#moga village

[elfhunk]

if you're wondering what broke the streak of me always playing as girls? it was monster hunter tri, baby.

because when you boot up a game and are presented with two normal looking people instead of the usual exaggerated caricatures of masculinity and femininity? uh?

my brain kind of just immediately understood which one i actually liked a lot more?

also, this happens one minute into the game.

[charulein]

I know I'm complaining a lot about Wilds, but I am enjoying the hunts and the gameplay xd

[thirid]

一

[gigginox]

now that im playing world i have to find a way to fit this game's story into my monster hunter oc lore.

[demilypyro]

We DO know where the Guild HQ is, and it is always the same Guild: it is the Hunters Guild of Dundorma, and that is where they are headquartered. You can visit Dundorma in Monster Hunter 2 and 4 Ultimate. We know it's always Dundorma because the Guild logo is always the same:

Villages get Guild approval for quests by sending requests for official aid to Dundorma through the Quest Ladies (i.e. the Moga Sweetheart from 3U, the Guildmarm in 4U, The Handler in World, the Wyverian Twins in Rise, and Alma in Wilds). Hunters who don't abide by Guild rules run the risk of criminal persecution, making the Guild the de facto government of all locations we've seen in Monster Hunter.

[theladychonchon]

Hey hey hey ! Here's Pyro in my TF2/Monster hunter AU !

We don't know a lot of things about them. They were living in the Moga Village before coming to the new world.

As a Hunter they are very respected but a bit feared as well. The armor and weapons (switch axe) they use is made of an elder dragon called Dire Miralis, an enormous beast covered in magma.

Now in the new world, they help and are pretty sweet in general !

[xenodile]

Monster Hunter has had a long history of having a quirky girl sidekick that gives you quests. The earliest I remember it was the Moga Sweetheart in Tri, retroactively named Aisha years later. She had a whole storyline about being a city girl finding herself at home and settling in with the laid-back country folk of Moga and their rural lifestyle, to point that she's the arguing on the village's behalf for the Hunter Guild to lend support to fighting Caedeus instead of condemning the village and telling the residents to evacuate. It's all off screen, but she has stuff. The Guildmarm from the DS games and her raging monster lust is very well known and well liked as well, even as she seems to actively shoot the player down because she wants that Brachydios dick, not a human. I wouldn't be surprised to find out this was also true in the first game and Freedom Unite, but I don't remember, and in the games I didn't play like Generations or Does.

So it's not all together surprising that Capcom leaned into this angle a bit more heavily with the Handler in World. She's your Quirky Girl Sidekick that gives you quests, but there was a very harsh reaction to her, unprecedented in hostility compared to previous Quest Girls.

It could be that World itself was a polarizing game, and she became the face it, so it was dislike by association. It could also be that Monster Hunter gained a lot of mainstream Western popularity with World, having been primarily a Japan exclusive franchise with only occasional English localizations on handheld, so there was a new vocal demographic being introduced to the franchise. Personally I blame the English localization shortening "partner" into "Pard", that is not a flattering nickname.

The real reason though, I think it was just how ubiquitous the Handler was. World had more cutscenes than any Monster Hunter game before it, and the Handler was in just about all of them, oftentimes getting in trouble and needing to be saved. Her portrait would pop up mid quest to give unsolicited hints, some of which weren't entirely helpful. She would be at every camp, emoting at you when you entered or fainted. Every previous Quest Girl was a static figure that you saw when starting a quest to wish you well, and that was about it, but Handler was everywhere. She had so much screentime, constantly. It's not hard to understand that some people would get tired of her, likely the same ones that couldn't stand Navi in Ocarina of Time.

Rise was a step back from this with Hinoa and Minoto once again just hanging in the village to give you quests, but also appearing in cutsces and being central to the story, and I don't think I need to elaborate on how loved the two of them are. Sunbreak then expanded on this with Fiorayne, who rather than being a quest girl, was an active participant in hunts, establishing her as a peer rather than a sidekick, as well as giving Hinoa and Minoto the ability to fight alongside you, which only made them more popular.

And now Wilds gives us Alma, who is ever present in the same way the Handler is. She isn't just everywhere, she actively follows you around the map, visible on the periphery as you fight, commenting on your surroundings, and so on. Hell she tries to decide your weapon for you in the tutorial. So far people seem to like her from what I've seen, but once the full game is out I'll be curious to see what people think, if she fares better than Handler, and if so, what's the determining factor.

[casualvoltage]

yknow they hint at something dark that happened to your hunter in MH:Wilds story

and i really, really hope it has something to do with one of the old villages, like Moga Village.

