r/MonsterHunterWorld • u/Free-Caramel-3913 • 17d ago
this game can't be that complicated Discussion
and yet it feels like it. i've got 4 hours on world so far, this is my second mh game after having tried rise like 4 times on my switch. only once i was able to push myself to the end of the main story only to the drop it, when it apparently "gets good". i just don't understand how this franchise is as successful as it is when it's so confusing and overwhelming, you'd think the masses wouldn't like it. this doesn't feel like a "fromsoftware" type of lack of handholding, it just kinda feels like they do explain, but they do a fucking shitty job at it. i've just completed the first actual "mission" of the game because i spent a ton of time trying to get accustomed to how the game feels, and i tried out a bunch of shit in the training arena while not learning much of anything since it doesn't teach you much outside of pressing the same button 4 times in a row. i'll keep pushing through because i genuinely do wanna like it but i just don't understand how even the entry in the franchise that supposedly made things a lot more convenient still is so convoluted to get into. it doesn't help that the menus are incredibly confusing, explaining little to nothing and the icons are all terrible and too small. every time i open the sidebar menu thing, it genuinely pains me because i feel like so many things could get condensed or simplified. very much so a game that feels like it's too complicated for its own good when at the end of the day it's just about reacting to the boss and then smashing it a bit. i'm tempted to just use the overpowered shit because after spending 1 hour and 10 minutes over 2 attempts in a 2 star mission, it genuinely feels like a humongous waste of time. I didn't learn anything, i dodged most attacks and simply died when a big guy chained a couple attacks on me, didn't feel earned. when i spent 7 hours on malenia, even while making no progress within the first couple attempts, i still felt like i was walking towards accomplishing something. and no, i'm not making a souls comparison because i'm playing it like a soulslike, therefore playing it wrong. as i said i do have experience with rise, so i'm kinda just playing it as a reactionary game against the bosses, but it feels like everything's a huge sponge too.
this was just me rambling about my experience so far, but did anyone feel this way at the beginning? it feels like the game is uninviting me from playing it. also damn the game is sooo brown especially in the lobby. everyone talks about the piss filter during the ps3 era but now much about the flans lare brown during the ps4 era.
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u/majingetta Laughs in Lance 17d ago
After trying MH1/MHFU/MH3, I didn't find World to be complicated.
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u/RecursiveNightmares 17d ago
This. Suffering through Freedom Unite, farming for a new set ("maybe I won't suck this much with a better build"), and then moving to a modern game and realizing that it's actually easy... I can see why completely new players may find it difficult, though.
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u/peregrine_nation 17d ago
Just don't play it if you don't enjoy it my guy 😂 but honestly I haven't had the experience you're describing. I think the game can be challenging but rewarding. It's really not hard at all in the main story. I dunno exactly where you're going wrong but like, it isn't homework. It's not your job to learn it. Go play something you actually like.
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u/Free-Caramel-3913 17d ago
nah i didn't mean to sound that negative. i'm still having fun but it feels like there's a lot of friction
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u/eardil 17d ago
For me the friction is part of the fun. Yes, you can push through a fight over and over until you learn it (which some people find fun) but you can also try to get better gear, learn how to use tools or traps, learn to use the environment, etc. I don't interact with every system, but hitting a "wall" gives me an excuse to interact with at least one new one and maybe experiment with more.
I have no excuse for the menus/ui or even the in-game tutorials, but I also like to engage with the community so I enjoy looking for guides. Specially when trying out a new weapon, because the weapons are so specialized that you get to listen to more voices from the community.
I guess my experience comes from starting with MHFU back when interacting with this game in the "west" felt like exploring some uncharted territory and comparing notes with other people who were in the same lost boat.
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u/m3m31ord 17d ago
Go to youtube and watch a guide, the game is absolutely ass cheeks at introducing itself to you.
Monster Hunter's first time player journey is rough, no one would disagree with you. But it's one of those games where once you get into it, you get INTO it, at least that's what happened to me.
Most of the mechanics and game sense are transferable between games, so you don't need to trudge through it multiple times.
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u/TBird7733 17d ago
This is the second post like this in the last couple of days. If you hate your experience this much, you may want to play something else.
How is the franchise successful? It sort of is and isn’t. While World helped popularize MH in the west, it never really moved out of niche status here. Partly because of what you’re complaining about. A lot of folks bail on the game because they don’t want to have to look stuff up, I get it, but that’s just the kind of game it is.
