User blog comment:BannedLagiacrus/Discussion of the Week: MHWI/@comment-24734669-20190915013402

Like WolfQueen, I am a PC player, so I won't get a true grasp of Iceborne until 4 months later.

1) I used to think World was a decent soft reboot for the entire series; sure, it was easy and it had flaws, but it felt like it'd be a great starting point for what's to come. However, when the Behemoth update arrived and Arch-Tempered monsters started getting spammed en masse, I blew a gasket and started heavily bashing World for its many flaws; I then started focusing on other games such as Risk of Rain, Super Smash Bros, MHGU, and even Minecraft (yeah, yeah, I'm the massive cringelord, bash me for all you can). Later, I came back to World and reformed my decent opinion of it when Iceborne was released.

2) Needless to say, Iceborne rekindled my hype for the series. I loved that we got an expansion rather than a new game, and the prospect of more actual good monsters being added was something I liked; I also wanted to see how many ideas it'd give me for a little project that focused on getting every single recurring large monster and locale type up to standards.

3) I have no preference for either.

4) I haven't really played the game yet, so I can't really say. It does seem a bit cheesy, though...

5) I really like the Raider Ride! It's cute (riding a small gregarious monster is really adorable) and it's efficient (sharpening your sword while on the go? Hell yeah)

6) I have yet to play the game, so I can't answer this.

7) I am; more ways to view the environment are welcome.

8) I really like how much easier to navigate Seliana is; as well as this, I feel that it's just as picturesque as Astera is. The Hoarfrost Reach is probably one of the best locales in the game; it's an expansive, wide-open map with lots of cool features and unique sub-biomes; I like the underground sections the most, as they look the prettiest. As WolfQueen said, I like how there's many secrets there as well.

9) My favorite subspecies has to be Coral Pukei-Pukei. Coral Pukei is a Water-based monster, so it automatically gets points for existing; as well as this, I just love that attack where it does a frontflip into the air before spraying jets of water all over the place.

10) My least favorite subspecies is Nightshade Paolumu. Take Paolumu (an already annoying and pathetic monster), replace its annoying staggering wind blast spam with giant sleep clouds that are also spammed for most of the fight, and give it Master Rank Rathalos' immunity to Flash Pods, and you get a fight that rests on how many Energy Drinks you can burn through before you get by an obnoxiously powerful attack (that is, unless you have Sleep-resistant armor). Ebony Odogaron may be close behind, mainly because it seems to be a shitty Stygian Zinogre.

11) For the most part, I like what they did to the variants. Savage Deviljho is a much more fun an intense fight than ever before (and it has taken back its role of being the main crasher of hunts); as well as this, Seething Bazelgeuse is also really fun to fight and has some really scary attacks (although it's a shame it no longer invades quests, as I really wish it invaded quests instead of dumb old Banbaro and Ebony Odogaron). As well as this, Scarred Yian Garuga has many more changes to it than most Arch-Tempered monsters could ever have, so it has that going for it. However, Blackveil Vaal Hazak was pretty unneeded (although it seems to be a much harder fight than the boring punching bag that is regular Vaal Hazak), and Ruiner Nergigante seems to be disappointing right now.

12) Velkhana is simply "OK", IMO. I think its theme is nice, it has really cool attacks, and all of its fights are actually somewhat fun, but couldn't they have picked a less generic design for it?

13) As is the case with base World, Iceborne had a star-studded roster of veteran monsters. It was nice seeing Glavenus in World (especially since he was a new addition), Barioth is pretty much the perfect apex predator for the Hoarfrost Reach, and Nargacuga, Tigrex, Brachydios, and Zinogre are all very popular and easy picks for a Master Rank experience. Yian Garuga getting in was a bit weird, and I had no idea why they thought bringing it back was a good idea (there were other, equally obnoxious monsters that fit Iceborne's theme much better, like Khezu and Blangonga); however, thanks to World's changes, it has went from an aggravating shitfest to one of the best returnees in the entire game (bar possibly Brachydios). As for the audio, while I personally like their themes (I don't like the Narga, Tigrex, and Glavenus BGM as much as I do the others), WolfQueen raised a great point about sound design; from Brachydios grunting like a pig and Glavenus losing the metallic grinding noise for his roundslash windup to Barioth and Zinogre outright losing their old roars and getting pathetic new ones, it's certain that Capcom was smoking some serious crack when making vocalizations for the monsters.

14) TBH, I'd have no idea how to feel. I feel that Gammoth is an extremely slow fight that solely relies on spectacle to stand out (whereas Astalos and Mizutsune actually have awesome battles and dangerous attacks); however, she fits the theme of Iceborne, and I'd take her over some other additions to the game.

15) Beotodus is perhaps the best Piscine Wyvern in the series, Banbaro is a shitty Duramboros, Velkhana has an awesome fight but an appallingly generic design, Namielle is a really unique and wonderful regular Elder Dragon that breathes new life into the game, and Shara Ishvalda is shaping up to be one of the best final bosses in the series, along with Gogmazios and Ahtal-Ka.

16) I personally hope Akantor returns; it seems like such an obvious monster to add to Iceborne, and I feel like, if reworked properly, it can provide enough challenge for endgame players (unlike other monsters such as Seregios and Zamtrios). I also kinda want Gore Magala to get in due to the fact that it's the only feasible 4th Gen representative we can get at this point, and I'd be surprised if neither Fatalis nor Alatreon make it in as the final update monster.

17) No original monsters because it's likely we'll end up with another shitshow like Kulve.

18) Hopefully a bright one; with the foundation World has set, Capcom can make their monster rosters more diverse, make their monsters more up to standards (perhaps we can get to the point where even Rathalos is spectacular), add cool new mechanics, and, overall, make wonderful games on par with Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate.