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Monster Hunter Generations Thoughts/Review: Two steps forward, One step back


The DanMan
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While many of us where freaking out over FE Amie's reveal in the April 2015 Japan-only direct, I was freaking out of the announcement of Monster Hunter X.

A game which took a series that had it's own logic and felt grounded in it's own way (yes, you CAN swing that sword larger than yourself; no, you will not be doing it with anything resembling "speed") and throws it out the window for hunting styles and arts that make the game super flashy.

While initially lukewarm to the concept, I gradually warmed up to it- enough that I was very hyped when it was revealed to be localized as Monster Hunter Generations. Having just passed the 100 hour point, what do I think of it now?

-The visuals

A lot of people complain about "how much worse" it looks than 4U. I assume that those people played 4U exclusively on a Nu3DS, because it looks a step above it on my OG model. There's significantly less texture fade-in, and in general they brought over the Nu3DS-exclusive 4U textures. The Arena is the most jarring example- in 4U I could clearly see the game rendering the ground textures in a circle around me, while in Generations everything there looks much smoother. This is probably due to the game being locked at 30 FPS- something I actually prefer over 4U's stuttering "60 FPS" on the OG 3DS. Online, when you have all four players dogpiling on a downed monster with a hunter art or two thrown in there's a definite drop, but for single-player and most of online I've found it to be pretty solid.

Overall, it's a step up from 4U with me.

-The villages

4U was unique in that you could visit multiple villages in singleplayer- villages that tied into it's simplistic, but the best the series has seen, narrative.

Generations brought back the villages from the "Portable" side series (localized as "Freedom"... 'cuz taglines?) that the director worked on for the PSP: Kokoto (1st Generation), Pokke (Portable 2nd/2nd G), and Yukumo (Portable 3rd- which was never localized). So, what do I think of them?

They have nice music, provide a nice change of atmosphere... and that's about it. They're unlocked right as soon as you hit HR2, all at once. Though certain NPCs in each village do give you quests as the game goes on, they don't add much to the actual story overall.

Generations itself introduced Bherna as it's main village; this is where stuff actually happens, and it has the most "plot importance" of them all. Really, I'm not quite sure what they were going for; it's based in mountainous terrain, has a chieftain that looks like an overdressed Scottish highlander, and has... fluffy Alpaccas/Moofahs as a native animal? It feels like a hodge-podge without a distinct theme.

The online area itself, the Hunter's Hub feels as unremarkable. It gets the job done, but the tavern theme was dropped... as was arm-wrestling. RIP, you will be missed.

-The new upgrade system

Generations brought along a new upgrade system for improving equipment. Before, things would be fairly linear- you'd upgrade a weapon, come to a branch, choose one branch, and move on. However, now you can see all the branches from the very start- and as long as you keep upgrading the base weapon, you can go into any branch that you have unlocked regardless of weapon level. Also, material restrictions were lessened- sometimes, you just need parts from a specific monster or bugs to contribute to upgrades, instead of a specific part from a specific monster or a specific bug. With weapons, this is a good thing.

But it's not the best idea in the world with armor. You won't be hunting for just armor spheres- you'll need to make sure you have extra materials on hand during upgrading. Also, upgrades seem to cost more than in past games- upgrading equipment is a major money drain late-game.

-The areas

Generations also brought back returning areas from previous games as well as adding one (technically two, but the latter is used only for one monster) of it's own. So how are they? A mixed bag.

The Deserted Island and Misty Peaks fared the best, due to coming from the most previous generation. Outside of the excision of underwater combat (which as a Lance/GL main in 3rd gen I actually liked) warranting the Portable 3rd version of the Deserted Island, they're largely the same as before. Just with the occasional ledge here and there that feels naturally implemented into the environment- something 4U's maps kinda failed at doing.

The rest of the maps, though, feel really bland and generic. Okay, the Arctic Ridge isn't bad, but whose idea was it to bring back the 2nd gen Volcano instead of Tri's much more interesting one? The Old Swamp is a first gen area, and feels pretty bland and lifeless- with dull textures to boot. Verdant Hills I have equally non-existent nostalgia for; on top of the drab environment, it's essentially set up as three "corridors" of areas- making it just a tad more frustrating to chase after a monster.

The Jurrasic Frontier, this game's new area, is really good. It's very prehistoric themed, and has more than enough variety to keep it away from the "Green hill zone" all too many games start you out in.

The returning 4th gen areas are unchanged; I'm fairly neutral towards them. For some reason, though, they cut the Sunken Hollow... the effects of this will be stated later.

-The monster roster

And by later, I mean now.

They cut Nerscylla.

Of all the monsters to cut, they cut Nerscylla.

Nobody misses Gravios or Congalala, but when it came to 4th gen monsters to cut they just dropped Nerscylla. Not Najarala. Nerscylla. The Primeval Forest is still there... it didn't just exclusively live in the Sunken Hollow.

Anyways, the game brings back a lot of 3rd gen monsters and cut some from 4U. The only 3rd gen monsters not to come back are the Great Jaggi (Jaggis and Jaggia are still there) and all other ggi's, Qurupeco, Ceadus/Jhen Mohran, and the arctic crew (Gigginox and Barioth). Outside of nostalgia pandering, there is no reason not to axe the Dromes and Kut Ku and make the Great ggi's and Qurupeco their permanent replacements- they're so much better from a game design department. At least they brought Lagiacrus back, and made it an actually challenge on land.

Also, Generations has no subspecies- personally slightly miffed, but it has the largest variety of monsters disregarding subspecies anyways. That can be forgiven. Though Golden Rathian and Silver Rathalos are in there for some reason.

The new monsters complement 4 and 4U's additions, bumping up 4th Gen to a comfortable new Monster count of 25 (including small monsters and not including subspecies). They're all pretty unique in their own right.

The Great Maccao is the new Great Jaggi/Velocidrome... who actually puts up a fight at first, due to having a wildly different attacking style from either of them.

Mizutsune is an awesome monster. Fight, design, music... it complements the Misty Peaks and Yukumo perfectly.

Gammoth is kinda underwhelming. It's big and slow... the only way it will hit you is if you're trying to remove your snowman status because it kicked snow all over you.

Astalos is one more semi-unique (read: not a Rathalos clone) flying wyvern... probably my favorite fight overall, and definitely in my top ten monsters.

Glavenus, the flagship of the game, is a Brute Wyvern that is nevertheless extremely agile and not afraid to take you out with it's massive tail.

Nakarkos, the online final boss, is pretty eh. It's music (it's first phase theme belongs in a Metroid game) and the atmosphere is really good... the fight itself is just eh.

The only stinker of the bunch of Malfestio. It can infect you with a special "confused" status that inverts your controls for ten seconds and can also put you to sleep. It's just a pain to fight and is quite aggravating. Until you learn all it's tells and are in a group; then, it's complete domination. It's earned the nickname "Molestio" on Gamefaqs and Reddit, for good reason.

-The Deviants

Monster Hunter Generations introduced the Deviant system as a way to replace subspecies. They're definitely not as numerous (12 in total), but make up for it by being pretty challenging. Their gear also provides the best full sets in the game- they give you two normal skills and (when upgraded to level six) a special dual skill. The problem lays in upgrading them.

You can't use armor spheres; you need tickets. Tickets are awarded at the end of each quest; you get two pertaining to the quest's level. You'll need to do each level of quest three times to upgrade your armor. There are ten levels for each Deviant. Do you see the issue?

To max out a Deviant armor set, you need to hunt it 30 times. This is far and away the biggest flaw with the system. It's simply too much of a grind that can't be done without spacing things out.

I've fought six so far: Crimsonhelm Arzuros, Snowbaron Lagombi, Stonefist Hermitaur, Dreadqueen Rathian, Silverwind Nargacuga, and Dreadking Rathalos. Dreadqueen Rathian is actually the most frustrating, due to leaving poisonous spikes all over the place and in general poisoning you at every single opportunity. Stonefist Hermitaur is probably the most underwhelming; yeah, it hits hard, but it's also a massive target and gets slaughtered by Aerial style. Dreadking Rathalos is the one that I've been farming, and it really isn't too bad. You can't flashbomb it out of the air at first- you need to break one if its wings. The problem I find is that nobody else seems to know this, and never brings flashbombs. So, besides staying in the air much more than normal, it's just a slightly bigger and meaner version of the Rathalos. Silverwind Nargacuga is pretty difficult- it's tail swipes and tail slams send out shockwaves (though if you manage to cut it's tail, they become pathetically small and weak).

