[ENG] Monster Hunter World: Iceborne - My Experience

(Polska Wersja Dostępna Tu! - [PL] Monster Hunter World: Iceborne - Moje Odczucia)

(This is purely my experience in Iceborne Expansion and not in basic Monster Hunter World)

Monster Hunter World is another entry in quite long Monster Hunter franchise, but it's the first entry that took the western world by storm (from what I've heard it was made easier in many aspects in comparison to previous installments. I say 'from what I've heard' because personally I didn't play any previous games from this series). It was released in 2018 and – I admit, initially it was weird to play it, but now it's one of my favorite games that I return to on a regular basis.

Monster Hunter World: Iceborne (which I will be referring to as MHW:I or Iceborne for simplicity) was released a year later – in 2019. It's a DLC, but not your typical 'Pay 10$ for about 2-3 hours of gameplay' DLC. Iceborne is as large if not larger than the base game – with it's own, long story, interesting additions and amount of content so large that you can play for hundreds of hours and still not know about some features!

I bought Iceborne not so long ago... Was it worth it? Short answer – Yes. Long answer – let me tell you why!

(Ciri from the MHW x Witcher 3 collaboration, and it's one of really many collaborations this game had over these few years)

First of all, let's start with something already in the name of the game – monsters! There were around 35 monsters already available in the base game, now – what do you think - How many monsters were added in Iceborne? 10? 15? Over 30 (Okay, okay – 14 of them are entirely new, 12 are sub-species of already existing monsters from the base game AND 5 of them are subspecies of new monsters so... If we really want to include 'only, purely new' then it's 14). And on October 1st there will be last big patch for MHW:I introducing yet another monster – legendary black dragon Fatalis.

It's over 60 different monsters with different movesets – and that's not even including arch-tempered versions of some of them (much harder, tougher and stronger than their regular brothers).

Each monster can be in two states – 'calm' and 'enraged'. For the record – you don't have to worry about them, but... In Iceborne, enraged monsters are much more ferocious and furious in comparison to the base game. My first true challenge in the form of Tigrex – whenever he got furious, I was much more hesitant to attack and tried to keep my dodging skills sharp (granted, I have a tendency to be way too aggressive and greedy in these types of games so I am aware that a lot of failures could've been avoided if I just took my time from the start).

Oh, and monsters from the base game in Iceborne (or rather Master Rank – new level allowing you to hunt Iceborne monsters) receive some new attacks to knock you off guard when you think that 'Oh, I know that monster all too well, it will be a cakewalk'.

(Velkhana, the flagship monster of Iceborne)

We also have a new tool on our hands – Clutch Claw. We can grapple to certain monster part and attack it to tenderize it and in effect do much more damage to that particular body part. Of course, if we try to do this during monster attack – it'll most likely just shake us off and do some damage. But there's more! If we have slinger ammo, we can grapple to monster's head and blast it with all of the ammo we have – it will send monster on it's way in a particular direction and if it hits a wall – it will receive quite some damage and fall over.

The only thing you have to remember about tossing monsters against a wall is that – they can't be enraged. Because then, you won't even move them.

Together with the Clutch Claw, all of the already existing weapons received new, sweet moves. One of the most characteristic is probably the Long Sword's Iai Spirit Slash or Hammer's Clutch Claw Spin – I didn't really use over half of the existing weapons, but I am more than sure, that all of them have some new, often flashy moves in their arsenal!

(Viper Tobi-Kadachi, one of many sub-species of already existing monsters in Iceborne)

We also received two entirely new regions. Hoarfrost Reach and Guiding Lands. Former is our main playground when it comes to the Iceborne storyline and first meetings with new monsters (large part of them, but equally large part we meet in other regions) – it's a freezing tundra where you have to drink something hot or your stamina will deplete in an extremely fast rate. And it's also home for a new Grimalkyne Tribe (more on that in a second). It may be confusing at first – like with every new region – but it's not nearly as confusing as...

The latter – The Guiding Lands! It's unlocked when you finish the main Iceborne storyline (Oh, and it's worth mentioning that you can't access Iceborne if you haven't finished main MHW storyline – of course, you can benefit from both new moves and Clutch Claw, but the storyline, regions, monsters and so on are locked from you). I won't tell too much about the Guiding Lands, but it's much more confusing than most of the other things in the game and... It (together with some other aspects) offers a ton of end-game content.

(This gives me heavy Demon's Souls vibes - also - spot the main character)

About the said Grimalkyne Tribe. First of all, during my first playthrough I really neglected the usefulness and profits from various Grimalkyne Tribes (worth noting – my first playthrough was on PC and second was on PS4), but on the second one I tried to befriend all of them – I succeeded and... Suffice it to say they saved my life or made the hunt much easier few times. The Boaboa Tribe is aggressive, but if you happen to hunt with one of Boaboa in your team – they won't attack you, unless you attack first.

Oh, by the way – have you ever wanted to ride a Jagras? Well – with Iceborne you can! You can even point on the map where you want to go and your New World Uber will take you there, you in the meantime can sharpen your weapon, refill your health, prepare for fight – plus it's quite useful that you don't have to run everywhere by yourself like it the base game!

(Why Palico equipment always must look so good)

In the base game it could be hard to gather significant amount of potions, tranquil bombs and many other things if you were constantly dying to a certain monster. Iceborne introduces Steamworks – to put it very shortly – it's a minigame where you can farm absurd amount of items, potions, armor spheres, tranquil bombs – and much more. I think it was a bit obvious, but let me clarify – with Iceborne storyline, you receive a new base of operations – Seliana – which is... In my opinion, much easier and better to navigate through than Astera.

We also have new rarities of weapon and armor. Whereas in base game Rarity 8 was the peak of upgrades, Iceborne introduces us to Rarities from 9 to 12, and a lot of weapons look astounding! Like Alatreon's Long Sword that looks like a scythe or Insect Glaive called Fenrir Rose.

Not to say you also get Pendants which are cosmetic accessories for your weapon, a ton of new Layered Armors and... Events on a regular basis that have a ton of event quests that allow you to look like Bayek from AC: Origins or Leon/Claire from Resident Evil 2 (Of course, you have to do respective event quests first, but... It's neat!).

(A threat conquered)

So, to summarize – is the Iceborne worth getting? Answer yourself a one, very simple question. Have you enjoyed the base game and want more? - If answer is yes, then you basically answered my question; if the answer is no – you also answered my question. It's really simple as that, but if you decide to get Iceborne – I really doubt that you won't enjoy the new story, new monsters, new weapons and so on, and so on.

I know my experience/review had really scarce information about new monsters or storyline, but... I really don't want to spoil the fun for any of you, so I tried to include all of the relevant Iceborne information with as little spoilers as it's physically possible.

I am going back to Iceborne and waiting for the Fatalis update, personally I can't find the words to recommend the base Monster Hunter World or the Iceborne Expansion. There will probably be another Monster Hunter game when the new generation of console finally hits so... World can be a really nice introduction to how the MH works and a good 'testing ground' to see if this game is something you enjoy or not really.

Solve the mystery presented to you in Iceborne and face new, ferocious monsters!

Kind Regards,

Wing.