Capcom’s sole meal ticket to relevance is out on PlayStation 4. Just when you thought it was going to ruin your next childhood franchise, along comes this game to restore faith into ye ol’ Capsule Computer. Yeap, it’s Monster Hunter and it’s finally making a comeback to its console of origin(ish) after hanging around with Nintendo and its portable/Wii U base.

I’ll cut to the chase: this is the Monster Hunter you need to play if you want to get knee-deep into the series. It’s accessible to a point and still gives you a chance for you to wrap your head around the world and bestiary before it kicks your teeth in with one-hit kills and stomps. There’s an option called Expedition mode where you can take your time exploring each part of the island and hunting down the wildlife big and small.

Heck, it’s my first time in this rich series that has a nation in gaming heat other than the Dragon Quest RPGs. Now that I’ve finally figured out the appeal of this game, it’s time I share with you my little tips from playing the game for 10 hours straight to watching my other Monster Hunter expert pals get through it in 50 hours.

Here’s a quick guide on how to enjoy your stay in the giant-ass island of Monster Hunter World. I’m under the assumption that you’ve already been through the tutorial section of the game, so my tips are diving straight into the nitty-gritty.

#1.Get Used To The Controls.

As a fan of action games like Bayonetta and one who dabbles in Bloodborne, I find the transition into Monster Hunter World a little perplexing at first, from a controls standpoint. With the former, all your attacks are on the face button while the dodge is on the right trigger. With the latter, all my attacks are on my trigger buttons.

With MHW, your special attack and your run/sheathe weapon button are on R2 and R1 respectively. So being the conditioned butterfingers that I am, I found myself occasionally sheathing my weapon by accident as I’m wailing onto a felled beast. Or worse, when it’s charging at me.

Point is you may need to get used to the button placements since there’s no way to configure them.

I can’t fault Capcom since I see the design logic; since these beasties run away halfway in a fight, you should have your sheathe/run button at the most convenient part of the controller.

The long sword is great for beginners like me.

#2. Master At Least 5 Weapons.

When you start, it’s wise to pick a weapon you’re comfortable with. Go to the Training Room to sort that out. Try out each of the different weapons in the game. Then go for the beginner friendly ones like the Sword & Shield and Long Sword.

After that, you should plan and figure out which of the 5 you’re going to be switching back and forth with. Different monsters require different tactics be it a speedy approach or a methodical break-each-part method.

My personal top 5 weapons are Long Sword, Great Sword, Gun Lance, Hammer, and the Bow.

#3. Eat & Get Pumped. Every Time.

At your home base, there’s a one-eyed cat that serves you platters than buff your stats for missions and expeditions. You lose these buffs if you die once or if you leave mid-way from a quest or expedition.

These buffs are useful in giving you a fighting chance; use them when you can. Plus you get to see the chef and his cronies prep the meal for you; that animation’s really cute & stylish.

#4. Get Your Bounties On.

There’s a spot in the main hub Astera called the Resource Center. Here, you can get different bounties (side quests like collect mushrooms, kill small wildlife) and investigations (kill 2 big monsters, or capture them). It’s one of the only ways to get Armour Spheres, which you need to upgrade your armour.

Make it a habit to get your bounties, clear them, and then do them again. You can complete them in a middle of a mission or an expedition, and there’s no restriction. If you meet the criteria at any point out in the field, you get to cash them out for your spheres.

Monster Hunter: World does encourage farming; LOTS of it. But  thanks to this bounty system, you can at least get a ton of cumulative and easy rewards out of menial labour.

#5. Invite Pals When Possible (Your Close Ones)

A Monster Hunter that teams up together, slays together. However, with bigger rewards come bigger caveats: monsters scale up in health. The worst-case scenarios I’ve encountered was teaming up with a bunch of strangers, hunt down one Barroth with the four of us, only to have two of our “pals” drop out on us and having to deal with a fully-regenerated mud monster.

Which is why it’s best to encourage your more trustworthy gaming pals to get this game for themselves. Again, this is one of the more accessible Monster Hunter games out there.

So now’s the time as any to group up, kick some scaley Rathalos ass, and then farm for that Rathalos armour set (or a better one).

Got some more wisdom bombs for us? Are you a Monster Hunter pro who wants to help others with your advice? Come post your tips & tricks on Kakuchopurei then!