#mh4u weapon design

[jestaplushgal]

Was thinking about how Daimyo Hermitaur and Shogun Ceanataur don’t have a combined switch axe or charge blade so I drew rough ideas for what I think they could look like

[amiya-shirou]

For the MonHun ask thing!

1 - Game/gen you started with

10 - Favorite armor set

18 - What weapon(s) you play and what you like about it

32 - Describe what kind of NPC you think you'd be in a Monster Hunter game.

1 - Game/gen you started with

2nd gen, with MH Freedome Unite! I was fairly young and definitely not good at it nor used to actually hard games (like, got stuck for weeks against low rank Congalala levels of bad), so it was a very formative experience. It was a bit clunky as a game but I have so many good memories and hunts from it forever engraved on my mind. The experience of slowly improving to the point of conquering the entire game is something I'll never forget.

While I might be a bit biased I also think it had one of the best vibes, with the Snowy Mountains and the fantastic Pokke Village theme and the good old tower. Like, it's probably not my favorite Monster Hunter anymore, but every time I think back about the things I love the most about this franchise, fighting the White Fatalis on top of the tower with this in the background is one of the first things that comes to mind:

When I first got to Placidusax in Elden Ring, the first thing I thought is "this guy wishes he could be like the MHFU White Fatalis."

10 - Favorite armor set

I'm always a bit on the edgy side with armor designs, so obviously I used the Vaal Hazak set for most of World (& often applied its layered set during Iceborne even when I changed armors)

I dig the "Dark Lord" vibe.

Velkhana is pretty nice, too. Makes me feel like I came straight out of Irythill from Dark Souls III:

Might be missing some great set from older games, but unfortunately my memory is a bit too vague on those due to how much time passed, I remember the sets from World more clearly.

18 - What weapon(s) you play and what you like about it

I like most weapons, but I use the Greatsword the most because it's the one I'm best with (fits my playstyle the most and does enough damage and is simple enough to cover me even when I'm playing badly or too aggressively or not reading the monster too well, even if I miss the final blows), and also it feels incredibly good when the charged attacks land properly. I like its versatility, having the option of sheathing and running around while still being able to hit hard in an instant and a semi-functional guard in case I need it.

I especially used it in World since there are huge gaps of time in between my playthroughs so by the time I come back I already forgot whatever I tried to learn of the other weapons and I go back to my trusted GS, I think I defeated pretty much everyone with it. It was also my main in Generations because the Aerial style was cool.

I varied a lot more in older games, especially in MHFU where I also used the Bow, the Dual Blades and the Longsword, and in MH4U where I used the Insect Glaive almost as much and loved the Charge Blade. That said whenever I'll start a new MH I plan to properly learn another weapon and rely less on the Greatsword, unless I really need to go back to it for a particularly hard fight

32 - Describe what kind of NPC you think you'd be in a Monster Hunter game.

Probably a random villager sitting by the kitchen with a weirdly vast knowledge of monsters facts & myths for someone who doesn't hunt nor work with the guild researchers

[its-aighost]

My Top Ten Monster Hunter Monsters

I'm doing this cause i just watched a video of someone else doing it and felt like it.

Starting with Honorable mentions; Rakna Kadaki, Chameleos, Gogmazios, Lunagoron, Lagombi, Paolumu, Legiana, Valstrax, Espinas, Dodogama, Banbaro, Vaal Hazak, Great Wroggi, and Pukei Pukei.

#10

Zinogre;

Big electric wolf boy with spikey spikes. Also Thunderlord and Styngian are really cool variant/subspecies of the guy. I just think he is cool.

#9

Tetsucabra;

Big rock demon frog, and also my first Hunt as i played the MH4U demo on my 3ds with my sibling. Had never heard of the Monster Hunter series before this point and tried the demo as recommended by said siblings friend. Also I just really like frogs. so rock frog is #9

#8

Kecha Wacha

His armor, his design, his goofy little self. He was a fun challenge early on in MH4U and gave a into the new combat system so nicely. Also his playful kind of attitude makes me want him in something again besides a stories spin off title. I wana see him in an enviroment like world or rise...

#7

Ceadeus;

While the MH4U demo was my first Monster Hunter experience, my first game was MH3U on the 3ds. And that means my first Elder Dragon, was none other then the giant goat whale himself. While the under water fighting mechanic was a slow and painful process, it was well worth it especially with his EPIC BOSS MUSIC. My favorite ost in the entire Monster Hunter series save proof of a hero is Ceadeus Theme! That alone makes him so epic in a nostalgic way.

#6

Deviljho

I actually didn't like deviljho when i first ran into him in MH3U. I was actually terrified of him to the point of nightmares. (mind you i was like 13) But when i got to MH4U and watching some dumb pickle jokes about him later in life, he just kept growing on me. I like his armor, his lore, and his fight is genuinely memorable. yet i still associate him with crimson Quropeco years later because yah... (that bird should also be a honorable mention)

#5

Nerscylla

As someone who despises Gypceros, i only like him if it means my baby girl is in the game too. OG spider monster is so cool. I love the great sword tree for her and her subspecies. I also just like spider monsters given we only have had two (Heard there might be a third in wilds, but trying not to spoil myself too much) I like her kind of creepy skin coat, that if you break it off you see her white actual spider shell. And her armor looks so like, knightly yet alien ish to me... she is just a really cool monster design that i want to see more of in the series.

#4

Gammoth

BIG MAMMOTH POPO MAMA!!!! She deserves to be back in a main line game as much as the other three!!!! While i love Astalos fight and armor and Misitsune's armor and fight, Gammoth just feels so BEHEMOTH and cool, and big! I love her armor and massive weapons'. i love her fight, i love that she is much more a guardian of the mountain then a horrible threat of nature! She big!! just amazing design, amazing fight, bring her back to me!!!!

#3

Lagiacrus

for similar reasons to Ceadeus and Tetsucabra, Lagiacrus was one of my firsts. He was my first proper flagship, and his fight was memorable to me even with the hard to grasp underwater mechanics. Also seeing him in the dark of the deep water with his glowing blue crystal spikes on his back as he unfurls and watches you... In my heart of hearts he is always what i think about when i think of LEVIATHAN. he is the leviathan. Knowing he could have been in World is a devastation to me. But i understand... Also his color palate is phenomenal by the way. That greenish more blue with the cream and then orange sub tones.... he feels ocean.

