What is Monster Hunter?

[Zorafim]

I've heard about it a few times, but I never really got any definite answers. Is there a reason for me to be interested in it, besides it having lances (already a very good reason for me to get into it)?

[DarthRuin]

Its a fun game if you like grinding. Not a lot of players on the English servers though. It's worth checking out.

[Puppet_Papaya]

Monster Hunter is fighting a creature who's foot is the size of your entire body. Love.

[tei]

Monster Hunter basically pits you, in all your small humanoid-ness... against mythical creatures, mostly wyverns (and two very huge dragons.). Here's some vids of it... MH1 (http://youtube.com/watch?v=HhvFBX5xpFc) MHF2 (http://youtube.com/watch?v=dc5NZWOuc6w) MH dos (http://youtube.com/watch?v=m6U8IAivI20)

It's a lot like PSO in some respects... choose a mission from the town hub that will place you in one of several areas (the basic 'forest stage', 'lava volcano caves stage, and whatnot, the desert, all what you'd expect), get into a party of four (if you're online.. they're free to play online), and go out and complete your mission, usually involving slaying or capturing a monster. But it's different too. There's no levelling up your stats at all, all your stats come from your equipment (which also change your appearance, which is a nice touch). And you're always pretty frail - with the weakest armour in the game, the final boss, Fatalis, will kill you in one hit. If you have the strongest armour optomizing your resistances against his element? ....You'll die in two hits. Good armour does make a big difference when dealing with small simple things, but the bigger monsters will eat you easilly no matter what you're wearing. :3;; So it promotes you actually being smart enough to dodge and when to use what kind of attack.

That's another thing different from PSO, there's a lot more depth to the controls. You can roll, dodge, block (if you have a shield), and instead of doing three hits in a row, you use the right analog stick to attack. Up, down, left, right, and in some weapons, pushing R1 or R3, all do different attacks... and they can be chained into entirely different combos. Some combos are slow and awkward and only useful for striking a certain spot, like to cut off a wyvern's tail when it's in the air. But using them in another situation would leave you wide open to be stepped on, or getting smacked by said tail. ^^; So it's up to you to know when to use each type of combo. And where! Each monster has a tougher hide in certain places, and using a duller weapon to strike their tough hide just makes sparks and you bounce right off. And the monsters are much more realistic... they don't just run straight at you, they have personalities... some watch and wait for you to make a move (most of the raptors), others like going on a beserk rampage (Gypceros), and so on. If you're just stealthilly stalking them and watching without them seeing or engaging you, you'll even see them stop to sleep, eat, or getting a drink. You can also set pitfall traps to capture monsters in a hole, throw smoke, flash, and dung bombs to lock off one of the monster's senses, and paintballs to track them as they move. (They explore the level just like you, and some hunt you down while others (Rathalos.. >.<) run away constantly so you need to track them.) And you forage, fish, and mine in areas to get items.. and carve up their body to get parts.. to combine to form new items, potions, traps, weapons, and armour.

And most PS2 PSU players also play Monster Hunter just 'cause Monster Hunter is free online, and the game itself is extremely common and cheap. ^^;; And vice versa... Most MH players I've seen also know and play ps2 PSU. And Monster Hunter Freedom 2 is the most popular PSP game in Japan and North America right now. And MH3 is coming out for the Wii.

Oh, and lances in Monster Hunter are -really- fun, more than PSU/PSO's lances in my opinion. For one, you carry a shield with it, and it's the only weapon class that can move and attack while still in defensive position, letting you "turtle" between the legs of enemies and stab them from the stomache or in the ankles... Also, very skilled lancers can use lances to strike the exact weakpoint (usually the neck or head, but sometims the wings or legs too) on a monster to flinch it over and over. There's no big photon-art-y spinning attacks of death like PSU.. but it controls much more realistically, and MH is much faster paced than PSU, so it works well.

About MH's biggest downfall is that.. there's.. not a whole lot to do. 31-ish monsters in the original, that you'll hunt each a ton of times. In the same areas... in the one same town, where npcs say the same things... Over. And over. ^^;; Albeit the later versions add more monsters and areas. And if you don't like team damage, it's also a good idea to stay away unless you have good friends or like solo'ing. About 60% of the players use great swords (or bowguns) and poorly... trying to be like cloud and sephiroth.... and use their sword upswing (or cluster shots) carelessly, sending their team flying. ^^;;;;;

Ahaha.. sorry for rambling, I'm a big MH geek in addition to my PSU/O geekieness. ^^;;

[Sord]

On 2007-12-08 07:33, tei wrote:
Also, very skilled lancers can use lances to strike the exact weakpoint (usually the neck or head, but sometims the wings or legs too) on a monster to flinch it over and over.


yes, good head lockers are great people to play with.

