Aaron’s Reviews: Monster Hunter Freedom Unite

Let’s get this out of the way first; I am a huge monster hunter fan. I’ve been playing since the first PSP incarnation, but I’m not exactly a veteran as there was a ps2 version before I got into it. But I’ve been into it for a while and it accordance with my reviewing games that our other hosts have yet to review policy I will review “Monster Hunter Freedom Unite”.

Monster Hunter has a long history, and I will touch on it briefly. When monster hunter was released for the Playstation 2, it became a huge hit in Japan. America also got its own version, but it didn’t catch on in the same way. Capcom, the company that put the game out although concerned with the American market put a majority of the backing into the Japanese market considering the success. So while America still would get the occasional upgraded version, the Japanese would get double the content. This was the case with monster hunter freedom 1 for the PSP. In America this was all we had until MHF2, but in Japan they released Monster Hunter Freedom G, which featured new monsters and missions. There were also some PC versions that came out. After MHF2, Capcom decided that the time had come to try to boost interest in the American market. So they decided to start bringing the harder “G” expansions to the U.S. and begin a marketing campaign in the U.S. Thus the expansion to 2, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite made it to American shores, and the commercials began. This review will sort of encompass all the incarnations of MH or at least at the start since I’ve never reviewed the series before. So let’s get to the game itself shall we?

In the game you start out as a new to the scene hunter in some small town. You begin your training with the first level missions which are mostly gathering quests to teach you the ins and outs of the game. Here you learn how to cook meat to increase you stamina, and how to combine items to make healing drinks and different battle aides. When you’ve built yourself a basic weapon/armor set and have learned how to manage health and trap items you are finally introduced to the hunting aspect, after all the game is named “monster hunter” for a reason. This is where my favorite feature of the game comes into play, which made me a fan since the start. The major monster battles are in real time, this isn’t turn based at all and you need to keep on your toes to not die. It not only adds to the realism of the game and the hunting aspect, but it adds a level of perfection to strive for. If you get really good you may never get hit, or you could get horribly maimed. Each monster you come to face is unique, and range from dragons to giant crabs, to things as bizarre as monkey’s that throw their own feces at you…yes I’m serious. As you work your way up the mission ranks the parts you’ve collected from other beasts allows you to craft better armor and weapons. You’ll also learn as you defeat monsters and look up the armor sets made available what elements certain beasts are more weakened too than others, and begin working on elemental attributed weapons.

As you rank up you’ll also unlock missions at the “training school”, which will teach you better tactics to use on each monster as well as how to use each of the six weapon types on each monster. Then again there are really two weapon classes to worry about, each requiring a different armor set. The Blade masters can use Great Swords ( a giant sword), sword and shields, Hammers ( a giant hammer), and hunting horn ( similar to hammer but can grant status effects), and can wear heavier, more defensive armor. Gunners use Guns and Bows, and must wear lighter weaker armor sets which allow for easier movement. But I digress, after clearing out the required quests for a level; an Urgent Quest appears that upon completion allows the player to move up to the next level bracket. When you become a strong enough hunter, you get access to elder dragon quests which feature super strong dragons of the games lore. One of my personal favorites is the Lao Shin Lung, a dragon the size of a mountain whose name literally translates to the same thing. But if you still don’t find these monsters challenging enough, there are the guild hall quests boasting even stronger beasts and mission combinations. The guild hall quests are the quests available to play with friends and this is where the game really shines.

However if you are a social outcast…or just don’t have any friends who have monster hunter, (considering its sales in America) even these missions can be accomplished by yourself, but the fun is really working with friends and coming up with effective strategies to down the stronger beasts more quickly. So what else is there? Well this is where the G expansion changes things up a bit. If you had MHF2, MHFU will load in your previous character and his accomplishments into the new game so you can continue where you left off. For the friendless, this expansion allows you to have “cat” assistants that help you in offline fights; it also adds harder mission levels to the guild hall and offline missions as well as new items and a few new monsters. MHF2’s flagship monster was the Tigerex, a primitive crawling dragon that lived in the mountains and in my opinion was a bastard. Unite’s flagship Monster is the Nargacuga (monster in my image up top) which is a subspecies of Tigerex that looks like a giant bat…he is also a bastard. Other new monsters include the Hypnocatrice (a turkey-like dragon), and my favorite of the additions the Yamatsukami (basically cthulu). But the most important addition is the “G” difficulty missions in the guild hall. Some of these missions are so hard you can’t do them without the help of a friend. It’s not that you’re not strong enough, but mostly each mission is timed and you usually find yourself out for time just before the monster is even on the ropes.