#2

Goss Harag

... I really like the bears. I love lagombi and arzuros. (Volvidon is eh) but i felt like after a certain point you just leave them behind, and lose the need to hunt them. I really like bears... Then you get Goss Harag, who is the new bear and he is EVIL in all the most epic ways! His scary demon looking face, that turns red when he is enraged! The fact he can make weapons' for his hands! His big fluffy white mane! He looks both cuddly and a serial killer! Like this guy could be put in a horror game and also be a very marketable stuffy!

#1

GORE MAGALA

and not just him, but his entire lore/ growth into shagura magala. In his base form, Gore Magala is such a alien creepy guy with like... very edgy aesthetic. The whole fact that he canonically cannot see you with out his scales that also weaken you... and that all his weopans and his armor all have like, Grim reaper dark lord energy. Then you have the fact that his final true form as the elder dragon Shagura Magala has such a more Heavenly aesthetic, yet still kind of angel of death! I really do love Gore Magala, not only as such a cool flagship and part of my all time favorite MH title MH4U I very specifically remember playing both the Gore Magala fight and the Shagura Magala fight on a bus ride, and having my friend who had no idea what i was playing, cheering me on as i took out both these epic looking six limbed dragon bois... it is memorable.

separate honorable mention;

i was the one that got my niece into monster hunter and was real shocked when she told me her favorite monster was Khezu...

[lightningstrike0104]

It's been a treat seeing you get into Monster Hunter. Always loved reading your thoughts on games so reading the ones on MH was insightful and even eyeopening to someone that's been playing since MH4U. The part of commiting to attacks especially helped alot when going into Wilds with the Offset parries since most of them requires you to commit to them for the parry to go through.

When it comes to the lackluster weapons I feel you there. The lack of unique Weapon designs is one of my biggest complaints with World as one who experienced the unique weapons of 4U, 3U and GU before it. Sometimes they didn't commit to giving returning monsters all their old weapons designs but thankfully both Rise and Wilds went back to unique weapon designs.

I am really glad you're enjoying World and hope you enjoy Worlds postgame, Iceborne and Rise when you get to them especially Rise since it has some of my favorite monsters in the Series both Old and New ones.

Monster Hunter World - Drimo Edition

I am going to sum up my thoughts of the pre-post game, base game experience of Monster Hunter World as someone who used to actively dislike Monster Hunter and who, in the last 2 weeks, has had a veritable blast with Monster Hunter World, and who defeated Xeno'jiiva last night. Most of the intended readers for this are familiar with my background, but in case an unrelated reader finds this to be something they'd like to read, a fast and dirty breakdown of my background is that I am in love with fast action games and in true love with FromSoft games, by which I mean not just Soulsborne, but also Armored Core, Shadow Tower and King's Field (and The Adventures Of Cookie & Cream, but that one's not important here), having grown up with FromSoft well before Demon's came out: The first Armored Core for the PS1 is a childhood favorite of mine and my first FromSoft title. I have done speedruns of Dark Souls 1, have cleared DS1, Bloodborne and DS3 in no level up challenges, and DS2 in a no death challenge. This intro is not to stroke my epic gamer penis, rather, it is to contrast this experience with my Monster Hunter experience prior to World: I gave Tri a go, and I did not like it, dropped it fast, then many years later, I gave Rise's demo a try and did Not Jive With It. I am a Complete Noob when it comes to MH. I want to credit @kc5rings for selling me an extremely compelling look into this game franchise I had basically written into my No Flight List and made me want to give it one last, third try. I want to thank @lc87 and @fractalanimus for playing the game with me when the time came to do sidequests, grind out some rare drops, and in general teach me the finer minutia of MH that you only learn through word of mouth, experience, or looking up guides, the last of which I'm allergic to. Three Wonderful People! And I want to thank a lot of different people in my notes through the Posting Of MH World that gave me different useful tips.

Very long post to it'll be under a cut.

The first thing I want to say, after this foreplay, is that to everyone that, through more than a decade, told me "dude you like Dark Souls, play Monster Hunter, you also dodge attacks, you'll like it!", you do not know how to sell your game. These games have a few overlaps, but they are very, very different beasts, they play fundamentally different and dare I say opposite in many regards. The moment I stopped trying to play Dark Souls in Monster Hunter, no, the moment I stopped trying to apply my prior knowledge of nearly all action games in Monster Hunter, was the moment it really started to click that this is more of an action positional turn based game than an action game. In Dark Souls, for example, you and enemies have really good tracking and adjustment, and even in Dark Souls 1, a game slow by the modern standards of the formula, you find speed similar to the fastest in the base World -- I've not played Iceborne -- there is a relation of economy of action and speed of action equals the amount of turns you can take. You take turns in Soulsborne as well, but the way you take and steal them is by knowing your attack speed, how many times you can swing and roll before running out of stamina, and how these factors interact with each of the enemy's attacks. This is reactive turn based action combat, where your main way of staying alive is properly timing your i-frames to the enemy's moves and then not overextending your stamina usage so you can both attack and get ready for the next affront. In Monster Hunter, you have way fewer i-frames, but conversely, both Hunter and Monster are extremely committal in their attacks, there's almost no adjustment, and the relation is instead economy of action and position instead of speed of action: Faster and less positionally important moves are weaker proportional to their convenience (Dual Blades, Bow for example), slower and more positionally important moves are vice versa stronger due to how inconvenient they are (Great Sword TCS). Your main way to evade attacks is to move to where you shouldn't be and not being there; your have a super high i-frame universal option in the sprinting dive, but this is entirely defensive and sacrifices your turn for a very safe move, which is antithetical to the offensive defense MH likes to encourage.