It's a nice system that needs some polish.

-Hunting Styles

One of Generations biggest additions is hunting styles. These alter the moveset of weapons, encouraging different playstyles. There are four in total: Guild, Striker, Aerial, and Adept.

Guild is basically the exact same as 4U. Striker trims down the movesets of weapons while letting them use more hunter arts. Aerial replaces the normal evade roll with an aerial vault. And Adept gives a very large window during evasion to trigger a run-in that you can follow up on.

I freaking love Aerial. I've been maining Aerial SA, and that things makes the 4/4U Inset Glaive look tame in comparison. The vault in sword mode counts as an attack on its own, meaning I almost always get two attacks off for each vault. It's a complete mounting machine, which lets monsters get demolished incredibly easily (my first Kut Ku died in less than three minutes to rank appropriate gear). Aerial Gunlance (at least for normal types) is also a blast to play; jump up, slam down, and full burst.

However, it's also kind of a gamebreaker. The aerial vault has invincibility frames that, when taken advantage of, let you jump off of monsters' attacks (I once cut Glavenus's tail off mid-attack by doing that). Though it's not effective with every weapon, certain weapons (read: Switch Axe, Dual Blades, and ironically enough Insect Glaive) are just incredible in it. Also, most monsters can't really attack you while you're in the air- the best defense ends up being a good offense, letting things die super quickly.

Adept style is also incredibly good for certain weapons- compared to having to learn the i-frames on your roll and take advantage of situations, it almost babies you. You pretty much have evasion+2's window to trigger the perfect evade- which you are invincible for the entirety off. You can then rush back in and keep up the offensive. It has a bit of a learning curve, which has served as a turnoff for some people- enough that it isn't super popular.

The styles system needs tweaking and improvement. As-is, they completely change the feel of the game and- at points -trivialize it's difficulty. I actually think the main series should take something from Frontier's playbook- Style Ranks. Or at least, the actual functionality of it's styles- not the tedium of unlocking them. Each weapon has two alternative styles that drastically alter it's moveset and aren't cookie-cutter at all. For example, Storm Style SnS replaces X button attacks with stabs and lets you sidestep out of attacks- while Storm Style lance removes the charge attack but lets you chain together four stabs instead of three. And then Storm Style Switch Axe (or "Slash Axe F(rontier)", as it's called there) lets you use sword mode energy to literally rush in, and emphasizes switching between sword and axe mode.

-Hunter Arts

The other big addition Generations made is Hunter Arts. They're a mixture of flashy attacks and powerful support skills, and as with Hunting Styles they're a mixed bag.

Certain weapons kind of got screwed in the exclusive arts department- I've seen numerous Hunting Horn mains disappointed with what they got, why Long Sword mains gloat that they've got the best selection in the game. However, I'll illustrate my main issue with Hunter Arts using my main for this game: the Switch Axe.

The SA has three arts: Energy Charge, Demon Riot, and Trance Slash.

Energy Charge charges 80% of the sword gauge. With the SA, sword mode is almost always more useful than axe mode- this is counterbalanced by each attack in sword mode draining a gauge. Once it hits the bottom, you're booted out back into axe mode. True, you could manually reload 50% of it, but it left you wide open. Energy Charge charges up super quickly (long before you'll run out of gauge), and at latter levels completely refills the gauge and boosts affinity. So, the Axe part of Switch Axe is virtually obsolete.

What makes it completely obsolete is Demon Riot. It causes the sword gauge to slowly drain over time rather than with your attacks and also gives an attack buff to sword mode. In Guild and Striker Style, where you can equip more than a single hunter art, you can have both Energy Charge and Demon Riot at the same time. They also stack. Once you have Demon Riot up, as long as you have some semblance of how to play the weapon it will never run out, as you'll keep using energy charge to refill the gauge well before it depletes.

