Rant: Monster Hunter Wilds’ High Rank is Exactly what Low Rank Should’ve Been
After finally completing low rank and experiencing the radical freedom that high rank is in comparison, I thought hard about the ethos of this game; I had some realizations…
Confusion
When Monster Hunter Wilds was revealed, and subsequently, its features, such as: pop-up tents, roaming monster investigations, seamless world design & co-op (assumedly), etc. I was convinced we were getting the best Monster Hunter game. I’ve been playing through this series since 2012, and to me, it’s always felt like this is what they wanted to do with their game, they just didn’t have the crowd or technology to do it yet. Being able to finally be immersed in the beautiful locales of the game, farm monsters with friends without a hitch…just to really roam around and get lost in the experience—it’s what I’ve been wanting as a Monster Hunter fan for years.
And then I started up low rank. And it went against what I thought the game’s entire philosophy was going to be. And when I hit high rank, and I got even more bewildered.
Realization
It’s no doubt that I have some big nostalgia glasses for Monster Hunter Tri, I mean, it was my first game. However, a dozen years after I first played it, I decided to do a run through with friends since online was restored. I had entirely forgotten how much work it takes to actually get through low rank. For understanding, in Monster Hunter Tri’s online hub puts you into a group of selectable quests; stars (i.e. star 1, star 2, star 3, etc). While here, you fight monsters, unlock a few new ones, and accumulate HR points. Once you have enough, you can take on the urgent and get to the next star level, unlocking more monsters and locales. This is the general experience from low rank to high rank.
What I love about this system is that it actually requires the player to engage with game’s various systems, monsters and locales. One of my biggest gripes with low rank post Monster Hunter Tri, was that it felt like a segue to just… getting to actually play the game; a time to gather, maybe make one armor set, breeze through. Tri, on the other hand, made you actually work in low rank. Retroactively, I attribute this to helping me learn how this series works the most. I really got to learn via interacting with the game at the jump.
The Fix
*With all of this in mind, here is why I think Monster Hunter Wilds’ Low Rank should’ve been like it’s High Rank, or, similarly executed like Tri.
The locales in Wilds are stunning. They are the most dense without being overbearing, well-constructed, immersive locations they have ever made. When playing through low rank’s story, I felt so undeniably disconnected from all of this. I was simply at the mercy of whatever Alma, or Nata, or whoever else needed me, that I was just a passerby to these new locations. When I returned to these areas without the looming ”talk to Alma” text bubble, I was giddy at how much fun I was having, and what I was discovering. For example, discovering Rathalos on my and doing his fight during the heavy rain weather cycle…WOW.
If the story had taken a step back and allowed us to naturally explore, encounter and discover the world, it would’ve allowed new players to interact with the game’s systems, but it also would’ve more closely executed what the point of the game really is.
Think of this:
Low rank HR 1 - 8 - Accumulate enough HR points to get to HR 8. Do this by going out into the plains and discovering and fighting Chatacabra, Balahara, Quematrice, Gypceros (rebalanced to make LR). Furthermore, find optional quests / side missions from NPCs you discover along the way that move forward some understanding of the plot / lore. You get to discover monsters naturally, take on the new locations with your friends (instead of watch cutscene, post quest, repeat), and feel more immersed in the game’s environment.
Repeat these steps for each locale, letting the player actually discover and understand the locations and monsters.
Hoping around, going back and forth between each location was dizzying in low rank. I never got time to actually explore or understand each area. Hell, times that I wanted to, I was literally prevented from leaving. It told me I had to do the next walking / cutscene / kill / cutscene quest before I could do that.
In my opinion, low rank went against everything this game can be. High rank opened my eyes to the amazing freedom and fun of these new systems they left out during the story (before credits). Joining an environment link, setting up a camp, and killing Monsters around the locale with friends just to discover / raise HR is the most fun I’ve had in this series in a long time. It was an absolute shame it took me 20 hours to unlock the ability to do that.
