Chapter 246: A Great Sword, A Legend (Eight Updates, Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Pass)

Chapter 246: A Great Sword, A Legend (Eight Updates, Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Pass)

Inside the Hunter's Lodge, Zhang Yi stared at the various weapons before him, utterly dazzled.

Just as revealed in previous materials, Monster Hunter: World does not have Classes. Players can freely choose any weapon as their own and switch at will.

Although switching is unrestricted, just like in Dark Souls, later weapons require materials for crafting and enhancement.

And right now, it's unclear whether the game features a system to break down gear and recover materials. If not, clearly, one would have to stick with a single weapon for a certain period.

After all, in the early game, there definitely won't be enough materials to craft and strengthen every single weapon.

And without crafting and strengthening, players would be stuck with very low-level weapons, making their hunting damage output mere scraping damage (Dealing very low damage).

Therefore, choosing a suitable weapon carefully is essential.

"Are there explanations and introductions for the weapons? Any videos too? Let me watch first before deciding."

Reading the descriptions for each weapon in-game, Zhang Yi opted to watch the demonstrations to better judge them.

Yet after watching back and forth for several minutes, Zhang Yi realized that each weapon had its own unique characteristics—each one made him want to try it!

The Great Sword, Switch Axe, and Charge Blade looked incredibly imposing. Dual Blades and Sword & Shield appeared exceptionally fluid and elegant. And the Long Sword? It just felt unbelievably cool.

Meanwhile, Bow and Arrows, Light Bowgun, Heavy Bowgun, and Lance—all of them felt awesome in their own way!

The Insect Glaive played like Ace Combat, and lifting the Heavy Bowgun felt just like wielding a Maxim machine gun, going tatatatat nonstop.

Not to mention the Long Sword's Foresight Slash and Helm Breaker—truly so cool it's mind-blowing.

Dual Blades' Demon Dance, Charge Blade's Super Amped Element Discharge.

Lance could attack aggressively and defend solidly—Guard Dash was mighty, and raising the Greatshield made one stand firm like a mountain.

The Bow and Arrows offered pinpoint accuracy at a hundred paces, with Arc Shot, Power Shot, Dragon Piercer, and Draw Dragon Piercer—endless variations in a single weapon.

It was impossible to decide!

Zhang Yi wore a deeply conflicted expression.

After hesitating for a long while, Zhang Yi decided to try each weapon firsthand to see how they actually felt in combat.

"Let me see first..." Zhang Yi drew the Long Sword from his back and stepped in front of the training post. Why start with the Long Sword?

Simply because this weapon was just so cool it's mind-blowing.

On the left side appeared something resembling a move list, while the upper right corner displayed follow-up combo attack prompts after each strike.

Soon, Zhang Yi clearly felt that compared to Dark Souls, the Gameplay and system in Monster Hunter: World were completely different.

The entire action system was significantly more complex. Moreover, the game featured two distinct states: combat and disengage from combat.

In combat mode, the player held their weapon and couldn't run—only rolling was possible to dodge.

In disengage from combat mode, the player had to sheathe their weapon, allowing them to run freely.

Next came the combinations of attack moves, somewhat resembling input commands in Fighting Games.

Players needed to string together attacks to form various Skills to deal damage to monsters.

Additionally, specific prerequisites had to be met to execute certain moves.

Take the Long Sword in his hand now—its basic attack methods were limited.

Regular slashes, Thrust Attack, and after building up the Spirit Gauge through basic attacks like slashes and thrusts, players could unleash the more flashy Spirit Blade.

Higher-level moves, such as Helm Breaker, required maintaining the Spirit Gauge State during a Spirit Thrust.

To achieve the Spirit Gauge State, players could either use Foresight Slash—essentially a Parry—at the exact moment of receiving an attack to deflect the monster's assault.

A successful Parry would instantly fill the gauge. Alternatively, players could patiently build the gauge through slashes and thrusts, then use Spirit Blade III followed by Spirit Roundslash to activate the Spirit Gauge State.

After trying the Long Sword, Zhang Yi tested several other weapons.

Among them, the Charge Blade felt the most complicated.

The basic Amped Element Discharge required players to build up the gauge in Sword Mode. Once full, they could unleash a lightning-charged Amped Element Discharge.

To unleash the even more devastating Super Amped Element Discharge, players had to interrupt the Amped Element Discharge and channel the energy into the shield before releasing it—an earth-shattering explosion.

The damage was high, the effect dazzling—but Zhang Yi felt that in the heat of real combat, he'd probably forget the steps.

Each weapon truly had its own unique characteristics.

After careful consideration, Zhang Yi finally settled on the Great Sword.

Why?

Initially, he had indeed planned to pick the Long Sword—it was just too cool.

But after thinking it over, he gave up.

As a Veteran Player, Zhang Yi had a good grasp of game design principles.

Namely, when a weapon looks extremely cool, it's almost certainly not the strongest.

Why?

If the Long Sword is already this stylish, with such an impressive Appearance/Shape and actions that it naturally attracted a massive number of players,

then if it were also overwhelmingly powerful in actual combat, what purpose would the other weapons serve?

Wouldn't all the weapons designed by Nebula Games become useless?

Therefore, the Long Sword might not be the weakest weapon, but it certainly wouldn't be top-tier.

But the Great Sword was different!

It looked plain and unadorned, yet radiated an overwhelming aura of power.

Moreover, during testing, it had both high damage and hyper armor.

As everyone knows, in action games, any weapon with hyper armor can't possibly be weak.

When testing its damage output, the Great Sword proved extremely powerful—one True Charged Slash dealt over a hundred damage.

Only the Long Sword's Helm Breaker and the Charge Blade's Super Amped Element Discharge matched such brutal performance.

But Zhang Yi felt the Great Sword's charging mechanic was simpler.

As for skills like blocking or Tackle, he completely ignored them.

Defense?

Who needs defense!

The best offense is the best defense!

"All the other weapons are just pushovers. The Great Sword is the one true god! No wonder the Hunter in the promotional video used a Great Sword!"

"A Great Sword, A Legend!"

Staring at the Great Sword in his hand, Zhang Yi was overwhelmed with excitement. Visions of himself charging recklessly through every monster with his Great Sword and earning the glory of the Azure Star flashed through his mind.

Though thrilled, Zhang Yi didn't immediately leave the Training Grounds. Instead, he decided to practice some more to better understand the Great Sword's Gameplay.

"Simple, got it, got it, I know how to play! This is so easy! I've mastered it!"

Watching the Charged Slash land on the training post and explode with massive damage, Zhang Yi nodded lightly.

No need for words—it was clear.

This was the Great Sword, plain and unadorned.

Wide Slash, Charged Slash!

Uppercut, Charged Slash!

Side Slash, Charged Slash!

No complicated tricks—just charge and unleash!

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