Monster Hunter Freedom

"A promising new entry into what I hope will one day be a GREAT series"

I'll be honest. I love this game. At least, I want to love it. You have no Idea.

My brother recommended this game to me. We both own PSPs, we both like games. The only difference? He has 20 friends with the game. I have 1, and hes not a friend. Maybe thats why his review will give a higher score.

Now on to the review!
The first 10 to 20 hours of Monster hunter will most likely piss off most amateur and casual gamers. For the hardcore(like myself), it will be a fresh breath into a new genre. There is no deep storyline or exciting plot twists. There is no leveling or power leveling. In fact the game boils down to a simplistic formula:
Step 1) Kill monsters and collect resources.
Step 2) Use collectables to make better armor and weapons.
Step 3) Use new Weapons to Kill better Monsters and collect better Resources.
Step 4) Use better collectables to make better armor and weapons.
Step 5) Use new better Weapons to Kill better Monsters and collect better Resources.
Step 6) Use new better collectables to make even better weapons and Armor.

Repeat these steps till... well... we'll get to that later.
Simple right, but is the game shallow? No. In fact, in certain areas, the game has an unimaginable depth. But sadly, these areas were the wrong ones.
The real problem with Monster hunter is the fact that it discourages you from playing in almost every way possible. After about 20 hours, you start fighting monsters with a little more gusto. They get stronger, angrier, and deadlier, requiring most players to amp their weapons and armor to the maximum level. Sometimes, you'll find yourself playing the same mission almost 10 or 20 times over just to collect the required materials to make the weapon you want, only to find that the monster in question will just chew you up and spew you out the first few times you fight it.

Battles come down to two things:
1) How prepared you are and the amount of support items you have.
2) How good you are at Reading the 'tell' of the monster you're fighting. This usually comed down to how many times you've faught it before.

Obviosly, the flaw is in this system is that the first time around, you're pretty screwed. And this is the first frustration most new players will feel. Why would I look forward to a new monster that may take 30 minutes to kill with no guaruntee of victory? Potions shouldn't be a necessity on a mission, only an option or a fallback option.

You will find that most of your big opponents are able to react faster than you, and that often, the AI will pull off a power combo that doesn't even give you a chance to defend. And you will find that more often than not, your oppenent will take hundreds of hits before even showing fatigue.

Many people have said that in reality, monsters are able to kill you in several hits, and that it does take hundreds of hits from you to bring them down. I dissagree. While monsters should hit hard, they should also take a beating. If I stab a monster in the head 20 times, It should be dead, especially when my blade is bigger than its neck. Most players will lose tens of hours of their life fighting a monster for half an hour only to be crushed by a cheap combo. There were days where I would want to shoot my psp into orbit. No other game has pissed me off to this extent. Even monsters I have fought on lower difficulties get lucky blows and manage to kill me from time to time. Thats a sign that your combat engine sucks.

The multiplayer is what saves the game. And its the only great thing. Having a bud to back you up makes missions engaging and fun. Most players will get farther in multiplayer just to get better gear to take on single player. And I don't blame them. Many of the guides you'll read will tell you to bring a scertain weapon to make single plyer easier. Sadly these items can only be gained in multiplayer. Halfway through the singleplayer quests, I managed to max my armor and weapons. After that, every upgrade required an Item that wasn't available to a lone ranger like myself. I managed to still beat the single player, barely dragging across the finish line.

For Buyers: Rent the game. Play more than 20 hours before you decide to buy it. Make sure you can take the frustration before you commit.

Final Verdict!

If monster hunter had faster battles and quicker gameplay, it would be the perfect Portable game. If it had ONLINE multiplayer, it would be perfect. If monsters died in less than 15 minutes, It would be a perfect game. If even the most amateur player could beat the game and have fun, it would be perfect.

But sadly it isn't. I love the new genre this game has spawned and I can only pray the next installment corrects the problems in the first. In the end, MHF is a heavily flawed game that could have been much better. Its battle engine, controls, and difficulty is what will have most players staying home instead of joining the hunt.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 05/21/07