At a basic level, Monster Hunter makes more sense than most games. Hunting and gathering - the looping rhythm of every game in the series since the 2004 original - is quite literally built into our DNA. Thing is, our caveman ancestors didn’t have to wade through four pages of stats to work out if their clubs had a 30% chance of knocking out a bison, or navigate a set of weirdly specific menu screens in set locations to bring mates along. The base idea is simple, the result immensely satisfying, but for over a decade, Monster Hunter’s main problem has been one of communication.

It’s a long-since trite point that the best way to get into the series is to have someone who already understands it explain things to you, because the game simply never will. Given that Capcom’s made very clear that it won’t be dumbing down the core experience (and, after about 15 hours of play, I can personally vouch for that), Monster Hunter World’s

Going by its opening hours, Capcom appears to have nailed the balance between teaching new players without boring returning fans - but for now I’m going to focus on the former (we have a much bigger, much nerdier rundown for long-time players right here).

Quite honestly, the introduction’s success has less to do with smart tutorialising or snowballing mechanics than with how it’s all presented. World is a consistently astonishing-looking thing, the series’ signature cavepunk art direction now accented with an over-the-top lighting engine coating newly seamless hunting grounds, an in-depth character creator sure to delight more demanding roleplayers (I made a man who looked like rockabilly Willem Dafoe, and never stopped laughing) and, naturally, fantastically cool/odd monsters, each with suites of gorgeous animations.

I’m not allowed to tell you the storyline (suffice it to say, we’re on pretty familiar ground for the series), but I can tell you that it’s delivered with more panache than ever before. Action-heavy cutscenes form the introduction and mark important moments throughout, and the addition of voice acting lends an admittedly wonky charm to the already near-peerless English language localisation the last few games have enjoyed.

The fact is that, after years of handheld-level presentation, I’m unjustly proud to see Capcom’s demonstrably excellent art team given room to stretch their leathery, house-sized wings. Purists may balk that it takes something as vain as looking really nice to get people interested, but it will surely be the reason that potential players pay World any initial attention.

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The true marvel here is in how it holds that attention. After those opening cutscenes, and a controls tutorial dressed as an action scene, you’re dropped immediately into the research base, Astera, that you’ll make your home. Once you’re here, you’re into the meat of the game.

Previous entries have simply dropped new players into a world where bosses don’t have health bars, skills granted by armour are a matter of somewhat hidden mathematics, every weapon type feels like a separate fighting game worth of choices, and just said “deal with it.” World makes that process far, far smoother through a series of quiet tutorials and clever, minute tweaks.

Take those same examples: Bosses still don’t reveal their health through anything other than animation cues (drooling? It’s low on stamina. Steaming from the mouth? It’s enraged. Limping? It’s murder time), but new damage numbers at least show how your attacks differ, and what weak points you should be hitting. Armour skills are probably the biggest change - every piece of armour now comes with its own extra ability, encouraging mixing and matching between sets to help create a beneficial build, rather than forcing you to create full sets through hours of farming before getting any benefit. Weapon types now have their own video tutorials, as well as contextual controls that appear as you fight, helping you learn on the job, rather than in some drab training area.

Monster Hunter World: Gameplay Screenshots 50 IMAGES

All of this has been designed so as to not slow down progress, meaning old players won’t have to trudge through early missions to get to the good stuff (and almost all on-screen queues can be turned off if you want a classic experience). “It's a difficult balance,” explains producer Ryozo Tsujimoto, “but we've been careful with each feature and to approach it in a way that's going to be opening up the game to more players but not putting off the existing veterans.”

In fact, this is probably as breezy as Monster Hunter’s been for a long time. You’re hunting the game’s boss monsters within an hour of starting a new game and, if you choose not to get sidetracked by the many optional quest options and Destiny-style Bounties, you can hit some real challenges not much longer after that. The idea is simple - new players want to see what the fuss is about as much as old ones do. If you’re using a newly-crafted heavy bowgun to fire exploding sniper shells into the mouth of a mega-ostrich that uses boulders as a shield, you’ll just naturally understand something of what MonHun has to offer.

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This isn’t to say everyone's going to like it. Monster Hunter’s combat - purposefully slow movements, punishing difficulty, and occasionally cruelly meted out rewards - simply won’t work for those going in for a classic action experience (and that visual upgrade makes it look more like one than ever).

At the very least, you’ll know far more quickly whether that’s you (and the game's PS4 open beta later this year will help there, too). This is Capcom’s best trick - it’s not teaching by slowing things down, quite the opposite. You’re being brought up to speed with seasoned players quickly enough that when you unlock multiplayer missions (an hour and a half in), you’ll at least be able to hold your own among a full hunting party. That’s a considered approach, according to Tsujimoto. He sees most of the game’s major changes to be a way to broaden the strategy available for old players, while allowing new players to learn without unnecessary restrictions. “It can only be a good thing for everyone,” he explains. “We really consider the holistic effect of every change we make on the gameplay system, and we're confident it's absolutely still a Monster Hunter game through and through.”

Perhaps one of the game’s smartest little decisions is also the most emblematic of how Capcom’s changes benefit new and old players alike. Much of what players used to rely on Wikis for - in-depth monster defense statistics and the best weapons to use on them - have been mechanised as part of gameplay. To find monsters, you now track them by finding environmental clues. The more clues you find, the better you get at tracking them, and the better you get at tracking them, the more details your Hunter’s Notes reveal about them, from elemental weaknesses to mini-map location tracking. Not only is this a solution to a fiddly problem the series has always had, but it changes how you play for the better, no matter your level of experience.

There was little doubt in my mind going in that World will be the most accessible Monster Hunter game yet - I can say with certainty now that it is. What I didn’t expect is for that to mean it’s also the quickest to get to the point. “It's not just a dumbed-down western Monster Hunter,” insists Tsujimoto, “it's amazing Monster Hunter with all the quality of life improvements we hope will expand the western audience in a way we haven't been able to before.” I can't see him being wrong - if you're brand new to the series, this is the place to start.

Joe Skrebels is IGN's UK News Editor, and he looks forward to hunting with you (when you prove yourself). Follow him on Twitter.