I'm going to preface this by saying that Monster Hunter is my absolute favorite game franchise. Ever. MH4U is still my favorite game since I discovered it (thanks for that btw Gore Magala), and I've been playing mostly on and off since MHTri. I think overall, Wilds is the best that the "for the next generation of Hunters" games have gotten. It's pretty clear they have a semi-new direction for the games, and I think Wilds really hammered home that vision they have better than the last two games and their expacs have. Its maps aren't nearly as bloated and are far more comprehensible than World's (the monster roster is far more diverse, too), the music is some of the most memorable in the series so far, and the cast is also great! The hunts don't feel like slogs through nonsense (looking at you, World Arch Tempered Elders), and the ecology in this one is some of the coolest we've seen in the series. The way Rey Dau literally takes electricity from his environment to shoot his beam, how you can physically see Lala Barina pull off those florets of hers as she spins, and fucking everything ever that Jin Dahaad does. It's all great and greatly appeals to the biology nerd side of me that fell in love with these games all those years ago, as well. I still have some issues with it, though. People talk about the story being "too railroady", and while that doesn't personally bother me, I can't deny that it is a thing I noticed and would've generally preferred being without it. The multiplayer setup is a mess, don't even get me started on the PC Optimization issues that are still fairly prevalent, and it really has been the *messiest* MH Release we've seen in a long time. This game really didn't feel the most ready to see the community when it dropped, and a lot of the post-release fixes have felt like stuff that should've been there before it dropped (and no, I do not mean the title update monsters, those are genuinely nothing new). A far more personal issue I have is that... I don't know, it feels like it panders a bit *too* much to Western Audiences. While general plights and catastrophe are nothing new in Monster Hunter, there's always been that silly whimsy, such as with the Meowstress and Moofah's in GU, the Palico Cooks in every game that they've ever appeared in (Street Cook, Meowscular Chef, Granmeowster, etc.,), and ever since World, it really has been feeling like they've been steadily removing all of it. The silliness, the jokey parts, all of the stuff that was meant to make you grin and laugh just is vanishing. Maybe I didn't notice it as much with the last two games because of them being broken up by titles like MH Stories or having some much smaller silly moments in them, but it really feels like the series is taking itself to a far more serious direction. I don't *hate* that. It just isn't what made me love the series. This by far is the best title to start the series with. The monsters and their fights are all great, the music and story is some of the best we've gotten from this franchise, and the weapons have been given so many great quality of life changes. All of them absolutely have that satisfying oomph to them that they need to (even if I still suck ass at playing with a Charge Blade). Overall, this is the best that the new generations have been, and it really is going into a very satisfying direction when it comes to gameplay and visuals. I just wish they'd keep at least some of that charm and whimsy that was iconic of the older games.