Monster Hunter, for those who don't know, is an action-RPG series of video games focused around fighting monsters, gathering materials, improving your character and fighting even deadlier monsters. The series dates back to the early PS2 days, has migrated over to Nintendo Systems, and now has migrated back to PS4 (although recent spin-off titles such as Monster Hunter Stories and Monster Hunter Generations have found homes on Nintendo systems as well). The series as a whole is infamous for it's steep learning curve making it difficult to get into, but recent games in the series have lowered the barrier of entry enough so that newcomers don't get completely overwhelmed without sacrificing the tough-but-fair difficulty the series is known for. Monster Hunter World is the most successful game in the whole series (as well as the best selling Capcom game ever made) and is considered to be the best jumping on point for newcomers. Needless to say, I adore this game already.
The story of Iceborne takes place right after the events of the base game. After successfully colonizing the New World, your hunter is sent alongside your trusty cat companion and the... Divisive Handler to investigate a recently discovered island in a state of perpetual winter. From there, you slash, shoot, craft, and save the Handler a bunch of times as you try to figure out what the deal is with this wintry wonderland. Oh, and fan-favorite monsters from past games are back! For... Some reason.
In addition to a brand new, incredibly beautiful map to explore, and new monsters to fight, we also get new game mechanics and quality-of-life changes to make the game more enjoyable. There are smaller changes, such as the Bow getting its damage nerfed slightly, because when the game first came out, it didn't take the community long to realize that the Bow was actually a bit too strong compared to the other weapons (it's fast, does good damage, has great utility, and is much more cost-efficient than its mechanical brother, the Bow-gun). So now the Bow is a fast, utility weapon that doesn't do as much damage per attack as the Bow-gun, but is still a decent weapon in its own right.
The most exciting change for me are the new attacks, combos, and the Clutch Claw item. Every weapon got their move-set expanded, giving more variety in each weapon's fighting style and even letting less-used weapons shine. Shout-out to the Sword & Shield users out there, for sticking with the weapon type for so long. I never used Sword & Shield myself because it was "the noob's weapon", a simple, easy to learn weapon type meant to ease in new players before trying out more complicated weapon types, and I have always favored the crazy, over-the-top, and just plain gimmicky weapons. But after going through Velkana's icy stab-dances too many times, I've realized that there is something beautiful in the Sword & Shield's simplicity. Something wholesome that you don't get with other weapons. Oh, and the new Perfect Rush combo for Sword & Shield does 115 damage on average per attack (normally the weapon deals about 20 damage on average), and that's with a basic Metal Sword & Shield that hasn't been fully upgraded, and with no passive abilities that boost damage. Imagine what kind of carnage you could do if you were running a setup for maximum damage output.
Perhaps the biggest new addition is the Clutch Claw, a grappling hook/slingshot hybrid device mounted on your character's left wrist. You can use it grapple onto a monsters and attack it directly, or, if you grapple the head, you can fire off any ammo for your Slinger (the slingshot part of the Clutch Claw) to force the monster to run into any nearby wall, dealing a large amount of damage (about 530) and instantly toppling it, letting you get some free attacks in, or take a moment to heal, or whatever. A fair warning about the Clutch Claw. You cannot use it whenever you want, for if you try, the monster will just swat you away like a mosquito. You have to wait for an opening, namely when a monster staggers. Additionally, while you can still do a direct attack, you cannot do the wall-slam trick if a monster has entered its Enraged form. Additionally, what the direct attack does changes based on weapon type (some weapons' direct attacks will drop extra ammo for the Slinger while others will mark the body part you grappled as a weak spot, dealing bonus damage). I really like the Clutch Claw, as it offers new strategies to deal with monsters, while not being overly powerful in its own right. Plus, grappling onto a monster's head, shooting it point-blank in the face with a slingshot and making it run into a wall feels like something out of an action movie, and I love it.