I'd say the game is more like PSO than PSU, but maybe that's just me. PSU seems faster paced in terms of mobs (unless your one-two shotting them.)

I play the PS2 version, it's a great game, and I don't have pay to play online. MAJOR PLUS. Tei pretty much dumped a bunch of info on you, but wait, THERE'S MORE!

As Tei said, you can make your items. You have to gather your ingrediants from the parts of monsters but also metals from mining. I've been told mining in MH PSP version is significantly easier. Your armours and weps generally come in two types of material clsses, Metal and Bone ones. Metal is often easier to upgrade, because it doesn't require killing a huge ass monster to just use a mining spot. It basically just becomes an issue of time. However, metal weps/armour is just... plain metal most of the time. With bone armor you can add element resistances (though usually a weakness is tacked on with it) as well as element strength to weapons and effects like poison.

Your melee weapons, other than lances, consist of swords, which are huge two handed longswords that can really dish some damage out.

Knives/Daggers which are actually more the size of short sword and are wielded by one hand (these also come in variations of sword and shield and dual swords, each with diffrent attack animatinos for the type.)

Hammers and Axes, are EXTREMELY powerful when used correctly. Esepcially in their earlier stages of making compared to other weapons in theirs. However, their animation is very short range, consisting of side swipes and pounding the ground. They do have a charge move though. If you release your charge while running, your spin around flinging your hammer out. It can dole out some hurt if your standing between a large monsters legs as it hits both of them. Or if you release while standing, you'll do a downward strike for massive damage

Lances, have already been talked about, so no need to explain much there. Except they are definitly not a good weapon when beeing mobbed by several monsters. Their attack is pretty much straight forward, and there is no auto-targeting in the game.

Bowguns are basically large crossbows, they shoot fast but are weaker than the arbalasts, and I'm not positive but they can't handle some types of ammo that an arbalest can.

Arbalests are very powerful bowguns, they look like someone married a bowgun to some sort of catapult. Bigger than bazookas in most games (though not doling as much damage most of the time.)

On both guns you can equip additives like scopes, long barrels, and silencers (though I think the bowgun is more limited)

With bowguns your don't really change their appearances, you make them and they stay as is for the most part. When you buy level ups of the weapon, they get stronger, and support more ammo and higher levels of certain ammo. Ammo in the game is very versatile. Everything from spread shots to ones that explode. There are support shots (healing and I'm fairly sure buffs) and status effect shots (poison, sleep, etc.) Having some support ammo can make you pretty valuable online. As Tei said, you can easily die in a few hits, so keeping that health up is a BIG DEAL. My friend (who plays online far more than I do) has been accepted into a party to fight a dragon that he couldn't even hurt, purely because he could heal the teamates. And he still gets to carve his share of wonderful material rewards from the monster. However, there is limited ammo, you have to either buy some (and some types can't be bought) or you have to make your own, this can become very tedious as you have to keep re-gathering the same materials.

I think there are more weapon types I missed, but someone else can fill that in if that is the case.

Also, most of your items (meaning potions, traps, etc) you actually make. You can buy some from shops, sure, but it's generally more cost effective to make them. Depending on where your are in terms of the rank of missions you can do, and wether you are online or not, money can be a big deal. It's generally harder for solos playing the PS2 version.

The PSP version is diffrent from the PS2 version. You can't go online, so the game has been better designed for soloing players. Where as the PS2 playing offline was like playing online, without having partners. Trying to solo a Rathalos (huge red dragon,) god damn, it's freaking tough shit. So you wind up fighting monsters in solo that are designed to be taken down by 4 people online. However, big monsters aside, the goals in solo missions are generally easier (they reduce the amount of monsters you have to kill or items to gather) PSP reworks the mechanics so it's designed for better solo, and it can also link up with other MH PSP players for co-op play. If you have a PSP, I would recomend the PSP version. My friend has it, and enjoys it (and is why he sort of "indefinitly" loaned his PS2 MH game to me.)

Coming from a guy who actually has MH in his playstation 2 right now, I can tell you there aren't a lot of people online to play with anyways. You aren't missing much. I've never seen more than around 10 people on at a time. Though maybe I've never been on during busy hours.

anyways, yeah, I could go into more, but I'm typed out for now.



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Sord on 2007-12-08 10:58 ]</font>

[Zorafim]

It does seem to be my style. The combat seems fun, and the levelup system seems interesting. The art seems great too.
I guess I'll pick it up for the Wii when it comes out, then. Thank you for the information.

[Weeaboolits]

That game looks epic, did you say that online was free? If so I just may have to get it. >_>

[DizzyDi]

I can't wait for Monster Hunter 3 on the Wii.
Hopefully no goddamn waggle controls though. Fuck that shit.

