Monster Hunter (video game)

Monster Hunter
Publisher(s)	Capcom
Designer(s)	Capcom
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2
Genre(s)	Hack and slash, Strategy, Adventure
Mode(s)	Single-player, online multiplayer

Monster Hunter / モンスターハンター is an adventure video game for the PlayStation 2. The game was developed and published by Capcom. Monster Hunter was released in North America on September 21, 2004. It was later remade and expanded in Monster Hunter G, which was released in Japan and was brought to North America and Europe as Monster Hunter Freedom for the PlayStation Portable. The sequel, Monster Hunter 2, was also released only in Japan on February 16 in 2006, and then brought to North America as Monster Hunter Freedom 2 on August 28 2007. Again, this "portable upgrade" brought some new things with it that the original game did not have. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G is another expansion to the PSP Monster Hunter game.

Monster Hunter 3 was announced for the Playstation 3 two years ago and was recently announced as a Wii exclusive title The latter is said to feature new mission modes as well as new monsters and items. This information was revealed at Tokyo Game Show 2007.

A manga titled Monster Hunter Orage is being published jointly by Kodansha and Capcom from May 2008. The author of the manga is Hiro Mashima.

Although much of the game can take place offline through single player, the majority and by far the most content is contained in the online section of the game. Most monsters, with the exception of a number of higher ranked monsters, or specific variations, are available to fight via single player mode. However, the same monsters can be fought online, usually ending with items of greater value or rarity not attainable through single player. Goals for players online are not to defeat the most monsters but to reach the highest hunter rank, which is the "semi-storyline" that is carried out online by NPC characters.

Gameplay

Monster Hunter places the player in the role of an up and coming male/female who must accomplish various quests to achieve glory. Armors, weapons, and other items are created from the remains of slain monsters by carving off their horns, scales and bones. Monster Hunter plays in a similar fashion to Phantasy Star Online allowing the player to team up with up to three other hunters online to take down stronger monsters.

Another fact to be noted is that on Jan 1st 2008, first mentioned in November of 2007, the original Monster Hunter server as well as the Resident Evil: Outbreak server went officially offline.

Quests

Monster Hunter is played through quests given to the hunter by the Village Elder or the Town Guild. Quests can be classified into four categories: hunting, gathering, capture and event. They are also categorized into different levels, ranging from 1-8*. A newer level quests become available after certain quests of the previous * are completed.

Hunting

Hunting quests make up the majority of the missions. As the name implies, the hunter will track, provoke, and eventually slay a monster or a number of monsters using various equipment including: Barrel bombs, pit traps and much more (many quests require specific equipment pieces to be completed). As the hunter progresses, the monsters will become more difficult, but will provide better materials for the hunter to utilize.

Gathering

Gathering quests are missions in which the hunter must "gather" items. These items can be as simple as herbs, to as complex as pieces of a monster or ore from a mine. These quests give out the least amount of reward, but sometimes give valuable items.

Capture

Capture quests can be the most difficult to complete due to a certain degree of restraint that must be shown by the hunter. The hunter must bring the wyvern to a certain degree of damage, but not kill it (this can usually be seen by the wyvern limping). After the wyvern shows signs of physical weakness, it must be captured by snaring it in a Pitfall Trap and putting it to sleep. A captured wyvern cannot be carved since it is still alive, but the rewards are significantly rarer and the reward money is generally greater. Contract fees for Capture quests are high, but not as high as some of the rarest hunting quests.

Event

The Event quests are an online-only feature. Every week, a new Event quest is available to hunters of any rank. These quests vary in style and difficulty. Some of the rarer weapons can be made only through Event quest rewards. Event quests are not vital to a hunter's success in the game, but are a useful way to gain experience and to obtain some rare items. Contract fees and time limits vary.

All of the quests allow two deaths, but the third death marks the failure of the quest. Regardless which player actually dies, three deaths will still fail the quest. The only exceptions to this rule are some of the Event quests, which are failed with just one death.

Weapons

Hunters can be classified by either Blademasters, or Gunners. The Blademaster classification consists of five sub-categories: Sword and Shield, Great Swords, Lances, Hammers and Dual Swords. Gunners have three choices: Bow, Light Bowgun and Heavy Bowgun. Classifications and use of sub-category weapons are not chosen and solidified into a file; hunters are able to choose to use any weapon they want, before the start of any quest or event, as long as they have the proper money and/or supplies to do so.

Armor

Armor is always dependent on whether one chooses to use a Blademaster or Gunner weapon(excluding some few which can be worn either way). The main differences in the sets of armor for each class are the amount of defense the armor gives, elemental resistance, material required to craft, and cosmetic appearance. Blademaster armor usually has a high level physicall defense because the player is right in a monster's face while fighting, but offers low and often negative reistance to elemental attacks. Gunner armor, however, usually offers low physical protection because the player is far back from the battle but makes up for it with its usually high resistance to elemental attacks. Most sets of armor contain protection for the head, torso, arms, waist and legs, with the exception of a few sets which contain only three pieces of armor, usually the head, torso and arms, and even fewer which only provide head and torso pieces.

Combinations

Combining ingredients to make even better items is a very important feature in Monster Hunter's gameplay. Although many of the combinations must be discovered by the player, some combinations are hinted at throughout the game. Success is dependent on many factors, such as rarity of the items to be combined and amount of "combo books" a player has on hand. Some of the items in the game of the highest rarity can only be obtained by combining.

Development

As of December 31 2007 Monster Hunter's Online server is down.

"Please note that the Monster Hunter server closed as of December 31 2007.

The server that displays the "service termination notice" notice was taken down April 1 2008. If you connect for online play, you will receive "Error D903" and the game will return to main menu.

After more than 3 years of online service, the external company providing server hosting for both Resident Evil: Outbreak and Monster Hunter has decided to exit the PlayStation 2 online business altogether, with no possibility of outsourcing either the service or the technology." -quote from www.capcom.com support section

External links

• Monster Hunter official website for North America
• Monster Hunter official website for Europe
• Monster Hunter Wiki
• rathalos legion unofficial hunter site