There are also “epic hunting quests” which are my personal favorite additions to the game in which you fight multiple different monsters in one play through receiving only health items when you kill one to continue fighting. All and all I’d say they took an already great game and made it even better. However just because I’m a fan doesn’t mean I should pad this game for you out there who haven’t played it before. I’ll say this, it’s a remarkably hard game to get started in, and you really have to work hard to get up to the point where you have decent enough weapons and armor to handle most beasts. Also, some of the game is almost unplayable if you don’ have friends to play it with, and because of the need to play in the same room with you PSP’s instead of playing via the internet those without friends can’t even arrange to play with random players online. If you want to play multiplayer you have to know other people with the game and be able to hang out often to play it. However, even with these downsides I will still highly recommend it, and rally those who play to convert as many non players as possible. This game is fun, time consuming, and feeds that underlying wish that most nerds have to go slay dragons. So get out the AND BUY MONSTER HUNTER FREEDOM UNITE, ITS AMAZING! DO IT! DO IT NOW!...Ahem….erm…thank you, we now return to you regularly scheduled blogs…

Monster Hunter Freedom: Unite Demo Impressions

Some of you may not know this about me, but I'm pretty big into imported games from Japan. While Monster Hunter may not technically be an import title, since they have been releasing some of the games in the states for a while now, it's always had a very Japanese feel to the gameplay, and I mean that in a good way. Now, they've released a demo of the newest game, Monster Hunter Freedom: Unite on the Playstation Store. Definitely a good idea if they want to get a larger amount of Americans interested in the game, which is definitely what it seems like they're doing with their advertising campaign.

Monster Hunter Freedom: Unite is the US version of what's known as Monster Hunter Portable 2G in Japan. The game takes a lot of elements from Monster Hunter Freedom 2 and expands on them. While I never got a chance to play Monster Hunter Freedom 2, I have played the first one, and it's occupied a lot of time in my PSP.

Comparing what I've played of this game to the first one, there's been a lot of improvements. the first most noticeable one is the map system. In the first game, your map would be limited to the section you were in, and you'd have to blindly wander around trying to find your target. Now, you can see the entire map, and your target is clearly marked, I'm a much bigger fan of this system than the previous one.

Also, I'm not sure if they're only doing this for the demo or not, but there's a class system now. Before, you would simply make a character and buy different equipment, and have a lot of customization options, but it seems now that you can choose different classes, and customize from there. However, it could just be for the demo so you can get right into the action.

The graphics, for a PSP game are excellent. Strong, crisp, detailed textures. Fluid animation. The poly count doesn't seem very high, but the PSP can only do so much. I think the game really pushes the PSP to it's limits, while still maintaining a rock-solid framerate.

Overall, I'm really impressed with the demo, and I'm anticipating the full game. One thing that's pretty nice is the amount of content they give you in the demo. Seeing as how the Monster Hunter games have so much stuff in them usually, it's not a huge surprise, but it's definitely welcome. For anybody who's a big Monster Hunter fan, or anybody who likes a good action game, definitely download the demo and check it out, I'm sure you won't be disappointed. Also, don't forget to look for the game, hitting shelves in the next few days.

E3 2009: Ed's Thoughts on Day 2

Reuploaded due to technical issues, Ed's thoughts on Sony and Nintendo.

PSP Go: Will It gain momentum?

The PSP Go was the worst kept secret of E3, Sony's conference even acknowledged that, even though some details were kept secret.

For one thing, we knew the PSP Go would have a slide out controller for a better "handling", kinda liked the design myself. I want one, just like everyone else. And i'm considering buying it as an entry level PS3 alternative, but the release had issues.

For one thing, it only downloads games. There is no CD drive for the games, hence the fact that the PSP GO is 50 percent smaller and 40 percent lighter. I LIKE THAT. But others like Rob, fellow blogger :), would rather have a physical copy or get a digital copy with a physical copy as T.J. would want. I'm more easygoing (hence the favorite blogger :D) and I just like the fact that the digital copy will cost less than the physical copy. 

