For sure, all these kinds of games I actually enjoy the most while getting up to the cap/end of the story, and then I feel like I beat the game and move on. A lot of people want one game they can play for hundreds of hours for months or years on end, but I prefer to play a variety of games, so I start checking out after hour 30 or so.
Exceptions are The Division which I put 100+ hrs into, and yes, the first 30 were the best; and I'm also playing MHW, 85 hrs, and it's been pretty consistently enjoyable simply because it's design isn't mission-based per se, the way The Division is. I've also got 30 hrs in Vermintide 2, and again, I'm enjoying it for the gameplay and leveling my characters (just got all careers unlocked), and the prospect of the "end game" for Vermintide 2 isn't super compelling for me.
MHW is the only game that I really get the appeal of right now, because you can definitely "make your own difficulty" by choosing the types of hunts you do and weapons/armour you use. The Division I also found very chill to just sit down and play, but there was such a focus on RNG when it came to creating your build, and for a lot of teammates it just amounted to rerunning the same maps again and again and hopping that you get a random drop.
MHW to get the items you want, you hunt the monsters that give you the parts you're looking for, and they'll even drop parts if you "break" them off during a hunt, so you can still get all your equipment if you fail as long as you keep going at it. There's a link between the item you want, and what you do to get it. Whereas in The Division, it's all RNGesus.
I can't speak to Vermintide 2 too much, I know people complain about cosmetics being totally random, but there is a crafting system for weapons. I haven't gotten into it, because all five of my chars are level 12/35 and every time I open a new chest, I get new weapons that are leveled up, so I'm just replacing stuff as I go. There's no point for me to waste crafting material now, when I'm getting new, stronger gear all the time -just like in The Division before you hit level cap.
MHW on the other hand, it's aaallllll crafting. Even more impressively, if you max-out early-game equipment, it's actually still pretty decent. Especially since the game's armours have different resistances and properties, so you might find yourself going to and old set to face a specific beast.
As much as the developers will try and create compelling content, so often the community decides on a meta, which devolves into rerunning a given map again and again, and of course they'll do it as quickly as possible, and if a teammate gets left behind and dies, it's more on the fault of the person who "didn't keep up," than the person who literally abandons whoever it is. I've seen it happen both ways. I'm in a group sprinting ahead and I see someone behind going for an ammo pickup or something (uh, guys, could we wait a sec?) or a group battling enemies and then some Leeroy Jenkins running halfway across the map to the next area being chased by mobs (uh, dude, could you wait a sec?).
Again, the thing about MHW is that everyone goes *to* the monster, and everyone is working for the same parts.
I had a pretty good experience with Vermintide 2 the other day, I ran a few maps with this person who was into learning tome and grim locations (hidden bonus items), and they had a guide and we were all communicating and going for the special items, and it was a lot more fun than just speed-running the map, which is what people do 95% of the time.
I played Destiny 2 for a little bit (under 20 hours), and my issue is that the match-making was atrocious. I was not able to find people at all to run the campaign with me, and I got the game during the Blizzcon week where they gave the game away for free, so I know there would have been a population for it. I played The Division within the launch window (a few weeks/a month since release maybe?) and there was no trouble finding games, but I'd say, along with MHW/Vermintide 2 it's more to do with The Division having pretty solid match-making. I really could not figure out how to just get into a lobby for the early Destiny 2 missions in any kind of way that was consistent for finding a squad.
Anyhow, the "end game" is where I lose interest, generally. I just feel like an idiot trying to create builds for all these games, each with their own esoteric, opaque systems. I played Diablo III as well and that shit was soooo bad for needing a FAQ next to you to try and do "end game" stuff.
Exceptions are The Division which I put 100+ hrs into, and yes, the first 30 were the best; and I'm also playing MHW, 85 hrs, and it's been pretty consistently enjoyable simply because it's design isn't mission-based per se, the way The Division is. I've also got 30 hrs in Vermintide 2, and again, I'm enjoying it for the gameplay and leveling my characters (just got all careers unlocked), and the prospect of the "end game" for Vermintide 2 isn't super compelling for me.
MHW is the only game that I really get the appeal of right now, because you can definitely "make your own difficulty" by choosing the types of hunts you do and weapons/armour you use. The Division I also found very chill to just sit down and play, but there was such a focus on RNG when it came to creating your build, and for a lot of teammates it just amounted to rerunning the same maps again and again and hopping that you get a random drop.
MHW to get the items you want, you hunt the monsters that give you the parts you're looking for, and they'll even drop parts if you "break" them off during a hunt, so you can still get all your equipment if you fail as long as you keep going at it. There's a link between the item you want, and what you do to get it. Whereas in The Division, it's all RNGesus.
I can't speak to Vermintide 2 too much, I know people complain about cosmetics being totally random, but there is a crafting system for weapons. I haven't gotten into it, because all five of my chars are level 12/35 and every time I open a new chest, I get new weapons that are leveled up, so I'm just replacing stuff as I go. There's no point for me to waste crafting material now, when I'm getting new, stronger gear all the time -just like in The Division before you hit level cap.
MHW on the other hand, it's aaallllll crafting. Even more impressively, if you max-out early-game equipment, it's actually still pretty decent. Especially since the game's armours have different resistances and properties, so you might find yourself going to and old set to face a specific beast.
As much as the developers will try and create compelling content, so often the community decides on a meta, which devolves into rerunning a given map again and again, and of course they'll do it as quickly as possible, and if a teammate gets left behind and dies, it's more on the fault of the person who "didn't keep up," than the person who literally abandons whoever it is. I've seen it happen both ways. I'm in a group sprinting ahead and I see someone behind going for an ammo pickup or something (uh, guys, could we wait a sec?) or a group battling enemies and then some Leeroy Jenkins running halfway across the map to the next area being chased by mobs (uh, dude, could you wait a sec?).
Again, the thing about MHW is that everyone goes *to* the monster, and everyone is working for the same parts.
I had a pretty good experience with Vermintide 2 the other day, I ran a few maps with this person who was into learning tome and grim locations (hidden bonus items), and they had a guide and we were all communicating and going for the special items, and it was a lot more fun than just speed-running the map, which is what people do 95% of the time.
I played Destiny 2 for a little bit (under 20 hours), and my issue is that the match-making was atrocious. I was not able to find people at all to run the campaign with me, and I got the game during the Blizzcon week where they gave the game away for free, so I know there would have been a population for it. I played The Division within the launch window (a few weeks/a month since release maybe?) and there was no trouble finding games, but I'd say, along with MHW/Vermintide 2 it's more to do with The Division having pretty solid match-making. I really could not figure out how to just get into a lobby for the early Destiny 2 missions in any kind of way that was consistent for finding a squad.
Anyhow, the "end game" is where I lose interest, generally. I just feel like an idiot trying to create builds for all these games, each with their own esoteric, opaque systems. I played Diablo III as well and that shit was soooo bad for needing a FAQ next to you to try and do "end game" stuff.
