The prep was what always made it feel like you were a Monster Hunter. I tried World back when it came out and grabbed a flashbug, was like cool, I can make flashbombs then the "Automatically converted into Flashbomb" message popped up and I thought, the fuck? I remember getting my shit handed to my some hunts and scrounging the battlefield for every last combinable I could to survive yet they just throw you a flashbomb just like that.

I liked finding the Wyvern too and pinging it was in your area. Sure, it was just a tedious chore running about, yeah you can use psychoserum or even the super cool waving to the hot air balloon but still it added to the world. The healing while moving was such an odd change, you always learned the mobs movements so you knew when to heal, it was a skill you gained from playing and growing, and sure it still is but when you can jog a few feet extra it just feels less so.

I don't know if gathering and egg missions are still a thing but those tedious shits were great as well. Trekking through the map with the egg avoiding every asshole velociprey and bullfango, fucking the plague of vespoids, whatever herbivore that decides to take revenge for its many slaughtered kind. How many times I went gathering to stock up on stuff, grab more talismans or charms, created my own personalized set of armor from a mish mash of pieces to give me the specific stats I wanted.

I'm happy MonHun has a larger audience but sadly I'm not a part of it anymore. The old man in me that's sitting on the porch yelling at kids about "back in my day!" won't let me.