[tei]

I guess I'll pick it up for the Wii when it comes out, then. Thank you for the information.

I think you'll enjoy it, most do that try it.. It's just a shame it's as poorly advertised as PSU. >.< And I've read in various posts that you like spears and shields and getting wear actual armour, so you'll prolly like that stuff in it too. ^^



I can tell you there aren't a lot of people online to play with anyways. You aren't missing much. I've never seen more than around 10 people on at a time.

Really? I was playing last week, and I saw around 200 people on.. @.@;; Well, at the times I come on (after school and early evening), there's usually like 150-250 people playing on Red Land. (though blue and green lands usually only have like 0-3 people ^^;; ).

From the lands, it divides into areas, which are the mini chat rooms (Area A, Area B, Area C, etc, all the way to Z...), and each area has a capacity of 40. If you log into a small one, change your area to get into a fuller one, there's almost always several full unless you play right after maintenance.. o.o And of course, when someone goes on a mission, their mission/town in the list disappears, so it's easy to assume there's not a lot of people on... most're just doing missions if you view their status, and just pop back on the town list for like 30 seconds to rebuy potions then head back out ^^;;

But yeah, you're prolly right about it being more like PSO.



I think there are more weapon types I missed, but someone else can fill that in if that is the case.

You got all of the ones in the original MH. In the later games for PSP, I've read they add in Bows (not to be confused with bowguns.. these are actual archery bows), Long Swords (not to be confused with great swords.. these are faster and have a beserk gauge, but no guard I think), hunting-horns (which let you play musical notes to create your own buffs.. kinda like the flutes from the first game, only they're an actual weapon now and don't just play one buff song each), and Gunlances (um.. lance+ff8's gunsword. =p Replaces the charge attack with a limited rifle, that can also be jabbed into stuff and explode).



That game looks epic, did you say that online was free? If so I just may have to get it. >_>

Yup. =) Well, the PS2 MH is anyways. I -think- the PSP ones were made for local play, except (please don't quote me on this, I'm not sure and still saving up for a PSP myself ^^;;; ) all psp wireless games can be played online with something called an XLink.. Not sure if that costs money though. And the Wii MH3 is suppose to be online too, but I don't think the price has ever been mentioned, or if it will cost anything to play.

[Weeaboolits]

Wikipedia wrote:
Bad news for fans as the servers go down 12/31/2007.D:

[tei]

On 2007-12-08 14:07, Ronin_Cooper wrote:

Wikipedia wrote:
Bad news for fans as the servers go down 12/31/2007.D:



...Yikes, I did not know that, thanks for the heads up. =x; ... I actually better devote some time to getting the stuff I wanted off online now.. @.@; But it makes sense, I had no idea how they kept it up online for free so long...

[Alielle]

The hosting company shut down that portion of their business. Capcom tried to work something out, but it didn't happen. I guess that's what happens when companies don't think too far ahead in the future when designing their network structure. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_mad.gif

[Sord]

well, the reason it probably never seems busy for me is because I'm typically only on really really late at night, sa in, 1 or 3 in the morning. I did say afterall "Though maybe I've never been on during busy hours. My friend always said Red was really crowded, but I would always go there and be thinking "What the hell was he talking about?"
" considering I have no idea what they are -_-; And I know about the whole list and disapearing thing. I just get on at really odd hours. Maybe I was getting on after maintencance hours, I don't know them.

regardless, it looks like the suggestion of getting the PSP one is still perfectly valid if dropping the servers is the case. go random coincidences backing me up http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wacko.gif

also, never played the PSP myself, so I wouldn't know to much of what extra is in it. I don't want to buy a PSP for one game (though there a few other PSP games I would like to try, there are none I would want to buy.)

SO BRING IT WII, BRING IT!

[DizzyDi]

The 2nd one for PSP has everything that Monster Hunter Dos had, and Monster Hunter Dos was only released in Japan.
Bows, Long Swords, Gunlances, new areas, monsters, armor, blah blah blah.
One of the best games on the PSP and also one of the highest selling.
Its made only for local wireless but it can be haxed to play online if you have the proper network setup.

Also Capcom released a statement to Sony fans apologizing for MH3 being on Wii, and advised them to be on the look out for future updates regarding Sony & Monster Hunter.

[Sord]

don't tempt me Dizzy ;_;

[DizzyDi]

Srsly Sord theres nothing wrong with a PSP. It has a large and wide variety of games.
I'll admit it wasn't that great when it first came out but theres really no reason now to hold out on getting one if you want one.
Unless you're one-o-dem sony haters.
I gots both a PSP and a DS and my PSP gets WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY more playtime.

