Everything in Dauntless feels designed for players who want to get in and get out, from its streamlined matchmaking to spawning monsters within sight of a hunt's spawn location. It probably was, but if it was more interesting, I might actually read it. Quest dialogue is brief and boring, as if it were designed to be ignored by 90 percent of players. I'd rather buy a game than buy a new bundle or pass every few months. So I hit alt-F4, restarted the game, and waited in another login queue. Adding insult to injury, a bug made it impossible for me to back out and start matchmaking again or do the hunt on my own. By the time I hit five minutes, it was pretty obvious that something was wrong with the matchmaking it was never going to match me with anyone. I have to let go and press it again, and then it mysteriously works.Īt one point, I entered matchmaking to hunt a fire beast called a Lesser Emberlane. I keep holding it, and the little circular meter that indicates I've held the button down long enough stays full, but the conversation never triggers. Sometimes when I walk up to an NPC and hold the E key to talk to them (an annoying holdover of controller-first interface design), nothing happens. (opens in new tab)Īnd there are the little things, which may just be first-week problems, but dampened my experience nonetheless. Sorry, The Middleman, I'm just not that into you. I'm sure with a few equipment upgrades and a little more experience the Magic Rock Lizard will be a push-over, but that's the draw of these kinds of games: learning the ins and outs of a creature's abilities, and how to counter them, then powering up so much that they're eventually push-overs. It was a fun fight, and actually challenging. When the rocks snap off its body to reveal a pulsing charge of energy underneath, I learned (the hard way) that it's about to do a super powerful whirlwind attack that will take off half my lifebar if I'm close enough to be sucked in. When the rocks shift into position on its right side, I know it's about to perform a sideways rolling attack. Magic Rock Lizard's outer shell can float into the air and reconfigure itself around its body, which is both a cool effect and a great fight mechanic. The Skarn, who I will now call Magic Rock Lizard, is visually totally different from anything I've fought in Monster Hunter: World, and that's really exciting. The first few monsters demand nothing from you, but I started actually studying my move list and combo timing once I fought the Shrike and then the Skarn. It's a fun alternate flavor, easier to pick up and play. But it's hard to see any of these weapons requiring the timing or positioning mastery of Monster Hunter's insect glaive or lance or transforming charge blade (they do have some distinct and creative charge/ammo systems, though, that are more interesting than Monster Hunter's simpler weapons). None of it feels as deep as Monster Hunter-granted, I've only played a few hours of Dauntless, so that could change some. Some weapons let you hold to charge up attacks, and each weapon has its own special mechanic to learn. You move quickly, dodge with a satisfying snap, and can pound on the mouse to quickly execute flashy combos. They're not as animation-heavy as weapons in Monster Hunter, even with the slower weapons like the hammer and axe. Weapons in Dauntless feel great to wield. But beating his ass with a flaming sword I'd crafted from another monster was a great time. This is a creature I would not want to come face-to-face with in a forest, dark alley, or, really, anywhere. The Shrike is an owl-bear-thing that flings tornadoes across the field with its wings, leaps into the air to come down with a powerful ground pound, and honestly just looks cool as hell with these bright yellow eyes and glowing feathers. Once the training wheels came off I took on the Shrike and the Skarn, two monsters that were actually challenging with my low-level gear and had designs to rival Monster Hunter: World's imposing enemies. With a group of three other hunters I got thrown into matchmaking with, it was easy to kill one of these beasts in about five minutes, barely worrying about taking damage.īut it does get better. I was mindlessly clicking left- and right mouse, alternating light and heavy attacks, and dodging every so often. The first few monsters I hunted were so boring and so easy to kill, especially in a group, that combat wasn't really that much fun. I almost wrote off Dauntless in the first hour or two, but there is some real monster hunting to be had here, once you get past the server issues and its first few quests.
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