Trance Slash is the least useful, but the most flashy: it's a long combo that, when coupled with Demon Riot, has a super powerful finisher. It's the most powerful hunter art in the game, but it's only useful on monsters that have just been knocked over from mounting; as such, I'm fine with it.

The issue I have with Hunter Arts are with those that have secondary effects. They make the weapon more powerful by ignoring the technical aspects of it. I already illustrated it with the SA, but I'll give you an example with the Long Sword: Sakura Slash and Focus Spirit. Sakura Slash is a powerful attack that also raises the spirit gauge by one level, while Focus Spirit temporarily stops it from decreasing and charges up very quickly. It greatly de-emphasizes the use of the spirit combo to build up the spirit gauge.

Then there's the general purpose Absolute Evasion art for all weapons. It has the quickest charge time in the game and when activated gives you... an evasion with massive invincibility frames. To me, it completely undermines the point of learning the game and learning how to dodge attacks- if it was an emergency evade, okay. But it charges up super quickly, meaning you can easily rely on it and never need to learn how to evade half a monster's attacks.

Hunter Arts are a neat concept, but have a questionable execution here and need some polish. Notice a trend?

-The Story

Monster Hunter has never been about story, and never really cared about it anyway. 4/4U is the only game in the series to try to throw together an actual plot, which on it's own is very simplistic and uninteresting but for Monster Hunter was a huge step forward.

Generations doesn't do that. Thanks to the four villages having no real connections, there isn't any real plot. This is perfectly explained by the four "flagships". Except none of them really feel like flagships (besides Glavenus, because he's on the cover and got a Deviant form). They all simply crash a 3* gathering quest and then are fought in 5* later. Glavenus is the worst offender, as it's the offline final boss.

Let me back up a bit to 4U; I don't really like it's offline final boss, the Shagaru Magala. It's just Gore Magala, painted gold, brought to you by Michael Bay. But I actually enjoyed the fight as a climax; this creature that you had been hunting, that had been harassing you and disrupted an entire ecosystem, had molted and become something much scarier. It was a final showdown. With rank appropriate gear (the first upgrade to the Rathian Charge Blade, which has elemental phials and fire- what Shagaru is weakest to), it took me about 15 minutes to kill it.

In Generations? Glavenus disrupts a mushroom gathering quest and then two quest levels later you take it on, kill it, and go on your merry way. Using rank appropriate gear (the level 2 version of the Astalos Switch Axe- element phial and thunder, something Glavenus resists), I killed it in seven minutes.

Glavenus just leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth due to how much of an anticlimax it is.

-Conclusion

I really enjoy Monster Hunter Generations. However, it's definitely rough around the edges. More importantly, though, with the styles and arts it kinda doesn't really feel like a Monster Hunter game to me. There was a pace and balance maintained in the series that feels gone- you're spending less time fighting the monster and more time trying to be flashy. The focus feels as if it's gone from the monster to the player. The Deviants mostly avert this, but those are twelve end-game challenges out of 60+ monsters- the journey there is, at times, almost disappointingly easy.

I'm not being super critical because I don't enjoy it; I'm being super critical because Monster Hunter is my favorite game series, and I do enjoy it. It's the most genuinely "fun" Monster Hunter experience I've had. I've experimented with many different weapons and styles, and have multiple end-game armor sets (compared to my 4U endgame strategy of "Grand Mizuha with gemmed in guard +2 and Status Charge Blades 4 life"). I wonder Monster Hunter 5 has in store, and what it improves upon and does differently. Tri launched in 2009 in Japan, and 4 was released in 2013- couple that with Capcom's financial reports listing an unannounced title in the series that's anticipated to sell 2 million units by the end of next April, and Monster Hunter 5 may be an NX launch title for Japan.

Generations is simultaneously a celebration of the series and one big experiment with it- I am very interested in what lays in the series' future.