We also got a new hub-town to traverse, in the form of the snowy Seliana Village. Honestly, it might be the best hub-town in the series, and that's coming from someone who fondly remembers and sorely misses Moga Village from Monster Hunter 3. It's beautifully designed, with Nordic-inspired huts walkways, and the whole area is compact, easy to navigate, and has all of the main points of interest not too far away from each other. One problem with the previous hub-town, Astera, was that while it looked amazing, it was tedious to navigate. It was overly long and the main facilities were spread way too far apart. The elevator's mitigated the issue somewhat, but the worst offender would be how if you wanted to access the Tail Rider Safari (which can be used to farm items passively while you do something else), you had to either A) Fast Travel to the Research Base (which, by the way, also got an overhaul to make it more manageable), which meant sitting through another loading screen, or B) Fast Travel to your Private Quarters, which also meant sitting through another loading screen. But in Seliana, the Tail Rider Safari is immediately accessible and you never have to go through a loading screen just to get to it in the first place. So good on you, Capcom. You gave us the best hub-town in the series.
In regards to the difficulty of Iceborne, it is in fact harder than anything in the base game, but not as difficult as Monster Hunter 3 (the first game I played in the series) or Monster Hunter: Freedom (which is infamous for its glitches, bad hit boxes, and overall weirdness making the game artificially tough). The difficulty of Iceborne stems mostly from the addition of Master Rank, a third set of quests and battles intended to be more challenging than High Rank (the series' version of Hard Mode). All returning monsters have been buffed up to hit harder and take more of a beating from the hunters, in addition to some brand-new monsters giving players a new test of their skills.
Most of the monsters in the expansion are Sub-Species, stronger, recolored versions of other monsters. Some folks might be annoyed by the lack of originality, but honestly I like the Sub-Species a lot. They usually have some kind of unusual gimmick or mechanic that gives them a completely different fight. Viper Tobi-Kadachi (pictured above), for example, has a bite that paralyzes and a stinger tail that poisons, in addition to being more aggressive and direct in its fighting style, compared to the evasive regular version that prefers to circle around and attack you from your (presumably unguarded) flank. Another example. Fulgur Anjanath (pictured below) trades its fire breath for a variety of very flashy lightning attacks, ranging from biting you with a mouth full of electrified teeth, to coating its body in a literal armor of lightning while ramming you. It also weaponizes the snot-like slime that the regular Anjanath uses to mark its territory, sneezing out bursts of slime that, you guessed it, are also electrified. Also, side note, but every time I look at Fulgur Anjanath's name I keep misreading it as "Vulgar Anjanath" and then I can't get the image of a electric T. Rex singing a really explicit rap out of my head. Your welcome.
The truly brand-new monsters are also fantastic. You have a dopey moose-like Banbaro, the elegant ice-dragon Velkhana, the over-the-top and clearly anime inspired Glavenus, and the expansion's nightmarish final boss. My favorite brand-new monster, however, would have to Namielle. Please, Allow me to explain why I love Namielle as much as I do.
Namielle is a Water Dragon heavily inspired by various sea animals. It has a manta-ray like head, glowing tendrils like a jellyfish, and its "wings" are based off of the tentacles of the Vampire Squid (for context, the Vampire Squid has a cape-like membrane connecting its tentacles together, just like Namielle's wings). The body itself is admittedly just a reuse of the same basic skeleton that Chameleos ( a monster from the older games) uses, albeit re-purposed to suit an aquatic-themed creature. That's not even getting into the battle. It starts off clumsy, slow and awkward, attacking by flailing its body around like a fish. Then it uses its beam attack, which coats the ground near the point of impact in a puddle of water. And it keeps using its beam attack, and soon the entire area is soaking wet. While the area is watery, Namielle becomes swift, graceful even, and the fight really begins. Additionally, Namielle can use the electrified stingers on its tendrils to boil the water, creating an explosion of steam and mist. Its a fun concept that makes for a fun and engaging battle. Oh, and some of the weapons and armor you get from defeating it look amazing.
