Capcom finally brought Monster Hunter: World to PC last week which is over 6 months after the phenomenon hit PS4 and Xbox One. Read our review of that version here. Monster Hunter: World has already done brilliantly on Steam in only a few days having crossed Fallout 4’s peak concurrent players and nearing that of GTA V. It is the biggest Steam launch in 2018 which is pretty crazy considering this is the first main entry of the franchise on PC. Capcom delayed the PC version to make sure it releases with the quality Capcom ports usually have on PC. So far, things are mostly good but there are many things holding this port back right now. Before getting into the actual port impressions, here is everything you need to know about Monster Hunter: World’s PC port:
Editions:
As with the console versions digitally, Monster Hunter: World on Steam is available as a standard release and a Deluxe Edition. The Deluxe Edition includes the Standard Edition base game and the Deluxe Kit. This Deluxe Kit is available separately for Rs. 999 as well if you want to get it later on. The base game costs Rs. 2999 on Steam which is Rs. 1000 less than the launch pricing for the PS4 and Xbox One versions. The Deluxe Edition is Rs. 3758 on Steam. Here’s what the Deluxe Kit contains:
Samurai Set
Layered armor sets will change the look of your armor without changing the properties underneath. Equip this Samurai set over your favorite armor to take on the striking appearance of a feudal Japanese samurai warrior!
Note : No weapons are included with this set
Gestures:
Zen
Ninja Star
Sumo Slap
Enjoy three new amusing gestures you can use when interacting with other players in the game.
Stickers:
MH All-Stars Set
Sir Loin Set
Fun stickers you can use when chatting with other players in the game.
Face Paint: Wyvern
Add a new face paint for character customisation in Monster Hunter: World.
Hairstyle: Topknot
Adds a new hairstyle for character customisation in Monster Hunter: World.
If you’re old school and were looking forward to a physical release, there seems to only be a physical release in Germany with every other country seeing a digital only release.
Official System Requirements
Minimum:
Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
OS: WINDOWS® 7, 8, 8.1, 10 (64-bit required)
Processor: Intel® Core™ i5-4460, 3.20GHz or AMD FX™-6300
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 760 or AMD Radeon™ R7 260x (VRAM 2GB)
DirectX: Version 11
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 20 GB available space
Sound Card: DirectSound (DirectX® 9.0c)
Additional Notes: 1080p/30fps when graphics settings are set to “Low”
Recommended:
Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
OS: WINDOWS® 7, 8, 8.1, 10 (64-bit required)
Processor: Intel® Core™ i7 3770 3.4GHz or Intel® Core™ i3 8350 4GHz or AMD Ryzen™ 5 1500X
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 (VRAM 3GB) or AMD Radeon™ RX 570 (VRAM 4GB)
DirectX: Version 11
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 20 GB available space
Sound Card: DirectSound (DirectX® 9.0c or better)
Additional Notes: 1080p/30fps when graphics settings are set to “High”
Content at launch and post launch plans:
Monster Hunter: World on PC right now is almost the same as the console version’s day one release. This makes sense because there are loads of timed events and service like features in World but you’d think they’d roll in at least the bug fixes and patches in addition to balance tweaks for the PC launch release. Capcom did say that the events and content would be added at a faster pace compared to the PS4 and Xbox One version. The Horizon Zero Dawn content will be PS4 exclusive though. Hopefully in a few months, this version matches the console versions and Capcom can add G rank to them all at the same time in an expansion later on. The Street Fighter V and Devil May Cry events and crossovers will arrive soon for the PC version of Monster Hunter: World. The event schedule for now is here. There is also a lot of cosmetic DLC available and you can check details for the current and upcoming DLC here.
Input Methods Supported:
The keyboard and mouse support is surprisingly good. Some weapons even feel better with a mouse. While the Dualshock 4 controller is supported, there is no native provision for button prompts. Given the majority of sales for Monster Hunter: World are on PS4 and many people double dip for the PC version, Capcom should’ve added native prompts for this controller. It is an easy fix through a mod but still something that should’ve been there at launch. The Xbox One controller is natively supported though. Don’t be turned off by the “Partial Controller Support” warning on Steam because that’s only present because of the keyboard input required for names.
Port Impressions:
Monster Hunter: World on both the base and refreshed consoles isn’t perfect when it comes to performance. The PC version is the only version that can do a locked 60fps but a lot of the graphics settings need to be tweaked with many of them seemingly being a bit broken right now. The volumetric rendering setting tanks performance on some systems and the visual tradeoff for disabling it might not be too bad for you. There’s a dynamic resolution option that lets you set how much you want the game’s resolution to scale to keep the framerate consistent as well which is nice. The interface needs a lot of work. While you can quickly get in and out of menus, the console like interface feels wasted on PC. As of now, there’s no way to quit the game on a hunt without using the Task Manager. You literally cannot Alt+F4 out at anytime. The other problem is the network setup right now. While we had no trouble with the console versions for the most part, the PC version is a bit erratic now with connection errors. So far it may seem like the port isn’t looking too hot but outside of the connection issues, it plays brilliantly and is definitely worth your time. Capcom will no doubt fix these connection issues given the success of the game already.
Final Thoughts
If you’ve been waiting on getting the PC port to get the definitive Monster Hunter: World experience, things are a mixed bag right now. This is a good base but it is a bit disappointing seeing Capcom make some of these basic mistakes with a delayed port when they usually are fantastic with PC ports across the board. If you want to play solo, this is easily worth picking up right now. For the co-op and online crowd, it might be worth waiting for Capcom to address the online issues.