GU vs World vs Rise vs Wilds (rank the games you played)

[Netsa]

Curious what people think of the latest games in the series overall, or more than that if you want to rank more. I started with Tri back on the Wii, I'm only skipping over them for simplicity's sake.

Note, just because a game is at the bottom of the list doesn't mean it's bad. Monster Hunter is a very strong series and hasn't really had any bad mainline entries, including this one.

Gen > World = Rise > Wilds

Generations gave us the Style system, which I hope every day to be brought back even though I know it never will. I just want to shoot Qurupecos out of a barrel, man.

World did a lot more for making the ecosystem and the overall world feel more alive than any other monster hunting game in recent memory, and noticeably did a better job of it than both Rise and Generations. I spent more time than I thought I would just capturing endemic life and placing them in my room.

Rise brought back part of the over-the-top action from Generations, but also added great free-form movement that had never been seen before in this series. Rise made the player so fast that they barely needed a mount at all, and it tailored the maps to accommodate this. It also introduced wyvern riding, which was just great fun.

Wilds is taking a big step towards open world, and even though it's not quite there yet, it's sending the series in a direction that I think we've all been waiting for for a long time. You now live in the Expedition zone rather than having to set one up at the guild counter, form a party, and then deal with a time limit. It's doing more for the series than just removing the loading screen.

That said, I also feel that Wilds isn't leaning into that aspect enough, and some of the great strides we made over the past few entries were lost in its pursuit.

TL;DR
What do you think, how do the different games compare to each other? Feel free to include or exclude expansions, or more of the entries you played than just those four.

[Netsa]

Originally posted by Scipo0419:

So my favorite game of the series ended up with a middling score even though it "feels" better to play to me.

(Clipped for brevity again)
I know what you mean. Whenever I rank games, I purposely avoid going through that many categories for a Final Score since what I personally value in the game isn't all-encompassing. The Post-game, World design, and Side content can all be utter trash and I'll still consider the game one of my absolute favorites because the core gameplay was just way too cool.

The game I have listed on my profile as my "Favorite Game" fits that description. Doesn't even 100 hours of play time, much less content. Doesn't have a post-game grind. The level design is merely passable. There's no side content at all. The story is basic 90s arcade stuff. But the combat was so unique and fresh that I played through it multiple times and bragged about it to all of my friends, very few of which played it.

Sometimes a game just grabs you, and it's hard to quantify without doing something like
1/10, 1/10, 2/10, 1/10, 40/10 = 45/50
because that one aspect of the game was enough to overshadow everything else.

Originally posted by NiamhNyx:

5. Monster Hunter 4
Low Rank Difficulty: 3
High Rank Difficulty: 6

1. Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate / 4G
G Rank Difficulty: 10

Nice to see some love for 4U. Out of all the games, I think 4U was the game I spent the absolute most amount of solo time on. I had a lot of hours on the later games mainly because I was playing them with friends and randoms. 4U grabbed a ton of my time even though I never touched online play.

[Calandir]

Originally posted by Nikloss:

You can rank them once they've reached their end of content. Putting a new game before it's even got it's first content patch against already finished games + their expansions is just worthless,.

Shouldn't games come complete? Why do I feel like this is Early Access Monster Hunter. It got released now because Crapcom has to show profit to shareholders, it wasn't ready and not completed. TU1 giving us Canteena is a sick joke, and reflection on game development. But hey current gamers love it. Being drip feed.

[Cooperal]

World > Rise > Wilds

Sadly I think the combat is heavily undertuned for difficulty. The exploration is really more fleshed out than the previous games and having fast travel and a seikret taxi actually seems kind of reductive in that department.

But the main expectation it fell short with was charm. I didn't take note of any stand-out parts of the OST. Hiding in your tent to cook for yourself feels like taking a trip to the bathroom. Astera felt more lived-in than all villages and base camps of Wilds combined.

[Jaasrg]

Originally posted by Calandir:

Originally posted by Nikloss:

You can rank them once they've reached their end of content. Putting a new game before it's even got it's first content patch against already finished games + their expansions is just worthless,.

Shouldn't games come complete? Why do I feel like this is Early Access Monster Hunter. It got released now because Crapcom has to show profit to shareholders, it wasn't ready and not completed. TU1 giving us Canteena is a sick joke, and reflection on game development. But hey current gamers love it. Being drip feed.

We do live in an era where finished games do not exist, only GaaS and abandoned.
That's only partially a joke.

[Nikloss]

Originally posted by Calandir:

Originally posted by Nikloss:

You can rank them once they've reached their end of content. Putting a new game before it's even got it's first content patch against already finished games + their expansions is just worthless,.

Shouldn't games come complete? Why do I feel like this is Early Access Monster Hunter. It got released now because Crapcom has to show profit to shareholders, it wasn't ready and not completed. TU1 giving us Canteena is a sick joke, and reflection on game development. But hey current gamers love it. Being drip feed.

No i don't think games should come complete. I enjoy have patches/dlc with monsters / events and crossovers. Having a game come with it's expansion that get's developed after the original game is released and IF it does well enough is a bit insane take.

[xTobu]

GU is pretty much the best mainline game ever created, sunbreak was great but couldn't compete in terms of weapon arts, weapon styles, different villages, 130 monsters roster, deviants and difficulty. Base world was great but iceborne pretty much ruined the game along the broken IA on shtty monsters like kushala and the never forgotten clutch claw, Alatreon tho. This guy is probably the greatest new gen fight mh has rn. Wilds on the other hand has a better base than world, weapons are great and overall all very strong and competitive (every wep can sub 2 temp arkveld). I like wilds more than world atm cause it is taking a lot from frontier in terms of gameplay directions, parrying and counters are the way to play and gets rewarded a lot.
In the end i'm waiting for Ichinose to beat his own masterpeace when gen6 portable game is announced.