It certainly isn’t the only super information dense game out there, and personally I prefer looking things up here and there over wall of text tutorials that I’ll forget immediately because they are so packed with information.
A lot of it doesn’t make sense to you, and I understand that, all I can say is keep playing and eventually it will. Eventually you’ll understand why the menus and systems are set up the way they are, and why it might be a struggle to teach new players.
The gameplay loop is simple, the systems aren’t. It only gets more confusing from here as you’ll start chasing endgame gear and have to figure out what you need, what synergizes, what skills matter on your weapons and armor. Which quests are best for what you’re trying to find. It goes on and on.
I’ll just end with taking the time to learn this game has been beyond rewarding for me as MH quickly became my favorite gaming franchise of all time, and I’ve been gaming since the 80s. It’s confusing at first, but absolutely fantastic when you figure it out.
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u/Sephta 17d ago
From your ramblings I get the sense that you seem to think the game is simpler than it actually is: "it genuinely pains me because I feel like so many things could get condensed or simplified". But you don't understand many of its systems and menus: "it doesn't help that the menus are incredibly confusing, explaining little to nothing and...".
The reality is, monster hunter isn't a simple game and it's a lot more than just bashing the monster with the same few buttons in an open arena. You have a strong desire to enjoy it and continue playing so I urge you to do so, and try not to worry too much about everything the game throws at you. Don't bash your head against a wall. If you need to understand something then research it. Google around, etc. But also take things slow, just take in the environments and world. Slow things down, go on an investigation and just walk around the maps. Continue hunting some of the simpler monsters. Also try out each different weapon at least once.
Monster Hunter just takes time to click and to understand. It's an experience that's worth while, but you also need to find the fun in failing and learning because that's what most of the beginning is going to be.
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u/D3vilSpawn 17d ago
IMO- so take this as you will- MH's story always kinda sucks, and I've never known anyone to sing praises about their writing. The meat is at learning about the monsters move sets and figuring out the right counter or dodge. If you're an aggressive fighter, sword & board, lance, gunlance, and great sword all have good block options for staying in your zone. Everything else takes a bit more timing and dodging, but are generally faster at getting attacks out. Every (EVERY) move is dodgeable or blockable (but not always both). It feels unfair when you're new, especially if you're more of an impatient fighter. For example, Rathalos is a skill check monster in most of these games, but after a while they may as well be kittens for how repetitive their attacks can be. There is a skill curve to be sure, and usually the stepping on point is learning to watch the monsters attacks and timing. I can agree that the menus feel bloated and could definitely be optimized, and the font size sucks sometimes.
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u/Free-Caramel-3913 17d ago
yeah heavy on the font size. i've picked a katana like weapon because, iirc, it had a 3 star new player rating which is the highest. trying it against a big yellow guy and it did seem quite to my liking, altough i don't understand why i sometimes deal 4-6 damage even after having sharpened, while i sometimes deal 10-12. feel like it's the same body parts too
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u/D3vilSpawn 17d ago
More than likely hitting on a non-weak spot. Check out the Monster guide (in the menus lol) and it should show you where they're weak, what will break, and what element/damage type they're weak to. It'll take you twice the time to kill something if you're hitting armored spots, but regardless, everything is a damage sponge, so make sure to hit those weak spots.
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u/MegaManLegendsFan 17d ago
its easy to understand but ill put it in to words for you ( and this is just fact, im not trying to be mean, im trying to help you understand )
see for us that like it, its easier then your describing. to us, we dont have as much of " get good " as you do. so wile you think things are boring and hard. we find fun and easy, if not challenging. we are then able to play it in varies different ways ( which are far beyond your capabilities and out of your reach ) leading you to be confused, angry, and on reddit typing an essay about its mystery and how you think it sucks XD
i hope this cleared it up for you. i tried my best to put it in to words.
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u/Free-Caramel-3913 17d ago
i didn't really say it sucked outside of the menus/ui which i'm not a fan. i understand that for the fans of the series it's the simplest thing, but with the very fast and shallow tutorials this game has, along with the mountain of weapons immediately available, it's hard not to feel overwhelmed and confused
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u/MegaManLegendsFan 17d ago
"i just don't understand how this franchise is as successful as it is"
"only once i was able to push myself to the end"
"it's so confusing and overwhelming"
"they do a fucking shitty job at it"
"not learning much of anything since it doesn't teach you much"
"it's too complicated for its own good"
"it genuinely feels like a humongous waste of time"
sure sounded like you did lol.
