Why I'm Looking Forward to Monster Hunter World

Fans seem to be very split about Monster Hunter World. I understand a lot of the concerns, but thought I would write a post about why I'm so excited for it. Monster Hunter World was the major surprise from this year's E3 and literally got me giddy like a teenage girl!


Capcom makes good games, but their releases are often underwhelming. What they call sequels MMOs or any "games as a service" product would simply call patches or expansions not entirely new games. Monster Hunter hasn't had a significant re-working in years. While I am a relatively new fan I've gone back and played many of the older games as well as importing Japanese only titles and playing the Chinese only Monster Hunter Online. The original Playstation 2 entry was fairly unique (I never tried importing Monster Hunter 2). After these first two Playstation games was the Freedom series. Freedom Unite was the only one of the series I played, but my understanding is this was a cumulative update. Since Freedom Unite Monster Hunter has basically been the same. Yes there have been new weapons, quality of life improvements, much needed hit-box fixes and graphical and mechanical improvements, but you can play anything from Freedom Unite to Generations and it basically plays the same.


With World, the biggest legitimate complaints is the fact it's not on hand held. While I personally can't wait to play an HD big screen experience (This is the main reason I played Online), I have grown to enjoy the ability to bring my 3DS to work and simply sit next to 3 other people at lunch and play. Local multiplayer will be severely lacking in World, but we get the trade off of the best graphics I've seen in Monster Hunter to date.

Also I do hope the Monster Hunter XX (Double Cross) does actually release in English on the Switch. The base game (Generations) has already been localized so only G rank content would need to be localized and this would give us the mechanically definitive version of this Monster Hunter time frame (Freedom-Generations) in the West. It really makes no since for Capcom to not release XX in the West based on the very little effort it would take to localize and the fact the game would stand alone in the Action-RPG space on the Switch. Capcom also recent said they were surprised by the sales of Street Fighter II on Switch and are considering more Switch releases. I think I would be in the camp that argues 4 Ultimate is actually a better over-all game (balance, progression curve, story), but a 60 fps 1080p Monster Hunter on Switch with the mechanical improvements made on Generations would be a great game we should get to play in North America!

Okay back to World... with the recent weapons videos I think it's much more clear this is a Monster Hunter game, I was actually hoping for a bit more re-tooling, but as long as they fix things like being able to change directions mid-combo to make following monsters/avoiding hits possible and make canceling out of combos easier I'll be happy with the HD upgrade we are getting. Having all the favorite weapons return is a good thing and while many of the monsters appear new this isn't a bad thing. I hope the Artificial Inelegance re-vamps are real! Not cheesing zone lines should help the immersion and using environments looks limited at the moment, but full of potential! For the first time ever in the series the North America and Japanese versions are releasing at the same time! The last question I have that I haven't heard an answer on is will we get G rank? Playing Portable 3rd and now Generations, Monster Hunter isn't really Monster Hunter until you hit that difficulty curve in G rank that requires you to put effort into your hunts. Fingers crossed, but Yes I am more excited for Monster Hunter World then I've been for any other title I can think of in the last few years!

-PC version!!!!! /mic drop

Gigantic Guide: How to Win Matches / The Power Struggle

Why write this post? Gigantic is an amazing complex and fun game, but the complexity takes a while to understand. I'm attempting to speed up the learning curve with information that took me about a solid month of daily play to grasp. Without understanding the underlining game it's a charming, but run-of-the-mill PvP control point type game. Once you grasp the power mechanics however, it becomes truly enjoyable and competitive at a level that makes you consider what you should be doing at every moment. A large part of Gigantic's charm is it's an intelligent strategy game at heart, wrapped in a 3rd person action arena. Read, share, and hopefully enjoy the game more as your knowledge grows! See you on the airship!

What isn't as Important as it Appears:

Forget about everything on the Tab/Y screen: kills, deaths, assists, summons, and efficiency. Those stats will net you Fortune Cards, but won't win you matches.

This is mostly true with end game screens except for two stats: Guardian Damage and Orbs. These are the only two stats that will give you an idea about how you or your teammates helped out:

- Guardian Damage: During the Vulnerable Phase how much damage did you do to the enemy guardian.
- Orbs: If there is no creature on a point (or an Obelisk) the power can be manually collected and shows in this stat. (So it is situational, see Building Power Phase below)

Why don't kills and deaths matter? Because the timing of kills and deaths is more important by far than the numbers.

What is Important: The Power Struggle:

Now that we've talked about what isn't important, what is? The match happens in phases much like Magic the Gathering or many other turn based card games. Understanding these phases helps you make smart plays and win. The good news is everything you need to understand these phases is right at the top of your screen at all times.

