Do you like wielding giant swords, maybe you want to fight gigantic and strange monsters? Then might I suggest Capcom’s new video game “Monster Hunter World.”

In the newest installment of the “Monster Hunter” series, you take on the role as a fifth fleet hunter entering a new world full of flora, wild felines and yes, giant, hulking monsters.

When you start a new game, you create a male or female hunter with dozens of choices for how they look and sound. When your done creating your hunter, you create your Palico, aka adorable little cat sidekick. Yes, now you can make your real life kitty in a video game and go monster hunting together.

If you ever get past creating your adorable little friend, you’ll find yourself on a ship bound to the new world. After some elder dragon shenanigans, you arrive in the middle of a weird and wild jungle. After a short tutorial, which includes your first bout with deadly creatures while you are unarmed, you make your way to headquarters where you are given weapons, armor, friends and the materials you will need to begin your monster hunting quests.

In “Monster Hunter World,” there are 14 weapons available for you to use and learn. While you can use these weapons at any point in the game, I’d recommend trying all of them in the training grounds at the very beginning, and then picking one to specialize in and master before moving on to others.

This game relies more on player skill than the type of weapon or equipment used, although these are highly important, and something higher level players do not want to ignore. Picking a weapon that has a play style you’re comfortable with and enjoy using at the beginning is key to your success in the game. For beginning players the best weapons to start the game off with would be the Greatsword, Longsword and the surprisingly fun Insect Glaive. For those who are looking for more of a challenge, look no further than the Hunting Horn. This weapon can be considerably challenging to learn how to use properly.

Once your weapon is chosen, you’ve eaten your meal and admired your cute Palico companion, your ready to set off hunting the monsters of the game. Unlike some most open world games like “Skyrim” or “ARK,” the map in “Monster Hunter World” is not completely open from the start. As you progress in the story, more and more of the large world map begins to open up for you to go and explore in. This really gives the player the feeling of finding the undiscovered corners of a new and exciting world.

Although hunting giant, scary (and sometimes hilarious) monsters is the main focus of the game, there are many other things to discover as well. There are interesting plants that can give you unique buffs for your quests, natives who dwell in the new world for you to make contact with and locations which are both gorgeous and fun to explore.

Progression in the game focuses mainly on killing higher and higher level monsters to acquire higher level materials which you can use to create better weapons and armor. You will often have to kill the same type of monster several times to gain enough of the materials required to create a full set. This can, at times, feel like grinding through levels, but the fighting and tracking is different enough each time that it never gets to the point of being irritating.

Along with new gear, headquarters will also continue to evolve as you play, allowing you to have more and more options of how to complete quests, and research the monster you have decided to hunt. You’re going to want to get to know where things are in Headquarters before leaving for adventure, as you will be spending a good amount of time preparing for a hunt before you actually leave to complete it.

Even if you do everything right, remember to grab a meal, repair your gear, upgrade it, grab potions and sell loot, you might still encounter things that are difficult for you and your feline friend. Fortunately “Monster Hunter World” can be played in online co-op mode. You can either join a game with a group of your friends and take on hunts together, or you can tag along with a group of strangers. Hunting with others is a lot of fun and rewarding if your team works together to fulfill party roles and keep the monsters off balance.

“Monster Hunter World” is an exciting and challenging game that asks its players to think critically about how they complete quests, rather then just giving tasks to complete. The game does not hand hold you through the journey, but it also does a good job of giving you the things you need to accomplish your mission and give the player the feeling of being a Hunter surviving in the wilds.

“Monster Hunter World” is currently out on Xbox One and Playstation 4, and it will also be out on PC in the fall of this year.

Rating: 4/5