[Calandir]

Originally posted by Nikloss:

Originally posted by Calandir:

Shouldn't games come complete? Why do I feel like this is Early Access Monster Hunter. It got released now because Crapcom has to show profit to shareholders, it wasn't ready and not completed. TU1 giving us Canteena is a sick joke, and reflection on game development. But hey current gamers love it. Being drip feed.

No i don't think games should come complete. I enjoy have patches with monsters / evens and crossovers. Having a game come with it's expansion that get's developed after the original game is released and IF it does well enough is a bit insane take.

You're hurting me with what you typed.

[hotaru251]

Generations (aka double cross or XX) had combat focus to a arcade style fighting game rather than MH combat. (some like it others not so much..i personally dislike it)

4U's best story & arguably the best game mechanic (frenzy effected monsters & those who overcome it the Apex's)

Tri had best multiplayer Hub (Loc Lac City) & also the most annoying monster (frick you hip check of cheats)

3rd had best new monster Zinogre (arguably best visual design & combat style w/ its charged mode)

World had best maps (combined visual & traversal through em)

Rise had best map traversal (even if i hate the dog mount and the air grapple)

Wilds has best ... hair? still too early to see what it might be best in.
scratch that Wilds has best QoL in Focus mode.

[Netsa]

Originally posted by Nikloss:

You can rank them once they've reached their end of content. Putting a new game before it's even got it's first content patch against already finished games + their expansions is just worthless,.

I know I said "GU", but I was actually comparing the base games (correcting it in the OP now). I purposely excluded Iceborne and Sunbreak since for all I know, Wilds's expansion will turn this game from meh to max.

If I included the expansions for those games, I couldn't give a complete picture, but I'd say:
GU = WIce > RBreak

This ranking has a lot to do with their final story bosses.
Iceborne's Shara Ishvalda is actually my favorite monster in all of the MH games I've played, period, in terms of both monster design and fight design. Better than Valstrax as much as I love 'em to death, better than Ahtal-Ka as crazy as that guy was, and better than Black Diablos even though it has the coolest and most iconic roar. While I liked the overall game of Rise a little more than World, personally, Gaismagorm was such a forgettable fight that I actually had to go back and confirm that I even fought it.

World in general, in my opinion, just had absolute top-tier dragons, even if the player gameplay didn't do as much to shine. Vaal Hazak and Namielle were both really awesome fights, not to mention Behemoth, and Velkhana ended up being my favorite flagship since Valstrax purely due to her battle tactics.

[Nikloss]

Originally posted by Netsa:

Originally posted by Nikloss:

You can rank them once they've reached their end of content. Putting a new game before it's even got it's first content patch against already finished games + their expansions is just worthless,.

I know I said "GU", but I was actually comparing the base games (correcting it in the OP now). I purposely excluded Iceborne and Sunbreak since for all I know, Wilds's expansion will turn this game from meh to max.

If I included the expansions for those games, I couldn't give a complete picture, but I'd say:
GU = WIce > RBreak

This ranking has a lot to do with their final story bosses.
Iceborne's Shara Ishvalda is actually my favorite monster in all of the MH games I've played, period, in terms of both monster design and fight design. Better than Valstrax as much as I love 'em to death, better than Ahtal-Ka as crazy as that guy was, and better than Black Diablos even though it has the coolest and most iconic roar. While I liked the overall game of Rise a little more than World, personally, Gaismagorm was such a forgettable fight that I actually had to go back and confirm that I even fought it.

World in general, in my opinion, just had absolute top-tier dragons, even if the player gameplay didn't do as much to shine. Vaal Hazak and Namielle were both really awesome fights, not to mention Behemoth, and Velkhana ended up being my favorite flagship since Valstrax purely due to her battle tactics.

I feel i get your meaning a bit better now and i agree with you.

[Waruchuu]

Rise > GU > (Wilds) > World

I really love the silkbugs and how the influence the gameplay. The Map Design is also just awesome

GU was my first MH. I don't remember too much in detail but I generally had a really good time with it all the way through. A lot of great monsters to fight and a ton of maps to explore

Wilds would be lower than world just because of how horribly it runs but generally I prefer it over world because I like the monsters and maps a lot more

World is in itself not a bad game but I don't like many aspects which are different from the other entries. I also started playing it only about a year or two ago when everyone was already finished and it was a nightmare to grind for the final two bosses because the guiding lands take so much time

[Mister Cebion]

If we ignore the technical issues and focus on gameplay on release cause it would be unfair for wilds i would rank it like this.

Gameplay (combat + QoL): Wilds > Rise > World > 4u > 3U
Progress system: 4U > 3U > World=Rise > Wilds (just to few monsters in wilds)
LowRank experience: World > Rise = Wilds > 4u = 3U (maybe cause they were the first games and on handheld but control were dogsh...
Highrank + Endgame: 4U > World > 3U > Rise > Wild

and if i can add overall feeling like setting etc:..
World > Rise > Wilds > 3U > 4U

[Anime]

Mhfu

[Calandir]

Originally posted by Anime:

Mhfu

Pokke Village theme will live in my heart until it stops.

[Scipo0419]

Originally posted by Nikloss:

You can rank them once they've reached their end of content. Putting a new game before it's even got it's first content patch against already finished games + their expansions is just worthless,.

This is actually why I did my best to avoid "content" as a deciding factor in my rankings and focused solely on what the game feels like to play with story, combat, how gear (specifically skills) work. Effectively comparing them based on the core aspects of the game and not content that can be added later. I did say I'm excited to see what they do with Wounds and Focus Strikes for the expansion as the expansions seem to enhance the base games gimmick. Maybe we'll get Focus Strike Options to swap them out and adjust their playstyle lol