Monster Hunter

"The leathery smell of success."

”The leathery smell of success.”

Lately, I was hoping for a great new type of game for the PS2 a year after it came out. That never happened until I found out about Capcom's Monster Hunter. I kept myself up to date to this game because the idea of hunting wyverns and dragons with others players and using monster parts to make weapons and armor was one of the neatest ideas for a PS2 title. When I bought the game the first day it came out, I was immediately hooked to this game. I nearly played it almost all day, everyday till the month of December. Right now, I have almost invested in about almost 2,000 hours and once in a while get on the game to pass the time now.

Plot: 2/10

Monster Hunter has no plot or storyline off-line, but has a very little plot on-line. Which is about how you're going to show everyone in town that you're going to be the “Best Monster Hunter” while later on, you prove them right when you repel a large dragon and the “Legendary Black Dragon.”

Gameplay: 8/10

Monster Hunter strays from the traditional leveling up process of games such as Phantasy Star Online and Champions of Norrath. In those games, you earn skill points which are raised with every level gained. But in Monster Hunter, your strength, elemental resistance, and defense relates to how good your equipment is, which adds an urgency to complete some of the game's many repeatable quests. When you first start up Monster Hunter, the game starts out at a really slow pace, while educating the players on the game's features and control set-up. For example, you'll learn how to cook Well-Done Steaks or how to fish, which is a good way to get use to Monster Hunter's set-up, since it takes a while to get used to. When you are on-line, you'll run across something called “Hunter Rank.” Basically, the higher your Hunter Rank is, the more rarer and difficult quests you will be able to have access to.

Unlike most games, Monster Hunter tries to do something new, while trying to add realism to the game by using the Right Analog stick to combat, instead of using the X or O button. It can get frustrating when trying to hit the monster while getting used to the game's control scheme. But it gets a lot better as you are used to it. The reward for all of this effort you are putting forth is taking down some of the game's toughest and nastiest monsters. There are 6 weapons classes:
Great Sword, Lance, Hammer, Shield and Sword, Dual Swords (US and EU Versions only), and Bowgun. Combing each of these of these different classes and using their strengths will have you investing some strategies in this game.

Graphics: 9/10

The most noticeable thing about Monster Hunter right away is its gorgeous graphics. You'll notice details in the monsters, hunters, and the landscapes. From the Forest and Hills' grassy fields, to the Jungle's beautiful waterfall, you'll eyes well be very pleased with all the detail going on at once. The backgrounds are very detailed and almost look realistic sometimes.

Sound: 7/10

The game's soundtrack uses sounds that you would hear in a forest, birds chirping, the wind blowing, and bugs cricketing. There is some music while out on the field, but those are when you start a quest and the intro music plays, and when you're fighting a wyvern. Each area has its own type of music and sound effects which add more realism to the game.

Final Score: 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 05/21/06