Hunter's Handbook
Performance is obviously rough. However, if they actually have a better build already and can keep working on optimization, it looks like it will be in good shape. I’m on the low/old side of the rec specs and was able to get it in decent enough spot, hitting slightly above 60fps during hunts. It looked like shit and I had to use DLSS (but not frame gen), all at 1080p. This is obviously a question mark we all have to wait for answers to.
I suspect a substantial part of this issue is due to the weather simulations they added. While cool looking, I didn’t feel in this beta that it brings enough to the table to be worth it. Which is a major theme for most of the things I didn’t enjoy. They are clearly moving toward more cinematic experiences, even in combat. This appears in the form of disorienting camera movement that I was not a fan of, with clashes being outright QuickTime events. Luckily, for combat cinematics, you can choose not to engage in them, even those related to focus mode, if you wish.
I put it in my feedback survey, but they absolutely have to give us options tone down the shit happening on screen. There were way too many tutorials, notices, and effects happening at all times. I really hope they listened to World feedback and allow scout flies to be turned down or off. And, legitimately, if the environmental updates on the right side can’t be turned off, I may struggle to enjoy playing it. They were so constant and distracting.
Last maybe negative, I wasn’t impressed by the pack mechanic with the doshaguma hunt. It felt like a shittier version of a multi monster hunt where they just gang jump you or you break contact. And the pack fled relatively quickly if you attack them to run them off, so it feels half baked and unnecessary. But I am open to seeing more of it to make my final opinion.
The good stuff:
Combat feels really damn good (what else should we expect). They have finally managed to make everything feel worth playing to me. This includes gunlance, which I’ve never gotten along with. Unfortunately, it may have come at the expense of my lance. Lance doesn’t feel bad but it lacked a good downed combo or big hit. And I was not at all a fan of the big meaty charge counter being locked to the end of a 3 hit combo. Not having the cross sweep after an insta guard, but just a little shield bash and optional poke after just felt less satisfying. But, it is as stick-and-jab as the trailer suggests, so that might be enough.
Swagaxe is not as swaggy, and they moved some moves around on me which hurt muscle mem, but it feels pretty great still. Having an offset counter on axe and strait counter on sword feels great. It might have the gaudiest mount finisher too, gogdamn.
Charge blade feels fantastic. Love the new shortcut to shield boost. The perfect counter activation of pizza cutter feels great. And the SAED 3 part combo is beastly. Block SAED spam is so back with it being the fastest route there.
I enjoyed the changes to bow resource management. Not crafting coatings is pretty nice. The homing attacks were better in practice than my initial fears from the video. Great to finally have a reason to use arc shots regularly.
Hunting horn felt really good. I was happy with rise horn, so easier to please here. But it felt great to me so I hope the sad horn mains can be happy again.
Long sword got even more weeb, but again, what else should we expect?
Great sword offset rising slash might have been my favorite of those new offset moves. Felt like a fantastic tool for the kit. And it also probably benefits most from the focus cam control (along with lance/gunlance).
Hammer mains, you will be eating like kings and queens. For those who thought you couldn’t improve after RiseBreak, incorrect. My god that big spin attack is amazing and the normal spin rework into combos felt great too. The charged dash with the slinger is just icing on the cake.
SnS got a great glow up with the new charge attack on backhop and more motion options in the endless combo. Would still love to see oils come back, but it’s looking real fun.
DBs mains, hope you like attack on titan. Loved the perfect dodge in demon mode for a little boost.
Bow guns feel largely the same, even more so than before since LBG didn’t feel as mobile as past versions. LBG rapid fire is slightly reworked to be ammo and meter dependent now. HBG meter is for dakka or wyversnipe presumably. Also gets auto guard with the option for active input to do an offset/clash.
Overall, the focus mechanic felt pretty good. All (almost all?) weapons have very cinematic attacks when popping the pimples. I found myself constantly holding left trigger to aim with most melee weapons. So there is a new level of muscle memory to rework. It didn’t feel completely natural on all weapons. The lances and GS benefitted most. And nothing was new for ranged obviously. It might make things difficult for multi mains like me, but I liked it overall so far.
I didn’t do much exploration due to performance (just enough to find the seikret babies). Probably my biggest win for the beta was the seikret. Monsters did run away quite a bit. But being able to just hop on and be able the take a complete break and put the controller down in transit was very nice. Of course you can sharpen, swap weapons, eat, and gather too. Which has a generous range for the grapple gather with a small cooldown. Pathing needs refinement, but I really enjoyed that feature. Should completely alleviate another ancient forest situation with the benefit of a mid-battle rescue option or for sharpening.
Overall, I’m mainly glad I could even run the beta. 100 player lobby was a nice throwback to Tri. I’m feeling more positive on this than world to be a better balance of the cinematic style people apparently want and the more portable experience I prefer. They just gotta tighten up the performance and this should be the successful entry we all want it to be.