usually worth checking out!

Probably some Splatoon 2 for the Splatfest, maybe Bayonetta 2 to search for the remaining collectables and move onto my next backlog game which will either be Rayman Legends Definitive Edition or Axiom Verge.

Picked up Spider-Man ps4 and I’ll be trying to chip away at that before Red Dead 2 releases. They are the first non switch games I’ve played since beating far cry 5. Tempted to pick up star link but with so many games on the horizon I will probably wait for the inevitable toys to life price drop. I see a Black Friday deal in the future.

I am finally getting a chance to dig into my backlog and I’m playing a bit of Axiom Verge, which I bought almost a year ago. It really is an excellent game.

My limited game time will be spent on Dark Souls, and when the deaths mount too much, take a break with Williams tables on Pinball FX.
I noticed an update came in for Darkest Dungeon, too - some new DLC I believe. I'd like to try that out, and really want to return to Splatoon 2 for the first time in forever to check out Splatoween.

@LordVal Does it basically end after the Starlink towers are up?

Been blasting through Starlink. Shorter than I thought, but very fun (though the final boss on Normal was much easier than I thought he'd be, I felt overleveled for him. Had cleared out Atlas of all Primes, Extractors, Dreadnaughts, and Outlaw cruisers before I took him on.) Looks like there's a little postgame content which I'll finish up this weekend, but no regrets it's a great game worthy of some replays.
Also got Soul Calibur VI in the mail last night which I'll start on this afternoon on my regular Xbox One.
Maaaybe Super Mario Party with the wife if she feels up to it. Despite playimg through the music remix thing, 3 games of river rapids, 2 partner battle boards, and all 4 regular mario party boards I haven't unlocked single player mode yet. Bad RNG for unlocking all the games I guess. Fun though.
Dreaming of Valkyria Chronicles since I loved 4, but I won't purchase it till I'm done satisfied with Super Mario Party and Starlink playthroughs...so maybe next weekend.

I'm hoping I can finish up Red Dead Redemption before the sequel arrives! It's my first time playing the game, and though I had a rocky start with it, it's really grown on me! I just crossed into Mexico and did the train defense mission. I also pre-ordered the digital special edition of RDR2 so I'd have the Winchester 1897 pump shotgun as soon as the game begins.

I'm also playing Mark of the Ninja on Switch. I love that game! We need more stealth games on the Switch.

Started the hidden mansion in Luigi's Mansion on 3DS. I need to finish that up at some point.

Also I need to finish Mega Man 11, but it probably won't be this weekend. I've only done Block Man so far.

I don't have a lot of game time this weekend (or in general lately), but I'll hopefully tackle the Spirit Temple in my 100% Ocarina of Time 3D run and finally grab the fifth star in Paper Mario: Color Splash.

Keeping going on Monster Hunter Stories on my 3DS while checking in on Animal Crossing New Leaf. Getting close to finish KH1 working my way through Hollow Bastion. Maybe a bit of switch if I have the time.

StarLink and Splatoon 2

Splatoween!!

Android
Minecraft - Continuing my massive village on the survival island I'm building.
Microsoft Solitaire Collection - Mostly playing Klondike/Spider Solitaire

Windows Phone
Angry Birds Seasons - Playing Halloween levels

Windows 10
Microsoft Flight - Servers won't seem to let me play

Switch
Splatoon 2 - Splatoween all the way! Go Team Trick!

Main: Red Dead Redemption @ PS3 (bought the game and the PS3 yesterday for a total of 600 SEK ($60 ish) - finally able to play it and just RDR2!!

Hopefully I’ll be able to put some time in Okami on the Switch. sold my PS4 copy the day it was announced and the other night I was able to get past where I was the first time. Good stuff

Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

$39 on Steam till the 22nd, could not resist. Finally finish the Trilogy.