Although when it came to price, the retail is to be $250. $250 dollars for that? Seriously, the high end PSP 3000 with more hardware on it having the drive for physical copies is $170. There was no miniaturization of technology for the PSP, just a slid out keyboard. Yes I know the games will cost less, but it's kind of a pricey entry fee into the PSP world. 

Also, for me, having an exposed screen on a handheld unlike the DS makes me hesitate. 

Sony Press Conference Impressions

Sony was definitely the high point for the second day of E3, or at least the more packed conference. Many predicted Sony would be the best of the three conferences, we will discuss this later tonight but for now how did Sony do as a whole?

First they had a countdown showing they would be delayed a half hour, but yet they started on time anyway? Go Figure. Jack Tretton put alot of effort into showing that PS3 was bringing us the next stage in gaming, kinda pointing to its game lineup frequently. 

Multiplatform games like Beatles Rockband and Arkham Asylum were briefly mentioned. 

Uncharted 2 was brought out, the multiplayer beta starts tonight. Then they showed a Demo, the traversing of the buildings, the conflict with airborne threats while scaling the numerous buildings had me drooling. You can't just run away from enemies either, because the helicopter kept following you on the outside while you engaged enemies inside a building they went in. It looked fun, so fun the Naughty Dog label proves this is not a dream. It's a sweet PS3 exclusive.

Then came the MAG demo, live 256 player gameplay. It was sweet to look at, especially being it had to support that many players. It didn't perfect everything but was very satisfying, the map view system, the objective system had the enemies respawning further inside their bunker the closer you got. That makes alot of sense, and the offensive team is set up that on time intervals helicopters came in and thats when friends could respawn. Sweet, the game will be awesome. 

Then after some audio difficulties they got into PSP bundles, rock band was one and hannah montana was another. hahaha. Then they had Kaz Hirai come out to show us the PSP Go, only uses downloaded games so no game slot on PSP Go. That was cool and the full controls slides out of the PSP Go, but it costs $250 to buy. I'll consider buying it if the games are cheaper when you consider the lack of something to physically buy with your game purchase. None of the current PSP's will be phased out but its the lightest and easiest PSP to carry around. 

Then they announced PSP titles like Gran Turismo. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker will be on PSP, which is a sequel title, not a spinoff. Gameplay of Peace Walker was good looking and is coming in 2010. Resident Evil title coming for PSP, Little Big Planet and Fat Princess as well. Some of those will sell extremely well. 

Moving onto PS3, we got to finally see Assasin's Creed 2 gameplay. It looks slightly better than the first but now you can use a multiple amount of weapons or take them from guards. At one point your flying on a hangliding device which perked my interest for a moment, smoke bombs are also available. Ironically they didn't have a release date but we know its November 11th. 

Then we got Final Fantasy 13 with more footage, looked GREAT. Then they showed Final Fantasy 14...the MMO! Graphics are good for an MMO, although MMO's haven't been my thing. I'm sure Masin (Charlie) will be more talkative about it. Then they brought the Motion Controller Wand out, I really don't have much to say about it. But Sony realizes it's casual and gimmicky, so comparing it to Xbox's motion controller is kind of unfair for both parties. This Wand will be available in Spring 2010.

New Franchaise called ModNation Racers brought out that let you race with online players and create your own maps with a good amount of choices and very easy building controls. Looks fun to me although I heard T.J. comment it really took the graphics ability of the PS3 down a notch. They also showed Project Trico, now named The Last Guardian. OMG it looks even better in alot of areas and less good in a few areas, you play as the boy we finally know. But not really any gameplay.

Then they showed an actual sequel of Gran Turismo 5 for PSP. But the biggest game release was the presentation of the God of War III Demo. It looked flat out amazing, combat was amazing with typical sword slashing, Chimaeras where you could rip their horns off. And if i'm not mistaken did the main character grow wings at one point? Whatever, the game looks crazy good. There was 20 more minutes of the Demo we sadly didn't get to see, and the game will come out 3/10/10. 

Sony threw together a pretty good press conference, Unlike Nintendo it didn't have alot of issues they were a fault of. As to whether it was the best conference of E3, that will very likely be a subject to talk about on the podcast tonight. Sony and Microsoft really fought against eachother here, and Nintendo didn't really but once again. Geeksquisite needs to have some feedback before we can officially broadcast our views.