Ah yes, I have been playing Monster Hunter Wilds for over 70 hours now and it seems the "main story-line" is over yet. The normal mode basically was the "entry mode" or "extended tutorial", and now i was finishing the "second part" of the story in hard mode.

I assume at some point Capcom may continue the story, as i feel the story all of a sudden came to an end. It feels like Capcom was pushing the release but was not actually finished. Most likely they did not even have the intention because it may become added on a addon with fresh content.

Anyway, the game was so far surely "worth it", providing over 70 hours of playtime already, without any grind.

Nonetheless, at this point i was finally arriving at the "true endgame", with the slaying of "Arkveld" in hard-mode, which is done at HR40, always.... because the HR (Hunter Rank) is capped until Arkveld has been beaten. The HR will turn into a blue name tag at this point which basically means "true endgame unlocked". At Hunter Rank 8 the "entry endgame" will be unlocked, which is resulting into a green name tag. Sure, the equipment can be optimized and upgraded but i had no need for it. The final fight was surely demanding but fair. Whats clear, the fight was in need of up to 30 min of full focus; to much failures and it would be over as there are limited resources and not more than 2 incapacitation allowed. I got 50 min but i never was in need of more than 30 min... probably because i got a rather offensive play-style so i usually risk a lot but can hand out a lot of damage.

With the slaying of Arkveld in hard moce the first "Rarity 8" equipment will become available as well, which is basically "Legendary". I was never refining my equipment up to this point because i had the feeling "it is not worth the troubles until i get the true high end gears"... and so far this "strategy" was working for me as i had no need for.. Now as i was arriving there, i finally will start to "look into it" and will try to optimize my gears and weaps, which surely can take more gametime than what i currently got and not sure how much i can achieve "In the next 100 or even 200 hours".

My hunter rank is now 42. The first Rarity 8 weapon, Nershock... a bow... i got is basically the "entry legendary", there are surely even more astounding legendary items available, but it will need a lot of hunt and "gathering the required items" for it... so basically "end game grind"... which is the first time i actually will start to grind. Making "daily hunts", looking for upgrade, items and whatelse.

There is the option to build Rarity 8 stuff from Rarity 8 shards, known as "Artisan Crafting", which should be the most powerful items available, but so far i did not get Rarity 8 shards and i currently dunno where to get them, i will have to find out. The first thing i will be working at is simply to get the "basic Rarity 8" for now at nearly every spot.

Whats surely somehow hidden but important: Those very high rank weapons got a "special sharpness capacity", so it means it does not go to green-level only, it goes past beyond this "basic sharpness"... which means it will stay sharp for longer and in general... especially for weapons that does a lot of hits, a lot of mid-battle "sharpening" can be avoided. So, they are clearly the best weapons someone could ask for.

Endgame character selection https://ibb.co/d0fRG42W
Nershock https://ibb.co/fVs6s5sy
Legendary trees https://ibb.co/4ZzSDy6t
Highest ranked squad member https://ibb.co/Gfx8tZ2Z
All 29 large monsters unlocked https://ibb.co/WNz3dThS
First true open world https://ibb.co/NvvVNxm
Tempered, a veteran high rank monster https://ibb.co/zVhLYWhQ
Jin Dahaad, can be nasty if stuff goes wrong https://ibb.co/Xxy3bYxp
Rey Dau... master of lightning https://ibb.co/Mkv5krL7
Gore Magala, surely a nasty fight https://ibb.co/VWNXYYGk
Sure, thats Arkveld https://ibb.co/5h09yw6t
Yet, he can be "handled" for certain https://ibb.co/v4cSyxrJ

Getting back into Deus Ex has been an exercise in forgetting all previous stealth games accumulated learned reflex when it come to knock out enemies from behind without triggering an alarm.

The reason is that the Baton (and the Electric Prod too) was oddly coded to have a bonus to knock out on Torso/back area , while having none to the Head. Meaning if by reflex you struck an enemy in the head, it would not knock him out but make it alert to your position as it was never doing enough damage in 1 hit to the head to knock out .

So i had to re-learn to focus on back torso area to knock out enemies without drawing an alarm :D

But other than that, it's still a fantastic game

Currently in the 2nd main mission, at Battery Park