[Sord]

it has nothing to do with PSP being Sony, but rather handhelds in general. Heck, I got a DS as a gift last year (didn't ask, just had it given, rather have picked something else) but I rarely play it (as in once every few months, for maybe 10 minutes,) and don't own a single game for it myself. Then there's spending money on games, which until I bother to get off my ass and get a job, that's not happening to often short of rentals (last time I checked we didn't have an PSP rentals around here, though I think there are web-based ones.)

I don't like focusing on small screens nor do I like the shape of any handheld. They are all like bricks and not ergonomic in the least (DS is actually worse than PSP because of the damn weight placement of the top screen.) My hands cramp after playing handhelds for to long. If I did get a PSP, I'd probably wind up using it more as a portable PC then an actual gaming system. Hax galore.



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Sord on 2007-12-08 17:30 ]</font>

[Weeaboolits]

I, personally, hate the analog nub.

[Vitamin_D]

Monster Hunter F'ing owns. That is all.

[Sexy_Raine]

I'm surprised Jife hasn't made a response to this yet. It's all he talks about.

[Jife_Jifremok]

Monster Hunter is the standard to which I compare other action-based online RPGs, and perhaps even some of the offline ones. It's done a lot to break off from the norm, there's a lot of typical RPG bullshit that this game avoids, and when it DOES stay with the norm or the BS it usually just does a better job with it.

-Monster Hunter takes place in the world of Minegarde. There are kings and castles and such, but not much is really known, as all you see is the primitive hunter-gatherer part of Minegarde civilization. Because you're a hunter. The culture has a rather unique look to it---at least, I haven't seen anything like it! Imagine a cross between prehistoric and medieval fantasy, but with very little magic and with the sort of fantasy technology you might see made by, say, dwarves, I guess. By the way, there's almost no story at all. There's no need for one.

-I find the MH atmosphere to be very tough and manly , and that the hunters of Minegarde make even the toughest Gurhalian men look like a buncha pantywaists...but MH's mascot, the Felyne, is just too adorable for words. They are short, furry, sentient bipedal cats that primarily serve as labor (though you'll also fight wild ones). A farm or a kitchen full of these intelligent critters makes even a basketful of rappies and lapuchas look like a pile of puke!

-Monster Hunter is superbly animated. Each weapon type animates fluidly and uniquely, though my favorite is the Great Sword since you can FEEL the sheer weight of these as a Greatsword user seems to struggle to swing with it! Also, nearly every action has an animation to it. Whether you're mining for ore, gathering herbs, fishing, cooking, setting traps, using items, eating, drinking or carving dead enemies, there is animation to it. Only the menu-based item creation lacks animation. Enemies are animated pretty well too, with only a few animation flaws present.

-All that animation does more than look nice. Because you have to stop to use items (and do a stupid pose after drinking healing potions), standing toe-to-toe with your foe and simply healing after getting hit like in PSU is not only gonna slow you down, it's gonna kill you. Setting traps takes time. None of that instant effect shit.

-By looking at enemies, you can (usually) tell what they're going to do so you can act accordingly. You'll need this edge because the large enemies (which will be the majority of what you'll fight) are tough and often don't fight alone!

-There is no game-pausing cutscene bullshit or cheapass undodgable attack bullshit like Photon Blasts or that Fakis meteor. (Capcom KNOWS their game's combat is real time!) Also, while you may see a cutscene the first time you visit an area or see an enemy, that is the only time you see the cutscene. There is a cutscene when your objective is completed, but you can skip it by presing a button and go straight to carving your prize. (And no, there is no loading time for the death cutscene like the second or two you wait to see that lame Ragnus fall.)

-Each weapon class is VASTLY different from one another, each with their own unique perks. Even the Monster Hunter 2 offshoots are vastly different. For example, Great Swords (the MH original bigass two-handed sword) and Long Swords (lighter, quicker two-handed swords not featured in MH1) have more than just a speed and power difference, they have an entirely different move set and different perks!

-For the most part, you won't be spooned just because of your weapon preferences. An enemy that's easiest to take on with hammers or lances can still be defeated pretty well with any other weapon type. Masters of specific weapon types won't have to bend over to the will of a tyrannical game designer that thinks everyone should play exactly the same way.

-Levels? Fuck levels! Your stats are determined only by your equipment and buffs! Also, your equipment is visible: You will see your helmet, armor, bracers, belt and boots. In the old MH1 days, I would go helmetless despite having less Defense than helmet-wearers. It didn't matter though, cause I kicked ass while looking good! (Newer iterations of MH have "piercings", which are like helmets---but thankfully they're not visible!) If you thought stat-whoring was not significant in PSU, well...you aint seen SHIT yet for statwhoring futility! The latest edition of MH has upgradable armor and higher-tier versions of normally low-tier armor, so now you can actually do *SOME* stat whoring while looking the way you like. Remember, looks > stats! But don't forget to up your stats when you can. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif

-Levels? Fuck levels! While you need a high Hunter Rank to do the high-ranked missions, your rank is determined by what quests you've completed. So, completing the quests of one level would open up the next level of quests. (NOTE: MH1 online actually required "experience" to reach higher Rank, and this made for a shitty grind. MHF had done away with this stupidity, however, and it hasn't come back in MHF2.)