@SimplyCinnamon53 basically yes. But after defeating the boss you can do every planet 100%. In my case I didn't visited three of them and could finish the game either way. After the Maincampaign and the Starfoxcampaign it starts getting a little bit boring. Ubisoft should have implemented different storylines for each pilot. So evertime you buy a new one you earn a little different experience.
But don't get me wrong. The game is nice. Just not the huge thing I was expecting.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown on PC (fun game, but it's a little repetitive, so I think I'm going to finish it up ASAP now)

Valkyria Chronicles 4 (on Chapter 9, I think; spending lots of time going back to A-rank earlier missions and try to unlock new squad stories)

I finally completed Metroid Prime 3: Corruption yesterday. Scratch another off my backlog. I'm also making my daily rounds in Animal Crossing: New Leaf and playing in the Splatfest in Splatoon 2. I might also be helping my daughter play through through the Pokémon League in Pokémon Pearl.

I'm still on xenoblade 2, such a beautifully game 😂 30 hours in and I'm still on chapter 3 😂 and I'll play some splatoon 2 on the side, i wanna see what that fuss about splatoon 2 Halloween is about 😂

Continuing through Super Mario RPG on SNES Classic as of now, which is the pure definition of a Good Time Guaranteed RPG as far as I'm concerned.
...And now that I've actually played a good chunk of the game, I am all on board for Geno being in Smash. Geno is a fantastic character whose moveset in Smash could be really make him a fun, unique, and viable character.

@JoeDiddley haha I know what you mean about that boss. Him and the water level one cost me a few balloons!

Octopath Traveler, finishing up all Chapter 2's to get past the halfway point (Life has been getting in the way hard core these last few weeks!). Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate sprinkled in (Time for me to look up key quests so I can get the ball rolling). Went through a round of Metropolis: Lux Obscura and got 2 of the 4 endings, so I'll likely play that at work. I want to download Ghost 1.0 while it was still on sale, but y'know... bills, meh. So yeah, that's my weekend gaming drama

Since I've finished Dragon Quest XI, Dragon Ball Fusions, and my latest playthrough of Undertale, I'm moving on to quick backlog related stuff. More specifically, Srrong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People, and Sonic 3 & Knuckles

@george82 I really enjoyed Devil's Third also. I played it through twice. I must have put 20 hours into the game... It's certainly alot better than the reviews suggest in my opinion.

Splatoween and some Pikmin 3 for me.....

Splatoon 2, if I have time and if I don’t have connection errors every single game (which has been happening at a much higher rate since signing up for NSO). It used to work fine and nothing has changed with my internet speed or service. I just want to play

Also very tempted to go out and waste my money on a PS4 to play RDR2. I adored the first game. So good!

Dark souls and darkest dungeon, pretty dark round here.

Probably just Fortnite and Mario Party. Nothing really huge for me the rest of the year.

@BladedKnight It did not finish downloading till 2:30AM... So only played a bit. But Loved what I have done so far.

It looks incredible. I took like 10 screenshots in the intro "festival of the dead" just walking around 😅

Dark Souls Remastered

Dark Souls Remastered. It's already kicking my butt.

I'm playing Death Road to Canada this weekend, because I got to the boarder when my last character died, leaving only a goat, who wandered off AT THE BOARDER!!! >.<;;

@BladedKnight Actually just finished the tsunami part. "Emotional connection" to the plot complete.

I am sold. 🙂

Finally almost done with Resident Evil on GameCube, hopefully this weekend is the end. And then Miitopia to calm me down after.

Little dragons cafe

Dark Souls remastered of course. So far so good, I like a challenge. Mabey some Super Mario Party with the gf. Lately I've been playing 3DS a lot more so definitely some more Luigi's Mansion dark moon and Mario Kart 7.

Super Mario Odyssey, SNK Heroines, Capcom Beat em Up Bundle, and some Neo Geo games for Switch.

I FINALLY finished Xenoblade Chronicles 2 yesterday after 135 hours..an absolutely fantastic beast of a game so already I have dived into Torna The Golden Country
On Ps4 I'm over 50 odd hours into another (and better)jrpg Dragon Quest XI.I don't want this game to end it's just soo good!
Astrobot On PSVR got a good look in,I'd play more but it's killing my eyesight I'm sure of it lol
And as it's Halloween season I started playing Remothered Tormented Fathers which seems pretty good.Reminds me of the old Clocktower games.creepy!

