Monster Hunter (video game)

Monster Hunter
Monster Hunter
Developer(s)	Capcom Production Studio 1
Publisher(s)	Capcom
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2, PSP
Release	September 21, 2004, Spring, 2006
Genre(s)	Adventure
Mode(s)	Single player, online multiplayer

Monster Hunter is an adventure video game for PlayStation 2. The game was developed and published by Capcom. Monster Hunter was released in North America on September 21, 2004. A version for the PlayStation Portable called Monster Hunter Freedom will come out sometime in Spring, 2006.

General information

Monster Hunter is a relatively rare breed of game these days, requiring nothing more than skill to succeed at the game. It's more than possible to play through most of the game offline using some of the weakest weapons and no armor at all if you are skilled enough to do it. While many online game review sites initially gave the game a low score, generally reader reviews have been much higher, because this is not a game you can get good at in just one or two days.

Gameplay

Create a hero and battle huge wyverns online and off. Monster Hunter places you in the role of an up and coming hero who must accomplish various quests to achieve greatness. Players create armor, weapons and other items from the remains of slain monsters by stripping them of their hide, scales, bones, and tusks. Monster Hunter plays in a similar fashion to Phantasy Star Online allowing you to team up with up to three other hunters online to assist you in your quest.

Quests

In Monster Hunter, there are three types of quest to go on. All quests share universal traits, in which there may only be three deaths, regardless of the number of people in the party, and that there will be a time limit; usually 50 minutes. Special event quests are the exception, which have a limit of zero deaths per party and time limits vary according to the quest.

Gathering Quests: Deceptively thought of as the most simple type of quest to complete, gathering quests include everything from finding rare mushrooms to carrying back explosive and heavy rocks from the depths of a burning volcano. While these quests are generally some of the easier ones to complete in the game, many of the quests that require you to carry a heavy object from one point to another are extremely difficult to complete by yourself, since you will be unable to move quickly, dodge, or draw a weapon. These quests are marked with a green flag when selected.

Hunting Quests: Hunting quests are the most common type of quest in Monster Hunter and where you'll most likely be spending most of your time. The goal of the hunting quest is to find and kill a specific monster or number of monsters. Early on, you'll most likely be hunting down the weaker Velociprey type of enemy, but soon enough you will be hunting dragons and wyverns five times your size. Carve body parts from the enemies you defeat to create stronger weapons and armor. These quests will be marked with a red flag.

Capture Quests: The third type of quest is the capture quest, where you will be tasked with sufficiently wounding, then trapping and tranquilizing a dragon or wyvern. Much like the hunting quests, you will need to find and wear down your enemy to the point where they can be tranquilized. Most wyverns will signify this by limping or other visible signs, so you can stop attacking them before you kill them and fail the quest. When the time is right, you will use the supplied pit trap and tranq bombs to trap and tranq the wyvern, completing the quest successfully. These quests will be marked with a white flag.

Melee Weapons

Monster Hunter has several different types of weapons to use in your quests to defeat your various enemies. This section will attempt to provide some general information on each type of melee weapon. All melee weapons share a single universal trait and that is the sharpness of the weapon, displayed as a gauge of 4 colors on the weapon status screen and a knife icon with 4 stages during gameplay. The gauge will be colored from left to right with red, orange, yellow, and then green, each color referring to the sharpness of the weapon and how long it can be expected to stay at that sharpness stage. The gameplay icon stages are glowing yellow, to indicate green sharpness, not glowing but still edged to indicate yellow sharpness, jagged edged to indicate orange sharpness, and finally glowing red with a jagged edge to indicate red sharpness. Weapons should be kept in the green sharpness zone whenever possible, due to the 1.125 bonus to damage caused and the ability to pierce a wyverns tough hide without bouncing off and dulling your weapon even more.

Sword and Shield: The Sword and Shield weapon type (more commonly referred to as the SnS) will be every hunter's first weapon. When a character is first created, he or she starts out with a Hunter's Knife. However, this weapon type should not be discounted as weak in general as many of the later SnS designs have extremely high elemental attributes and middling attack strength. SnS users are generally very mobile and able to strike quickly with a quick combo and get out of the way before being counter-attacked. When using SnS you can still run with your weapon drawn, can block in a single direction, and can roll dodge.