Note that I said "some" of the weapons look amazing. Now's a chance to talk about the biggest problem with Iceborne. The designs of the weapons and armor. A common theme with the weapons is that they are just the basic metal series or basic bone series with the hilts made of monster material instead of wholly unique models reflecting the monster it came from. One could make the argument that it keeps the weapon designs "realistic", but Monster Hunter is a game that is believable, but never realistic. Case in point, your hunter's wrists would break from the stress of wielding a sword as large as the in-game weapons if you applied real life science and laws. This problem was also present in the base game, but it stands out worse here. The Brachydios Dual Blades (pictured above) are probably the worst offender. Not only are they just the Bone dual blades but with a re-textured hilt, the design is somehow worse than how it looked in older games (Brachydios and its weapons have been around since Monster Hunter 3). Granted, there are some amazing weapon designs in the game, namely the Namielle Gun-Lance and the Velkhana Sword & Shield, but those are the exceptions, not the rule. Honestly, I wouldn't mind the design flaws if it wasn't for the fact they look like mediocre early-game weapons even after being fully upgraded. At least make the final version of a weapon look more complicated than "basic bone weapon with some scales super glued on the hilt".
The armor design is better, though. And to be frank, it feels like the situation is reversed for the armor designs. Most of them look great with the occasional dud. The Namielle armor for example looks great, giving your hunter a cloak that mimics the bioluminescent wings of Namielle, with the body itself being jet black with cool blue accents. The Banbaro armor lets you embrace your inner Viking with a horned helmet and fur pelt cape. And the Ebony Odogaron armor is heavily inspired by Japanese Samurai and folklore, what with a rice hat, Oni Mask, decorative kanji symbols, and even a katana sheath on the back. The only really bad looking armors are all the early game armors nobody cares about anyway. So on that, I congratulate Capcom.
If am to be overtly critical of Iceborne, I have to address the biggest flaw of the game, and it still hasn't been fixed despite the dozens of Quality-of-Life updates. You still cannot pause the game while on a solo hunt. I understand not being able to pause because of multiplayer, but a lack of pause on solo hunts feels like a massive oversight. It's actually funny. The ability to pause and take breaks has become so common in video games that when you have a game with no pause functionality at all it makes you realize how underappreciated pausing is. And what's worse is the reason why the game lacks a pause is because of perpetually online design, in addition to the SOS system (basically, if you are struggling on a quest or hunt you can send an SOS flare, which will allow other players to join you mid-quest). The problem is that I don't use SOS flares at all (and are straight up unusable if you don't have Playstation+), and from what I gather most people just form their parties ahead of time so a good portion of the community ignores this feature anyway. So while it is neat in concept, in execution it kills solo play. Do you know how many quests and hunts I had to end early because of a real-life situation coming up (dinner being ready, making last-minute shopping trips, etc)? Enough to make me complain about it. I actually have the exact same issue with Destiny, only here it's worse because the settings literally have an offline mode, which Destiny lacks because that game is an MMORPG and as such multiplayer settings are permanently on. Adding insult to injury, the older Monster Hunter games do have a dedicated pause option. And the worst part of it all is the only real way to restore pausing is to remove the SOS system, which is an integral game mechanic (an underutilized game mechanic, but still) that was there since the game first launched. I understand that Capcom can patch out problems relatively easily, but I don't see them doing anything as drastic as removing an entire game mechanic.
