Monster Hunter Freedom 2

[panzer_unit]

Geez did Capcom ever go all out on this game. Most people if they know Monster Hunter at all are just familiar with the PS2 game, which was awesome... Monster Hunter Freedom was a much better game with pretty much the same visuals, set in the same areas and against (mostly) the same monsters. If you showed it to someone totally unfamiliar with the game they'd be like "oh some palette swaps and new stats" ... you would have to take half a minute explain how much more awesome the new game is.
Monster Hunter F2 is mostly the same game as Freedom and all the new stuff is really visible... more attractive (and more challenging) areas to hunt in, more (and more challenging) monsters, entirely new weapon classes (that serve to better-cover a variety of play styles)... all you have to do is put the games side by side to put noobs on the floor with F2's awesomeness. It's got a lot of tweaks and convenience touches on Freedom for familiar players as well, like annoying old quest types - except fishing :[ - are gone and replaced by being able to do the same things (stealing eggs, capturing wyverns rather than killing) in regular hunt/gather quests for special rewards. You can make items that will tweak your skills by a couple points, so skill combinations are lot less time consuming to set up.

Anyone who liked MH before NEEDS THIS GAME. NOW. Buy a PSP if you don't have one. It's totally worth it.

[Jife_Jifremok]

Way aheada ya. I had this baby imported back when I had no faith that it would be localized. But since my Japanese skills still blow (er, haven't really bothered to continue my studies), the game is sooooo much better for me in English. I actually understand all the extra stuff now.

And gunlances are simply awesome. They seem rather hard to upgrade compared to the already existing weapon classes though.

[DizzyDi]

Been playing this one for a while too. I'm only Hr2 cause I've been farming some stuff to upgrade a few equips and also because I've been avoiding the desert missions.
Those MOTHER FUCKING SHARKS IN MY MOTHER FUCKING DESERT are annoying as hell. The worst part is that I need two of thier fangs to upgrade my Bone Katana "Wolf" to "Shark".
I can't wait till I get my hands on some monies so I can buy a wifimax and play this thing online over Xlink.

[Jife_Jifremok]

Hahahaha...just get some sonic bombs and dig in. And of course keep every part that you carve from them since they're so annoying.

[DizzyDi]

Sonic bombs are expensive though. ;-;
I wasted like 5 on trying to kill the celphadrome, but I was able to capture him. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wacko.gif
I pray to god that MH3 is released on the 360 as well as the PS3.

[panzer_unit]

I've gotta go and finish more village quests. I can do higher-rank Guild quests than Village thanks to being an awesome team with my wife and bros (yeah we roll with a team of 3 or 4) ... I've gotta go unlock some village stuff so I can get easily solo-able versions of the monsters I need to upgrade my stuff.

Yeah, I like gunlances. Nothing says bad-ass like a 10' long double-barrel revolver... with a bayonet. They're good at blowing stuff up, I've gotta see what's up with the different shelling types, Hellsting says it's scattershot instead of normal. I think the new weapon classes are brilliant, they perfectly match what some people wanted from the regular types but never really got.

Katanas are greatswords for the old GS spammers who were always too busy hacking away to block in time. More fun combos to use, and super-damage mode.

Bows are exactly right for run-and-gun gunners, as opposed to the ones who were smart and just shot from safety.

Gunlances are probably perfect for the old head-locker lancers who never used the charging, preferring to set up in position and combo into the monster's face as long as possible.

Hammers were always about having all the traps and buff items and everything so you could kill the wyvern before the total lack of defense wiped you out. Horns are for those hammer guys who were always too forgetful, broke, or greedy to properly prepare.

Sword and Shield always had Duals. Both weapons are all about armor skills... just opposite sets: guard, guard up, auto-guard vs earplugs, sharpening, and stamina.

[DizzyDi]

I play with every weapontype, except bowguns, haven't tried those yet.
The GS is a bit too slow for me too use, so I use the LS.
I wish I had people I could play with but most folks around here don't play this kinda game. :<