@purc: yeah I've seen combo videos and knew enough about the system to see how it was rewarding, but the low base damage values and still not quite understanding which part corresponds to which color, what all the slots mean, etc. was just not really conducive to being a good first weapon, at least for me.
@dystopiax: I agree. I haven't played MH since that first one on PS2, but maybe I've gotten used to games like this elsewhere because I kinda already knew that I needed to spend the first few hours experimenting with different weapons until I found one that I liked. I'm glad I did because the ones that initially appealed to me were not my style at all. If I stuck with those, then I probably would have had a bad time as well.
I tried longsword out at first, but really did not like how it felt and eventually found my way to the hammer and heavy bowgun. I thought I would dislike the hammer, but it actually has a lot of variety in how you can attack and that somersault attack is so much fun. I also like using the bowgun a lot when I wanna switch it up or am fighting something that's annoying with the hammer (like a kirin, at least for me).
The hammer is next on my list to learn after Charge Blade/Switch Axe!
I like the heavy bowgun in theory, like i said, but the nature of what you're doing is too boring to me, at least solo. A lot of picking the right ammo type then holding down the trigger. The gatling mode is dope as fuck though.
It makes me so happy to see Dan and Vinny come around to MH. I love this series and great to see how how enthusiastic they've become about it.
I also think it's hilarious that Vinny decides to start with probably the most complicated weapon in the game.
I've commented on this elsewhere but I don't think the Charge Blade is actually that hard. In my opinion the Insect Glaive is harder to use effectively. A lot of press people have gone with the switch axe and the charge blade isn't really that much harder to execute.
Anyway the charge blade is DOPE AS FUCK and more people should try it out.
@dystopiax: I didn't realize it had this reputation because it totally feels like one of the best newbie weapons.
It's like an easy to pick up and difficult to master kind of weapon. It has a higher skill ceiling if you're taking into consideration the guard points, using the charged shield + those to stun charging monsters, knowing when to dish out a full combo with the phials and when to shortcut from the shield bash into the AED/super AED, hit boxes and range with both sword form and axe form.
And I don't even know what new moves there are in MH:W but sounds like there's a slide and that you can charge your sword now although I don't know how the sword charging plays into the axe form yet.
once you charge your sword you can hit a new super, O 3 times to do a super elemental discharge (I forget what they call it) that's dope as fuck. Hit one on an Anjanath and it went flying like 15 feet with its tail chopped off.
@dystopiax: I didn't realize it had this reputation because it totally feels like one of the best newbie weapons.
Brad said he tried it on the bombcast and it was "the worst weapon to start with because you can't use the sword form if you don't discharge it" (which is true but pressing R2+o is not complicated). Dan has referred to the charge blade as being really complicated as well, and I think Patrick and Austin have said as much on their own waypoint streams but not sure. On top of that, the IGN guide to weapons calls it the most complex weapon in the game and a lot of the weapon tutorials/which weapon to pick style videos on youtube that I've seen have also called the Charge blade the least beginner friendly weapon in the game.
It's just a bit frustrating to me because in my opinion finding a weapon that you like is the biggest thing that you have to do to be able to enjoy the game. I heard Abby's criticism of the combat being boring on the beastcast and totally said to myself "you need to pick a different weapon then" (that and the complaint about the monsters being too bullet spongy- I think you have to view MonHun more as a Dark Souls bossrush than viewing the monsters as average mobs). So all the talk about how you should pick a simple weapon/start sword shield or dual blades is just bad advice in my opinion, because a lot of people will do that and end up bored. In my opinion the best advice to give someone trying to get into the game is to just tool around with all the different weapons in the practice area, read about their basic usages in the monster guide, maybe watch a video or two about all the different weapons, until you pick one that you think is cool and feels good to play; I would probably have bounced off the game (and did bounce off the beta) unless I had tried the charge blade/switch axe, because before that the combat was a bit boring/simplistic/frustrating depending on all the other weapons I picked.
@dstopia: I completely agree actually, I started longsword but after 3 hunts switched because it felt like there wasn't enough complexity. Went to insect glaive but thought it was a bit too much actually, because I understood what hte kinsect did but not how the charge combos worked. Went to greatsword but hated how slow it was; having to be able to predict attacks seconds in advance and stuff felt bad when you're that slow. Tried Heavy bowgun but thought the ranged nature made it too simple, you're basically just shooting for minutes until something dies (though the chaingun/special ammo totally looks dope as fuck). Then went to charge blade after that and finally found the weapon I wanted to main from there.
It's really weird because I thought about it, and it's not like the longsword is any less complex than a weapon in Bloodborne or Dark Souls but I totally felt the simplicity here. Maybe it was just the wealth of options available to you in MH: W at the start, or the knowledge that there was more complicated stuff out there.
@dstopia: I tooled around with a bunch of weapons before landing on charge blade, and I have to say that its rep as being absurdly hard to get into is overblown. Reading the in game weapon guide makes it clear how to use phials and there isn't too much complexity beyond that. Sure the sword/shield charge up mechanic is a little more complex but it's not that difficult at all and is a lot of fun.
I just think its a shame that so many people aren't even giving it a chance because of its reputation. It reminds me of dark souls in that way, where the conversation around it is about how hard it is but in reality, going in and playing it isn't as bad as people make it sound.
As someone playing monster hunter for the first time, I think it is a lot like dark souls in the sense that the game has a reputation for its complexity, but that complexity stems more from the systems surrounding the core gameplay than the gameplay itself. But people have conflated the two so as to make the whole thing seem more intimidating to outsiders than it should seem.
@tevor_the_third: the sims is very much about making your own fun. Some people just try to make their family as successful as possible, but you can also create characters and role-play them out, try to kill them like in this series, etc.
@smackosynthesis: I actually think the opposite, and I wonder if it's because of the games we like more. I think Dan was incredibly reductive when talking about Dream Daddy and both Dan and Abby were repeating themselves because the conversation was very circular for like an hour.
Yakuza 0 might be my game of the year and if it's not it's top 3, but based on their discussion I think Abby made a better case for Dream Daddy being in the top 10.
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