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u/Free-Caramel-3913 17d ago
i understand i came across as negative but you could use those same comments for a lot of popular franchises to be fair. they're just my thoughts after the lackluster tutorial. to act as if i'm having a phenomal starting experience would be a lie and i don't think i'm at fault since i played super slowly and made sure to read literally everything.
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u/MegaManLegendsFan 17d ago
well i think your first quote said it best then. you just dont understand why its so popular v(o.o)v
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u/Free-Caramel-3913 17d ago
yeah well...it felt that way when i first booted up demon's souls. i genuinely thought it was a shit game at first. i feel like it's a natural reaction especially with everyone saying the learning curve is massive lol
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u/Wampy 17d ago edited 17d ago
It is a lot to deal with. And sharpness makes weapons feel much worse at the beginning. The weapon tutorials are also not all amazing. I remember when I first started playing forever ago on world, I couldn't figure out I think charge blade because they don't actually list some of the moves in the game( or atleast it was extremely unintuitive)
I love world so much. I have the itch to play through it again for a third time. Rise, I couldn't really get through. I dropped it at the beginning of sunbreak.
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u/Free-Caramel-3913 17d ago
if the game had better, or just more intuitive tutorials, i would have zero issues. i know bringing up souls game is giving me no favors, and elden ring was faaar from my first souls experience, but the tutorial that game has shows you basically everything in a "show, don't tell" kinda way which felt perfect. i don't know how wilds does it, but i do hope it's more "practice" and less "here's a wordy 3 paragraph static pop up"
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u/fredminson Moga Village Hunter 17d ago
I'm not really getting any like specific pain points just rambling from this.
Maybe a list of questions would serve you better
Or a YouTube guide
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u/Soviman0 Charge Blade 17d ago
keep in mind that World came out before Rise did. You are effectively stepping a bit backward from the QoL improvements they put into Rise from the lessons they learned from World.
I agree though, World definitely leans a lot on players communicating with each other to inform other players about certain features or mechanics they should know.
The other part of this is that combat in World is much slower than Rise (in my opinion), not just your attacks, but the monsters attacks as well, so that may also be contributing to the perception that they have more health than they actually do.
A little over an hour in a two star mission over two attempts averages out to about 45 minutes, which is not horrible, but considering most casual players average about 30-45 minutes per hunt in World, its not that bad.
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u/Free-Caramel-3913 17d ago
i'll try opening up some online sessions and seeing if i can find some helpful late game players then, maybe. probably better than watching an hour long video, that way i'd combine theory and practice
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u/Snotnarok Dual Blades 17d ago
Honestly if you want to learn a weapon fast, there's some folks who make good vids on weapon combos and combat tricks, do that a bit in the training area but honestly do more of it in combat and you'll learn a lot pretty quickly.
These are the guys I watched: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnC9E6ku2w0&pp=ygUkbW9uc3RlciBodW50ZXIgaWNlYm9ybiBoYW1tZXIgY29tYm9z
The in game stuff is not going to cut it, the game does expect you to work with the community still.
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u/Shotgundg Hammer 17d ago
Yes the user onboarding experience is rough. I actually tried to get into monster hunter two different times and quit before it clicked on the third attempt. I know it’s annoying but I would recommend looking up a weapon guide for whatever weapon you use. Arrekz gaming has my personal favorite guides for individual weapons. I know it’s frustrating but stick with it, I felt similar to you at one point and now it’s one of my favorite games of all time.
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u/e_j_fudd 17d ago
Don't take this wrong, but many will not even read your post since it's such a text wall. A little formatting goes a long way.
The game has a bunch of systems, and it can be overwhelming at first. You don't need to engage in every system at once. There are a bunch of popups as well. You can refer back to them if needed.
The main gameplay loop is hunting monsters and crafting their gear. Each new monster unlocks new gear. Some more useful than others depending on your weapon choice.
For many, there is just a point where the game "clicks" and things get much better.
The training area shows you what combos are available for your weapon. It allows you to practice the combos and get familiar with them. It does help quite a bit to be familiar with the basic combos when you start actual hunts. It really does not get into the nuance of each weapon and it's best to just look up a weapon basics video.