Yo-kai Watch 1, maybe Luigi's Mansion 3DS if I beat Yo-kai

@LordVal was also thinking about getting this game. How long did it take about 20hrs? Any replay value?

I just wrapped up my playthrough of the first Mega Man Legacy Collection yesterday.
It's a miracle that I haven't gotten burned out yet after doing 100% runs of both the two X Legacy Collections as well as the Zero Collection back-to-back followed immediately with playthroughs of MM11 and the first Classic Legacy Collection.
Though I think it's high time I take a break from the Blue Bomber for a while before I get cracking on the second Classic Legacy Collection no matter how much I want to knock it out right now.

Ninja Gaiden 3: Razors Edge on WiiU and Sonic Mania for Switch. Might even fit in a few rounds online with Arms as well.

Wipeout Omega Collection on PS4 and finishing Undertale on Switch. Not starting a new other game before RDR2.

Been having a great time with Starlink so far 😀

Splatoon 2 for the Splatfest! That'll be all for this weekend.

WWF No Mercy and Resident Evil 2!

Surviving the queues at Alton Towers for me and a water park on Sunday so unlikely I'll get much gaming time. Managed a little bit of Doom on friday - that'll probably have to do for this weekend's effort

@LordVal w8 what?? how many hours have you played it? O_O

@Eef I have very similar feelings on Owlboy. I enjoyed it but the control scheme felt really cumbersome. Especially picking fruit/veg to restore health being much more complicated than it had to be

I am addicted to lost sphear

DarkSoulsR!! Funny it feels like coming from DS3(PS4) back to the first DS I’ve definitely got a grip of the games mechanics and at some points it’s been outrageously easy... hoping the idea of ng+ intrigues before the end or I may opt to finish hollow knight this weekend instead - EnjoyYoursWorld💪🏽

15 hours into Ghost 1.0 and nearly the end I feel. I cannot recommend this game enough while it's on sale for $5 right now in the e-shop. Once I beat that this weekend I will just play some Pinball FX and Picross until Friday when the world ends for RDR.

@LordVal
How have you 100% this already? Lol
Is that just the main story?

Decided to get Luigi's Mansion since I had a $15 off coupon, so....I'll be playing that and Disgaea 5.

@Fake-E-Lee
Join the Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate forum and ask questions whenever you don't understand something. My biggest beginner tips would be this:

BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING Download the MHGU Database app for Android or IOS. This is the most comprehensive and amazing app ever created that I have ever used, and every single Hunter I know uses this app. You will absolutely need it. People used to go to Kiranico.com for information like key quests, where to get certain items, armor skills, etc, but now it's all in the app. Trust me on this. Go get it right now and download it.

1 Find a faster, blademaster (melee attacks) weapon you like. I recommend Longsword to start with. You can try the weapons out in the tutorial weapons quests from the quest giver.

2 Once you've found a weapon you like, watch a Gaijin Hunter tutorial on YouTube teaching you the combos and how to use it. Your weapon is an extension of your body in this game. It's everything. If you are not one with your weapon, you will clumsily struggle and fumble around. Learn your weapon. Accept a quest and practice the different moves as you watch the video. Each time he shows you something new, pause the video and try it out. Be sure to find the video for your weapon and the style you're using, since movesets vary slightly by style.

3 Start with guild style. It's the classic hunting style without any special moves, and doesn't limit your moveset like the other styles do. I think it's important to build a foundation on the classic move set before you move onto more advanced and specialized play styles. After you have a grip on the gameplay, I recommend trying out Adept style, which gives you a lengthy number of frames in which you can dodge attacks, which then sends you auto-running (charging, more like) in whatever direction you press, in order to do a quick follow up attack on the monster, or get the heck out of dodge if needed..

