Ancient Forest Core Game: Monster Hunter World

Welcome, hunters of the Fifth Fleet! Sharpen your weapons and let’s get to hunting! If you are a fan of the Monster Hunter video game series, then this game is absolutely for you! Monster Hunter World the Board Game is an incredible adaption to Monster Hunter World the video game. With an abundance of hunting quests, miniature monsters and hunters, this game packs a punch and has so much replay value. If you’re looking for deep dive into Monster Hunter World and a cooperative arena combat campaign game, this is the game for you. This game is not for a novice player, but with some patience with the rulebook, any level of player will be able to embark on an amazing campaign of quests by yourself or with friends!

OVERALL THEME

Monster Hunter World the Board Game is inspired by Monster Hunter World the video game. The theme is incredible with giant miniature monsters, weapons and armor that can be upgraded, and 4 hunters to choose from in one of the core games (Ancient Forest or Wildspire Wastes). Expansions are available to purchase to add more hunter weapon choices and more monsters to fight, so the replayability is as far as I can see and then some!

ARTWORK

The artwork of Monster Hunter World the Board Game beautifully matches the art style of the video game. The monster iconography, Palico cards, hunting weapons and the superb hunter and monster miniatures, no detail was overlooked with this board game adaptation. The artwork is bright and crip. The landscape for the board map is detailed in the terrain that the monsters would be found in. The weapon classes and upgrades are distinct and unique. If you’re looking for an immersive Monster Hunter experience, this artwork pulls you right in!

OVERVIEW OF GAMEPLAY

The overall gameplay for Monster Hunter World the Board Game is quite a bit complicated. There are 4 phases to the game and each phase contains a lot of details, decisions and options. Learning the game can be extremely challenging and overwhelming and the rulebook is not easy to navigate. Expect a lot of extra time on learning, when you play for the first time. Players will select a quest, gather together to find the monster, hunt the monster and return to HQ whether they have successfully completed the quest or not.

Phase 1: Select a Quest: players will select a quest from the quest book, set up for the quest, distribute hunter tokens and construct the time deck.

Phase 2: Gathering Phase: players will read entries in the quest book, gather tracks and resources and find the monster to fight. Hunting down the monster can be a fun part of the game. Players make decisions on which path they want to take to find the monster. Some of those decisions lead to extra rewarding resources and others lead to more danger.

Phase 3: Hunting Phase: players will face the monster and the battle against the monster takes place. This phase is where all the action takes place! The monster focuses on players to attack and players use attack cards and damage cards to inflict damage. Players can break parts of the monsters with certain attacks and can also inflict elemental damage or status ailments. If players manage to slay their monster, lots of rewards are to be had when they continue onto the HQ Phase. However, if the players faint 3 times or run out of time deck cards, they fail the quest and any rewards given.

Phase 4: Return to HQ: This is where players can gather rewards, forge new equipment and select a new quest. It’s very rewarding to forge new equipment for the hunters in this phase. With new weapons, players can also gain new attacks, making them stronger for the next fight.

If a standard campaign isn’t something you’re interested in playing, Monster Hunter World the Board Game offers many variations such as:

Arena Quests: for those who don’t wish to play a full campaign Single Player Campaigns: when selecting a hunter, the player will select 2 hunters and control both

Speed Run Campaigns: for those seeking an additional challenge the campaign timer can be reduced to 20 days for a medium campaign and 15 days for a hard campaign

Explorer Campaigns: for those seeking a more relaxed experience and don’t want to use a timer. Don’t use the campaign timer and take as long you want. I Reduce Difficulty: Palicos are typically only used in 1-2 player games. If the game is getting difficult you may add a Palico to each player for a 3-4 player game as well.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Monster Hunter World the Board Game is a beautiful and fun adaptation of Monster Hunter World video game, but it does come at a steep price and high learning curve. The difficulty in learning this game could be a real struggle for a lot of players, but if you take it slow you’ll be able to experience just how deeply fun and interactive this game is. The cooperate side of the game is highly interactive and engaging, the fights feel intense and fun and the replayability is out of this world! After I took a lot of time to learn the game, I loved everything about the gameplay and artwork of Monster Hunter World the Board Game. If you love anything and everything Monster Hunter, you must get this game and join the hunters of the Fifth Fleet!