On the subject of negatives, the story is still the least memorable part of the whole expansion. Which is, sadly, par for the course for this franchise. The story in Monster Hunter is usually just a bare-bones excuse plot to justify having a team of trained mercenaries fight fire-breathing dragons or electrical werewolves. The story of Iceborne is better, but not by much. It is nowhere near as good as Monster Hunter 4's story campaign, which is currently the best story in the franchise due to it being more than a simple excuse plot (Monster Hunter Stories would beat it if it wasn't for the corny dialogue and repetitive Power of Friendship preaching). But I'd say the story is better than the plot of the average Monster Hunter. It still has problems, sure. Chief among them being the Handler getting herself thrown into dangerous situations when she herself knows it's safer to stay behind and let the Hunters do their thing. I know people hate everything about the Handler, from her bright-eyed optimism and comically exaggerated appetite, but frankly the only thing I don't like about the Handler is that she's used as a Damsel in Distress far too often to motivate the Hunters to fight the newest baddie, in a setting where the Hunters already have a motivation to do so (they get paid handsomely for their work). Another main problem with the story is that there isn't any real conflict until right before the Final Boss shows up. The main reason for this is partly because of the lack of a major antagonist monster to continually harass you. Lagiacrus, from Monster Hunter 3, was a threatening monster because it would consistently showed up anywhere with water, long before your gear was good enough to fight against it, and you wind up forming a "Moby Dick and the White Whale" dynamic with Lagiacrus (especially after the reveal that Lagiacrus was the monster that crippled the Chieftain, who is your character's elderly mentor in that game). Gore Magala, was pretty much the closest thing the Monster Hunter universe has to a super villain. It was a threatening monster that also harassed you long before you were ready for it, and the entire story of Monster Hunter 4 was spent tracking down and trying to stop Gore Magala before it spreads its deadly virus to the entire animal kingdom.
Velkhana, the main mascot and "antagonist" of Iceborne... Doesn't really do that much. It has an awesome design, beautiful theme music, and a really fun battle, but it doesn't really have much bearing on the story. We see it causing the butterfly-like Legiana to migrate to the new winter area (which admittedly kick starts the plot). It also freezes its prey solid before devouring them. But it isn't an invasive predator. It isn't intentionally causing harm to the ecosystem. If anything Velkhana is a victim since it, and the rest of the new Elder Dragon-tier monsters have been displaced by mysterious earthquakes. There is the fan-theory that Velkhana was keeping the final boss subdued by freezing it repeatedly (supported by the fact it only starts becoming active after Velkhana is defeated), but Velkhana simply doesn't have that consistent threat that Gore Magala or Lagiacrus have. On a more positive note, the second fight with Velkhana was really good, requiring you to protect an outpost and utilize the various traps and super weapons hidden throughout the outpost to keep Velkhana out. I really wish that Capcom introduces a new monster (or brings back something like Damiyo Hermitaur or Lao Shen Lung) so the new siege quest (siege quests are special boss battles where the Hunter has to protect a specific object or area from the monster. These quests usually require a more thorough strategy than the usual "Attack, combo when you can, run away, repeat" routine) can reuses this outpost.
Well, the only thing left to discuss is the music. But this is Monster Hunter where talking about. Of course there's awesome music. Most of it is orchestral, but they brought back Zinogre as one of the post-game optional bosses, and with him comes his signature theme, comprised almost entirely of electric guitar. The Seliana music (as well as the music for the new custom house) is relaxing and mellow, which is good since those are the areas with the most relaxing atmosphere. And while there are a few songs that don't immediately stick out enough to justify listening to them by themselves, I will say that each song does a good job setting the mood for each quest and hunt. My favorite song would have to be the final boss theme, as it strikes a blend of ominous wails and mystical wind chimes. It sounds vaguely Asian in its style, but instead of being relaxing like most Asian-style music, it's foreboding and establishes that the final boss is a dangerous threat that needs to be taken down, no matter the cost.
In conclusion, Monster Hunter World: Iceborne is a well-crafted expansion that gives everyone more of what they love, plus some brand-new content. It fixes the few annoyances from the original game where it can, and while the story is nowhere near topping Monster Hunter 4, and the weapon designs aren't as good as past games, it is indeed a worthwhile experience for fans of the franchise. But should you get Iceborne without any prior experience the series? That is literally impossible. It's a DLC expansion. You need to play through the original game before the game will even let you attempt Iceborne content. With all this being said, I give Monster Hunter World: Iceborne 9 stab-dancing dragons out of 10. I do feel it is a genuine improvement over the original game and the only real flaw of the game's design is (still) the lack of a pause option for solo players. I understand that it would be very difficult to fix, but that is literally the only thing keeping the game from being a perfect 10/10 for me. Now, you can have pause be disabled when in multiplayer, for obvious reasons. But if you are playing offline, by yourself, there should be a way to pause the game. Seriously, it's one of the oldest staples of video game design, so common that most people under-appreciate it. I know I did.
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