Monster Hunter Review

The Monster Hunter franchise is a series of fantasy Action Adventure video games that started with the game Monster Hunter for PlayStation 2. The series is developed and published by CAPCOM. The series has branched out into PlayStation Portable games and a massively multiplayer online game.

Since the series debuted, it has sold 21 million units as of May 2012. 

It should be no surprise that in Japan, Monster Hunter to gaming is like One Piece to manga. Meaning that Monster Hunter has an excessively huge community just like how the Call of Duty series to America.

That aside let’s move on to the proper review...

Though this game is part role-playing, there is not much story to speak of.  There is a monster threatening the safety of the village you’re in. As new hunter, you’ve been given the task of bringing it down.

Most of the dialogues you have with other NPCs have to do with buying items, crafting new weapons/armor or accepting new quests.  This isn’t a game where you play to hear an interesting tale. This game is all about the deep and engrossing gameplay.

The graphics are by no means impressive however the attention to detail is exquisite. Capcom has done a great job into making the scenery more lifelike. Weather effects are present as well as the monster detail is excellent.

The gameplay is deep. The monsters are the most lifelike creatures one might see in any game, having their own ecology and such. Each monster comes with breakable parts as one would be able to chip off their claws, cut off their tails or even scar their faces.

Every fight is pretty much a boss fight and any Monster could easily thrash you if you don’t know what you are doing. Every subsequent monster is increasingly difficult which makes each stronger monster defeated all the more satisfying as you are improving by learning and you succeeded by true skill and planning instead of an eventuality.

But let’s get objective here, the controls are a tad bit frustrating at times as your hunter is limited to normal human speeds and movements. Seeing that the series has an affinity towards ridiculously huge weapons which is most likely implemented to compliment the huge monsters, your hunter’s movements will be mostly sluggish and realistic. Not to mention that the learning curve is among the steepest one might experience making this a game geared towards more hardcore players. Several loading screens are also present in the game. They are not too long to be an annoyance, but they are certainly distracting and it somewhat kills the pace of the gameplay.

In short, Monster Hunter is a masterpiece and it deserves all the recognition it has today. Despite a few flaws such as control frustration and an extremely steep learning curve, it is all worth it for the intense and addictive gameplay. It’s a challenging game that requires patience, planning and skill to succeed. But for those willing to invest the time to overcome that learning curve, you will find that the game offers a level of thrill, depth and satisfaction few others can offer.


Article by: Nicholas "Nikolai" Low Zi Han