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i feel like the new upgrade system is very awkward for weapons. i'm finding it harder to make the weapons i want than it used to be, and when i wanna go into a different upgrade path in the future but i can't right now, going futher into the current upgrade path just feels like a waste.

another thing i thought was implemented terribly was requests. why do they only count for the host? why are so many of them stupid offline low rank gathering quests? what is even the point of the influence points system? it just feels so bloated and needless.

i can see why you liked generations, but honestly, i just feel like capcom tried all this different new stuff out in places where they really didn't need to and failed to improve and occasionally even hindered their game where it counts. it's a step down from mh4u almost universally in my eyes.

that said, it's still a mh, so it's still fun, and i'm still putting hours into it. there are just all these tiny nuisances i find with the game that make me think they need someone to occasionally go "why are we doing this?" in the mh dev team.

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Great review! Too bad I never touched a Monster Hunter game. I heard they're quite grindy. What would you rate this on a scale 1-10?

I really dislike number ratings. I'd say this was an 8/10 for me personally- a lot of fun, but definitely has a few issues.

As for the grind, I'd almost say with Monster Hunter it's a different story than with most games- in other games, the grind is something that you do to get to an objective. In Monster Hunter, the grind is the objective- it's a virtually endless cycle of getting better gear to fight more powerful monsters to make better gear to fight even more powerful monsters. Online has made it much easier, and I rarely ever just exclusively fight one monster for a period of time- I go on a rotation between several monsters.

Plus, due it's more actiony and yet tactical nature fighting a monster multiple times often gives different experiences, as you get better at fighting it and learn it's tells and when it's open.

i feel like the new upgrade system is very awkward for weapons. i'm finding it harder to make the weapons i want than it used to be, and when i wanna go into a different upgrade path in the future but i can't right now, going futher into the current upgrade path just feels like a waste.

another thing i thought was implemented terribly was requests. why do they only count for the host? why are so many of them stupid offline low rank gathering quests? what is even the point of the influence points system? it just feels so bloated and needless.

i can see why you liked generations, but honestly, i just feel like capcom tried all this different new stuff out in places where they really didn't need to and failed to improve and occasionally even hindered their game where it counts. it's a step down from mh4u almost universally in my eyes.

that said, it's still a mh, so it's still fun, and i'm still putting hours into it. there are just all these tiny nuisances i find with the game that make me think they need someone to occasionally go "why are we doing this?" in the mh dev team.

I never really had that problem with the weapon trees- really just seems like pure YMMV. There was always a few weapons that you couldn't make from scratch and had to mess around with upgrade trees to get- due to the excision of subspecies, even that's gone down greatly.

As for requests, yeah it's kind of a pain, but literally the only one that I've had any difficulty completing was the triple Hyper Tetsucabra one. I pretty just ignore villager requests in general, so I didn't mention them.

The points system is so you can get tickets from each village- said tickets are required for certain equipment. Not the biggest application, but it's not pure fluff.

I feel like as far as monster roster, visuals, and pure gameplay Generations has 4U outdone. However, 4U has better presentation and balancing- in general it's just more polished. Which makes sense, considering Generations is a side release done by the B team while 4U was a G-rank re-release done by the A team.

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No mention of the Palicoes? That was pretty much THE thing that brought me back to the series, as the grind has been getting old since FU.

I love the palicoes, and would not play a future MH title if that feature was not included.

Also, I miss muh grav ;n;

...

I seriously forgot Prowlers were a thing.

Guess that shows my thoughts on them in a way.

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I've only played 4U and Gen (and didn't finish any of them because I'm slower than a Gammoth), so I don't have the same experience as you. I think the game is pretty okay. The weapon system changes didn't really affect me since I've always searched on the net for the weapon trees. The monster roster is very nice, and the "flagship" monsters have some unique styles on them, making them really fun to battle. The styles and arts could be better.

Something I really disliked is that there are no more those really nice cutscenes that would run the first time you encountered a monster. It really made the monsters look awesome, giving a nice first impression of them. But now they're gone. R.I.P. nice cutscenes. Also, the lack of money is really troubling.

Overall, I liked the game, but I hope this possible NX game will be even better.

