I Never Knew Hunting Dinosaurs Can be So Much Fun!

Monster Hunter is a 3rd person action adventure title that focuses on, unsurprisingly, monster hunting. This game is very difficult to get into as it truly is a skill based console game. The requirement of knowing the larger monsters attack patterns, and the strengths/weaknesses of your weapon set, make the difficulty to new players astronomical. If you are just getting in to this game with one of the newer titles, be prepared to be frustrated since you are going to need to fight the same monster over and over again just to get better. Its just that kind of cycle this game has.


Monster Hunter is very popular in Japan, spawning many expansion sets that were never released in America, and even having a PC MMO style iteration. The series started on PS2 back in 2004, the game received very luke warm reviews as the controls were not the greatest, and its focus was on the multi-player aspect of it. The PS2 version of the game was not necessarily my favorite, since when i first got it i did not have online capabilities and to top it off the game was very frustrating. When the PSP remake came out however, i loved it to death since i was able to play with my cousins and take down the large monsters i have always wanted to kill, to receive the sweet ass gear. Many sequels were made for the PSP, which pit the hunter against new monsters, new areas, and even new legendary large dragons if you were good enough (and brave enough) to reach that point in the game.

Wait, so this little guy is helping me fight a brutal monster?!

Not only did expansions packs expand to new areas or just new gear; it allowed felynes to help you battle when you play solo! Now those cute little cats can fight large monsters with you and never die! Damn they are just too awesome.

The latest release of the game though, is on the Wii. To be honest, when i heard about this i was kind of disappointed since i wanted it to come out on PS3. I did not really look in to it until the game came closer to the release date; and it actually looked pretty neat. I have always loved the MH games for their unique take on multi-player games, but i was getting tired of playing the same game over and over again. However i recently picked up the Wii version and i already loved the first hour i played. The differences are not all that noticeable, except being able to use the right analog stick on the classic controller pro for adjusting the camera; the other games required you to use the d-pad to adjust it and it required you to put your hand in one of the most awkward positions. This one change may have made the game that much better for me.

Even though the game is extremely difficult, that is what makes the game so much fun. Being able to fight with 3 friends trying to take down a giant wyvern/dragon can be so satisfying when you are done, and you finally don their respective armor. You just feel like a bad ass. Being able to do that, though, requires you to fight the same monster a ridiculous amount of times to receive the entire set which in turn gives you boosts to your own abilities.

Now the skills were not apparent in the first Monster Hunter, so receiving the epic gear you could get from, say a Rathalos (shown below) only boosted your attack and defense; now in the later releases it gives bonuses to skills, and if you get +10, and +20 in a respective skill, it boosts it. So if you have +10 attack, it gives even more attack, if you get blade sharpener, it allows you to sharpen weapons in one stroke rather than 3. Choose armor wisely for your play style, as it is extremely important. Dual swords are one of the weapon types in MH 1 and 2, and non-existent in Tri (which is disappointing since it was my favorite weapon). They focus on speed and elemental damage; so its wise to get gear that caters to elemental effects and what not.

Rathalos albeit a lower tier monster, is still difficult and time consuming to take down

The damage system in this series is the key to success, since each large monster and wyvern receive different amounts of damage according to where you hit them. Not only that, if you hit wyverns in certain locations enough times it will disconnect and allow another carve for you; you can cut many wyverns tails off, and pieces of their heads, for special items. Hammers also deal a special type of damage that allows you to stun or daze a monster for a certain period of time leaving them completely vulnerable which allows the party to wail on them. The key to success is having a balanced party!

There are many different weapon types, such as long swords, great swords, lance, gun lance, bowgun, hammers, dual swords, and sword and shield. Each one plays differently and has a specific role. Long swords, great swords, and hammers are known for their damage, albeit they are very slow. Great swords are able to block, but long swords are able to allow the carrier go in to frenzy mode which makes them invulnerable to knock downs and unleash devastating combos. Hammers deal a unique type of damage which dazes large monsters and wyverns, and if utilized correctly and efficiently, makes battles much shorter and easier.

Long swords are essentially very large katanas, while great swords are just... Great swords.

The bowgun mostly plays a supporting role, allowing you to heal, and deal much damage from far distances. They have many types of ammo that span from all elemental types to all status conditions. I have never messed around with a bow gun, but i know they are extremely useful for many wyvern battles.

Sword and shield, and dual swords are mainly used for hit and run tactics, and deal decent amount of damage due to how quickly they can combo. Sword and shield has block, however the duals swords allow the carrier to go into frenzy mode which boosts the stats of the carrier and allows the use of some fast, and hard hitting combos. But this drains your stamina at a very fast rate. Dual swords are arguably one of the hardest sets of weapons to utilize effectively. I was never able to use them well.

The lance type weapons are unique, as they protect the carrier very well and allow full on charges to wyverns and deal a good amount of damage to monsters. They are slow, but mainly provide a "tanky" role as it allows you to wail on the dragon and keep their attention for a good amount of time.

Even if you know the weapon types well, and the damage locations even better, you still would be unable to kill some of the hardest dragons in the game... You must memorize the dragons attack pattern. No FAQ or tutorial will ever teach you that, they can only give you hints. Each large monster has a unique attack pattern that may be easy or hard to learn, and you must be very patient to down your first wyvern. This is what makes the game ever so frustrating, however they make each wyvern and dragon look distinct enough to allow you to remember the attack pattern of each respective one just by looking at (it if you have fought it many times before).

Now not many people have patience to play this game for a long time, i know i don't so the multi-player helps me out quite a bit, for when i am stuck in a rut i can simply ask my cousins for help and we can use teamwork (or just watch one of em kick its ass!) to down a powerful or legendary monster (kirin anybody?).

Ever wanted to slay the Legendary Kirin?! Nows your chance!

Now do you know what i mean as its solely a skill based game? Requiring you to know each location (starting point) of the large monster/wyvern allows you to quickly pin point where it is, the damage locations so you can make every hit count, and knowing how to use each weapon effectively (and using the correct element to allow you to deal more damage to monsters), are required to enjoy, and play this game effectively. I know, i know, it sounds like a lot but after a good amount of playing time, you really do catch on.

Monster Hunter is arguably one of the best multi-player console games, it has a different type of gameplay, it requires a lot of teamwork to down a monster (only 3 deaths from your entire party!), and knowledge of the entire game down to the respective weaknesses of each monster!

Its just so oddly satisfying when you are able to kill a large monster over and over again, to receive armor as bad ass as this!

pictures are from the monster hunter wiki: http://monsterhunter.wikia.com/wiki/Monster_Hunter_Wiki