Chapter 926: Being Cool Is a Lifelong Thing
Arriving in the Ancient Tree Forest, Lin Xue looked around with great curiosity at everything.
The sky was a deep blue, dotted with fluffy white clouds. Lush, verdant trees swayed gently in the breeze. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the foliage, casting large patches of shadow on the ground.
Besides the sound of the wind, there were the chirps of insects and the calls of birds. Everything around was very tranquil, peaceful and harmonious.
"Wow, the scenery is amazing!" Lin Xue said, walking around and curiously taking in her surroundings.
This opening was completely different from *Dark Souls*. There was no danger at all, and the environment wasn't the least bit frightening. Instead, it had a harmonious feeling of nature.
What followed was a simple system tutorial, including checking the map, using the Scoutflies to search for resources, cutting down Herb to restore health, hiding in bushes to evade Jagras, climbing vines, and searching for ancient footprints.
Throughout this process, Lin Xue followed the Handler deeper into the Ancient Tree Forest, taking in the beautiful scenery of the entire forest.
"Why won't this game let me fight? This is boring!" Lin Xue complained.
She had been fully prepared to suffer, but it turned out to be completely unnecessary!
*Dark Souls* was very direct—a very short opening cutscene, and then you immediately start suffering. But in *Monster Hunter*, the first ten minutes had absolutely no combat required; it was all about showing off the graphics.
She encountered combat only twice. Once, she ran into a pack of small Jagras on the path, but their intelligence was clearly very low. Lin Xue and the Handler ducked into some bushes, and the Jagras ran off. The second time was at the entrance of the Research Base, where she encountered a Great Jagras. But it was just a cutscene; the Great Jagras was driven away by the Field Team Leader who came to reinforce them.
This left Lin Xue a bit disappointed. She had come to this game to suffer—oh, no, to show off her skills—but instead, she watched a ten-minute cutscene right off the bat. It was pretty awkward.
Still, the opening was quite good. The seamless transition from *Oasis* to *Monster Hunter* felt like taking a boat to a new world. The tutorial content was well-integrated into the opening story, clearly explaining the basic controls and game mechanics. Most importantly, it showed players the full scope of the Monster Hunter world in a very shocking way.
Plants, animals, insects, special herbs... everything in the forest was fictional, yet it all felt very real. It was like an undiscovered new continent, where every inch of land made players want to linger and explore.
Arriving at the Astera Research Base, Lin Xue felt like her eyes weren't enough; she had a feeling she might get lost.
The so-called Research Base was essentially the main city, but this main city was also full of the flavor of *Monster Hunter*.
The main building materials of the entire Hunter Base were wood, iron chains, and monster bones or fangs. Many ships were simply used as part of the base's structure, giving the whole place a wild, barbaric feel, yet it perfectly matched the nature of the Hunters.
At the dock, Hunters and researchers were unloading cargo from ships and delivering it to various parts of the Research Base.
The area Lin Xue was in was the "Trade Area," which could also be seen as the commercial district of the entire Hunter Base. Here, there were Hunters conducting investigations, scholars doing research, and technicians supporting them from behind.
The Animal Research Center, the Botanical Research Center, the Merchant Marine, the Command Post... each had its own characteristics.
For example, the Botanical Research Center grew all sorts of plants from the New World, even hanging... Choosing a weapon was like choosing a class. These fourteen weapons, each with different characteristics, would directly determine the player's future combat style.
"Wow, just like in the trailer, so many weapons!"
"There are tutorial videos and weapon feature introductions? That's pretty thoughtful. Let's watch them one by one..."
Fifteen minutes later.
Lin Xue felt completely lost. She had no idea what to choose.
The combat system of *Monster Hunter* seemed similar to *Dark Souls*, but it was actually completely different.
*Dark Souls* had very few weapon skills; most of the time you were just doing normal attacks, occasionally using a weapon's Weapon Art. But *Monster Hunter* had all sorts of combos, chain combos, and ranged weapons had many different types of ammo. For a newbie, the learning curve was still quite steep.
Lin Xue's head was spinning. She went back and forth, unable to decide.
"The Greatsword looks so cool! It feels even more imposing than the greatswords in *Dark Souls*. I want to play it!"
"These Dual Blades look very agile, and it says they're suitable for beginners?"
"Wow, the Heavy Bowgun's effect is basically a Gatling gun! This has turned into an FPS game!"
Lin Xue hesitated for a long time before finally making up her mind: "Long Sword, you're the one!"
A barrage of question marks instantly flooded the chat.
You just spent all that time saying the Greatsword is imposing, the Dual Blades are agile, and the Heavy Bowgun is cool, and then you turn around and pick the Long Sword? What does that mean?
Lin Xue, while fumbling with the Long Sword's moves, explained, "What do you know? Being strong is temporary, but being cool is a lifelong thing!"