Greatswords: The Greatsword weapon type is an extremely large and heavy sword requiring both hands to swing. The Greatsword line of weapons generally offers high attack power with reduced elemental effects. Using this weapon, it is possible to create slow but endless attack combos. The attack used by pressing right on the analog stick will send any nearby allies flying into the air and is the point of much discontent in online games since it is so disruptive. When using the Greatsword or GS, you may only walk when the weapon is drawn, can block in a single direction, and may roll dodge.

Lances: The Lance type weapon is a large lance and shield. Generally, Lances only have decent attack power and low elemental attributes. However, they make up for it with the ability to move while blocking and easily hit the weak parts on any dragon or wyvern. You also have the option to charge forward by pressing the R3 button. You may add a stab to the end of your charge by moving the right analog stick up. Lances are also used in Headlocking, which takes advantage of the damage caused by lances to a dragon's particular weak spot and keeps them in a perpetual stagger animation, unable to attack. When using the Lance, you may only walk when the weapon is drawn, you may block and move one step at a time in any direction, and you may sidestep or hop back using the dodge button.

Hammers: Hammers boast some of the highest attack power in the game with decent elemental attributes. However, the attack of a Hammer user is extremely slow and fairly limited. When using the Hammer, you can charge up your power by holding down the R1 button. When fully charged, you can either release the energy in a spinning move by releasing the button while running, or in a giant slam into the ground by releasing it when standing still. If you are spinning, you may add an extra attack to the end of your spin by moving the analog stick. When using the Hammer, you may run with your weapon drawn, you cannot block, and you may dodge roll.

Dual Swords: Dual Swords were added to the North American version of Monster Hunter. With attack power about on par with the SnS weapon type and decent elemental attributes, the Dual Swords can be lethal in the hands of an experienced player. When using the Dual Swords, you may enter Fury mode by pressing the R1 button, during which you will gain added strength and more impressive combos, at the cost of your Stamina gauge constantly dropping. When using Dual Swords, you may run with your weapons drawn, cannot block, and may dodge roll.

Bowguns

Light Bowguns: Light Bowguns are designed for speed and mobility, you can run with these bowguns out of there holster, making them easier to take on moving enemies, and they generally have a fast reload speed. However, the drawback of these bowguns is they generally have limited ammo usage and can't do as much damage as heavy bowguns.

Heavy Bowguns: Heavy Bowguns are designed for power over mobility, when wielded you can only walk slowly around and are therefore generally not used for fighting small enemies such as velociprey, but bigger enemies like rathalos. Heavy bowguns usually have slow reload speeds to go with their powerful shots, one exception is the rapidcaster, which is a heavy bowgun with a very fast reload speed, however it can't use the same shot that a normal heavy bowgun could, another exception is the quickcaster which has a fast reload speed and can shoot powerful shots, obtaining the quickcaster involves the use of some very rare parts from the kirin, which can only be fought for around 2 hours every few months which makes any hunter with the quickcaster admirable and often idolized by other hunters.

Combinations

Along with the ability to salvage monster parts to create better weapons and armor, a hunter may gather various reagents and "combine" them to create more powerful potions and items than are available at the shops. Normally these combinations must be experimented with to be discovered, but there are ways to get clues as the game progresses. A few known combinations are as follows:

(Warning! Spoilers follow)

Blue Mushroom + Herb = Potion (basic restorative)
Potion + Honey = Megapotion (advanced restorative)
Spider Web + Ivy = Net
Net + Trap Tool = Pitfall Trap (essential in capturing quests)

Monsters

File:Mhchart.jpg

Monsters range from small to very large.

Monsters in Monster Hunter range from the banal to the positively awe-inspiring. Although relatively simple and in most cases predictable, the monsters generally behave like animals. Some may even ignore a hunter altogether if they are feeding on something else (unless and until attacked).

Monsters can be divided into groups and subgroups that have various things in common.

Herbivores

Aptonoth: "Mainly hunted for food, these monsters are preyed upon by both monsters and hunters alike. Timid unless in a pack, when some may defend themselves with surprising strength." Aptonoth are the cattle of the Monster Hunter universe. They are not without their defenses, but they are few and largely ineffective. They make great sources for small monster bones and raw meat that can be processed into steak and other items. Because they are relatively weak and docile, the first few hunts a hunter engages in will typically involve aptonoth.

Apceros: "Hunted for their meat, which is buried under a thick, armored hide. Aggressive compared to the Aptonoth, hunting them can be challenging. Apceros eggs are a valuable guild commodity." Apceros are an evolutionary offshoot of aptonoth that has learned to survive in harsh climates by developing a thick armored hide and a bad attitude to match. Unlike aptonoth, a beginning hunter will not so easily begin to fell an apceros, although they yield more valuable bones.