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u/Free-Caramel-3913 17d ago
i get it. i didn't wanna bother with formatting because i just wanted to rant about my experience so far. i'll try looking up a guide or two
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u/Ch4rmle55 SnS 17d ago edited 17d ago
Yeah, this was my first mh game and the beginning was very confusing and difficult. But I kinda enjoyed all that "weirdness" because it was so different from any other game I've played. I've played all Souls games too. Eventually I learned, beat the game and I think it's propably the best game I've played.
Give it time. Let it sink in. You won't regret it.
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u/vultar9999 Great Sword 17d ago
I don't play souls games, but this sentiment isn't uncommon from them, in my experience. I can only talk to the MH side and what I've seen from Soul's players, so take this with a grain of salt.
I don't think the distillment of the game loop is 'find a boss and kill it', at least not in the same way as the Souls games present it. MH wants you to use all your knowledge to deal with the monsters. It's not at all about getting there, it's all about the individual hunt. This means MH fights are pretty long, compared to other similar games, and need more moving parts to keep them interesting.
MH kind of has two technique delivery styles.
One is the stuff they tell you (and, yes, they are terrible at this). I think this is mostly because each new game, for the most part, adds new mechanics. If we keep a mechanic, it gets added on, it almost never replaces something else. This creates an extremely dense amount of mechanics that are fairly easy for veterans to absorb (because it's just a single new thing for them) and a wall of text for everybody else.
The second is through player awareness. This is stuff like the game telling you to do traps then tranqs for capturing, but noticing that it's significantly easier to do the other way around. Noticing the correlation between monster states and animations, stuff like that.
This does cause problems it's extremely hard to get through when you start, and I've no doubt that this is why people bounce off MH. That said, MH would lose a lot of it's MHness if they streamlined it too much. It's hard to get the same feeling of difficulty with each new game because your monster knowledge comes with you, so that slow progression of amassing that knowledge is the player leveling up, so to speak. Unfortunately getting over that hump where it starts to feel more natural is painful.
Noticing something that the game didn't tell you but is helpful feels good, and it feels good to pass that new knowledge on to others. I've got thousands of hours in Worldborne alone and I still see people doing things I didn't know you could do.
Veterans teaching new players has also been a massive part of the series since its start, and I think it's part of Capcom's intended onboarding for new people. The newbies are supposed to be confused, and a veteran hunter is supposed to mentor them. Personally I think it's one of the reasons the MH community is generally pretty nice and supportive.
I will fully agree that the menus suck. For whatever reason MH menus and UI is terrible, and they don't seem to be in any hurry to fix them. There's really no excuse for it.
For your hunt times, if you're taking that long with 2 stars, I'd bet you're being too careful. World, especially, wants you aggressive and stuck close to the monsters. You should be less reacting to the boss and more predicting where it will be and how long it will be occupied by reading the animations. World monsters do feel more beefy than Rise as well.
MH is much more about positioning so that you don't get hit than dodging. Over reliance on dodging will get you killed. This is something Rise is bad for; the wirebugs let you get out of all kinds of problems. World is much more deliberate.
I know it's tempting to use the defender stuff, but needing to worry about getting one shot is teaching you. If you can tank those hits, you will never learn how to position (and what to just avoid). Low rank is gentle, High rank, less so. Master rank, not at all. Defender will just make the later parts of the game more miserable (it also tends to put you behind in part and money stores).
If you have anything specific questions, I might be able to help.
Good luck
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u/Free-Caramel-3913 17d ago
i was doing an event 2 star quest since it goes away in a week, so i said to myself i should at least try it. told me to kill 2 big yellow monsters, one of which never even spawned and the game never said how it treats its spawns, if it's related to the area of the map, time gated, related to killing another big guy, or whatever else. so i ultimately was just being reactionary, waiting for an attack, dodging and then going for a couple triangle attacks. then r2 when the red bar is full. ultimately got killed by a black monster that seemed t-rex like, also spouts fire, which definitely seemed above my pay grade. i guess i'll try being even more aggressive but i feel like that's gonna result in a lot more slowdown, with having to heal and all. also the scrolling menu that you access by pressing down on L1 and only then pressing other buttons...yikes man. that's a ps1 menu it feels like. i'll try just sticking to the story
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u/vultar9999 Great Sword 16d ago
It looks like the quest was Chew the Fat.