-Economy? Uhh...there kinda isn't one. You cannot give money to people, equipment is impossible to trade, and item trades are limited to RARE-3 and lower. Nearly every item that is used to make equipment is RARE-4 or higher (and most quest supplies are RARE-3 or lower). This means it's pointless to trade to people unless they need supplies! This also means that everyone earns their equipment.

-Speaking of earning your equipment, most things don't require super rare materials that require you to spam the same quest over and over for days. There are some things that require rare materials though, but their drop rates aren't NEARLY as bad as, say, the Blackbull when Fakis was new.

-Imagine if your PM didn't need any boards and always had a 100% success rate. The weaponsmiths of Minegarde actually KNOW how to make weapons and they don't fuck up. They just need you to supply the materials and pay a fee depending on the equipment.



On 2007-12-09 11:01, Sexy_Raine wrote:
I'm surprised Jife hasn't made a response to this yet. It's all he talks about.

That's because I didn't wanna type this out on the Wii browser---or bother plugging my PS2's USB keyboard into the Wii. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif
You know Raine, you really should try Monster Hunter too. If you can find the PS2 version, it should be cheap. I'd imagine Monster hunter Freedom would also be cheap, but it's hard to find. (MH Freedom 2 is the latest and greatest version for us and probably still goed for like $40.)

[Zorafim]

Sounds great from what I hear. Two more questions, which should sell me. One, how time consuming can this get? As in, if I want to play to do something different than PSU, or if I have a friend that doesn't play videogames often, can we still do stuff, or will be be lv10 forever? How much can I do in an hour?

And two, can I get some different screenshots to simulate progression? Like, low level things, mid level things, and high level things? I like feeling like I'm progressing through the game as I get better things. Also, how much of your outfit is customizable through equipment?

[Alisha]

im pretty sure thers no levels. theres hunter ranks online but theres no levels where your stats go up. your strength is increased by upgrading your weapons. i personally loved the upgrade tree for weapons.

[DizzyDi]

On 2007-12-10 21:51, Zorafim wrote:
Sounds great from what I hear. Two more questions, which should sell me. One, how time consuming can this get? As in, if I want to play to do something different than PSU, or if I have a friend that doesn't play videogames often, can we still do stuff, or will be be lv10 forever? How much can I do in an hour?

And two, can I get some different screenshots to simulate progression? Like, low level things, mid level things, and high level things? I like feeling like I'm progressing through the game as I get better things. Also, how much of your outfit is customizable through equipment?



Like the above poster said there are no levels other than Hunter Rank and that just dictates what kinda missions you can do.
I would say that the game requires a time investment. It has a little bit of a learning curve. But there are quick and easy missions you can do. But if you want the cool shit you're going to have to do some farming and hunting the same monster over and over until you get that one part you want for that super cool armor or weapon.
Everything on your body is customizable. From weapons to helment, to greaves. You can mix and match armor peices or you can just wear an entire pimped out set. Different armors have different skills attached to them. So like the Cephalos head peice may have a resist heat value of 2. But in order for the skill to mean anything you'd have to accumulate 10+ points in on skill. So you could equip the rest of the Cephalos armor set and wind up with 15 points in resist heat which would activate the skill. This is where mixing and matching armor peices come in to activate certain usefull skills.
Also with monster Hunter 2 they introduced skill jewels which you can create and attach to armor to add more skill points in a certain skill.
I don't have any pictures to post right now cause I'm on a school computer but the missions progress from simple gathering mission (gather 10 blue mushrooms), to hunting missions (kill 10 velociraptors), to capture/hunting missions which are the climax (Kill/Capture Tigrex, who is a big huge De Regan looking Dragon). The Capture missions are the main point of the game. They usually pit you against a huge monster that can be up to 5 times your size and take 30 minutes to kill. But boy are they fun.
Monster Hunter is one of the only games that have monsters that give me that "Oh fuck...I'm boned." feeling. And its the best shit ever.

[tei]

-I find the MH atmosphere to be very tough and manly (...)
Please, please don't be sexist... ._. Hunting monsters have nothing to do with anatomy under your armour... And on a side note, female hunters can be graceful and feminine wearing the proper equipment, like the Rathian blademaster/mistress set (http://www.geocities.jp/data774/image/female/017.jpg)...