Building Power Phase:

This is the phase you will spend the majority of the match in. Both teams start at 0 power at the beginning of the game and after every Vulnerable Phase. Your goal during this phase is to fill your bar to 100 before the enemy team does. Here is what gives you power:

- Player Kills: Killing an enemy player earns 10 power for your team.
- Creature Kills: Killing an enemy creature earns 20 power for your team.
- Collecting Power Orbs: Collecting the power orbs that spawn earns 20 power for your team.

Power Orbs: Each of the lettered points on the map spawn a Power Orb. Normally a friendly and enemy point spawn at the same time, but if there is an odd number of points the middle point will spawn alone and controlling it can be all you need to win the Building Power Phase. If you have a non-Obelisk creature on the point it will collect the orb for you (if it's not being attacked). If there is no creature or an Obelisk is on the point you must manually collect the orb (D-Pad Down or 4). Creatures also collect orbs faster than manually collecting, so if one team has a creature and one team does not the team with a creature has an advantage.

Disrupting the Enemy Team's Power: Both creatures and players can be interrupted while collecting power orbs, so if you see someone else collecting engage them, and if a teammate is collecting support them by keep enemies away from them or body blocking shots for them. If there will be a tie to 100 you can also disrupt an enemy creature so your creature captures the orb first. If you see an enemy point without a creature on it, but with an orb you can run behind enemy lines and manually capture the power orb.

Trading Power: This is where it can get interesting. Know how much power actions will earn your team and if you can make a good trade at the right time it can tip the balance of power. Being behind enemy lines you can capture an enemy orb or kill a creature and if you die alone you will earn 20 power for your team and will give the enemy team 10 power for your death netting a +10 for the trade. Taking at least one enemy player down with you makes this a better trade. If your team needs 20 points to reach 100 and the enemy needs more than 10 this may be an acceptable risk. (Read Building Shield Phase below as it may not be.)

At completion of the Building Power Phase there is a branch, if your team was the first to 100 you will enter the Attacking Phase if your team was not first you will enter the Building Shield Phase.

Building Shield Phase:

The more complex of the two phases after the Building Power Phase ends. If your team was not the first to 100 power the other team will be attacking and your team will be building shield. Your teams goal here is to fill the shield bar to 100 so when the enemy guardian does their initial attack it does no damage and any enemy player's attacks have the most possible damage absorbed by the shield. Shield numbers are the same as power numbers from the Building Power Phase, except no orbs spawn in this phase. Do anything you can to get that last kill or two to fill your shield, if it's at 100 the enemy guardian's initial attack is completely absorbed by the shield.

Also worth noting here is there is no power penalty for dying in this phase, so while you want to be up to defend the Vulnerable Phase this is an acceptable place to die if it can't be avoided without costing anything in the power struggle for your team.

Attacking Phase:

The team that gets to 100 power first enters the Attacking Phase. In the Attacking Phase your goal is to stay alive and not feed any power into the Building Shield Phase of the enemy team. Orbs do not spawn so the best strategy is usually to group up at a forward point, heal up and time your arrival to the enemy guardian at the same time your attack timer reaches 0 so you are present for the full duration of the Vulnerable Phase.

Arriving to early is the most common mistake I see here as the other team should all be there defending and deaths will add to their shield and make it harder to complete the wound and/or avoid a full team wipe while attacking during the Vulnerable Phase. Consider hanging back if it looks like you are the last one to the enemy guardian and your team won't complete the wound to avoid a full team wipe.

Vulnerable Phase:

After the Building Shield/Attacking Phases have ended the Vulnerable Phase starts. This is the only time the Guardians takes damage and you make progress towards winning the game. The first team to complete three wounds (deplete all three guardian health bar) wins the game. At the start of the Vulnerable Phase the attacking guardian does damage to the defending guardian to start off the phase. This damage is reduced by the shield the defending team has built up in the Building Shield Phase directly before. While every bit of shield helps at 90 shield the guardian still takes a substantial amount of damage, but at 100 shield the initial attack damage is mitigated completely so pushing to 100 percent will give your team a huge advantage in defending the wound. The shield also mitigates a percentage of player damage until it is fully used up, so the higher the shield the better.

Auto Wounds: If a guardian's health bar is already partially depleted the initial damage from the attacking guardian may fully complete the wound on it's own and the attacking team may not need to do any damage at all. The first two wounds work this why while the final hit of the final wound (to win the game) can only be made by player damage. If you know this will be an auto wound avoid rushing to the back lines where you are vulnerable to unnecessary deaths and instead plan another strategic attack on a creature if the defending team all goes back to protect a wound.