Once it clicked, the combat went from "holy fuck this feels awful to play" to "ohh this makes so much sense", initially there was a certain desperation of me trying to do things Fast because I like playing Fast, but that only resulted in missing attacks nonstop. You don't need to be Fast because nothing is Fast in this game. And just like Dual Blades and Bow, if a Monster is Fast And Its Attacks Are Convenient, it comes with a price tag: Odogaron and Tobi Kadashi are fast! But they are VERY linear, and what few moves they have that swipe or hit horizontally, they telegraph three business days in advance. Odogaron attacks 1 to 4 times in strings depending on its HP, but all you need to do is Move To The Side for the most part. Hunter and Monster follow the same rules, but you have to follow the rules! In fact, the reason Deviljho is so dangerous is because it doesn't follow the rules with its advancing body slam and with the Beat A Motherfucker With A Mother Fucker mode; Body Slam comes out relatively quickly compared to how it makes its entire body because a meteor sized hitbox advancing at you. And even then, it has a tell that gives you enough time to Move Out Of The Way (depending on where it cocks it head before the slam, it swerves left or right, meaning you can dodge towards the side its head is to get out of the way), as for the Holding A Monster, it gets insane and fast horizontal attacks, meaning disarming it is essential (Flash Pod).

Now, the flow of the game felt pretty good, but what I like the most: Scoutflies. For an environment rich in detail, Scoutflies allow you to properly parse the world without needing to strain your eyes by giving you all sorts of useful info and highlighting items of interest in the environment. The more you learn about a monster, the easier they track it for you. This is great, because, personally, I like the Fighting Part of the game more than the Tracking Part of it... But! The breathing living nature of World was still very fun to engage with.

In terms of difficulty, I think the game was pretty tame. It lives and dies by its rules, and I think the postgame will disrupt that with its superbosses and such, but at least the base experience was very strictly tied to the rules of combat. That doesn't mean it's boring, it was incredibly fun! Engaging with the rules per each Monster's needs means not only having to know the rules well, but also to be able to identify where a monster is not following them! So, for example, Odogaron overcommits, Xeno'jiiva has a tool for everything but only mediocre tools, Teostra is strong from the front and back but very weak from the flanks, Nergigante has good attacks but they are all highly telegraphed with high start up, Kirin has insane damage output options but can only land them on Stun, and so on. Just like your weapons diversify how you engage -- and skip some of -- the rules, so do Monsters. It's an incredibly level field between you and the Monster, almost like a fighting game where you can't pick half of the cast and the AI can't pick your half.

Initially, I thought the rhythm of having to grind the fuck out of stuff was going to make me hate it; the thing is, the fights were sufficiently fun for me to not mind doing some Monster fights several times in order to craft the gear I wanted, and this gear didn't need to get replaced often, that's great! However, this does lead to something the game disappointed me with: Weapons. The vast majority of weapons don't look good, and are small variations of the same base model for the tree. Sure, you got your Kirin Bolts and Bazelgeuse Hachets, but the majority is just... Generic weaponry with small modifications. In fact, Xeno'jiiva, the freaking final boss, doesn't get unique weapons! What the actual hell. The armor is great, but man, big fumble on the weapons to be frank!

The story is obviously just there, and the Handler -- I hope on purpose -- legitimately just exists as an entity that gets in trouble for you to see a Monster being dangerous for a while. But I didn't hate it or anything! It's Just There as a wrapper for the Monsters and the Hunters. This is pretty explicit, I think, considering all monster are named yet no human/wyverian is named. The only non-monsters with names are your Hunter and your Palico (Big Al my man). That said, I appreciated the angle of the story! We are a research commission, we are here to Learn Shit and not kill god, because god is part of the ecosystem, it's just Nature. It's Animals. We don't fuck with the environment, except when something has already fucked with it in ways that will be catastrophic to Everyone Involved, so we get involved to Unfuck It. I like that.

Overall, my experience with the game was very positive, and I am happy to have given this game a try. These two weeks have been pretty busy for me, but getting home and carving Odogaron and Deviljho to get those damn parts I am missing (Deviljho Scalp is rarer than Deviljho Gem, the spirits told me) has been a pretty fun activity to destress and beat the fuck out of Monsters with cool moves.

The Thing Is,

I Get It Now.

I get why you like this.

Looking forward to doing the rest of High Rank and then Iceborne and later on playing Rise!

[zaph1337]

Monster Hunter Rating 34: Pink Rathian, the Cherry Blossom Fire Wyvern

TEN THOUSAND YEARS WILL GIVE YOU--wait, the last review was literally this month, my bad. Well, now that I have some free time, it’s time to get back to rating monsters on an arbitrary and--as seen in the last review--incredibly subjective scale! Speaking of last review, it was pretty obvious that creating a Rathalos subspecies would also require a Rathian subspecies to go along with it. Let’s see how the Pink Rathian mixes things up!

(How it appears in Monster Hunter Freedom 1)

(How it appears in Monster Hunter Tri Ultimate)

(How it appears in Monster Hunter World)

Appearance: Honestly, I’m glad that this isn’t the color the designers chose for normal Rathian, ‘cause it would have hammered in the whole “girl Rathalos” idea way too hard (you could argue that Azure Rathalos and Pink Rathian are meant to represent the colors attributed to their sexes or genders, but I think that that’s just a coincidence). Judging them strictly by personal preference, though, I think that I like the colors here a tiny bit more than I do normal Rathian’s, but not enough to earn it an extra point. 7/10.

Behavior/Lore: They’re literally just “Rathians but more aggressive.” Don’t know what I was expect--wait, there’s a reason for it?

So, Pink Rathians, like normal ones, can live almost anywhere, but they like foresty areas. The problem is, while regular Rathians have a form of camouflage thanks to their green coloring, Pink Rathians stick out like a sore thumb. Because they can no longer ambush prey or hide from other powerful monsters, they’ve become more aggressive than normal to make up for it; instead of ambushing prey, they just rush in and try to kill it as fast as possible so it can’t escape. As a side effect of this behavior, Pink Rathians are less likely to be targeted by other monsters who don’t want to incur the wrath of a dragon that probably ate its anger management instructor--the fact that they’re more powerful than normal Rathians helps, too.

As much as I wish there was more here, I have to give the devs props for at least giving a reason for the Pink Rathian’s increased aggression. Still, this is just “Rathian+,” so like Azure Rathalos, I’m giving this the same score as I did the base monster. 6/10.

