Monster Hunter: World - Iceborne

Wow! What can I say? Now this is a proper DLC/expansion! This is a game where players have spent 5k+ hours, whereas I have only spent 100 and am yet to be tired.

I liked World, but this is better than the base game. It had some of the best soundtracks in the game, and especially switching to the Japanese voice language made the characters more likeable. The difference between the English and Japanese voice acting is night and day, so I'm glad I switched it this time. The Guiding Lands was a waste of time, honestly. I skipped it until it was needed for a quest. It is a grindfest, good luck! Luckily my friend helped me with the gears and that's why I was able to finish it quickly otherwise it would've taken triple the amount of time but I planned to finish it within 100 hours and I did.

It has the best monster fights in the series with Alatreon and, most importantly, Fatalis. Fatalis is deemed as the hardest monster fight in the series, and it rightfully is. Fatalis whoops your ass HARD! Alatreon and Fatalis actually force you to get better and change strategies and quit whatever you're doing and play differently. Soloing them gave me the best feeling and a sense of accomplishment. Especially Fatalis, the fight is addictive; no matter how many times I died, I went back to that fight. The best part about the fight is, near the end after the 3rd phase when you're about to slay Fatalis, the Monster Hunter theme, Proof of a Hero, plays, and the sudden surge of dopamine and goosebumps hits me HARD AF! It feels like you're nearing the end and you'll be finishing your final quest. I've never felt this before; this made beating Fatalis even more memorable!

Overall, I loved Iceborne, and I never thought I'd beat Fatalis. It was a soulslike boss fight but harder than most soulsborne game bosses. The only one that is harder is the Demon of Hatred from Sekiro, and that's it. The rest are a walk in the park compared to this fight.

Now I can't wait to finish Rise and catch up to Wilds in time!

This DLC was tough although this is the First monster hunter I've beaten. I love the addition of bosses that have cool scenes and fight mechanics. Most Notable Bosses in the DLCs for me is the Velkhana, the Ruiner Nergagante, Steething Bazelguese, Savage Deviljho (insanely which he is truly a menace in the hunt)

I’ve been a casual Monster Hunter fan for years, dating back to MH Freedom 2 on the PSP (2007 🤯). I’ve encouraged friends to play MH ever since, while fully anticipating the wacky, foreign UI and game mechanics could turn them off.

Fast forward to 2018 and the release of MH World - those concerns of friends not ‘getting it’ were pretty much gone. All of the subtle improvements to the game mechanics over the years, the variety of monsters, the ecology, the graphics, fluidity, the 14 different weapon classes with completely unique (yet rewarding) gameplay loops, the engaging campaign, the near perfect online multiplayer experience - this game has so much to offer.

Now cut forward another year to 2019 and the release of the Iceborne expansion, with more improvements to gameplay and more importantly, much better (and downright challenging) monsters to hunt. This game immediately went down as an all timer for me following the expansion, at a time where seriously impressive video games were becoming common!

It’s now 2024, and I’m writing this review today as I (like many others) picked Iceborne back up following a resurgence of interest in MH. I can say this with absolute certainty, MH World has aged like the finest of wine 🤌. I have over 300 hours on the clock on this masterpiece and there is still so much to do, it’s like picking up a brand new game all over again! Bear in mind I main 1 weapon type (LS since 2007 baby!) with a good number of hours sunk into 1 other. I could happily replay this game with 12 other weapon types, and die a happy man from old age 😂. A 10 all day long, and I implore you to try this game if you haven’t already.

Monster Hunter World and it's expansion Iceborne where my first introduction to Monster Hunter Games. And what an Introduction it was. It kicked my butt so hard that i had to pause and start over multiple times but boy am i glad i did!
If you stick to it you'll find one of the most enjoyable Gameplay Loops in Recent Times.
Learn the monsters Patterns, understand your surroundings to become a better hunter. Try out the 14 different weapontypes with vastly different Movesets and Mechanics. Hunt Monsters Craft better Gear.
Every Monster becomes sort of a Boss you need to Overcome and you'll get better at hunting it and even better with new and improved equipment.
The Later Monsters where some of the most intense and fun fights i have had in a long time.
I'm sure it would've been easier with other players (yes, the game has multiplayer) but i enjoyed the challenge.
Definitly recommend checking it out and sticking with it.

Expansion Main game, top tier plus more

Masterpiece❤️❤️❤️💙 one of the best games ever made