Kirin: " The Kirin is said to glow a faint blue, but so few have seen it that details are scarce. It is apparently capable of calling forth lightning at will. Kirin material is very valuable." Kirin are Chinese unicorns. The one in the game (online only) is white and blue in color they also glow in a blue color. They have electric attacks that can stop the player in their tracks, and like real horses they will stomp and trample over the player.

Mosswine: Mosswine are pigs which have moss and fungus on their back, they can also help you find special mushrooms.when a mosswine sniffs at the ground, if you go to that same spot you will find a special mushroom.look for mosswine on mushroom quest.

Bullfango: Bullfangos are wild boars with spikes on their back as soon as they see you they charge at you with full force.

Alpha Bullfango: Alpha Bullfangos are only larger and harder to kill then regular Bullfangos.

Giant Insects

Vespoid: Vespoids are large wasp like insects that try to sting the player by swooping or flying to close.

Hornetaur: Hornetaurs are large beetle like insects that also attack the player. They attack the player by hopping towards the player. They look a lot like beetles but act like grasshoppers.

Prey

Velociprey: Think of a creature somewhat similar to a velociraptor dinosaur, and you'll be awfully close. They are essentially a basic carnivore in Monster Hunter, and have a fair assortment of bite and jump attacks. The biggest complication in fighting velociprey is that they tend to attack in packs. They have blue and black scales.they also like to attack in packs, thats when they do the most damage. but when alone they don't do much.

Genprey: Genprey are similar to velociprey, although the gen's existence in harsh desert and swamp climates makes it a better tank than the basic velociprey. They are also markedly difference in appearance, with green and orange scales and slightly slimmer profiles. They have many of the same attacks that velociprey do, but their claws contain a poison that will occasionally paralyze the unsuspecting victim of a jump attack.they are also bigger and a bit harder than velociprey.

Ioprey: This red-scaled prey is the most different and most dangerous of the prey creatures. They are capable of the same types of jump and bite attacks, but for the most part, they avoid direct confrontation in favor of their ability to breathe poison clouds some distance away. They are also the heartiest of the prey, able to take the most damage.

Dromes

Velocidrome: Velocidromes are the alpha leaders of the Velociprey pack. They are larger in size and have a larger crest than the Velociprey. they are smarter the velociprey,they'll try to run once there health is low.but other than that there no differant.

Gendrome: Gendromes are the alpha leaders of the genprey pack. They are larger in size and have larger crests then the Genprey. Their 2 crests are located at the top of their head and they have 2 very long fangs at the forefront of their mouth, just like sabertooth tigers. They look a lot like a Dilophosaur because they have two crests.

Iodrome: Iodromes are the alpha leaders of the Ioprey pack. They are larger in size and have a blue crest at the end of their snouts. They act a lot like the Dilophosaur from Jurassic Park because they spit poison.

Non-Draconian Wyverns

Wyverns typically can be divded into two categories: draconian (dragon-like) and non-draconian. Following are a few of the non-draconian types.

Yian Kut-ku: The kut-ku are similar in appearance and temperament, at first glance, to chickens. Unlike chickens, they breathe fire and are large enough to stomp and scratch any smaller creature that gets in their way. Their biggest weakness is their sensitive hearing, which can be exploited with loud noise. Despite their rather fearsome roars, kut-ku are fairly easy to hunt, for wyverns, and they are a true test of mettle for up-and-coming hunters. Their scales are fireproof.

Gypceros: Gypceros are somewhat heavily armored, spit poison, and use the flashing crest on their heads as a weapon to confuse smaller creatures. They are immune to the effects of flash bombs, and when hunting one, the sharpest possible blade is the best. They are not the weakest wyvern, but they are fairly timid and like to play dead.

Plesioth: Plesioth is a marine wyvern that is related to the Cephalos. Despite this they are one of the largest wyverns in the game to hunt (3rd largest). In addition, they are pretty dangerous to hunt as they mostly stay in the water and if you are able to draw them out, their attacks are very fast and can deal large amounts of damage. The one weakness they do have is the thunder element, plus despite its size it has the same amount of life as some of the "weaker" wyverns. They are part of a non-draconian subcategory called "Piscine Wyverns", along with the Cephalos, due to similar skeletal structures.