Abilities: Pink Rathians have the same abilities as their base form, but as expected, they’re more dangerous. They rely less on their charge attacks, but they use more backflips and tail whips in their fighting style, and do so faster and more skillfully than normal Rathians. This makes them very dangerous, as fighting them is a constant struggle to keep your life from being drained away by poison.

Like with Azure Rathalos, I appreciate how there’s a clear idea of what makes fighting a Pink Rathian different from fighting a normal one. Using some moves more frequently than others changes up the fight quite a bit, and the fact that they’re more proficient with these moves surely makes said fight a hassle. 7/10.

Equipment: Okay, I’ve been neglecting the whole “looking at weapon descriptions” thing, so I’m gonna fix that here. First off, here’s a Charge Blade from MH4 called Dia Hekateru:

Of course the first weapon I choose to show off is the one from a Japan-only game, and the wiki doesn’t have a translation for its description. Well, its counterpart from MH4U, Dear Hecatel, is “The Queen's Charge Blade. Ends prey in a rosy spatter, like petals in a spring wind.” That’s...morbidly beautiful? Is that a thing? Well, in any case, the weapon itself looks very pretty. The sword looks cool and effective, while the shield definitely looks like it could turn into the head of an axe. The next two weapons require both Pink Rathian and Azure Rathalos parts, starting with a Long Sword called Wyvern Blade “Blaze”:

“A Long Sword made from a pair of kindred wyverns. Its colorful edges can slice open the sky.” Edges? Isn’t this supposed to be a single-edged blade? Okay, I’m getting nitpicky, that’s a sign to focus on something else. Well, the colors work well together, but not only is most of the Pink Rathian’s influence restricted to the sheathe, the weapon itself reminds me of cotton candy. Not exactly threatening, but I doubt monsters know what cotton candy is. Finally, here’s a Switch Axe called Azure Rose:

“A Switch Axe made from a Pink Rathian and an Azure Rathalos. Proof one bested the pair.” Okay, I really like this, both because of the blue axe head and because of the way the dominant color depends on the form the Switch Axe is in. If it’s in Axe Mode, then most of the visible weapon is devoted to Azure Rathalos, while Sword Mode represents Pink Rathian. Someone more versed in MH than me could possibly draw parallels between the different fighting styles the modes use and the monsters they’re themed after, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s just me reading too much into this. On to the armor, unfortunately the MHO images were the only ones on the wiki that I really liked, and while they look similar to the Rathian armor designs I showed before, they’re not exact. Take that as a plus or a minus depending on your preference, but here’s the Blademaster set either way:

Y’know, now that I compare this with the Rathian set I showed off before, they’re much more different than I thought they were. They’re from different games, so it makes sense, but this is still quite jarring. Anyways, I prefer said Rathian armor over this, at least for the men’s set, mostly because I prefer the helmet being made of monster parts rather than metal. The red parts erupting from it are a nice touch, though obviously they don’t match the color of the monster they came from. The women’s set from MHO loses some of the “warrior queen” theming present in the Tri version in favor of being more regal, but at least the dress actually looks like you could dodge roll with it (yes I’m still hung up on that). As for the Gunner version:

It’s not even close to resembling the Gunner Rathian armor I showed off before, so I won’t even try to compare them. Well, okay, I will say that the arm guard on the men’s armor from Tri is much more practical than the one seen here, ‘cause it doesn’t take up the entire arm. I get that the point is to shield yourself, but you also need to be able to flex that arm a little. Having part of the chest be covered in literal scale-mail is a nice touch, though.  Also I haven’t brought any attention to it but that’s a really silly helmet. As for the women’s set, the helmet is very similar to the one I showed off in the Rathian review, but that’s where most of the similarities end. Said helmet comes with a facemask made of Pink Rathian scales (insert topical social distancing joke here), which can’t be easy to breathe through. Also, what the heck is that amorphous gold thing below the mask? What purpose does it serve other than confusing me? Final talking point, there’s a piece of metal dress here for some reason and it makes even less sense than having a full metal dress.

I think that the Pink Rathian equipment is about as good as the regular Rathian equipment; I like the weapons that also have Azure Rathalos parts more, but those aren’t the majority and basing my rating off of weapons that are also themed after another monster seems shallow. 8/10.

Final Thoughts and Tally: You might have noticed that every category here got the same score that it did in the Rathian review, and that says a lot about how I feel about Pink Rathian. I like it just as much as I do normal Rathian, and I’m sure I would have different opinions if I fought a Pink Rathian before, but I’ve barely fought any monster as is. I’m also not really willing to use too much of my brainpower on figuring out what I like better between them, mostly because I’m missing some of my meds and all the work I’ve had to do moving house has put enough strain on my brain as is. I hope to continue seeing support for the project, though; it’ll really help me when I work on future reviews! 7/10.

[palicolaite]

Onyx Terpsichore - Gogmazios Hunting Horn

A treat to all the dooters out there! The Onyx Terpsichore, a weapon resembling the Iron Maiden torture device. I hope I did the weapon justice. I’ve used this plenty of times along with the Seregios HH in MH4U. I originally planned the doors of the cage to be movable, but my air dry clay wasn’t sturdy enough and caused the shape of the weapon to distort.

Is it too much to hope that we’ll get unique weapon designs like this in Iceborne?

For commissions, you are welcome to drop by my Etsy shop. Thank you.

[sionnach-uaine]

I'm only a very casual fan of Monster Hunter but I still really like the world and monsters and their designs. With that being said what is your favorite installment of the series?

Of the games I’ve played (MH3U, MH4U, MHG/U, MHStories, and MHW/I), My favorite is probably 4U.

To me, that was the best a MH game has ever been written. The plot was clearly there with what you were doing while not being too invasive. The quality and fit of it all was great, and it has two of my favorite characters in the series (The Guildmarm and The Ace Cadet/Excitable A-Lister). Man I was so fuckin’ happy when that BOI slammed his mug down on the table across from you in World’s intro like hOLY SHIT IT’S MY BOY! He’s come so far I’m so proud omg bnfaivozbi

On top of that it was the game that introduced a lot of my favorite monsters (Nerscylla, Seregios, Najarala, Seltas Queen, and Gore/Shagaru Magala) and one of my favorite weapon types (Insect Glaive). The maps are pretty fuckin’ great too. Like the first map in the game, the Ancestral Steppe, just looking fucking amazing oh my Gods it’s such an amazing first map (minus That One Area anyway). Heaven’s Mount another gorgeous map, but for very different reasons, and the Primal Forest is my favorite map in the series.

