Penny Arcade - Comic - Brave New World

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Penny Arcade - Comic - Brave New World

Videogaming-related online strip by Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins. Includes news and commentary.

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7h0rbot

Sure, Xbox live matchmaking is broken, as confirmed by the devs. But all you have to do is share your online session code and people can jump in. Took my friends and I five minutes to get into a session together and play. It's not that hard to figure out guys.

YoungFrey

7h0rbot wrote: »

Sure, Xbox live matchmaking is broken, as confirmed by the devs. But all you have to do is share your online session code and people can jump in. Took my friends and I five minutes to get into a session together and play. It's not that hard to figure out guys.

But the comic could literally be about any aspect of Monster Hunter. There is no part of that franchise that couldn't be wildly improved and still be opaque to a player just trying it for the first time.

MattimusPrime

YoungFrey wrote: »

There is no part of that franchise that couldn't be wildly improved and still be opaque to a player just trying it for the first time.

Even just drinking a potion can be confusing, since you have to use your items with a radial menu or a slightly obtuse selection process (hold down L1 and press Square or Circle to select, then Square again with your weapon sheathed). As someone who's put thousands of hours into Monster Hunter since the PS2, it was second nature (and hugely improved this time over previous games), but I had friends who had a tough time wrapping their heads around it.

As a veteran, I'm still reeling from the fact that you don't need Blue Mushrooms to make potions anymore. It feels almost like a mistake, like they just programmed the recipe in wrong.

dennis

7h0rbot wrote: »

It's not that hard to figure out guys.

Neither is hyperbole. I guess we all have our strong suits. *shrug*

taliosfalcon

7h0rbot wrote: »

Sure, Xbox live matchmaking is broken, as confirmed by the devs. But all you have to do is share your online session code and people can jump in. Took my friends and I five minutes to get into a session together and play. It's not that hard to figure out guys.

until you hit a quest w/ a cutscene and you all have to split up into single player, watch the cutscene, then rejoin. That took us awhile to figure out...

Hahnsoo1

MattimusPrime wrote: »

YoungFrey wrote: »

There is no part of that franchise that couldn't be wildly improved and still be opaque to a player just trying it for the first time.

Even just drinking a potion can be confusing, since you have to use your items with a radial menu or a slightly obtuse selection process (hold down L1 and press Square or Circle to select, then Square again with your weapon sheathed). As someone who's put thousands of hours into Monster Hunter since the PS2, it was second nature (and hugely improved this time over previous games), but I had friends who had a tough time wrapping their heads around it.

As a veteran, I'm still reeling from the fact that you don't need Blue Mushrooms to make potions anymore. It feels almost like a mistake, like they just programmed the recipe in wrong.

Or just tap left and right on the D-pad until you get the item you want, and press Square to use it. Which seems like the item system in a lot of games now? They really added a bunch of quality of life improvements to make it more accessible for beginners.

Preacher

Yeah my complaint with world is match making isn't working right now. But the actual game is the most accessible its ever been. I guess for me the not fully explained aspect of MH make MH for me in the same way that Dark Souls never tells you anything and fans of that franchise line up for that too.

Ultimately I've seen a ton of world everywhere and my friends list on the bone blew up with people playing it, I hope it does well.

Djiem

"But the actual game is the most accessible its ever been."

That isn't saying much, but I'm glad to hear that they finally decided to not hide their interesting and unique game under an archaic and impenetrable UI + control scheme.

I'm not a fan myself but I can see why people would love this series. I can also see why people who would love it have ended up hating it.

Preacher

Most people either love the franchise or hate it really. If you don't like it I don't think world will convert you, but my biggest problem with the franchise has always been the 3d controls sucked on a ds/wii controller, and finally being on an xbox controller its super easy to track and follow monsters. And Zone lines are gone, which thank christ.

HenrikWL

I tried the open beta, but it didn't quite catch my eye. Probably the biggest gripe for me was the unbelievably sluggish control scheme. I pressed an attack button, went for a cup of coffee and by the time I got back the attack had just connected.

That's not even that big of an exaggeration, that's the real kicker.

Enlong

It's one of those games where everything is about timing, more than about speed. Your first time playing, you may look at the Greatsword's long-ass charged slash and understandably think "when am I ever going to get the time to land this?" But after spending some time with a monster and learning how it moves and attacks, you will realize that there are plenty of moments where the opportunity is perfect for such an attack. It's all about figuring out when and where to land an attack, and when and where to dodge. The opportunities are more frequent with a lighter, faster weapon, of course.