Monster Hunter Freedom

"Happy Hunting Fellow Hunters!"

"One of the best, definately a must get."

Monster Hunter Freedom

I got this game around the time it came. At first, I thought what the hell is this, isn't this supposed to be an RPG?!?! But as I got into the game, I realized how good the game really is. So, heres my review:



Storyline/Plot

NA / 10

The storyline is pretty close to non-existent. Again, this is not an RPG game so the storyline is not the point. The story pretty much goes like this: Your a hunter in a world filled with monsters and your job is to slay these creatures and become the greatest hunter in the world! Besides that from being the general point, there is no othe plot whatsoever.



Graphics

10 / 10

The graphics are just almost lifelike, you can change your camera angle and take a look at a single spot in almost any area, and you will be able to see the tiniest of details, from a single blade of grass to the pattern on a beehive. Out of all the PSP games out there, this one definately has some of the best graphics.



Sound

9 / 10

You walk Area 1 of the "Forest and Hills" map, the first map you ever enter, and a flow of music just hits you. The majestic tune rally suits the map, you are able to hear the flow of the river, the sound of water at the waterfall, each bird flying by, metal against metal when you draw your weapon, its all there. The only flaw in this that I could find was that when you attacked, sometimes, your character's battle cries did not match with the action. Besides this miniscule let down, the sound is most definately far above your average game.



Gameplay

9 / 10

Monster Hunter Freedom has the most exquisite gameplay that I have experience. I had not expected this type of gameplay when I first purchased, but it was really easy to get into.

The perspective is between first and third person. Where you have a third person view of your character and his/her surroundings but you are the character themself. The use of the controls on the PSP is ingenious, you move with the joystick, change angles with +, draw and attack with /_\ , [] to use items, () for attack when your weapon is drawn and do various actions when your weapon is not drawn. A light tap on the L button changes your camera angle to the way your character is facing, and holding it lets you scroll through your items for use. The R button enables your character run, and block if your weapon is drawn, for weapons not able to block, it will activate some special attack ( like for the hammer), and when using a bow gun, the R button lets you zoom and aim.

This game actually requires skill unlike many games like Final Fantasy and Pokemon, where you just have to play continously for hours on end. This game requires you to observe, learn, strategize and find the right time to attack. Each monster you has different habits, for example, the Rathian (the female counter-part of a Rathalos, the monster on the cover of the game) has habits such as spitting fire balls when it turns around slowly to face you, instead of turning quickly, which it will then make a charge at you. This is only one of the many observations and habits you can learn from playing.

Each and every weapon in the game is distinct, you have 7 weapon choices: Great Swords, Sword & Shield, Dual Swords, Hammers, Lances, Light Bowguns, and Heavy Bowguns. All the weapons have their pros and cons, it just depends on what you like to use.

There are well over 100 different weapons in this game. Some weapons are very interesting such as a TeddyBear (hammer) Cat's Paw (Sword & Shield) etc.etc.etc. Aside from the weaponry, there are also probably over 250 pieces of armor and an uncountable amount of armor combinations.

You are able to pick any type of weapon, it's all just personal preference. Personally, I'm a Sword & Sheld (I'll refer to as SNS from now on) person. A lot of people like to use SNS because of the fast draw speed, ability to guard and great damage output. I've talked to a few of my friends that have played the previous monster hunter games for PS2 and they say that SNS in MHF have been way overpowered compared to SNS in previous games. But don't just get up and try to use SNS because of this fact, again, it all depends on your personal preference.

And now for the bad points in gameplay. There are three major drawbacks, the first is the incapability to pause. The only in which you can pause the game is to put your PSP into sleep mode, but note that this will not work when you are playing on-line because you will be disconnected and will not be able to rejoin the quest (this problem was solved in MHF2, they put in a pause option in the start menu). The second problem, well not so much a problem, but just something that's unsensable is the fact that the monsters you fight take such a long time to die! It's pretty understandable that if you hit a wyvern's head with a hammer three times it's size it should die within a few hits, but that doesn't happen, it takes dozens of hits, and if the your fighting the G-class monsters (pretty much uber hard mode), it takes hundreds of hits. The last con is the camera. The camera angles in some maps are really really bad, for example, Area 9 in the Forest and Hills map, the camera is really close to your character and all the shrubbery in the landscape itself makes it extremely difficult to see. The camera also has a tendency to tilt down whenever you are pushed up against a wall, which in the case of this game could result in you life or death.

Aside from these three down points, the gameplay is terrific.



Interaction/Multiplayer

9 / 10

I have not really done multiplayer simply because I have the Japanese-English version and it's not compatible with any of my friend's MHF game T_T.

Anyways, the multiplayer is very realistic, if one of your teammates hit you, then you really do get hit. It's not like one of those games where everyone on your team is invulnerable to each other. The gameplay is exactly the same except for the fact that your playing with 2-3 other people. As I mentioned above in the Gameplay section of this review, you cannot pause!!! Putting your PSP into sleep mode will simple disconnect you and will ge nothing from the quest, and it will have the same result as forfeiting a quest.



So all in all, I give Monster Hunter Freedom a..............drum roll please..............
................................... ............................................... ............................................

9 / 10


I highly recommend this game even for those of you who already have MHF2, it's differently and unique even if it is the prequal to MHF2. This is most deffinately a must get for all PSP users. And for those who have DS and not PSP, TOO BAD FOR YOU< < YOU DONT KNOW WHAT YOUR MISSING!!!!!!! XP


Yea, I hope this review helped you in some ways at least.

And thanks for reading!!! XD

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/29/07

Game Release: Monster Hunter Portable (Reprint) (JP, 04/26/07)