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I never really had that problem with the weapon trees- really just seems like pure YMMV. There was always a few weapons that you couldn't make from scratch and had to mess around with upgrade trees to get- due to the excision of subspecies, even that's gone down greatly.

As for requests, yeah it's kind of a pain, but literally the only one that I've had any difficulty completing was the triple Hyper Tetsucabra one. I pretty just ignore villager requests in general, so I didn't mention them.

The points system is so you can get tickets from each village- said tickets are required for certain equipment. Not the biggest application, but it's not pure fluff.

I feel like as far as monster roster, visuals, and pure gameplay Generations has 4U outdone. However, 4U has better presentation and balancing- in general it's just more polished. Which makes sense, considering Generations is a side release done by the B team while 4U was a G-rank re-release done by the A team.

I get that you get tickets and unlock more requests by accumulating points but my porblem is it's just a totally unnecessary, additional system, which is a good example of my main gripes with the design philosophy in this game. Too much bloated, needless things added-on and not enough critical judgement on how to make the game have better pacing, be more involved, how to keep it simple, things like that.

And yeah, mh4u definitely did have a lot more polish. I get that it's supposed to be a throwback to the older generations but man are the old maps outdated as fuck. The 4u maps are excellent in comparison. It's been a long time since FU, and though i was cool with the maps back then, monster hunter has come a long way since-- not without set backs though, since as you say, with capcom it's always two steps forwards, one step back.

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The hunting styles are very questionable in balance right now. The weapons that are good with Striker are basically ones where their detracted move is useless. Lance getting super bonus from Striker is..... weird. Lance would probably still be a god tier weapon without the Striker Stab buff

Adept, i don't think is actually that broken, but the whole thing about invincibility on demand is actually kinda eh

Aerial is garbaje, but for a good reason

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I miss a lot of the polish from MH4U as far as presentation goes. As much as the story text wasn't that interesting to follow, the progression of hunts was definitely more engaging with a much more epic finale in both single and multiplayer. Of course MH4U is the G rank version of the original MH4 so you could say it got an extra year of polish over Generations, which has no G rank to speak of.

And I agree, not having Nerscylla feels like a crime! But I don't think I'd axe Najarala, who is probably my other favourite from MH4U in the "easy-but-not-pushovers-for-newcomers" monster category. I probably wouldn't have bothered with bringing back Shogun Ceanataur if I had to cut a monster to make room for Nerscylla, since it's not really that different from Daimyo Hermitaur and Nerscylla actually shares some moves with Ceanataur but is just a cooler fight overall. The game is also kinda lacking in epic fights against giant monsters. I don't mind Nakarkos that much but it definitely doesn't hold a candle to Dalamadur.

Of the maps, Volcano is definitely the most tedious for its large and sprawling layout with bland landmarks. Marshlands isn't a terrible layout but it is horribly flat as well. The cave areas are super pretty though. I really like Deserted Island which has a great mix of areas and terrain. Verdant Hills isn't so bad except the one cliffside that is really just there to make egg collection quests in the area a tedious affair. Arctic Ridge isn't that bad either, it's a little less harsh than Frozen Seaway and has less of the slanted areas I hate so much as a i.glaive user. Dunes gives me aneurysms in most of the commonly used areas of that map since my insect will fly off in weird directions. Misty Peaks is quite good, and Primal Forest looks gorgeous as per usual. Ancestral Steppe and Jurassic Forest are decent basic areas. Volcanic Hollow should really have been THE volcano map of the two included here as the terrain is wildly more interesting.