It is, however, the origin (iirc) of investigation quests which even more so than in MHW can be a massive pain in the ass to get the right one. On top of that, unlike MHW where every monster always will have a quest available for them; some monster are locked into only investigations/guild quests and the Everwood (a semi-randomly generated map for specifically for expeditions and guild quests). Additionally, upgrading and forging weapons will not allow you to see ahead on the chart, so if your the sort who likes to make as many weapons like me; you’d need to be prepared to suddenly need to make two extras of a weapon for branches or just play with this up.

If you asked this for sake recommendations of old games to try out; despite how much I love 4U, I’d say GU is the better one to go with. There’s just so much more in GU and it brought back a bunch of the monsters from 4U. The Guildmarm and Ace Cadet also show up. The most important reason I would go with GU over 4U is because honestly? The old style’s movement? Is kinda fucking janky as hell ngl. In that regard, I’d say that GU does notably better than 4U, but it’s still going to be VERY jarring to go to from knowing MHW’s movement only. Also since it’s newer, the player base of GU is more active than 4U; just keep in mind that there’s a split between single and multiplayer quests. Also some veteran hunters would say that GU is better than MHW overall.

OH and the Ultimate versions are just that; objectively better than the regular ones. If you get MHGU or MH4U, let me know and I’ll help out with grinding.

[jakaltimes]

Monster Musings - The Monkey God

<warning: long post>

Hi everyone. With the explosion of Monster Hunter popularity with MHW, there’s been alot of apparent talk about how the “new” monster, Deviljo, is super powerful and dangerous. And while that might be true, I think there’s a more problematically powerful monster I wanted to quickly vent about.

Meet the Rajang, aka The Great Golden Beast, a “Fanged Beast” introduced in Monster Hunter 2, and found all the way up to Monster Hunter Generations.

By the time we’re done here, hopefully you count yourself lucky you don’t have to deal with him in the New World.

<Preface>: I do not think this monster is bad, and I understand you can overcome him with practice and patience. I intend to identify, instead, that this creature is either poorly designed or executed.

Part 1: Physical Design

Like I mentioned before, Rajang is a Fanged Beast, which is the “giant mammal” group of monsters in this game. I first encountered this guy in MH4U, which had quite a few different Fanged Beasts.

The first problem I have with Rajang, is how his design does not help you anticipate his abilities. Usually Capcom does a good job informing you right off the bat about what’s in store with any given foe. The other Fanged Beasts in MH4U do a pretty good job here:

The “Kecha Wacha” is a slender, lemur-like creature, so you expect alot of jumping, swinging, and slashing with it’s long claws.

The “Congalala” is a fat, hippopotamus-like creature that carries a mushroom in its tail. Since players use Mushrooms as boost items, you expect this monster to throw it’s bulk around and eat ‘shrooms for different effects.

The Rajang, on the other hand, is a big black baboon with horns. Spoilers, he’s got lots of Electricity and leaping attacks. But when you first run up to him, he doesn’t do alot to telegraph that.

Tell me what part of this tells me I’m gonna get both zapped AND chase him around?

Part 2: Movement

In MH4U, until you fight this guy, hunting is pretty simple: monsters run in straight lines before attacking, and dodging is based on the hit-box-width of the creature.

Rajang prefers to move around the battlefield in a zig-zag pattern. You’d think this isn’t so bad, but keep in mind this effectively doubles its hitbox, since him moving over you damages and knocks you back. This makes it...difficult to chase or anticipate, since he can clip you while you in the middle of charging attacks or running to the stopping point of this animation. The only other monster I know that does zig-zag movement is the Elder Dragon Kirin, and at least it doesn’t auto-hit when its moves.

Part 3: Attacks

Most of Rajang’s attacks use it’s muscles, but in a big way

This guy uses his fists to thrash about very quickly, striking everyone around. Most other AOE attacks by monsters are slow or telegraphed, but Rajang dishes out punishment with abandon.

Another trick up this primate’s sleeve is being able to jump to certain portions of the map, pull a chunk of masonry out of nowhere, jump to a different part of the map, them chuck that slab of stone in a spinning arc. I have yet to see any other monster do this, and if he’s targeting you while you’re weapon is drawn, it’s so wide it’s pretty much guaranteed to hit.

Part 4: The Rage

The most iconic part of Rajang is his Super-Saiyan Mode: when this guy rages, his hair glows golden. And just like the anime, he gets some broken moves in this state.

One of these attacks is another new one: a Sonic-style spin dash which auto-targets a player on the map. This causes him to quickly leap up into the air, so it’s difficult to track (not that it would do you much good)

The second notable attack is the Lightning Laser. A calm Rajang does have a lightning breath, but it’s a single uneventful lob of electricity. But The Laser. The laser is god. It reaches all. the. way. across the map, striking through targets, and Rajang can adjust himself while he’s telegraphing to track you while you’re trying to dodge. Not to mention it has a deceptive hitbox. If you don’t die to this, one of your teammates will.

TLDR: In the end, I don’t think this monster is a bad fight in MH4U: it can be done. But it introduces players to so many new mechanics at once that it seems like punishment for punishment’s sake. Yes, I know there are monsters from MH2 which shared some of the moves I mentioned with Rajang, but they aren’t featured in MH4U. The jumping, swinging, heavy-lifting, spin-dashes, AND laser...I feel like Capcom combined 3 or 4 different monsters together and expected players to just deal with it.

Until next time, happy hunting!

[iwannapushyourdaisies]

Oh, I bought MH4U on my birthday and i'm having a blast with it Gore Magala and Zinorge have been my favorite monsters so far.

oh!! im glad you’re having a blast, and that you seemed to recall that those are among my favorite monsters :DD the magala in particular has such a great design, both in and of itself and the armor/weapons..... imma big fan of the switchaxe scythe huuu

i kinda wanna pick the game back up sometime but..... the gotdam high rank seltas queen............

