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WARNING: This article contains very minor spoilers for the beginning of Monster Hunter: Worldas well as intense video game nostalgia. Proceed at your own risk.

In real life I am a vegetarian with a tendency to get preachy about animal conservation. But in Monster Hunter,margaret jackson facts of life of the eroticization of women's oppression I am a bloodthirsty killer of exotic reptiles with a huge axe that converts into a paralysis-inducing sword. That's the beauty of video games, you can be whoever you want to be.

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I've been playing Monster Hunter since it was on the PS2 (way back in 2004). I got my second fix five years later with Monster Hunter Tri, which at the time seemed like the most intricate and beautiful incarnation of the game that could ever exist -- but not being a fan of hand-held consoles, I missed out on much of the franchise's development.

As a result Monster Hunter was mostly resigned to my nostalgia banks. No more would I hack the tails off majestic dino-dragons in order to upgrade my equipment so as to hack the tails off even bigger dino-dragons (and so on and so forth).

Then the news came. Monster Hunter: World, a huge, immersive Monster Huntergame with more freeform options, was coming to consoles.

Naturally I was excited, but a part of me was apprehensive. Could this new game possibly live up to my childhood memories of the franchise, after nine long years?

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Still, not buying was out of the question. Last Friday I booted up, my blood coursing at the thought of getting my hands back on a switch-axe, but slightly dreading a bitter anticlimax.

Reader, I was not disappointed.

Monster Hunter: World delivered gloriously, and here is how it did it.

1. Thank God for Scoutflies

Back in the good ol' days, hunting monsters took place in much smaller locales made up of lots of different areas. Your quarry might be in any of these, so you had to scout through all of them, find the beast, and then nail it with a paintball. After that, the monster would appear on your mini-map and you could track it as it ran from area to area. You had to make sure you kept the paintballs coming, as the effects would periodically wear off. Pretty dull.

Monster Hunter: Worldbinned this mechanic in favour of a much more elegant solution. Your character carries scoutflies, little firefly-like insects that lead you to the monster you seek.

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By gleaning the monster's scent from traces it leaves behind (e.g. footprints, gashes in trees) the flies hone in on the monster, and once you find it they will lock on and show you the quickest route to it.

2. Smooth as hell exploration

As mentioned, a lot of the previous Monster Hunter games involved a lot of flitting between areas, which meant a lot of load screens. And I mean a lot.

Monster Hunter: Worldis a different story. Despite the areas you explore being massive and complex -- each with their own ecosystems that interact -- there are no loading screens when you're out in the world. You can seamlessly run, slip, slide, climb, and swim through the environment.

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The lack of loading screens also means that pegging it to a different area will no longer guarantee your escape from a raging monster, which heightens the tension considerably.

3. A diverse grind

The feedback loop of Monster Hunter has always been its defining feature. Repeat-routing the same quest was the only way forwards. On the one hand it granted a sense of achievement, but for many it was just too laborious to be fun.

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Monster Hunter: Worldside-steps this by making the grind a whole lot less linear. In the first few hours of gameplay you come up against a menagerie of low to mid-tier monsters, and there are multiple ways to pursue those crafting materials you crave so badly. You can go on optional quests, hand in bounties, or just go freeform on an expedition.

4. Absolutely gorgeous 3D area design

Monster Hunter: Worldboasts beautiful design and graphics, but more impressive than those are the design of the environment. Different areas are more connected than ever, with plenty of passages to crawl through and vines to clamber up.

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Needless to say, this design can work to your advantage. Jumping off a wall or a ledge can allow you to mount a monster for some serious damage output, or you can provoke it into charging a pile of vines or quicksand.

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You can even use the other ambient creatures to your advantage to lure your main monster to a specific location.

5. You just need the one whetstone

This. Right. Here.

There was nothing more infuriating in previous incarnations of Monster Hunterthan realising that you'd not brought enough whetstones and having your weapon constantly glance harmlessly off the monster's hide.

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ThankfullyMonster Hunter: Worldremedies this madness, as you only have the one whetstone with INFINITE USES. Rathalos be praised.

6. Single player is no hindrance

A bit of a confession coming here, but I don't play well with others. My online mode was always a little janky, plus I am all about that solo glory.

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In previous games to take on the majority of big elder dragons with all the fun cannons and ballistas you had to go online and find a party to do it with. Boo socialising.

In Monster Hunter: World the choice is yours. Relatively early in the game you get to enjoy a big elder dragon set-piece all by yourself.

7. Maintaining the scary/silly ratio

Creature design is of course at the heart of Monster Hunter'saesthetic, and the joy of it has always been that the artists fill the game with a mixture of thoroughly terrifying and utterly ridiculous-looking beasties.

The best example of this is Monster Hunter: World's unofficial flagship monster, the Paolumu.

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Because what self-respecting hunter wouldn't want to smack that thing right in its big, inflatable face?

8. Palicos are 100% better than Cha-Cha

OK, this is more than a pet-peeve than a proper analysis and only applies to Monster Hunter Tri -- but I hate Cha-Cha with a burning passion.

He has the stupidest name, he always bails just when you need him most, and I just wished he would leave me alone.

The Palicos are way better. They're reliable in combat, and as they level up they respond better and better to commands. Plus you get to customise them right from the beginning.

For example: I designed my Palico to look as though he is constantly scheming to overthrow his human masters. I call him Blergins.

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9. That opening sequence

A bit counter-intuitive to put this at the end but oh well. The opening sequence to Monster Hunter: Worldis balls-to-the wall dramatic. Your ship runs aground on a huge lava dragon, and to pique the drama the Palico you so lovingly created mere moments ago is cruelly snatched from you.

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You manage to escape by running up the volcanic elder dragon and grappling onto a passing pterodactyl-like creature. This isn't just dramatic by Monster Hunter standards, this is how I wish every game would begin.

I've been gushing a lot so far, and it's not as if Monster: Hunter Worldis without flaws, it's just that on the whole they're pretty small. The compulsory cut-scenes are a bit of a drag, and even with all the streamlining some of the menus remain a little byzantine.

This is the Monster Hunter game the child me would have wished for: huge and gorgeous and full of monsters fighting each other.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a big dodo-looking thing to bludgeon.

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