It doesn't really seem like they're keeping much from the old games except a few monsters, but even then everything in wilds is just so fucking cool

play monster hunter wilds.

[dnkhamida]

My hunter, Zeke the Barioth hunter. I didn’t give him much lore or background except he came from Moga village.

[dala-siaka]

Meet the wanibek

A small leviathan that the people of moga village have developed an unusual relationship with.

Used to assist in fishing, they are often equipped with a loose snare surrounding their jaws, allowing them to eat small fish,but makes them unable to consume the larger fish before the fishermen can get them.

The top one is a baby that makes chirping noises akin to real crocodilian babies, and can be carried around in their parent’s jaws.

They are small relatives of leviathans like Lagiacrus and Agnaktor, and like their pelagic cousin, they possess electroreception(although they cannot produce electricity). This is helpful for underwater hunts, as they can sense the presence of a large monster in murky water or if they’re hidden.

Engravings are often written into their horns, and these are the mounts an aspiring moga village hunter will use to traverse the many islands that make up this region of the world.

[asexxxualerotica]

A new face for an old friend—after letting Jaerik have her fun, I figured it was high time Wilds got a proper shake with my personal Hunter lore. You see, up until recently, every major run of a Monster Hunter game I did, I made all of the hunters related to each other—they were all from the same family, brothers and sisters of each other. And the very first one who started it all was Zakias, a Hunter based out of Moga Village.

It’s been almost fifteen years since he made his debut, so I figured it was time he got a bit of an aged upgrade, so he’s in his mid-to-late thirties now. He’s also got a few scars from his worst hunt—the lightning mark is from a Stygian Zinogre, and it glows faintly in the dark and when he’s under duress.

[jellyghostspace]

NEW STICKERS!!!

I just got my new restock bundle, and alongside matte versions of my Elden Ring and Ghibli stickers I also got a new design featuring the Lagiacrus from Monster Hunter!

I took the opportunity to test out Stickerninja's vaporwave printing, and mapped a shiny layer to mimic dappled water reflections across the scales, so I've got a limited stock of shiny prints alongside the matte print, I'm really proud of how they turned out and I'll definitely be playing with this more in the future. Check them out here:

[elfhunk]

my game theory is that monster hunter wilds will have an expansion themed around the reintroduction of underwater combat and the addition of moga village and deserted island as an ecosystem that perfectly aligns with the design goals and thesis of wilds as a game and as a narrative, in this essay, i will

[anime-grimmy-art]

Day 2 – Weapons

Zet – Zet can wield any weapon to a degree. She’s made sure to be good enough with each weapon to hunt lower rank monsters with ease, but her one true weapon is the Switch Axe. She was introduced to the weapon back in her first longer assignment in Moga village, and the diversity of strength and speed between axe and sword mode makes her favour the weapon a lot. So, kind of, Jack of all Trades, Master of one. Later in life she will be forced to take up the Insect Glaive as her one and only weapon, but she learns to love that weapon as well.

Mei – Mei switches weapons often, always tailored to the monster she’s fighting, but she finds the most comfort in a bow, as it helps her keep distance and support her monstie without getting in its way.

Chidori – Hammer. That’s it. Her brain can’t handle anything more.

Day 3 – Armor

Zet – Zet doesn’t really have favouritism in armour, she mixes most of her parts anyways to get the strongest build she can get (mostly focused on negating things like stun and other ailments so she can easily fight continuously). However, she has found a fondness in both the Namielle and USJ armour. Not only are the stats to her liking, but they are quite comfortable.

Mei – Mei mostly just wears her Mahana dress, she finds most armour sets too uncomfortable to wear and she also feels like the dress makes her look less threatening to both people and monsters. She does, however, like the fluffy and poofy armour sets like Paolumu, Lagombi or Gammoth a lot cos they look very cute. She also does feel kinda pretty in the Legiana or Ashen Kecha Wacha armour, even if they’re not fun to wear.

Chidori – Chidori usually just wears the Kamura Armor Set as she wore that one for years and doesn’t feel comfortable switching all of a sudden, not to mention her not being able to wrap her head around how anything armour related works. Thankfully Hamon knows she’s stupid and upgrades her gear, so she doesn’t die out on the field.

[ideas-on-paper]

Monster Hunter Tri Diary, Part 1: Intro, Arrival in Moga, First trip to Moga Woods

So, inspired by @dragonflight203's Mass Effect replay posts (hope you don't mind me adapting the idea!), I've decided to do a "gaming diary" for my first playthrough of Monster Hunter Tri.

