Although Monster Hunter World originally came out in January 2018, I’m writing this review now because A. The Iceborne DLC is coming out in September, and B. This game more than any influenced my imagination for the creation of monsters. (There’s also the fact that I didn’t have a blog before this.) Anyway, if you haven’t yet played it, spoilers are too follow. Enjoy the review!

Version played: PS4 (Standard)

As you may have guessed, I am an avid gamer. Starting at the ripe old age of six when I received my first Gameboy and played Pokémon Yellow for this first time, I was immediately hooked. It wasn't until I was well into my teenage years that I finally began playing console games after I bought myself a PS4.

Of all the video games I've played over the years, there is one that stands out as the greatest: Monster Hunter World. I received the game as a gift from my brother right after it came out, and I have logged more individual hours in this game than any other.

For those of you who do not know what it is, Monster Hunter World is a game in which you hunt monsters and harvest their organs to strengthen yourself. No, not in a creepy witchcraftian ceremony where you sacrifice their hearts to the gods of blood, but in the slightly less creepy way of using their body parts to craft weapons and armor.
In case you're wondering, I believe that I had to kill around twenty of the same monster before I had enough parts to craft the weapon of my choice: the Insect Glaive, all the way to its final iteration in that specific tree. And yes, while it may seem cruel to continuously track down and murder monster after monster, all for the sake of a better weapon, don't think too hard about it. The weapons and armor are bad ass, and that's all that matters.
The game itself boasts an open world set in specific regions, each a different landscape, and each containing their own breeds of monsters. As you progress through the game, you will unlock new regions, and the challenges will obviously grow tougher. But, the harder the monster is to kill, the better the weapons and armor you'll be able to make from their corpses.

I believe that my single greatest inspiration for Rise to Omniscience, came from this game. The idea of having characters go around and kill high-level Beasts, using their cores to advance their own power just spoke to me, and creating ever more terrifying and bad ass looking Beasts is something that I enjoy immensely.

If you're a gamer and enjoy monster slaying as much as I do, then I can't recommend this game enough. Sure, in the beginning when you have to fight the Anjanath, or are forced to face Nergigante you'll want to throw your controller through the screen, (I almost did) but after you finally kill them (Nergigante took me about 15 tries the first time), the sense of accomplishment will be immense.
And don't worry, I paid Nergigante back by killing it a further 57 times over two separate games to craft the coolest looking armor. I also took immense pleasure in driving that wretched race closer to extinction for all the times I died facing it the first time.

In conclusion, just buy the freaking game. They're coming out with their first DLC this September, and I can hardly wait to kill a whole new breed of monster.