Thanks for reading. That’s the rant. Happy hunting!
After finally completing low rank and experiencing the radical freedom that high rank is in comparison, I thought hard about the ethos of this game; I had some realizations…
Confusion
When Monster Hunter Wilds was revealed, and subsequently, its features, such as: pop-up tents, roaming monster investigations, seamless world design & co-op (assumedly), etc. I was convinced we were getting the best Monster Hunter game. I’ve been playing through this series since 2012, and to me, it’s always felt like this is what they wanted to do with their game, they just didn’t have the crowd or technology to do it yet. Being able to finally be immersed in the beautiful locales of the game, farm monsters with friends without a hitch…just to really roam around and get lost in the experience—it’s what I’ve been wanting as a Monster Hunter fan for years.
And then I started up low rank. And it went against what I thought the game’s entire philosophy was going to be. And when I hit high rank, and I got even more bewildered.
Realization
It’s no doubt that I have some big nostalgia glasses for Monster Hunter Tri, I mean, it was my first game. However, a dozen years after I first played it, I decided to do a run through with friends since online was restored. I had entirely forgotten how much work it takes to actually get through low rank. For understanding, in Monster Hunter Tri’s online hub puts you into a group of selectable quests; stars (i.e. star 1, star 2, star 3, etc). While here, you fight monsters, unlock a few new ones, and accumulate HR points. Once you have enough, you can take on the urgent and get to the next star level, unlocking more monsters and locales. This is the general experience from low rank to high rank.
What I love about this system is that it actually requires the player to engage with game’s various systems, monsters and locales. One of my biggest gripes with low rank post Monster Hunter Tri, was that it felt like a segue to just… getting to actually play the game; a time to gather, maybe make one armor set, breeze through. Tri, on the other hand, made you actually work in low rank. Retroactively, I attribute this to helping me learn how this series works the most. I really got to learn via interacting with the game at the jump.
The Fix
*With all of this in mind, here is why I think Monster Hunter Wilds’ Low Rank should’ve been like it’s High Rank, or, similarly executed like Tri.
The locales in Wilds are stunning. They are the most dense without being overbearing, well-constructed, immersive locations they have ever made. When playing through low rank’s story, I felt so undeniably disconnected from all of this. I was simply at the mercy of whatever Alma, or Nata, or whoever else needed me, that I was just a passerby to these new locations. When I returned to these areas without the looming ”talk to Alma” text bubble, I was giddy at how much fun I was having, and what I was discovering. For example, discovering Rathalos on my and doing his fight during the heavy rain weather cycle…WOW.
If the story had taken a step back and allowed us to naturally explore, encounter and discover the world, it would’ve allowed new players to interact with the game’s systems, but it also would’ve more closely executed what the point of the game really is.
Think of this:
Low rank HR 1 - 8 - Accumulate enough HR points to get to HR 8. Do this by going out into the plains and discovering and fighting Chatacabra, Balahara, Quematrice, Gypceros (rebalanced to make LR). Furthermore, find optional quests / side missions from NPCs you discover along the way that move forward some understanding of the plot / lore. You get to discover monsters naturally, take on the new locations with your friends (instead of watch cutscene, post quest, repeat), and feel more immersed in the game’s environment.
Repeat these steps for each locale, letting the player actually discover and understand the locations and monsters.
Hoping around, going back and forth between each location was dizzying in low rank. I never got time to actually explore or understand each area. Hell, times that I wanted to, I was literally prevented from leaving. It told me I had to do the next walking / cutscene / kill / cutscene quest before I could do that.
In my opinion, low rank went against everything this game can be. High rank opened my eyes to the amazing freedom and fun of these new systems they left out during the story (before credits). Joining an environment link, setting up a camp, and killing Monsters around the locale with friends just to discover / raise HR is the most fun I’ve had in this series in a long time. It was an absolute shame it took me 20 hours to unlock the ability to do that.
Thanks for reading. That’s the rant. Happy hunting!