That said for all the things I miss from MH4U, I think the new styles are fantastically fun and it feels really good to learn how to counter the new deviants and eventually body them. This game does seem to slant towards attracting people who have never played before by offering a much more gradual curve to high end monsters in single player, but it opens up to some intense fights in multiplayer incredibly quickly. As a glaive user, the new weapon upgrade system is heavensent so long as you don't mind screwing yourself over with bugs until you learn which ones are better than others (hint: It's speed). Ditching cutscenes in multiplayer was a smart idea because it feels pretty damn bad to mash the skip cutscene button on every Mohran fight. Honestly I would be remiss to lose aerial glaive in the next installment because rocketing across the ground at high speeds is awesome. Also every new monster is pretty fun, even if they are easy. Glavenus, Mizutsune and Astalos are fantastic intro fights for the endgame before you take on elder dragons. Gammoth maybe a little less so since he just kinda takes it but eh, we were due for some kind of Popodrome and this guy fits the bill. Great Maccao is a much more interesting monster for beginners than the Dromes will ever be, and Malfestio is an interesting earlygame challenge even if he's not particularly hard in the long run. The return of Nargacuga was a fun experience for a relative newcomer to the series. Lagiacrus got an amazing overhaul. Uragaan > Gravios, full stop. There's some great variety as far as large monsters go though maybe there's a few too many ones for beginners. Arzuros and Bulldrome are new to anyone coming from 4U but they die before you even blink. Deviants are an amazing challenge to work out as you fight and more fun than the old variants like Pink Rathian.

My great hope is that the hunter styles and arts are touched up a little bit but still come back for MH5. Most weapons only really have 2 usable styles apiece, such as glaive's guild and aerial styles just being a cut above adept and EVERYTHING is better than the striker garbage. I don't care so much about overall balance since ideally you'll be working as a team with other hunters but some styles are really pointless for some weapons. But some things like striker SnS revitalized weapons that were underplayed and underappreciated. While hunting horn didn't get any arts I would consider broken like Shoryugeki or Brimstone Slash, the moveset tweaks and double notes feel very rewarding for instance. I'd like to see the current weapon/armor upgrade system carry on as the need for rares is slightly deemphasized for gearing up. Prowler hunting is actually a really neat new "weapon" as well that flies under the radar a bit but thankfully has gotten a lot of fanfare from Gaijinhunter. Lots of great ideas in this game and everything looks really damn pretty even as someone coming from N3DS MH4U, but I'm definitely looking forward to the next mainline game for what MHG glosses over a bit.

Edited by Samias
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The hunting styles are very questionable in balance right now. The weapons that are good with Striker are basically ones where their detracted move is useless. Lance getting super bonus from Striker is..... weird. Lance would probably still be a god tier weapon without the Striker Stab buff

Adept, i don't think is actually that broken, but the whole thing about invincibility on demand is actually kinda eh

Aerial is garbaje, but for a good reason

I know it's not the king of solo run times, but it's really good for a few weapons and helps out alot online in particular (where the damage dealt after a monster's been toppled two or three times really adds up). Especially with SA- oftentimes I get a free slash in during an attack because I timed the evade right and jumped through it (the jump in sword mode is an attack into and of itself- like DB's Adept Evade).

Striker SA and DB definitely has it's uses- heck, running energy charge + demon riot + absolute evade + evasion +2 on SA actually seems to do a better job than Adept.

I think Adept should be treated like evasion +1- a tighter window, plus you need to actually evade through the attack and not have it simply touch you during said window.

My great hope is that the hunter styles and arts are touched up a little bit but still come back for MH5. Most weapons only really have 2 usable styles apiece, such as glaive's guild and aerial styles just being a cut above adept and EVERYTHING is better than the striker garbage. I don't care so much about overall balance since ideally you'll be working as a team with other hunters but some styles are really pointless for some weapons. But some things like striker SnS revitalized weapons that were underplayed and underappreciated. While hunting horn didn't get any arts I would consider broken like Shoryugeki or Brimstone Slash, the moveset tweaks and double notes feel very rewarding for instance. I'd like to see the current weapon/armor upgrade system carry on as the need for rares is slightly deemphasized for gearing up. Prowler hunting is actually a really neat new "weapon" as well that flies under the radar a bit but thankfully has gotten a lot of fanfare from Gaijinhunter. Lots of great ideas in this game and everything looks really damn pretty even as someone coming from N3DS MH4U, but I'm definitely looking forward to the next mainline game for what MHG glosses over a bit.

People have actually gotten decent times with it- it's treated as a hit-and-run weapon where you send out the bug at the end of each combo.