4 Learn the basics of the gameplay loop. You have a single player campaign in the village (4 villages actually, which are all the same, just different locations from past games for nostalgia purposes, although Bherna is the "new village" and the only one with the Palico Ranch) and a multiplayer campaign in the Hub. You can play all the multiplayer quests solo off-line but the monsters health will be scaled up.

You have different star ranks of quests you will advance through. In order to advance to the next star rank you must complete the key quests. But the game does not tell you which quests are the key quests that are required to advance. So that nifty MHGU DB app you downloaded? Open it up, and select "Quests". Then select either Village or Hub, and the star rank of quests you're doing. It will show you which key quests you need to do to advance to the next rank. After you do all the key quests, it unlocks an urgent quest, and after you beat the urgent quest you will advance to the next rank. In the multiplayer hub, YOU must be the one to post the Urgent quest to advance. Only the person posting the quest gets credit.

Know your basic combinations, and buy the Books of Combos as they are unlocked in the store for your item box. They increase the chances of success when crafting, and once you get all 5 Books you will have a 100% chance every time for every item. Craft at any item box using the list. Basics are green herbs + blue mushrooms = potions (although you can just buy potions later in the game, or maybe right away- I can't recall). Then potion + honey = Mega Potion. The other one you need to craft is Energy Drinks for stamina, using a Nitroshroom + honey. You can also cook raw meat carved from smaller monsters with a BBQ spit (purchased at the store) when out on quests, but for the early game you will have to cook them one at a time, and you have to press A a half second after the music stops when roasting the meat, the very split second you see the color turn a little darker. It's a skill best practiced (everyone needs to know how to cook steaks) but imo it's just easier to tell you to craft Energy Drinks for now. They are easier to make and you can farm the materials, plus they ward off Sleep status. Still, you may need to cook a few steaks early game, so maybe watch a video tutorial on that. Low rank quests do give you rations though, which are like mini well done steaks, so you won't have to worry until you hit high rank (nonetheless, low rank is when you are supposed to be stockpiling supplies for later in the game). Remember these two- potions and energy drinks (or well done steaks) because they're the most important ones in the game. Other notables include antidotes (which can also be purchased), shock traps and pitfall traps and tranq bombs. There are many many many many many others but you will learn them as you go. Since low rank will provide you with supplies in the blue supply box when you start a quest, you don't have to worry about serious crafting just yet. As you play through low rank you will slowly learn more and more so that when high rank comes, you will be able to craft your own supplies.

To find a Monster, you can just search for them, or drink a psychoserum, or eat for the food skill "Felyne Oracle" which will show you where the monster is on the map for the first 30 seconds of the quest or something like that. Also, if you see a blimp in the sky on a quest, Press start and go into the options where it says gestures and wave at it. They will show you where the monster is on the map. Once you encounter the monster, hit them with a paintball to mark them on the map. Just keep in mind paintballs wear off after about 10 or 15 minutes, so you'll want to hit them again if the fight goes on long enough.

Also, get the controls set up properly. Press + and go to Options, and on Page 3, make sure Target Cam Controls is set to Type 1, Control Type is set to Type 3, and L/R Button Controls is set to Type 2. This will ensure you are using ZL and ZR instead of L and R, it will ensure you can perform Arts with buttons instead of the D pad (meaning you never have to remove your thumb from the analog), and it will ensure the Dpad functions for camera control also, so that when you are gathering and your right thumb is holding A (and therefore can't move the right analog for camera), you can still pan camera with your left thumb.

The hook of the game is this: hunt monsters, get parts as rewards, use said parts to craft new, more powerful armor and weapons, use said armor and weapons to hunt more powerful monsters. Just keep in mind, the beginning of the game takes a little bit to kick into gear. You won't really start hunting big monsters til 2 star rank, and even then you're only be dipping your toes in the water with the easiest large monsters, and you'll still be doing 50% gathering quests, small monster slaying quests and delivery quests. Once you get to 3 star rank though, it really starts to pick up and kick into gear.