Thanks to the dedicated endeavor of fans from the MH community, the servers of Tri are finally accessible again, so I'm very excited to check this one out. The 3rd Gen is my favorite overall, and I've been yearning to see Loc Lac with my own eyes for years now.

But first, I'll have to spend some time in singleplayer to farm some equipment and re-familiarize myself with the game. Wouldn't want to do the hub quests ill-prepared! So, for now, we're starting slow.

Disclaimer: Text is paraphrased from my localization and might slightly deviate from the English version.

Intro

This is the first time I've seen the intro of MH Tri in person - and it’s such an amazing one, too! I love the correlation between the sea and land environments depicted here: The Jaggi pack is hunting the Aptonoths at the coast (great way to introduce the new small bird wyverns!), while the Ludroths are picking up the scraps that fell into the water.

That Great Jaggi was about to have the feast of his life on that Aptonoth, only to be bowled out by that Rathalos. xD Dude wanted his lunch back so badly that he was even willing to make a stand against the Rathalos. Probably wouldn't have held out for long, though, with Jaggis being weak to fire. (If Tri had turf wars, that Great Jaggi would've been totally obliterated.)

And when the Lagiacrus shows up, the Jaggis are just like: "Okay, this one’s way out of our league. Let’s get the hell out of here." xD

One thing I love about the Lagiacrus is that he's designed like an antithesis to Rathalos: Rathalos wields fire, which is the Lagi's primary weakness. Meanwhile, Rathalos himself is weak against lightning, which makes him vulnerable to Lagiacrus’s attacks. Both are the kings of their respective element, but when encroaching on Rathalos' territory, the Lagiacrus is like a literal fish out of the water.

I wonder what would happen if there was a turf war between them, though. Would there be a 50:50 chance of either one winning? Would the Lagi try to pull Rahtalos into the water? Would he even get out of there by himself? (I imagine it would look like a bird of prey that crashed in the water, but much bigger. Poor Rathalos might need a hand. xD)

I love how Lagiacrus turns away in an "Eh, I didn't mean to hunt this anyway" manner; like having his snack snatched away from under his nose hurt his pride, but he tries to act unbothered by it. xD

Ah, guys... I always get a little teary-eyed when the MH Tri main theme comes up. The Rathalos flying over the vast plains, the music picking up, and then the view with the hunters standing at the cliff... It really doesn't get better than this. :,)

Arrival in Moga

Ah, it's been ages since I saw that cutscene... It's technically the same as in MH3U, but still it feels so good to be back. I love how you see the villagers just going about their daily lives, the children being excited about the trinkets the Chief's Son brought back from his trip and all that... It evokes such a homey feeling right from the start, and it makes the village community feel that much more like family.

The chief actually mentions the sea people having crests on their skin and looking a little different from normal humans. I remember this from the MH artbook, where it's stated they gave them a different skin tone/markings as well as webbed hands to distinguish them from normal humans. I thought this was just a scrapped concept (since you don't see much of a visual difference in-game), but I had no idea there was in-game dialogue about it. Cool!

"Diversity means prosperity!" That's actually a really wise quote right there. Both the sea people and wyverians are knowledgeable in their own right, but each have different skills. If they unite them, everyone profits. (I think we could learn something from this for our own society.)

I love the Guild Sweetheart from MH Tri/3U. She's legitimately my favorite of all the Guild receptionists in Monster Hunter (at least those I’m familiar with). And she's trying so hard - she's really upset the Guild apparently forgot about them in this backwater village. Hang in there, sweetie!

"The Guild has permission to hunt and do research in the Moga Woods, and in exchange, we help the village with its problems." A fair trade, but I wonder if the Guild might have ulterior motives. Like, what are they doing with the research results? And do they really only permit just as much hunting as the monster population will allow, or is that just a farce? (I always trusted the Guild was true to their word, but after watching a few Monster Hunter lore videos, I'm not so sure. Ah, I was so gullible back then... xD)

The gossipy lady really loves her silly word games. (And so do I. xD)

"The Chief must have really good relationships with the Guild if he got a hunter like you to come to such a small village in the middle of nowhere." Not an unreasonable thought, actually... How did he convince the Guild to send a hunter to Moga if they otherwise completely ignore it? Is he friends with some of the higher-ups?

"For safety reasons, we’ve collected all information about monsters in a so-called "monster list"." Uh-huh... "Safety reasons"... I'm telling you, the Guild is definitely keeping secrets.

Okay, so the item seller really likes hunters. This reminds me, I think there's one single NPC in the entire series who couldn't stand hunters. (I believe it was some guy in Minegarde, though I can't say for sure since I've never been in that city myself.) Is this dude the only one or are there any others who actually dislike hunters?