Sounds great from what I hear. Two more questions, which should sell me. One, how time consuming can this get? As in, if I want to play to do something different than PSU, or if I have a friend that doesn't play videogames often, can we still do stuff, or will be be lv10 forever? How much can I do in an hour?

There's no levelling, just ranks. Do harder missions, get way more ranking points, rank up faster, get access to more and even harder missions. :3 Or do lots of quick easy missions to go slow and steady. I can't tell you how long ranks take to get, since I don't know the ranking system in later games well, and in the original I usually didn't play very much. About as slowly as I do PSU, and I'm still only about level 27 after a month of being online again here. xD;;; As for what you can do in an hour... you could prolly hunt and kill 4-5 small wyverns if you have a team, or 1-2 alone. Large wyverns and other big monsters (and a couple of small ones... looking at you, Kirin...) take about 20-30 minutes at minimum, and that's if you're well prepared and in a team. So in that sense, it takes a lot of time.


And two, can I get some different screenshots to simulate progression? Like, low level things, mid level things, and high level things? I like feeling like I'm progressing through the game as I get better things. Also, how much of your outfit is customizable through equipment?

There isn't really progression. You want Rathalos armour? You hunt rathalos body parts, and end up with sturdy gear with high fire resistance. You want Khezu armour, you hunt Khezu lots and get armour with basically the exact same defense, but high lightning resistance. Ditto with Plesioth, the water wyvern, if you want water resistance. In general, you'll choose whatever looks prettiest and has the best skills (full sets of armour or certain combinations add minor skills... lose hunger at half speed, tools break less often, +10 defense, +25 health, provokation.. so on...), as the raw defensive stats don't really matter.. like I said in my post before, tuning your resistance just means you'll survive about one more hit than someone in beginner's gear. And you really shouldn't rely on that as a crutch, you need to learn how to dodge and block and when to run if you want to survive, 'cause you can't just tank hits in this series...

About customization, there's head, arms, legs, body, and tasset (skirt/belt/leg-guards) parts. You can mix and match them at will to create your own entirely different appearance. But, here's full sets: (like all five rathalos items being worn, all five khezu pieces being worn, and so on...)
Male (http://www.geocities.jp/data774/male.html) Female (http://www.geocities.jp/data774/female.html)
You'll notice they start doubling up on the way down, as of MH dos and on, there's colour variants to sets, so if you're not satisfied with the colours an earlier armour has, scroll down to find a colour variation. Again, you aren't forced to wear them like this, you can take any individual part and match it with another set if you'd like.

As for weapons, there's "classes" of weapons, which are how they behave. But the "sword and shield" class will include even one-handed axes and staves, "dual swords" include everything from actual swords to dual sickles to fans to chainsaw-likes to.. maracas. And so on. Again, there's never any real progression to it other than how you upgrade your weapon (Bone Kris, a short sword, upgrades into Bone Kris+, then can become either a Monoblos Club, another type of short "sword", Bone Pick, or Sandman Finsword which puts enemies to sleep. Both the monoblos club and finsword can't be upgraded further, but the bone pick can eventually become a corona, a high element, low attack fire sword, or blazing falchion, a moderate attack and element fire sword. Or the bone pick can become bone-scythe dual "swords" which upgrade into dual cutlasses (water), or gradios ultimus (fire).). So there's no exact force progression, you just tend to keep and upgrade all kinds of weapons, and none are exactly more powerful than another, they all behave entirely differently...
...Anyways, here's how they look:
Short Sword & Shield Class (http://www.geocities.jp/data774/01.html)
Dual Sword Class (http://www.geocities.jp/data774/02.html)
Great Sword Class (http://www.geocities.jp/data774/03.html)
Long Sword Class (http://www.geocities.jp/data774/04.html) (MH dos and on)
Hammer Class (http://www.geocities.jp/data774/05.html)
Hunting Horn Class (http://www.geocities.jp/data774/06.html) (MH dos and on)
Lance & Shield Class (http://www.geocities.jp/data774/07.html)
Gunlance & Shield Class (http://www.geocities.jp/data774/08.html) (MH dos and on)
Light Bowgun Class (http://www.geocities.jp/data774/09.html)
Heavy Bowgun Class (http://www.geocities.jp/data774/10.html)
Bow & Arrow Class (http://www.geocities.jp/data774/11.html) (MH dos and on)

In general, this (http://www.geocities.jp/data774/notitle.html) page has just about every picture and bit of information you'd could want, if you don't mind japanese. ^^;; As for how weapons upgrade, take a look at the gamefaqs charts for them, they describe it pretty well and show the stats/element for each weapon, which does differ from game to game.

