Monster Hunter Wilds’ Title Update 4 brought us the much-awaited return of a classic and fearsome Elder Dragon. Gogmazios took over our ‘to-do’ lists of monsters to hunt, and it’s one of the most hardcore moments in Monster Hunter Wilds history.
It’s not the most challenging hunt, per se. The Gogmazios battle was more of a spectacle than something incredibly arduous and frustrating like Savage Omega Planetes. However, complaints aside, if there’s something that Capcom achieved in the game’s final Title Update, it’s making Elder Dragons feel like an epic hunt.
Even before Wilds, Monster Hunter is already a household name, especially in Japan. Anyone who grew up with a PlayStation Portable or PlayStation 2 knew the horrors of “the claw” as its camera controls are stuck in the D-Pad. Even the mere sight of a minor monster like a Velocidrome sparked fear among hunters. We didn’t know any better back then.
Then the modern games happened. World gave us ‘baby’ Elder Dragons like Xeno’Jiva. More of a pushover than a challenge, but at least it gave us a massive piñata to smack our weapons into. Then came Shara Ishvalda. An Elder Dragon capable of creating sound and vibrations out of thin air. The reveal was an interesting sight. What we thought was a generic final boss covered with rubble turned out to be a nightmare fuel monster.
They’re all great monster designs, sure, but they haven’t really elevated what it feels like to hunt a big final boss. They’re more like punching bags. We need to constantly hit them until their health drops to zero. There aren’t any big changes to the environment apart from the iconic Monster Hunter theme that plays when the monster is at 20% health. It was great, but it wasn’t cinematic. Was it the MT Framework holding them back? Or a lack of resources?
Then Fatalis came. The big baddie of every Elder Dragon out there. A cataclysmic creature capable of ending the world if it feels like it. It was the epic hunt we needed. We were constantly running away from Fatty’s fire-breath attacks or unpredictable hitboxes. Though admittedly, while it was epic at first, it became too ‘difficult’ for the casual playerbase. A single tail-swipe can cart a Hunter, and one smidgen from his fire attack was enough to melt your health in seconds. Fatty’s design was clearly meant as the true endgame boss of World and Iceborne combined, and each hit was a guaranteed cart if you haven’t upgraded any armor.
The Gogmazios hunt was the first in the series to embrace a cinematic feel. No, it’s not the kind where we simply watch until something happens, like World’s abysmal Zorah Magdaros fight. This Title Update 4 gave us one big and cinematic hunt to slay the final beast (to the base game, of course), and we’re giving it everything we’ve got.
It was a dynamic battle that put everything to the test, rather than just hitting it until it gets knocked down. You have to constantly be on the move, check for Gog’s two liquid and gaseous states to counter them with your elemental weapons. Picking up pieces of compact Anti-Wyvern guns can give you an edge in battle, and bringing the best damage-dealing Dragon Element weapon is pivotal in surviving Gog’s nova attack, which melts everyone if you fail the damage check.
Paying attention matters in Gog’s hunt. It felt like a final boss where we didn’t need to turn our brains off, unlike previous Monster Hunter entries, where we had to worry about one-hit attacks and stocking up on Max Potions.
Gogmazios' fight is the series’ first cinematic hunt that also feels fair. If this is the direction Capcom is heading for its imminent expansion content, then we’re probably in for a treat when more Elder Dragons come to ravage the Forbidden Lands. One thing’s for sure, though, these battles might be ‘absolute cinema.’
For more like this, stick with us here at Gfinityesports.com, the best website for gaming features and news.