This is generally an okay time to die. Death adds to shield and power by way of increasing vulnerable time, but both are fairly low amounts. This also seems to be the highest chance of a team wipe, mostly on the attacking team and you really want to avoid this at all cost! I'll briefly talk about team wipes below.

I'll break up the Vulnerable Phase into attacking and defending wounds:

Attacking During the Vulnerable Phase: The enemy guardian is being pinned down by your guardian and is vulnerable to attack after the Attacking Phase has completed. During this time you want to primarily be attacking the enemy guardian at the expense of almost everything else. If you are playing a hero with strong crowd control (Xenobia and Uncle Sven's Focus Skills come to mind) you may consider using them so your team has uninterrupted damage on the wound for their duration, or you may save them for escapes after this phase.
Keep an eye on your teammate panel and run if possible to avoid a full team wipe!!!

Defending the Vulnerable Phase: Your guardian is being pinned down by the enemy guardian and is vulnerable to player attacks after the Building Shield Phase has completed. Your number one priority is to keep attackers from damaging your guardian. Only the front glowing part around the head is vulnerable, so watch for enemy players to group up on it. This is one of the most effective times to use your area of effect (AoE) damage or crowd control skills. Also if your guardian is being attacked by ranged consider using skills like Margrave's Hellburst, Mozu's Arcane Vortex, or if you've upgraded your skills defensively even something like HK-206's Fortify directly in front of your guardian to body block for them. There are other skills that can also be used well here, like knock backs against melee heroes to keep them out of range to damage the wounds. Experiment with your chosen hero's skills to wee what is effective here.

It is acceptable to die at this point as it gives a fairly small enemy shield and no power if doing so can reduce the damage your guardian takes, and doesn't contribute to a full team wipe!

Right After Vulnerable Phase Ends:

After the Vulnerable Phase, both teams return to the Building Power Phase. The first 60 seconds after Vulnerable Phase ends is arguably the most strategic. Here are a few strategic options:

- If you were defending a wound get player kills on any low health enemies trying to get out.
- If you didn't need to or weren't in position for a wound, take a creature's health down low in the Vulnerable Phase and kill it as soon as it ends to get a quick 20 power lead.
- Make a strong coordinated attack on a creature point if the other team is out of position etc.

These are the phases of the game that loop throughout your match. If you understand them and where you are in the loop it will help you to make smart choices and win the power struggle. The team with the most Vulnerable Phases usually wins, and that is achieved by winning the Building Power Phases.

Lastly I'll cover three more things that significantly effect power.

Clash:

Clash is designed to push the two teams closer together and help bring the match to conclusion faster. The top middle of the UI shows the number of points to get to Clash. Being the first team to 100 power (Rampage) is one point and when all the points are used up you enter Clash. These points really only matter for a few badges, but this will help you know how close to Clash you are. The map changes (many times dramatically) and the fight continues in closer quarters.

Full Team Wipes:

If your entire team dies there is an extra spawn time penalty added to your team (about 15-20 seconds). If your entire team is dead often the other team will push and kill one of your creatures before your team can respawn and defend it. So in addition to the power the other team got from killing yours teammates you can almost always count on losing an extra 20 power from a creature kill. This is why someone should often hang back during Attacking Phases or at least be aware if everyone is in a bad location and run early. Team wipes want to be avoided at all costs. And it's actually a good thing to watch that last person run for cover if everyone else is dead.

Summoning Creatures Your Team Can't Defend:

Those center points on a map feel nice to control, but if you can't defend the creature summoned on them it's a constant 20 power drip to the enemy team. Don't summon these creatures unless you can defend them. Many games I've been in have been lost by overzealous summoning on center points. With the addition of the Obelisk, you do now have an option as they give no power when killed. So if you summon on a heavily contested point use an Obelisk, just remember you'll have to manually collect the power orbs.

Genre Mashups in Video Games

I'm talking about genre mashups using Tomb Raider because I just finished the first one and am a few hours into the second so it is fresh on my mind, but this could be said about almost every game coming out. The Tomb Raider remakes are move of an answer to Uncharted than a throw back to the original, and this seems to dictate the genres they include.

The basic genres in Tomb Raider (broadly) are: Platformer/Collection, 3rd Person Shooter, and Quick-Time-Event. I haven't played the original Tomb Raider for many years, but I remember it being mostly an exploration/collection/platformer. The current Tomb Raider is fairly linear to be considered exploration and the puzzles are on the light side. As for collection, many of the collectibles are dropped in front of you and platforming is fairly light. I think you could say the game is trying primarily to be exploration and platforming, but it's linear enough you can't really miss much of the content and fail safes are put in for the platforming portions.


