Monster Hunter

"This isn't your grandfather's Duck Hunt..."

Monster Hunter
What is it? It's a great game that many people never heard of. The title explains exactly what you do...You hunt monsters.

Originality - 8/10

This could have been higher, but it still is pretty high. You basically are a person who you make. You get to choose simple differences. You hair, face, color, and voice. You're set off in some village that needs things. There is almost no backstory.

Story/Gameplay - 9/10

Because there is almost no story, I decided to meld these two together. You start out almost naked with nothing but a weapon, baby t-shirt, and short short (they don't affect your defence in any way, they just stop you from being naked). So you then go to the village chief who will give you quests to do. You do different quests, from gathering items to killing big dinosaur-like creatures called wyverns. You start out wit a simple sword a shield, but you can either keep working on that weapon to make it stronger, or get a new weapon. Or both. There are seven different classes of weapons. Sword and shield, dual swords, great swords, lances, hammers, light bowguns, and heavy bowguns. Each weapon (except bowguns) have different styles. The controls are fairly easy to figure out.

Challenge - 10/10

This game is not too easy...Even the best could die from something as weak as a velociprey if they are not careful. If you're offline, you have to watch your back and take on large creatures by yourself. But even if you die, don't worry, you still have two more chances. If you're offline, you have to fight large wyverns with weapons that aren't too strong. Offline is easier because you have team mates, possibly with better weapons than yours. A lot of deaths can be blamed on the clunky camera, but many can be blamed on carelessness.

Control - 6/10

This is all based on the person. The control may be hard to get used to, but once you do it gets easier. The left analog controls where your character moves. The right analog controls your attacks. Square is to use items, X is to search for things and carve goodies from dead monsters. O is to roll, you roll in the direction the analog is facing...most of the time...Triangle is only used online, it is used to talk to other people by typing. R1 is to block, R2 is to run, L1 is to change the camera to where you're facing and L2 is used to access the usable items when it's held down. When it is up, you press square and O to change the item selected. The D-Pad is used to rotate the camera.

Rent or buy: Buy, I've racked up over 300 hours playing this game. Once you pick up this game, I bet you will have a hard time putting it down.

Overall, this game gets 8.25 as a score. If you have online access though, this game bumps up to a solid 9. It's a hard game to find, so I say if you see it, you should buy it. I got mine at the store for $14.99, it's relatively cheap, but moderately rare. It's a fun game that should keep you content for a while.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/29/06