Most people hear the term "grinding" and often think of one of two things. The flirtatious gyration or the terribly annoying game mechanic designed to artificially pad out a game's playtime and feed the player boredom so the slightly less mundane parts of the game seem exciting by comparison.

But the definition can completely change when a game's core design principle is based around said grind.

Monster Hunter: World is all about setting your own goals and achievements and the game gives you perfect avenues of achieving them purely in your own way. Certain monsters and challenges are locked behind a tiered system but once you beat the story it becomes completely your own game to play.

And grinding is genuinely *fun* in this game.

The game's flow of play leaves you constantly excited for the next thing. You prepare for your hunt, you're excited to go on your hunt, you're on the hunt, you're excited to see if you'll succeed, you succeed, you're excited to see if you got the rewards you needed, you got the rewards you needed, you're excited to get this new piece of equipment, you got that new piece of equipment which will now make the next hunt more fun. Rinse and repeat for hours of genuine and interesting fun.

The weapons all feel varied and unique, it takes only a few hunts to learn them but you'll spend most of the game's timespan mastering them and getting enough gamesense to decide where/when it's appropriate to use a certain combo.

The very early game does a poor job of reflecting how fun the game can be at the 6+ hour mark.

I wholeheartedly recommend this experience.

Most people hear the term "grinding" and often think of one of two things. The flirtatious gyration or the terribly annoying game mechanic designed to artificially pad out a game's playtime and feed the player boredom so the slightly less mundane parts of the game seem exciting by comparison. But the definition can completely change when a game's core design principle is based around said grind. Monster Hunter: World is all about setting your own goals and achievements and the game gives you perfect avenues of achieving them purely in your own way. Certain monsters and challenges are locked behind a tiered system but once you beat the story it becomes completely your own game to play. And grinding is genuinely *fun* in this game. The game's flow of play leaves you constantly excited for the next thing. You prepare for your hunt, you're excited to go on your hunt, you're on the hunt, you're excited to see if you'll succeed, you succeed, you're excited to see if you got the rewards you needed, you got the rewards you needed, you're excited to get this new piece of equipment, you got that new piece of equipment which will now make the next hunt more fun. Rinse and repeat for hours of genuine and interesting fun. The weapons all feel varied and unique, it takes only a few hunts to learn them but you'll spend most of the game's timespan mastering them and getting enough gamesense to decide where/when it's appropriate to use a certain combo. The very early game does a poor job of reflecting how fun the game can be at the 6+ hour mark. I wholeheartedly recommend this experience.