[Sord]

On 2007-12-10 21:15, Jife_Jifremok wrote:
-There is no game-pausing cutscene bullshit or cheapass undodgable attack bullshit like Photon Blasts or that Fakis meteor. (Capcom KNOWS their game's combat is real time!) Also, while you may see a cutscene the first time you visit an area or see an enemy, that is the only time you see the cutscene. There is a cutscene when your objective is completed, but you can skip it by presing a button and go straight to carving your prize. (And no, there is no loading time for the death cutscene like the second or two you wait to see that lame Ragnus fall.)


I don't know about on the PSP, but when you beat a particularly big monster (usually a certain Wyvern) you unlock a video of said Wyvern. It doesn't play in game, you go to the main menu of the game to view it. These vids are also very well animated, though some are rather dull (cue Wyvern sinking slowly into magma.) Once again, no idea about PSP though. All I have is first monster hunter. Can't wait for Wii, tons of new stuff. If I never play the PSP version, it will be one hell of a leap in content for me when it rolls around.

[Zorafim]

What I meant by "lv10" is being stuck in lowbie land. My friend doesn't play games too often, though when he does it does tend to be with a group and for a while. It took him a year or two to beat Kingdom Hearts, and he loved that game. I can probably coax him into a casual low stress game, but I doubt he'll get very far in it unless he's playing with someone. Does it seem like I'll be able to get together with him and enjoy this game? And more specifically, if I end up powerleveling myself, will I still be able to play with him and enjoy it?

I must say, I enjoy the equipment designs. This is probably the first game where I'd be more inclined to play a male than a female. The aquatic stuff looks pretty interesting, is that relatively high level equipment?

[DizzyDi]

Well first of all I'd have to say that MH is not casual friendly at all. It will take a certain amount of dedication and time to learn the in's and out's of combat and monster hunting.
The good part is that if you do "powerlevel" you will be able to enjoy the game with your friend. The only difference will be in the power of your weapons and how cool your armor looks, but that won't mean much as skill reigns supreme over everything else in this game. I could fight certain monsters with no armor and a S&S and win with no problem.

And I don't know what aquatic stuff you're talking about.
I'm gunna assume you mean armor like this: http://www.geocities.jp/data774/image/male/039.jpg
If so, then I wouldn't exactly say high level but it will take some time before you will be able to craft it.

[Sord]

Once you get far enough up there, it becomes more a matter of skill in the game. So once you hit a certain point, it won't matter if your weak and your partner is stong or vice versa. He'll just be dealing out less damage and taking more damage in a hit, but the bigger enemies have so much health that he won't feel like you're slaughtering everything.

As per getting out of lowbie land, it can be very fast or slow depending on how you play it. There are some weapons that are strong from the get go, but their final stages aren't as great as others. Of course you can always get a stronger starting one first and work towards a stronger final one later.

Armor can be obtained fairly easily, especialy at low levels. You can just buy it or do some runs to kill some basic low level monsters (like velociprey) for a decent set of starting armor. It's later armor that's a pain in the ass to get, because you'll have to take down a Wyvern several times to get enough of the parts for a complete set.

There aren't many missions that should take a hour. Most of the good ones seem to be around 30 mins. Simple kill and gather ones will start to take only 10 minutes after awhile.

Really though, if you are just intrested in the Wii one, we can't really say. They may or may not change the mechanics. We don't even know the release date yet.



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Sord on 2007-12-11 14:30 ]</font>

[tei]

What I meant by "lv10" is being stuck in lowbie land.
Um.. It still doesn't quite work that way either. xD;; There's just 1 town where you accept missions from, at least in the ps2 MH. (technically there's two towns.. the small offline village, and the main online town.) I'd assume MHF and MHF2 work the same way, as even the 2nd G expansion announced adds in new areas and new quest npc givers, but STILL sticks to just one town... Anyhow.. As your rank increases, more missions show up for you to accept, which will give you even more ranking points. But! Your friend, regardless of rank, can join your mission even if he wasn't a high enough to start it, bar a few exceptions like the final boss quest and such, which require a certain rank for every member to participate in.

Of course, since you said you were interested in the Wii version, there's no guarentee it'll behave like that.. I'm just going off of how the ps2 ones do. ^^;;


And more specifically, if I end up powerleveling myself, will I still be able to play with him and enjoy it?
There's no levelling... again, there's only rank. You'll gain access to harder monsters and new areas as your rank goes up.. which means new items to craft new equipment and consumables... but even with the absolute strongest equipment, and him with the absolute weakest (assuming his weapon is sharp enough to actually pierce the monster's hide instead of deflecting off), you're still going to have a challenging fight with most large monsters. It's the way the game's designed, you're always hunting monsters and variations/subspecies of them... Rathalos is the first large monster quest you'll get, a couple hours into the game. And even when you've played the game for 200 hours? You'll still be doing Rathalos quests too. And you're still going to take a lil while to kill them, you're never going to get some godly sword and armour that's going to let you solo him in under a five minutes. ^^;; So, yes, even if he doesn't play much, you two will still be able to play together. And he'll still be contributing to the fight just as much as you.