[werebudgie]

Describing Monsters - MH4U

I will keep this to MH4U and the big monsties :D not subspecies or elders. this list would take forever Great Jaggi - Frilly raptor Velocidrome - Blue jumpy raptor Gendrome - Stop Paralysing me please Iodrome - stop poisoning me please yian kutku - adorable dorky bird which will hurt you seltas - gosh bugs are easy to kill Seltas Queen - Oh wait Kecha Wacha - Elephant lemur creeper face tetsucabra - tusky sumo toad gypceros - No Nerscylla - How many status effects do you have exactly??! Congalala - farts to attack, need I say more Zamtrios - 1st form street shark, 2nd form, ice armour, 3rd form beachball lagombi - its a bunny Najarala - stuns you, paralyzes you, circles you, kills you Khezu - no theme, no warning, suddenly Khezu Rathian - killer Queen Rathalos - earplugs, flashbombs, easy Basarios - forgetable sadly (but gets quite a cool attack in MH stories) Gravios - get used to the sound of his laser canon, he does it alot zinogre - break dancing thunder wolf dragon Tigrex - spinning attacks suck Hermitaur - Big Crab, sucks to fight for the first time yian Garuga - constantly enraged, do not let your guard down cephadrome - I hate it...I just...i Just hate it monoblos - actually kinda easy to kill unlike- diablos - NOPE (more referring to g rank black here but still) seregios - the pinecone of death (seriously awesome design though) brachydios - love it, amazing music, awesome design, amazing weapons Deviljho - So..much....damage (special mention for the hyper one Mhgen) Gore Magala - great monster design, super easy to fight tho Ukanlos - Shovel chin Akantor - .....wait he has a pinning move?! aaaand dead Rajang - still haven’t broken the horns.... Thinks that’s all of em....side form the worst monster of all.....Konchu

[zedrin-maybe]

I can't believe I have been following for this long and never knew you were fellow Monster Hunter. What is your favorite monster design? What is your favorite monster to hunt? Favorite weapon type and armor set? And best game in the series?

Fav monster design - tie between Nargacuga and Zinogre

Fav to hunt - fluctuates. I’ve been practicing soloing the hellblade and have it down to a science now, can kill it without ever having to heal at level X.

Weapon - Literally anything except insect glaive. In 4U, I rotated from SNS, to GS, to CB, to HBG, but I did use everything regularly (sans IG and bow cause I hated the sound of the seregios bow). In Gen, I mostly mained aerial SA like a scrub and adept CB while leveling up.

As for what I use now, adept LS (for hellblade namely), striker SA (for leviathans and deviljho), striker CB, adept DB, adept/striker LBG (striker just for kushala elemental gunning), adept bow (who doesn’t), adept hammer, and adept hunting horn. I want to use lance and SNS more as well but, eh.

Favorite armor set is strictly based on aesthetics for me, and I’d have to say nargacuga again. :V I use mixed sets to min/max my skills otherwise.

Best game IMO so far has been MH4U. The progression and balance made every weapon and approach feel great. In gen, the way some styles interact with the weapons is disappointing, by contrast (aerial overall is a pretty big letdown. And GL desperately needs some love).

[jestaplushgal]

Wanted to draw out this small weapon idea before sleeping, not super complex but i thought it was cool, inspired by the wroggi hammer and roly-polies :3c

[hobgobbin]

@domhnall-of-zena replied to your post “@domhnall-of-zena replied to your post “@domhnall-of-zena replied to...”

I think I was the most hyped for mh4u (but also: okami on ps4 would be amazing bc I've been wanting to replay it, granted nothing is stopping me from tryna find a copy for ps2 or getting a ps3 for both okami and demons souls) but also for mh world I'm really hyped about the designs like... for armor and weapons!! Also hammer would be really fun fhcbfbc I just really like monster hunter

Okami on ps4 would be a damn miracle and I would cry irl for WEEKS

YEAH !! I can’t wait to see new armor/weapon designs, I can’t remember if they added a new weapon or not, but seeing how the weapons are changed to work with the open world/grappling thing you can do with monsters is gonna be SICK

also i mean it goes w/o saying I am HYPED for all the new monsters dsfsgd

[ella-mentree]

Toukiden 2 and Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate: A light comparison

