Even with a number of big games still set to release in the last few months of 2024, it’s never too early to look forward to what 2025 will bring. One of the most exciting releases on the horizon is Monster Hunter Wilds, the next entry in Capcom’s action role-playing game series. The series has been around for 20 years and has millions of devoted fans, but something about Wilds is getting even a lot of people who have never touched the franchise excited. If you’re in that boat and don’t want to go into Wilds completely blind, then now is the perfect time to get acquainted with Monster Hunter by getting 2018’s World while it’s on sale for a measly ten bucks on PlayStation and PC.
To catch you up on Monster Hunter, well, when it comes to the core concept, the title pretty much says it all. You hunt monsters. To be more specific, Monster Hunter games let you and friends join up to hunt down large creatures in a sprawling fantasy open world. You collect gear and resources as you take down progressively tougher enemies solo or in co-op. Each entry shares this basic structure, with slight iterations on the formula.
While Monster Hunter: World isn’t the most recent release—that would be 2021’s Rise—it is still the best entry point for those wanting to dip their toes in. One of the hurdles new Monster Hunter players encounter has always been how slow the games are to start. It’s not an uncommon sentiment that the real fun of Monster Hunter begins in the post-game, which…isn’t a very convincing argument for those not already invested. World removes the slow start and immediately gives you and your friends reasons to want to learn more.
Some people might be particularly inclined to enjoy Monster Hunter this year thanks to the success of Dragon’s Dogma 2, another Capcom action-RPG all about long battles against impressive enemies. If you enjoyed the epic battles of Dragon’s Dogma 2, you’ll probably enjoy Monster Hunter: World. In World, even while you haven’t yet mastered combat, you’ll still have a great time swinging a massive club at a giant lizard to beat the crap out of them. At the end of the day, that’s what Monster Hunter is all about, and World is the best way to help you experience that.
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