So where the game fails in my opinion is the other genres that are "forced" in. The first I will keep brief because I HATE quick-time events, so any inclusion is going to cause me grief and instantly be unhappy. The areas especially in the first game that included QTEs were the first road blocks I encountered. Luckily most of these were from the E3 Demo very early on and thinned out later in the game. Rise otTR did a better job, they are kinda there, but instead of true QTEs they are time slow downs requiring you to do normal gameplay operations... still annoying, but much better as knowing the controls are normally the worst part of QTEs.



The second mechanic kinda shoe-horned in is the forced 3rd person
shootouts. This won't be an issue for everyone, but I used the bow the rest of the game so when the sections they force you to do a shootout happens the bow isn't always viable and having no previous experience with the other weapons I got stuck on one of those sections for 2-3 play sessions trying to get past it. Forcing players to use one of your systems that has been optional for the majority of the game is okay, but then difficulty needs to be at a beginner level for it, not at a half way through the game expecting everyone to have been using it for hours of play.

Why this matters...
I don't have the time anymore to play games endlessly. Tomb Raider is a game I really like so I persisted, but any game that I'm borderline enjoying I won't pick back up if I hit a wall I can't complete in a few tries. Especially if it is because of a side game mechanic that I don't enjoy playing. I don't think I'm alone in my thinking at least in my demographic with a family and limited gaming time. I think meshing mechanics is possibly a good way to get people into a game, but if you use mechanics that don't mesh well together it was at least keep people from completing them.

Lastly I just want to reiterate that while I picked on Tomb Raider, it is a game I completed (though a little rushed at the end because Bloodborne was in the mail). That means a lot for me, I maybe only complete a dozen or so games a year, so holding my interest to the end is an accomplishment! And Rise of the Tomb Raider is my casual go-to-game right now when I don't want the difficulty of Bloodborne. So these are good games and the critique should in no way take away from that. With their faults they are still a worthy playthough!

Thanks for listening to my rambling.

The Strange case of Tomb Raider Definitive Edition

So I am late to the party on this one... but I had a very interesting thing happen with Tomb Raider. I purchased it shortly after release on the PC because I'm generally a PC gamer. It recently was one of the free games on Xbox Live, so I found myself sitting on the couch playing it and confused on if it looked better or not.

After some comparisons and playing both to the same point (my guess is roughly half way through), there are big pros and cons to both. At release PC was far superior to consoles, but something interesting happened... the game was enhanced for consoles and not PC... a game that had already been ported to PC didn't see a patch or Definitive Edition release. The new higher resolution Laura model did not show up, neither did the improved shaders or lighting from the DE (Definitive Edition). The PC version still has better post processing effects, higher texture quality, tessellation, ambient occlusion, hair physics, etc, but lacks the emotion possible in the new facial mesh and rig.

It's very disappointing to not see a PC release of an already ported game by Crystal Dynamics. So why wasn't the DE brought to PC? Well the changes were not mechanical, the DLC was mostly multi-player and most people don't play Tomb Raider for multi-player, at least not in the generic third-person-shooter low rated version that went into the game. The the question is would people pay for the DE release as either DLC or re-release? Metro pretty much did this, and while they were slammed by some for minimal updates, at least they gave the PC crowd the choice and anyone picking up the game late could take advantage of it.

So other than direct sales what other reasons could it be? Right after release (before an early patch) the PC version was plagued with slow down. I don't remember if it was the hair or rope physics, but it took an early patch to fix this. If we look at another example of Batman: Arkham Knight while it always ran fine on my system, it was pulled from the Steam store for months and offered no questions asked returns even after patching. So it's clear PC ports are still difficult at times especially on in-house or heavily modified engines. So maybe Crystal Dynamics thought it was to big of a risk?

So in conclusion the most interesting thing to me is I think I'll be finishing the game on the Xbox One. I'm a nut for lighting, sub-surface scattering, and beautiful shader work! The extra emotion you get from the new model isn't always in frame, but when it is it makes the difference! The post-processing effects on the PC do make in-game (at least without fire) look better over all, but foliage movement adds a nice touch in the DE and a lot of things like tessellation, AO, and higher texture resolution do get somewhat lost in motion. It's a strange day for me to prefer a console title over a PC, but either game is worth the money as a great game! I hope Crystal Dynamics will release the Definitive Edition on PC before it's 10th anniversary!