Make an armor set ASAP, and a weapon with green sharpness ASAP. I recommend Tetsucabra, as soon as you get to him. One of his skills his armor set has is Defense, and one is Health, both of which are incredibly useful to a new player early game.

5 Eat a meal before every hunt. No exceptions. Your first ingredient should be picked based on how much health, stamina and buffs like defense/attack it adds for the next quest (although you can easily top up your stamina, so just focus on health/defense for now), and the second ingredient is the one that gives a chance at various felyne food skills. Always eat before a quest. Always always always always always.

6 Get all the DLC. You can access the DLC menu from the main menu or from your housekeeper inside your room. Download everything, all the quests, item packs and palicos. Once you download it though, you have to claim those items from your housekeeper. Don't forget to do that or you won't get the item packs! They give you enough materials that you should be set for a while, and won't really have to grind much for gathering materials in the early game, or the entire game for that matter.

7 Assign two palicos to come with you on quests, and craft them armor as soon as you can. You will be crafting them new armor along with yourself as you play the game. You can mess around on the Palico board, and in the menu from the housekeeper, or at the Palico ranch and see all the different things you can do.

8 Assign arts at your master item box inside your room. Also, Assign item sets for hunts so you don't have to manually put items in your item pouch before every quest (you can also assign equipment sets for various armor, weapon and style combinations). You can just equip the entire item set before each quest and boom, all done. I recommend making an item set for normal hunts, and a separate one for capture quests that contains traps and tranq bombs. A good item set will include 10 Mega Potions, 10 Potions and 10 Honeys (to craft more Mega Potions if they run out), 10 Paintballs to mark the monster on the map, 10 antidotes or herbal medicines to cure poison, 2 Max Potions (restores and maxes out heath bar to 150), 1 Ancient Potion (restores and maxes heath bar to 150, and maxes stamina bar, which is crucial if you faint since any health bonus from a food skill will be gone), 10 Well Done Steaks or Energy Drinks (to replenish stamina), 20 Whetstones (to sharpen weapon- these are a MUST), 5 bug nets and 5 pick axes to catch bugs/mine ore), and if you can, 10 Dung Bombs (in case 2 monsters are in same area, dung bombs make whichever you hit leave the area, and can also force a monster to release you if pinned down). Psychoserums are optional for finding the Monster, and traps/tranqs are optional unless it's a capture quest. Then they're necessary.

9 Don't get hit. What I mean is, this is not a button mashing game where you just keep hitting the attack button until you get hit. This is a game where every single attack must be calculated, and if you can only get two hits in before you dodge roll out of the way, sheath your weapon, then run to reposition, better that than getting 3 hits in and then getting steamrolled, then having to spend time drinking a potion to recover. Prioritize not getting hit.

10 Learn the monster tells. When it starts limping, that means they are close to death and able to be captured. That is your cue to lay a trap and then hit them with two tranq bombs if you're doing a capture quest, or just want to capture. If they leave the area after you lay a trap, disable the trap by walking up to it and following the button prompt. It will destroy the trap but it will then allow you to lay another trap. If you don't destroy it you'll have to wait a few minutes or however long until it disappears before you can lay another one.

11 Monster parts can be severed, broken, etc. Tails can be cut, horns can be smashed, wings and claws can be broken. Severing a tail also makes it easier to fight the monster since they don't have a long tail to hit you with or poison you with or whatever the case may be. This is why cutting weapons have an advantage in my opinion. There are a few monster parts that have to be broken with a blunt weapon but I think those are far and few between.

12
Skills activate at +10 points, second level at +15 points and for the few skills that go up 3 levels, +20 points. Negative skills activate at -10 points. Your five armor pieces will each contribute a few points to various skills. You can also add skill points via a talisman, which can have 1 or 2 skills on it. And you can add points by crafting decorations (also known as gems or "gemming in skill slots") and inserting them into open slots on your weapon, armor pieces and/or talisman. Strategize to activate as many skills as possible and gem out any negative skills. If you have -10 points in Gathering, which activates the negative skill "Gathering -1" then craft a Gatheting decoration worth +2 skill points, and gem that -10 up to -8, thus deactivating the negative skill.