I can probably coax him into a casual low stress game
Um, well here's a problem. The game actually can be pretty stressful, since you're so fragile and need quick thinking, and to hav worry about the monster you're hunting, smaller grunts, the terrain, your team behaving well, and... everything. I have a low constitution, I had bad headaches from playing the game for longer than 2 hours (though it happens to me with PSU too after several hours, so maybe it's just me), even faster if I'm in a team with people I don't know, since you need to worry about them not dying too much to fail the mission, and that they're actually contributing to the team.. without accidently striking you. x.o So if he's a casual gamer, it might be too stressful for him, unless he's casual AND easy-going.


I must say, I enjoy the equipment designs. This is probably the first game where I'd be more inclined to play a male than a female. The aquatic stuff looks pretty interesting, is that relatively high level equipment?

No level... just rank... Most aquatic items (not all.. some like the Odyssey sword come from somewhere entirely different) come from parts from the aquatic fish-wyvern, Plesioth. (demo vid) (http://youtube.com/watch?v=-2keTcJRpb8) (gameplay vid) (http://youtube.com/watch?v=jFBA9ZXh-qg). If you just focus on raising your rank, missions with plesioth will pop up pretty quickly. He appears as early as HR 8 quests in PS2's online mode, which'll prolly take you a day to get to if you're a serious gamer, or about 2-4 days if you're casual but still play a lil each day. From there, you'll just need to kill him lots, hope you carve off what you need for your items, and find whatever else you want. Water items also often use Cephalos or Cephadrome parts, which are from smaller sand-"swimming" variations of Plesioth. And those were the most water-y monsters in the first game, but I know there's more in dos/MHF2, I've seen crab bosses and water-spewing ceiling clingers and such as well. I don't know their names or anything though, sorry. =x

[Zorafim]

My friend doesn't play much, but he's still a pretty good gamer. I'd consider myself pretty good in melee, for instance, and he can hold his own against me despite not playing it much. He also somehow got through Kingdom Hearts hardmode without using stat-up items (more painful than it sounds, let me say. It took forever to get any damage out on anything). For him, it's more time that's an issue than skill. If I can do a few missions with him in an hour, I think that'll be good enough. He'll probably love the challenge too, he's rather masochistic like that.

That water dragon is beautiful, by the way. I'll be glad to focus on killing him. Is his stuff worthwhile in the long run?



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Zorafim on 2007-12-11 16:06 ]</font>

[tei]

Is his stuff worthwhile in the long run?

Again, I can only talk of the ps2 MH, don't know about later games.. ^^;; But water elemntal weapons are rarely resisted (giant lizards and dragons mostly don't like water. x3; ), and do good damage against Gravios, Monoblos, Diablos, Rathalos, and Rathian. All of which are large wyverns you'll be fighting often (well... Monoblos is the offline "final boss" of MH1, so him not so much. But online you'll be fighting his upgraded Diablos counterpart often). So yes, they're very good. But everything you take the time to upgrade to it's highest point and it ends up with a status effect or element is useful in the long run. You're never forced to fight anything, so any elemental gear can be the most useful based on what you like to hunt, and in which areas.

Though, on the other hand, water resistant plesioth armour... isn't... terribly useful, due to the lack of water enemies other than Plesioth and the Cephalos/drome enemies. But it does resist the dragon element too, which is pretty rare for armour. And the full plesioth+ (upgraded plesioth) set adds anti-heat, so you end up resisting fire, dragon, and water all the same time, just leaving you open to an electric weakness. And again, they added a whole lot more in the later games to balance out enemy element distribution, so I'm sure water resistance it's even more useful in the later games. ^^

[Sord]

On 2007-12-11 15:37, Zorafim wrote:
If I can do a few missions with him in an hour, I think that'll be good enough. He'll probably love the challenge too, he's rather masochistic like that.


in an hour's time you should be able to do 1 or 2 good missions.

More redundant stuff like gathering herbs and such is usually very short, 10 mins tops once you get the map and locations down. I normally just solo that kind of thing though.


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Sord on 2007-12-12 13:25 ]</font>

[Wyndham]

I own Monster Hunter Freedom, and I don't like it that much.

[Fleur-de-Lis]

If anyone is playing MHdos, or is interested in playing in the future, the peak hours population is still above 10000 by my reckoning.

If you like, you can look for my character, Kurokai. I wield Dual Swords and usually play in Fearless.