Relentless Strife

Ever looked at a game and thought, “Wow! I can’t wait to play that,” only for the game to come out and pay a ridiculous price for what turns out to be hot garbage? I have! Many, many times. So many times, in fact, that it has burned me to my core. Now when I play games, I can’t help but feel that overwhelming sensation of dread when a feature isn’t polished or maybe even broken altogether. Or… the worst of all, a feature that doesn’t belong.

This brings me to my ultimate life-changing decision of… “then fix it?” Obviously, you could say, “Well Rob, you are probably being dramatic and completely opinionated.” And to you, good sir, I’d say, tell me Monster Hunter World was a good game when it’s completely centered around a 4-player co-op hunting experience… where YOU CAN’T EXPLORE NEW AREAS WITH YOUR PARTY. That’s right, you read that correctly. When the game came out (might even still be a thing), it forced you to go into an area solo to trigger the new monster in a cinematic. Only after the cinematic could you then retreat and join your friend’s lobby, just to go track the monster AGAIN. “But Rob, they were just trying to promote a solo experience,” and again, to you, good sir, I say, guess what? They could have done literally a thousand other things to fix that simple mistake and not completely shatter the immersion they spent so much time and money creating. Some people like myself look for 4-player co-op games specifically to play with others because it enhances the experience. Just the loading and constant inviting over and over tainted the experience way too much. My, my, was I ever shocked by how this problem was overlooked. Or worse, ignored!

I couldn’t help but feel that I had been wronged. It left such a sour taste in my mouth that completely ruined how my girlfriend and I wanted to play the game. It didn’t take long for us to hit the super grindy part and then be completely turned off for the rest of our time playing. Which, after 4-5 monsters, is… a decent chunk to understand where the game was going.

You might be thinking that I missed out on a great game but oh, I assure you, THEY are the ones missing out on a great game. They had all the rest of the mixture so perfect to provide a unique experience. With a few unsavory other mechanics. But then it all came crashing down just because of something so simple yet absolutely crucial to a few players who haven’t turned back since.

This, and others stories I have like it, are why I have started this journey. Monster Hunter certainly wasn’t the first or the last. However, I’m going to try my best in this industry to make it one of my last. I view all of this as my villain arc. I always invasion triple A game studios shaking in their boots when a young prodigy bursts through the seams challenging everything, they think they know. I have the drive to get it done and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.