13
Use the farm to to get herbs, insects, mushrooms and fish. Eventually you will unlock three different slots to grow items in. Always keep something growing so that you have a revolving door of raw materials being generated. In time you will learn which items you need most. Flashbugs for flash bombs, Sap Plant for Bomb Casings (which are used for flash bombs, dung bombs, paintballs, tranq bombs, sonic bombs, farcasters which fast travel you back to base, poison smoke bombs, etc), nulberries to cure blights, blue mushrooms and godbugs for nutrients, honey to make into mega nutrients, then dragon toadstool to make into max potions, etc

14 Hunt online and learn from a vet. There is no substitute for having the veterans take you under their wing and raise you up as an apprentice hunter. You'll learn a lot just from playing with people online and observing their approach to combat.

15 Online etiquette. Never trip someone up or Attack a fellow hunter while they're carving materials from a monster. EVER. Be mindful of your attacks tripping up others during combat. Try to attack a little bit away from others so that you steer clear from interrupting their combos. Never post a quest in a lobby someone else is hosting unless you ask first, or it's a turn based room where everyone rotates. Use the preset messages to your advantage in combat. "Lay a Trap" can be a useful reminder to everyone else the monster is ready to be captured and to be careful not to accidentally kill it. You can also customize preset messages which is nice.

In conclusion That's just the tip of the iceberg, but it should be enough to get you started and well on your way to enjoying one of the greatest video games of all time. Again, don't be shy. We have a MHGU forum where members hunt together, talk about the game, share tips, educate new Hunters, and so on. Stop on by any time!

@OberonPrime @Lord
High five fellow hunters! Every week that goes by where I see people still playing this game... it brings a smile to my face

Switch
Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate
Starlink
Dark Souls
Valkyria Chronicles 1
Warriors Orachi 4
Wolfenstein 2 (update 1.2 baby, game looks SO much better)

@george82 I'm glad to see someone else show some love to Devil's Third. Sure, from a technical perspective it was no prize, but I thought it was amazingly fun anyway. Except for Splatoon, it was my favorite game on the Wii U.

And for what I'm playing this weekend; Splatoon 2 for the Splatfest and Starlink (on PS4).

@Fake-E-Lee
Ya, it is a lot, but it's just so fun diving in to! I've been playing since the third generation with over 1750 hours under my belt (there's never been a MH game I got less than 400-600 hours from, barring MH World which was only 150). I literally spent 60 hours learning Hiragana, Katakana and basic Japanese grammar and vocabulary in order to play MHXX before we knew they were going to localize it.

And yet... there are still things that are brand new to me that I'm learning, even today. But that's the fun of the game- the depth. There is a learning curve but you really only need to get up to 10-15% in order to start really having fun. After that you'll spend the next few years learning more and more, until one day, 5 years from now you'll be at 85%

And your first monster Hunter is always the best. With that said, you picked an absolutely immaculate entry as a starting point. World and MHGU are easily the two best games in the series, and if I'm being completely honest, despite vehemently asserting World was better even just a few months ago when MHGU released... I've done a complete 180 since then and now hold MHGU to be my favorite game in the series.

There's just so many additions and quality of life improvements it offers that unfortunately aren't really acknowledged, like cut tails showing on the map, disabling traps, styles, arts, transmog (armor fusion, the only game in the entire series to ever offer this feature), playing as a Palico, holding A to continuously gather or carve, speed crafting by holding A, sending items back mid hunt from the Transpurrtor, new Beast type Palico, renaming Palicos, not waiting 2 min to turn in a Paw Pass ticket for harvest tour quests, buying supply drops, SP mode mechanic, outside attacks while mounted contribute to toppling the monster rather than knocking them off, teaching Palicos skills/support moves, hunting horn melodies and status messages displaying in the corner of the screen rather than the middle, jiggling the fishing lure, cutting/blunt kinsects for insect glaives can be swapped, Palico armor pigment change, field pouch, turning in account items any time, etc etc.

