Monster Hunter: World is an action role-playing game played from a third-person perspective. Similar to previous games in the series, the player takes the role of a player-created character who travels to the "New World", an unpopulated landmass filled with monsters, to join the Research Commission that studies the land from their central command base of Astera. The Research Commission tasks the Hunter to hunt down and either kill or capture large monsters that roam outside Astera to both protect the Commission and to study the monsters there.[1] The player's character does not have any intrinsic attributes, but instead these are determined by what equipment the character is equipped with. This includes a weapon, selected from the series' fourteen archetypes (such as long sword, bow, or hammer),[2] which then further defines the types of combat moves and abilities the player can use, and pieces of armor, which can lead to beneficial or detrimental combat skills if matched properly. While some basic equipment can be purchased using in-game money, most equipment is built from loot obtained by slaying or trapping monsters, rewards from completing quests, or items gathered while in the field. This creates a core loop of gameplay that has the player fight monsters they can beat to obtain the right loot to craft improved weapons and armor to allow them to face more powerful monsters and the potential for even better equipment.
Astera acts as a central hub where the player can buy and sell goods, manage their inventory, craft new equipment, and gain new quests.[3] A core facet of Monster Hunter games is the construction and upgrading of armor and weapons at a forge using the monster parts and resources the player has gained from combat. As the player defeats tougher monsters, they can make armor with more defensive value or particular elemental resistance or can improve weapons to be more lethal and deal elemental or debuffing damage. Weapons and armor also carry various skills which have a number of different effects for the player; World introduces a new streamlined skill system compared to previous games, where each weapon or armor piece has one or more ranks in at least one skill, and the total effect of a skill on the player is determined by adding up all ranks of that skill from all equipped items the player carries. Additional services in Astera include a farm to grow quantities of flora while the player is out on quests, training areas to practice weapons, a gathering hub to take on special Arena challenges against one or more monsters, and a canteen which the player can order a meal from specific ingredients to provide buffs and special conditions while out on the field.