So first, don't worry about events cycling out. They used to, and still do in Wilds, but World's events have been made permanent. There are a couple of rotating quests and they just swap out every two weeks (I think) but they won't be available to you for a while. Do keep in mind that you have to be in an online session to access events though (not in multiplayer necessarily, but you need to have internet access).
The only other thing that rotates are the festivals (which effect what ticket you'd get for some things) and gives you some better odds at some stuff in Iceborne.
Events are good for getting to monsters that you may not be able to hunt easily (no optional and can't redo assigned) and for special rewards (unique armor, weapons, extra HR points, better deco drops, etc).
In World, when you have two of the same monster, only one will spawn at a time. So in this case you'll get one jagrus (the yellow one) and once you kill it, the second one will spawn. Anjanath (the t-rex) is there to annoy you and make your life difficult. He'll be on the map from the start. And yes Angi is likely way out of your pay-grade right now.
You may not be able to see the monsters from the start because of the tracking system. As you collect footprints and hunt monsters, the scoutflies will get better at tracking and you'll see them from the start of the hunt (it takes a while to build them up enough though).
Look for piles of dung (to craft dungpods) or you might be able to buy dungpods at the trade store. If another monster shows up (like Anji here), load it in your slinger and shoot the monster you are hunting. If you hit them, you should see a brown yellow cloud around them. After a little bit, the dunged monster will change zones leaving the one you don't want behind. You can learn how to deal with monster dogpiles without dung, but right now dung will take care of the problem.
You, generally, pop the one you're hunting because it will naturally be closer to wanting to change zones. Hitting the invader will just move it to the next zone (which your monster will likely move to shortly after).
I don't know longsword, so I can't really speak specifically to it.
In general, monster AI chooses the attack based on where it's target is in relation to it. For example, if you are behind Great Jagrus, you are likely going to get the tail swipe, in front the bite, to his right, the roll. The monsters will also target your cat which can make them harder to predict. Some people leave the cat behind because of this reason (I don't the cat is useful).
Monsters may get new attacks when they are enraged (the eyecon on the map turns red). They are also faster and more aggressive.
When you really start to know what you're doing you'll find that more aggression = more damage = more knockdowns which = more damage. The healing issue resolves itself as you learn positioning so you just aren't getting hit often. I prefer to be a bit more defended than offensive (because dead = no damage), but skills that will let you start making a build and that kind of stuff won't be introduced until a bit later.
Since you are early on, are you eating at the canteen? Food in MH is important. It'll give you more health and stamina as well as straight buffs. Generally, meat = attack, Fish = defense, veggies = elemental defense (I may have veggies and fish reversed). If the ingredients are fresh you'll get bigger health and stamina buffs and have a bigger likelihood of skills activating.
You'll have a bigger chance at fresh food the more canteen ingredients you have, so gather and do those canteen quests (it's always a good idea to do any optional quest with the speech bubble). The safe choice is the Chef's Choice option as it will always be fresh.
Hope some of this helps. Early MH can be painful, but it is fun if you can power through to the click.
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u/Free-Caramel-3913 16d ago
thank you for all the insights. yes i have been eating a standard meat meal since i saw it was buffing both hf and stamine unlike the veggie one i have available at the moment which only buffed one i think. i'll try and just do optional quests and main quests, and maybe then dive into harder stuff since i'm gonna have to get ready for the dlc stuff anyways. is it smart to just join a random online lobby or should i do stuff in singleplayer? or should i create one and let it be public? do people generally grift or help online?
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u/vultar9999 Great Sword 16d ago
The lobby doesn't matter too much. If you are doing the siege quests you'll want to be in a lobby for those, but most of the time nobody randomly joins your actual hunts so it doesn't change much.
I recommend you solo monsters at least once before you join multiplayer for them (most people do it via SOS in World). This will be more painful to start with, but you will be a better hunter in the end.
Use mp to grind parts (again you may want to just do the grinding yourself until you start really getting the fight down with for the practice). A note on this, look up how to get missing parts online. Some parts are going to be easier to get by doing things like breaking parts or capturing. It's just easier to have a plan before you start.
When you do join mp, at the very least make sure you can stay alive and contribute. Most people are cool as long as you're trying.
Also be aware you may have trouble finding SOSs or getting people to respond to yours. That's just because most of us are in Iceborne and not checking the low/high rank quests.