I love the Outfitter with her "very important" virtual tests. Like yeah, I'm sure that fantasizing about slaying monsters with no first-hand experience will bring you that much closer to finding the "ideal weapon". (I gotta say, I love this kind of humor that Monster Hunter has - it's so dumb, but in a hilarious kind of way. The game knows it's dumb and doesn't take it too seriously, so it almost feels a bit like satire.)

I'm also quite fond of the Fishmongeress. She is warm-hearted and helpful, but also very assertive and knows what she wants. My kind of woman!

I love the dynamic between the two kids; like one is constantly bragging about how smart he is (while actually being really dumb), while the other, shy one is the actual smart one (can confirm this from personal experience xD).

Our local "whizz kid" tells us that the villagers are threshing rice at the windmills in Moga Village. (The ones you can see in the background near the armory and if you walk across the leftmost pier.) That’s probably what the farm is for, though I haven’t seen any paddy fields there.

You know what I find absolutely hilarious? The way the game incorporates gameplay tips. The villagers say stuff like "Okay, so try imagining a "screen", alright?" and "Try imagining a thing called "Wiimote". No kidding, just try it!". They talk about a yellow cursor ("I know: a what?!") like it's the weirdest thing ever, and "saving the game" is treated like some outlandish slang word. Like, the developers were probably aware that to the people in-universe, these explanations would sound entirely nonsensical, and they put in the extra effort to make it funny - I love it.

Also, the UI design in Tri is absolutely gorgeous. I love the "tribal" style the old games had going on. MH World can't hold a candle to this!

I remember there was an old post on the MH Lore Tumblr blog (sadly, it's been defunct for a while now) that in the MH universe, the Felynes are treated like cheap laborers who are always given the shit jobs nobody else wants to do. Considering how they're constantly seen in positions like chamberlain, farm worker etc., I believe there might actually be something to this. It's kind of sad, but these kitties really don't seem to have the best standing in MH society... :(

I love the Felyne-specific language, though. (Like hairstyling being "grooming", "child's play" is "kitten's play" and so on.) It's so endearing.

So, the shy kid tells me there's a cave at the farm, but I shouldn't go inside because the Chief is gonna get really mad if I do. The Head Farmer tells me it contains some kind of ancient weapon. From what I remember from 3U, that "weapon" is a mask for the Shakalaka. (It's funny how every Monster Hunter used to have this "special", sword-in-the-stone kind of weapon.)

Moga Woods (day)

I gotta say, from a gameplay perspective, I think the tutorial for Tri is really well done. It doesn't immediately throw you into a timed quest so you don't feel pressured from the get-go, and it introduces you to all core mechanics bit by bit.

Village Chief: "Can you hear me?" Yes, I can hear you. I'm not sure how you can speak to me since you technically should be back at the village, but I hear you. (Do these villagers have mastered the art of telepathy somehow?)

"My ancestors had a saying: "Wherever you go, there you are."" Wow - I never could've figured this out on my own. Truly, the wisdom of ages.

It's easy to forget, but MH Tri is actually the first Monster Hunter where gathering points are displayed. I remember how distressed I was when playing MH1 and realizing there were no pop-ups to mark gathering spots. (And now that I’m used MH1 and Freedom Unite, I have to get out of my habit of pressing the gathering button at suspicious looking places. xD)

"That's an Aptonoth: a herbivore. Eats... herbs." You don't say, Chief. You don't say.

I remember when I first played Monster Hunter, I felt so bad for killing an Aptonoth. Now, I’ve kinda gotten used to it - still wouldn’t say I feel good about it, though. ^^’

"You're just like me when I was your age! Of course, my stamina bar was way longer." Yeah, sure - just don't forget to toot your own horn.

When finding the Chief's Son: "Sorry we couldn't talk yesterday, though natural disasters are a great conversational topic!" I've said it once, I will say it again: I love Monster Hunter’s humor.

"I'm Juni-- Er, I'm the Chief’s Son." Ohh, do I hear someone having daddy issues?

"Our tent and bocce set were in that destroyed camp." Oh, no - due to the earthquake, the villagers can't play bocce anymore. What a tragedy.

”I’m so hungry, I could eat an Aptonoth.” Well, friend, you’re in luck - I’ve just slaughtered one of these beasties.

Aaand he snatches the meat right up. Okay, dude - have fun grilling. I’ll just go back to the village all on my lonesome, I guess…

And thus, after finding the lost son and completing our first job for McDelivery, we return to the village...

To be continued