choices that Capcom will make for the new game. When they offered the ‘sad’ option ‘Choose one among three monsters,’ it was indeed an indication of a trend that was probably not to their advantage. Fair enough, it’s another day in the life of the gaming gods. Sometimes you win a few, sometimes you lose a few. The same goes for marketing strategies that drive community engagement and participation.
All in all, while the Worlds fanbase is still divided over the upcoming content and the game’s current state of being, the whole situation speaks volumes about the passionate player base that Monster Hunter has managed to keep. Just take, for example, the official Monster Hunter account tweet that sparked all the commotion. Replies to it included a huge mix of pure joy and, well, quite gamer’ worries. Yami_MH, one of the very happy players, just wrote ‘HYPE LEVEL MAX !!!!! HAPPY !!!!’ along with many fire emojis. That’s the mood we are starting off with. But if you scroll down, the whole thing tells a different story. Opinions are split among the two main groups: the ones who are enthusiastic about the new content, and the ones who have… let’s say strong opinions about the game’s present situation.
Most of the talk is about Monster Hunter Wilds and what this upcoming Title Update 4 could possibly fix. DoTheBartMan199 came right to the point and asked if the update would “improve in-game textures? It currently looks like a PS2 game.” Ouch! That’s a really severe critique, but there are not only but a few holders of such views. A user by the name of Sub5tep was even more polite while pointing out serious issues, saying, ‘I mean at least your game doesn’t crash like I can’t even enter Wyveria anymore without the game crashing. This has been the case for 6 months.’ That’s a long time to be plagued by crashes, and one can feel the irritation. It looks like a lot of gamers are hoping for this update to be nothing short of a major stability patch that is also capable of adding new content, rather than just new stuff that might further break the game.
Furthermore, the entire weapon balancing dispute continues to be prevalent. A Monster Hunter subreddit would be incomplete without it. TensaGotGame, one of the participants, suggested strange requirements, for instance, “How about you drop Rajang & stop playing.” Another replied to his suggestion asking if they really want ‘the fifth game in a row?😒.
But the most provocative and fascinating argument was among the Charge Blade users. A user who goes by the name “Charge Blade lover” seems to have done the initiation of the debate, and another user, Apr Fogo, replied to him saying, “They messed up savage are, and I am not sure which way I should ‘to play cb anymore. Saed is weak (even after the updates), savage axe got nerfed and is weak too.” That is completely an identity crisis of a weapon right there. But then another CB fan, ZeroZZen, said that “Crazy how I’m a charge blade major and I don’t see it the same way as you.” So, even within the weapon community, there is no consensus. It’s all madness, but the kind of chaos we’ve grown to expect and love.
Furthermore, the mainline game’s controversy has not been the sole source of the drama. Many replies center on Monster Hunter Stories 3, particularly on its sale. The very vocal segment of players is outraged at the digital-only game key card concept for the Switch instead of a physical cartridge. User Jim___92 summed it up: “Unless Stories 3 is getting a proper cartridge release not a $129.95 AUD key card, I don’t care what you have to say.” Another user, JustAnOrdinaryViera, backed this with “How about releasing Stories 3 on a proper Switch-Cartridge and not a Keycard?” And LucaP just wished ‘one info about MHS3 will be that it won’t be on a keycard on Switch 2, but an actual fudging cartridge.’ It is a well-known fact that this is a big issue for the Stories fanbase, and if Capcom does not speak to it during the showcase, then it will be very interesting to see.
The Humour and wild speculation of the classic Monster Hunter community come up amid all the complaints and demands. BagboyBrown expressed curiosity saying, ‘I wonder how they’ll put it: “Yes, this new system can brick your Artian weapons.”‘ This is such a niche but so funny fear. And eoTacola is constantly asking for ‘Frontier Monsters in Wilds,’ which would be an insane deep cut for the hardcore fans.