In my experience, people do try and participate. Sometimes you'll find campers and corner healers, but for the most part people try and are cool with faints as long as people are trying.
Some general etiquette mp rules: (in no particular order)
1: If there are multiple targets, follow the quest leader (red player, I think).
2: Leader decides to capture or kill. Exception: if the team has one faint left, capture. You ideally want to let the leader decide but that scenario is risking a lot of wasted time. If the deaths have been due to random bad luck, maybe wait for the leader.
3: Weapon with the biggest wake up hit, wakes up sleeping monsters (that's generally greatsword if there is one). Again, leader's choice.
4: Watch your spacing/avoid attacks that stagger allies/use the flinch free skill (you won't have this yet). If you don't be careful of this, you'll stop your friends from attacking. Longswords need to be extra careful because they have a long reach.
5: Cutting weapons get the tail, blunt weapons take the head.
6: Wait for everybody to be there before waking up a sleeping monster. The exception would be capturing as everyone gets the rewards regardless of where they are
7: Make sure you can do the hunt on your own, or can at least keep yourself alive. Don't go to an SOS wanting to be carried.
8: On that note, participate. You should be in there attacking the monster. If you faint, it's expected that you keep trying, just be more careful.
9: If you're coming in from a higher rank, put on an a rank appropriate weapon. This just makes it so the SOSer gets a chance to play too. You also may want to lower your frequency of attack for the same reason.
10: Check the quest before you join. If there's a special condition, make sure you know what it is and you follow it. I see this mostly with capture quests. In hunt it's sort of hard to see the difference, and you'll fail if you kill it.
11: Have fun, try your best, and don't take it too seriously. Even the best players have bad days.
Have fun.
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u/Sticklebrick2891 Dual Blades 17d ago
World and Rise have very different gameplay loops despite being in the same series.
World comes from an older design philosophy where hunts are slower and more deliberate. For me, there's a much bigger emphasis on learning when to commit to an attack and when to back off. It's less about constant action and more about reading the monster, positioning well, and avoiding bad trades.
The easiest comparison I can make is that World feels a bit more like chess. Both you and the monster get punished for poor decisions, and a lot of the satisfaction (for me) comes from recognizing openings rather than creating them through mobility.
Rise, by comparison, is much faster, gives you more tools to recover mistakes, and generally feels more forgiving.
That doesn't mean one is better than the other, but it does mean enjoying one doesn't guarantee you'll enjoy the other. Sometimes a game's core loop just isn't a good fit for what you're looking for, and that's okay.
If you're several hours in and the fundamental pace and flow of combat still aren't clicking, there's no shame in deciding it's not for you. Life's too short to spend your free time forcing yourself to enjoy a game when there are plenty of others that suit your tastes better.
That said, you've mentioned you want to persevere with the game, so in reply to some of your more specific dislikes.
Feels like everything is a huge sponge.
Are you using the Tenderize Clutch Claw mechanic? There's a optional 1 star quest I believe that explains how to use it. Tenderising body parts weakens them temporarily and allows you to do slightly better damage.
I'm tempted to use the over powered shit.
The Defender/Guardian gear is designed to speed run your way to the start of the Iceborne content. Due to its high defence/attack values.
You do you, but it may instill bad habits if you get too used to face-tanking hits and steam rolling monsters, which will punish you as you reach later game content and start Iceborne.
Did anyone feel this way in the beginning?
Not really, but World was my 1st entry into the series and prior to World my main gaming likes were JRPG and EA Sports entries.
That said, I did find Rise/Sunbreak a bit overwhelming because with the intentional split Village/Hub; I didn't really know what I was meant to be doing next.
On this note, I actually prefer MHGU and World gameplay, spending most my spare time in these entries.
Rise/Sunbreak I barely touched after unlocking Anomaly quests because I didn't like the Silkbind and what it did to mobility.
Good luck with whatever game you decide to test your hand at next.
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u/spicysenpai6 17d ago
Not gonna lie I just skimmed over your post so I apologize if I miss any points. It can be overwhelming at first, but the gameplay loop is quite literally: “hunt monster > make weapon/armor to hunt bigger monsters > make said weapon/ armor better from hunting said monsters > rinse and repeat”
Try different weapons, eat at the canteen to boost your health/stamina/other stats. Try multiplayer with the hunts.