Preface: Why MH4U and not MHX or MHXX? Because I never finished Monster Hunter X and haven't even touched MHXX. Why not Toukiden: Kiwami as well? Because I never played it. And regarding online: I never played random games, I exclusively played with friends or arranged matches with people online before playing, so take that into account. So let's dive right in starting with the single player content: Monster Hunter + Not much is locked behind Single Player, so you can ignore it almost entirely if you want + Lots of minigames to keep you busy + Inventory and item management is crucial - None of the characters are memorable and you have no meaningful relationship with any of them - You don't get any partners other than your pet cats, which serve to be loud and annoying distractions more than anything else - There's really no story to speak of, there's no reason you're doing anything you're doing and you have no impact on the game world Toukiden 2 + A large free roam overworld with plenty to do in it + A lively hub town that, while large, keeps the majority of its important NPCs in one area + Unique quests for every named NPC, a small-but-meaningful Relationship Building system that lets you get bonuses from them and/or craft their unique weaponry + Tons of Single Player exclusive content that gives incentive to play it + NPC/AI slayers help make quick work of the campaign + You actively affect the game world with your endeavors and your role in the story feels significant - Unlocks as you go, so it's not open world - Some of the things in the game world are tedius rather than enjoyable - Significantly important content (like the ability to upgrade gear past a certain point) locked ENTIRELY behind Single Player - The NPC/AI slayers are seriously overgeared and can make you feel insignificant - Counter missions are almost completely meaningless and there's no reason to do them over the multiplayer missions - There is relatively no inventory management or item management Weapons and Combat: Monster Hunter + Most weapons feel potent even if you're underperforming + Monster arenas are well-designed and take advantage of the monster's properties such as flight or climbing + Battles are somewhat more tense because there are no visible health bars, only a handful of visual cues + Mounting monsters is exciting (at first) + As of Monster Hunter X there are several different unique weapon styles that can change how weapons work and give them slightly different playstyles. + As for the weapons themselves, there are many available to suit a fair amount of playstyles. + Cutting off a tail is pretty fun. - Without proper equipment and/or map knowledge, every hunt eventually turns into a game of hide-and-go-seek - Almost all of the weapons are incredibly slow and lock you into animations for an absurd amount of time in a way makes your fights feel incredibly sluggish and unresponsive. It becomes entirely too easy to miss a fast-moving enemy with even the quickest of weapons because of how easy it is to be locked into place. - You absolutely can NOT attakc while moving. - Verticality depends entirely upon the makeup of the arena, and is sometimes impossible (somewhat fixed in Monster Hunter X, but I still don't like it) - Mounting Monsters for that extra bit of stun and damage is nice, but becomes tedious quickly and doesn't add much to the game overall. - Boosts are locked to armor, and they are mostly passive boosts and don't augment your combat abilities or style very much except by way of adding some raw damage with Attack Up passives. - Weapons are, generally speaking, not dynamic. Even weapons with different stances and forms have a very formulaic way of using them. - Only a small handful of monsters actually lose a significant amount of their attack ability by removing parts from them, and typically the only thing you can actually REMOVE (not just damage/hurt) is the tail. Toukiden 2 + Weapons are responsive, quick, and all very unique and dynamic. Some weapons let you attack while moving, many let you perform unique aerial attack combos on enemies, and their abilities can be augmented or outright changed by Mitama. + Mitama, in the place of Armor Boosts that Monster Hunter has, lets you have 9 passive boosts (3 per Mitama) as well as 3 active skills from 11 different CATEGORIES of Mitama (attack, defense, speed, spirit, healing, support, deceit, plunder, luck). This allows for a very in-depth, meaningful customization of your playstyle and can fundamentally change how you use your weaponry. + There are several dynamic weapons that support all kinds of playstyles. + The Demon Hand lets you achieve verticality simply not possible in Monster Hunter games. You can grab any Oni and several scenery objects (trees, cliffs, etc.) to become airborn. + Entire body parts (arms, legs, horns, wings, tails) can be removed from Large Oni, sometimes PERMANENTLY. + There is, in fact, a special mechanic just FOR removing body parts. There are two meters you fill during battles that guarantee you a removal or permanent removal respectively. + Large Oni themselves are extremely dynamic, have several different forms and fundamentally change how you are meant to approach them based on these forms. - Weapons can feel quite impotent sometimes, and with the exception of the Club none of them have nearly the weight or power behind them of your typical MonHun weapon. - Mitama are dropped randomly and only a very small few are guaranteed in the single player story. Some are locked behind single player content as well. - Low Rank Oni are entirely too easy to topple over frequently, and become a non-challenge. - You won't see the additional forms of many Oni until you hit high rank because their health pool simply isn't large enough until then. - Many limbs DO grow back unless you use the special technique (which requires meter and stamina) to do a permanent removal. Enemies and Enemy Variety: Monster Hunter + There are a LOT of monsters, but that's to be expected after so many mainline games and a handful of spinoffs. + There is plenty of variety in how monsters move around in the world. Flying enemies, digging/swimming enemies, and enemies that climb on the walls/ceiling all exist. + Large Monsters are very aggressive and require preparation and thought. + Expeditions are a thing. They're okay. Only worth mentioning to compare them to the Ruins in Toukiden 2. - An excessively large percentage of the monsters are dragons and/or dinosaurs, so if that's not your thing you're kind of out of luck. - I would only dare to call a small handful of the available large monsters "inspired." - Insofar as small monsters go, there's only one or two of them and a handful of variations and they're largely meaningless aside from the shitbags that like to interrupt your dance with a large monster occasionally. Toukiden 2 + There is a incredible variety of Large Oni ranging from humanoid to outright inhuman, and there's only two dragons in the game. There are genuinely frightening Oni that are absolute nightmare fuel as well. + Medium Oni fill a unique role in the single player and provide an adequate challenge for what they are. + There are many types of Small Oni as well with many varieties that show up all over the game world, and some Large and Medium Oni can summon Small Oni to battle with them as well. + Ruins function as a sort of Boss Rush, letting you fight Large Oni continuously for as long as you can handle it. The rewards for this are also quite nice. - Small Oni quickly become a nuisance and their appeal wears off quickly. In groups larger than 3, they can stunlock you. There are also single player evens with 30+ Small Oni all in one area that can stunlock your entire party and ruin your fucking day. - Medium Oni are laughable in multiplayer. - Only a small handful of Large Oni pose a respectable challenge, and some of them seem to only ineffectually thrash about, sometimes not even in your general direction. Low Rank oni in particular seem to throw out attacks at the air with no real intention of actually hitting you. The Grind: Monster Hunter + If you need area-specific items, there's usually a mission exactly for that. + Your shitcunt cats, if nothing else, can help you get additional items from large monsters. - Even in low rank, you're going to have to fight the same shit several times with the same equipment to get new gear, and this really wears on you quickly. - By the time G Rank comes around, the grind is outright oppressive and only the most diehard of fans will struggle onward. - Desire Sensor. Look it up. Whether it's real or not, the fact that so many people believe it is significant. Toukiden 2 + The grind doesn't get especially painful until High Rank. + Upgrade materials can be synthesized with other materials. + While random chance is involved, there is usually a way to recoup what you already have to lesson the weight of the grinding burden. + Machina and Tenko can gather certain area items for you. - Some things require parts from Large Oni that can only appear completely by chance in the Ruins. - Machina and Tenko offer no help whatsoever with acquiring Large Oni items. - Gathering items in the field is an absolute pain, and there are no gathering missions to aleviate this. And that concludes my comparison. I'll include more shit later if people bug me enough.