If you think the early game is fun though, oh my gosh, just wait till high rank and G rank. Especially the latter half of high rank when Hyper Monsters and Deviants come into the picture. The second half of this game is twice as good as the first. And I love that about it. I actually think the early game has some pacing issues but they absolutely nailed it with the late game. I beat the final boss at the end of G rank 50 hours of playtime ago, and I still think I'll be playing this game 300 hours from now. It's insane.

Starlink
Dark Souls
Dead Cells
Velocity 2x

Just finished the Torna dlc and need more Xenoblade goodness! Unfortunately there isn’t any so I’m off out to buy Ys VII in a bit.

@Woosh193 no, I have 100%. Rescued every planet, made every mission, every weapon, mostly every shop and three pilots. There is no single red or purple spot left on my maps.

@MisterDevil & @Pirlo_ze_sniper it doesn't show me the time. There is written "played it the first time 10 days ago", but I played it maybe two hours a day.

Finished up with L.A. Noire. I enjoyed the game, but some of the themes are disturbing; reference to child sexual exploitation, for example. Heavy themes and it's quite violent. My biggest issue, though, is the rather bleak outlook of the game where corruption is covered up and the some of the guilty go free. Far too realistic. I want my baddies punished and people to be striving for something better rather than just what they can get away with to service their greed, depravities and quest for power.

besides Odyssey, I think I'm going to go back in time and play some NES, The Guardian Legend, Mario 3, Ultima: Exodus and MAYBE (coin flip) hit up some Knuckles on my Genesis

Finished Guacamelee last week - awesome game!

Might do a couple of runs in dead Cells this afternoon.

XC Torna isn’t doing much for me so far but I’m only a few hours in.

I played a lot of Black Bird, Strikers 1945 II, Strikers 1945 PLUS and Sengoku Cannon. Excellent gaming weekend so far, i think now i'm ready to try The Missing.

@fox_mattcloud
I've played the whole weekend Luigi's Mansion, love it!

I had changed my mind from NES Mario 3 to NES "Skate or Die !!!"
(God I'll never stop loving that game.)

@Fake-E-Lee
No prob. Hopefully it can serve as a good reference. I might even copy that post for future hunters who ask, actually 😁

Also, the game is so good solo, but it's even better online with friends, or at least acquaintances from fan sites like this. I'm not really a person who plays online games- in fact I almost exclusively play off-line video games. But Monster Hunter... it's the exception (and Splatoon 2, I had a lot of fun in Salmon Run and Turf Wars). I think it's easier to come to terms with because it's cooperative play rather than competitive. You almost form a bond of brotherhood with your fellow hunters. I know this is a crazy comparison to make but, I imagine it's something similar to what people in the military feel towards others fighting alongside them. There's just a special connection you have with others who have devoted just as much time as you and are bringing their A-game to the table just as much as you, to work as a team- a unit, to bring a dangerous monster down. It's incredible.

And while I can't exactly vouch for the current community, before MH World, the fanbase was well regarded as the most welcoming and friendly community in all of video games. Of course there were still some jerks, because anytime you have a million + people as a group there are going to be some of those. But percentage wise, they were very far and few between, and everyone else was just so eager to help teach and assist new hunters. That mindset is still very much present today (as I'm sure you can attest by the lengthy nature of my original reply), but I think there are quite a few more hunters nowadays who don't follow proper etiquette, and adhere to the "git gud" mantra rather than the "let me help you git gud" of games past.

Starlink and Into The Breach. Been trying to unlock the last three mech squads. Tying coins to achievements is brilliant but also frustrating.

Hollow Knight, at 84% and still so much to do! Also picked up LA Noire physical for £17.99

I'm playing Breath of the Wild but in the Master Mode now... still... tee-hee...

I'm hoping to finish my third run on Breath of the Wild before I get Mario Odyssey.