Capcom perfected the combat formula over countless releases, but it wasn’t until Monster Hunter: World that they stripped away what ultimately was never much fun to begin with. You spend less time spent preparing, and more time actually fighting. And sales figures suggest, as we all expected, that Capcom really had something special sitting under all that bloat.

Monster Hunter World is one of the best games of the year, and it shines brightly on the PC.

An amazing confluence of level and monster design, combat and gameplay systems, Monster Hunter: World is undoubtedly best Monster Hunter game. After spending well over a hundred hours outside the campaign, I think my original review score was actually a little low. As a game, Monster Hunter: World is still incredible, but the PC release can only be considered definitive for a relatively small number of power users with top-shelf GPUs and zippy processors. While everyone with a recent PC and decent graphics card can make the game work, for many players the best experience may still be on console.

Monster Hunter World captivates with thrilling boss fights and its variety of weapons, but the PC port could have been technically better.

Arriving eight months late on PC, everything that can be said about Monster Hunter World already has done. Rest assured though, the wait was indeed worth it. Anyone looking for a deep action game they can potentially invest hundreds of hours into need look no further. This is Monster Hunter, back and better than it's ever been before.

Monster Hunter: World still has all the complexity expected from this series, but it dishes it out in much more palatable chunks than usual. It's still got a frightening amount of depth, but it feels manageable in a way that few in the series have pulled off before. Players may still feel a little lost from time to time, but a little guidance from series vets or other friends can drastically reduce the growing pains new players will likely experience. On top of all that, this is one of the best-feeling titles the series has had to date; so saddle up with some friends, and explore all the New World has to offer.

It's not the worst console port I have seen, but it surely isn't the best one. The only real flaw of the PC version of Monster Hunter World is the buggy multiplayer mode. Everything else works just fine and deserves some attention - after all, this is one of the most captivating adventures in the virtual world ever.