Cephalos: Cephalos are wyverns that live in sand. When you get too close or make a big sound it will come out and attack you. When it is under the sand you can still attack its top fin as it swims through the sand. They are part of a non-draconian subcategory called "Piscine Wyverns", along with the Plesoith, due to their similar skeletal structures.

Cephadrome: Cephadromes are the alphas of the Cephalos, are much larger in size, and are black in color. They are hard to fight because they swim through the sand most of the time, but it's size makes it easy to hit with any normal weapon, provided you are fast enough.

Hak-Long Liu: Hak-Long Liu, which means "Black wolf bird" in Chinese, is said to be one of the sub-species of Yian Kut-Ku. They have super hard scales, and is able to spit poison. Unlike its relatives, HLL is warlike and will pursue hunters if they started to run away. The body parts of HLL are very precoius, and is used to make the most-powerful weapons in the game. Very dangerous to all hunters. Available in Monster Hunter Portable (PSP) and Monster Hunter 2 (PS2).

Draconian

Rathalos: These red-scaled wyverns are something of a rite-of-passage for hunters. They are the first draconian wyverns that most hunters fight, and they take a fair amount of coordinated planning to kill or capture. Their massive size, tails that crack like bullwhips, and fire breath are all dangerous weapons. A Rathalos will scan large territories from the air with their massive wings, and when seriously wounded, they will hobble and fly back to their lair to rest.on the egg quest it is best to wound the rathalos so it will go back to it's lair and sleep,thus you can get the eggs.

Rathian: The Rathian is the Rathalos' female counterpart. While she is almost identical in shape and size to the Rathalos, a Rathian's nesting instinct means that she will generally not fly as much, tending to take to the sky only when threatened. They are green in color and the spikes on it's back and at the tip of it's tail are filled with poison. They have the constant need to be near large bodies of water.

Khezu: Khezu are wyverns that live in caves and cling to the ceiling of the cave. They are light blue in color and though they have no eyes they can still smell the player. They have electric attacks that can stop the player in their tracks. They also cling to the caves ceiling and starts to drip acid from their open mouth. They act a lot like bats and moles. Smoke bombs can, if you're lucky confuse them.

Diablos: Diablos are wyvresns with two big horns and a club like tail that do not fly but instead travel under ground by burrowing and are loctated only in desert areas.

Monoblos: very similar to Diablos, except has only one horn, which is highly prized. Its also burrows under ground and, also lives in desert climates.

Gravios: Gravios are giant rock wyverns that emmit a sleeping gas and are known to fire a long-range beam of fire at its opponents. Due to the hardness of its scales only extremely sharp weapons are said to pierce its skin. They are have a subspiecies called basarios, which shares the same hard skin.

Lao-Shan Lung: " A giant dragon that few have seen and lived to tell the tale. When on a rampage it wrecks havoc on all in it's path. The guild has built a fortress to repel the beast, but will it hold?" The pinnacle of the online game is being able to fight this massive creature. Its name means "Old Mountain Dragon" in Mandarine. This towering terror is the largest creature in the game and takes at least two party members to kill. Its size makes fighting it tedious because you can only hit its head, feet and stomach.

Fatalis: "A legendary black dragon said to have prowled these lands since days of old. Many skilled hunters have sought to challenge it, but none ever return. A monster shrouded in mystery...". Fatalis is also a large dragon online. It is black and has two legs, two arms, and two wings. (Like a basic fairytail dragon.) It is also large but not as large as Lao-Shan Lung. It is also hard to fight because it flies around. It will take at least two party members to kill the beast. It is also known as the boss of the game. There is thought to be only one in existence and it is also said that Lao-Shan Lung is fleeing from Fatalis, which is why the players must defend the fort from Lao-Shan Lung in the game-He is fleeing from Fatalis. Gunners are extremely useful in this fight and parties usually won't allow people wihtout a gun and Cluster Shot Level 2 ammo to join.

Cats

Melynx: These cat-like creatures can be very annoying while fighting real monsters like rathalos and kut-ku. They are black, carry weapons that have a cat paw on the end, and are capable of stealing items.

Felyne: This monster is almost the same as melynx except that they do not steal your items, they attack you if provoked, and they are white. They attack you with their primitive weapons, (same as melynx weapons) and dig up bombs. They also have limited speech capabilities. Felynes can be a bother if they start tossing you around with their bombs.

This list of monsters is nowhere near complete. Some special multiplayer quests include mythical beasts that can provide hunters with rewards and materials not available at all in the single player game, and there are many opportunities to learn from experience, and one's fellow hunters. Good Luck!