[matieosodyssey]

Playing Monster Hunter again has been a ton of fun, so much fun that I’m hankering for Souls, actually; new ava > Dragon Slayer Ornstein. Art is from the Official Design Works for Dark Souls. But yeah, MH4U is the first MH game I’ve played till high rank. In Tri, I hunted Lagiacrus, but stopped after that. I got to the point in this one where I’d hunted Gore Magala, like, five times, along with a number of other mind-numbingly annoying monsters *shakes fist at Rajang* and two things stuck out for me, in terms of, like, I’m okay not continuing this game: 1. the verticality stuff isn’t fun, because fighting while climbing and climbing in general isn’t fun, and 2. playing on a 3DS isn’t fun. I also feel that forging the best, sort of, weapons and armour is time consuming, which seems an asinine point given MH’s an RPG, but, idk, there was a ton of cool armour that I wanted, but would have had to grind un-fun bosses to get; to each their own! The end game is exceptionally hardcore, though, and I look forward to Monster Hunter World, where I can experience that with a proper peripheral and online matchmaking system. So, I never finished Dark Souls III after picking it up day 1 last year. I think what happened was that I was getting caught up at work, for one, but also that I got Uncharted 4 a month later (a game I mean to Platinum at some point this summer) and that Overwatch came out in May, and just, yeah, absolutely ruined me, gaming schedule-wise. But that’s what I’m trying to do this summer, just, get through as much of my backlog as possible, and preferably one game at a time. I’m starting that today; I’ve been replaying Xenoblade Chronicles on my 3DS before bed, and it’ll be Breath of the Wild over the weekends (and we’re almost done that, just one more Divine Beast left :D). Yep.

[zaph1337]

Monster Hunter Rating 19: Gypceros, the Strange Poison Bird

Well, we’ve got another Bird Wyvern, but it’s not a dromaeosaurid this time. It’s uh...well...it’s...a Gypceros!

(How it appears in Monster Hunter 1)

(How it appears in Monster Hunter Online)

Appearance: ...is this supposed to be based on something? I don’t remember any dinosaurs that had a head like this. Well, it’s got a beak that looks like it’s made of wood, and a big stump of a horn on the tip. It also has a crest on top of its head shaped like a hammer-head, and a tail that looks like it belongs to a rodent. Yeah, this thing looks ugly. It’s like Jim Henson designed a pterosaur for The Dark Crystal. I would at least forgive the ugliness if it was interesting, but it isn’t; those colors don’t do it any favors. 3/10.

Behavior: Gypceros are omnivores that enjoy feeding on mushrooms and bugs, their favorite food being Flashbugs and Thunderbugs. This leads them to chase after people holding shiny objects like crystals, mistaking them for the iridescent insects. But they’ll also chase after people who aren’t holding anything shiny, ‘cause just because you don’t have any bugs on you doesn’t mean you’re not carrying food they can steal. Gypceros don’t like confrontation, however, and are as timid as they are curious. Still, if they think a fight is inevitable, they’ll play dead to fool potential enemies into getting closer before suddenly flailing around and likely striking their opponents.

This is pretty interesting, but...I don’t know, it just seems like there’s not a lot there. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems like there was more for me to talk about when I was going over the previous main monsters. 5/10.

Abilities: There are two things Gypceros are known for; first is their poison, which is created in an internal sac and spat out of the mouth as globs that evaporate shortly after hitting something. The second thing is their ability to create bright flashes by striking their crests against a solid object. These flashes can stun hunters and disorient other monsters, leaving them open to attack. The wiki also says that the crest’s flashiness is why flash bombs don’t work on Gypceros, which...doesn’t make any sense. Their immunity to electricity, on the other hand, is more plausible, as their skin is rubbery and thick. And remember that weird-looking tail? It’s elastic, and Gypceros can use it as a whip to strike from a distance. When an enemy’s up close, though, they prefer to just use their doofy-looking beaks as a weapon. Also this doesn’t have anything to do with fighting but apparently these guys can run on walls, so they probably have gecko-like pads on their feet. These things get weirder and weirder the more I learn about them, but they have pretty interesting abilities. 6/10.

Equipment: The theming behind Gypceros weapons is...difficult to describe. Some of them have a sort of fantasy-tech vibe with tribal or jungle elements, some of them are kinda gritty and plain, and some of them just look like they’re made from Gypceros materials, which, well, they all are, but they don’t always look like it. Here’s a Hammer called the Venom Monster, which I think fits mostly in the first and third categories:

The crest and beak look like they came from a Gypceros, but the rest is an odd metal. I also don’t know if the crest has that blue glow while it’s still part of the monster, but it gives me a fantasy-tech vibe. Next up is a Gunlance called the Hard Hitter (this render is from Monster Hunter Online, which doesn’t have English names for the weapons, but this Gunlance is called the Hard Hitter in several games):

In case you still don’t get it, this is straight-up a baseball bat. Seriously, in several games its upgraded form (which looks exactly the same) is called the Big Slugger, and in MH4, where the Hard Hitter is called the Average Hitter, its upgraded form is called the Grand Slam. Why they gave a pterosaur-Muppet hybrid a baseball bat weapon, I can’t say, but I’m a sucker for weapons that shouldn’t be in their class, yet can still function just as well as the weapons that do fit in that class. Here’s another example of that--a Long Sword from MHO:

I have no idea what tool or weapon this is based off of, but A: I’d appreciate it if someone who knows can tell me, and B: it looks awesome, albeit not very Gypceros-like. There are several more weapons that I want to show y’all, but I’m giving myself a hard limit of 3 for these reviews to keep this section from getting even more bloated, so let’s move on to the armor. Here’s the Blademaster armor from MH4U:

Okay, this is pretty good on both sides, but I have to point out how weird the male armor’s helmet is. It looks like Zant from LoZ: Twilight Princess (though admittedly that one’s even weirder looking), and I think those slits on the mask are too low to be seen through. Maybe the Gunner armor’s helmet makes more sense:

Nope, it looks like an executioner’s hood mixed with a jester’s hat. How do you even breathe in that thing, especially if it’s made from Gypceros skin? Other than those really weird helmets, the equipment as a whole is surprisingly solid for such a plain and ugly looking monster. 7/10.

Final Thoughts and Tally: Well, that was surprisingly interesting. I got more than I expected from Gypceros, even though it came out middle-of-the-road at the end. Its quirky powers and bizarre equipment made up for its average behavior and less-than-stellar design. Guess the joke’s on me for judging a book by its cover. 5/10.