I will agree though that few weapons have good styles all-round; I may sound like a broken record, but Switch Axe and Dual Blades are really the only weapons where every single style is very good in it's own right.

And funny that you mention Striker SnS, as despite how hyped up it's been the weapon hasn't seen that big of an uptick- if anything, it's kill times are worse in comparison to where it was in 4U.

Did you read my part about Frontier's styles? The actual style system is handled quite a bit differently there, as the styles drastically change the feel of a weapon instead of being cookie-cutter between everything. I'd like to see them branch out into that for the next installment.

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-RE story/villages: I don't think of monster hunter as a game with a strong story. But I actually enjoyed the characters in 4U (they were funny and charming). I have taken to skipping most of the text in this one, but something about generations has made me find the characters less fun.

-Maps: I kinda disagree. 4U's maps are actually my favorite. I don't even like deserted island very much. I mostly agree with your opinions otherwise, but I kinda like verdant hills. (kinda)

-Monsters: I strongly second your comment on Nerscylla. A great monster, should have been kept.

Also, Generations has no subspecies- personally slightly miffed, but it has the largest variety of monsters disregarding subspecies anyways. That can be forgiven. Though Golden Rathian and Silver Rathalos are in there for some reason.

I'm not an expert on subspecies differences, but I think they worked in some subspecies differences into at least one main monster. Like tig has a damaging roar, even in LR, though I don't think the range is as good as brute tig's. (I'm pretty sure non-brute tig didn't have a damaging roar until something like high/g/apex). Possibly there are other examples of this, I'm not sure.

I actually enjoy malfestio and usually don't find it that difficult. I even refrained from dung bombing when I fought 2 of them in an offline quest.

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I know it's not the king of solo run times, but it's really good for a few weapons and helps out alot online in particular (where the damage dealt after a monster's been toppled two or three times really adds up). Especially with SA- oftentimes I get a free slash in during an attack because I timed the evade right and jumped through it (the jump in sword mode is an attack into and of itself- like DB's Adept Evade).

Striker SA and DB definitely has it's uses- heck, running energy charge + demon riot + absolute evade + evasion +2 on SA actually seems to do a better job than Adept.

I think Adept should be treated like evasion +1- a tighter window, plus you need to actually evade through the attack and not have it simply touch you during said window.

And funny that you mention Striker SnS, as despite how hyped up it's been the weapon hasn't seen that big of an uptick- if anything, it's kill times are worse in comparison to where it was in 4U.

Exactly - i'm actually bothered that people used TA records as absolute measure for everything since obviously there are things like Gunlance who is designed behind consistency, and Hunting Horn who is designed around teamplay that making them TA kings would have killed the balancing, something that i saw on Aerial styles

SNS placement in MHX tier list is actually exactly the same as MH4U. The only difference is that SNS, LS and Bow is now the below average weapon, while in MH4U it was SNS and Hammer

MH4u December 2015 Tier LIst:(average on seconds)

1. IG = 453.25

2. GS = 470.92

3. CB = 525.58

4. HBG = 545.7

5. DB = 548.5

6. SnS = 672.42

7. Hammer = 672.67

8. Bow = 731.73

9. LS = 732.92

10. Lance = 737.75

11. LBG = 751.4

12. SA = 768

13. GL = 769

14. HH = 906.08

SNS places 6th out of 14 weapon

The average time of every weapon is 662.79. SNS are 672.42, Hammer is 672.67

Latest MHX Tier List

S+ Tier:

Lance

S Tier:

HBG

A+ Tier:

SA

A Tier:

DB

LBG

B Tier:

GS

IG

C Tier:

Bow

LS

SNS

D Tier:

Prowler

Hammer

CB

E Tier:

GL

HH

SNS places 10/15 on MHX. On the same average power as LS, and same bracket as Bow

Kill Time is a different story, a large part of this is because of MH4U tier used Apex as a Tiering method

SNS averages - 266.0575 second on MHX Tier list

Special Permit Average of SNS is 420.446

In MH4U, the God Tier which is IG averages 453 second

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much like in all things, any time monster hunter tries to capitalize on older monster hunters we are reminded that the older monster hunters actually really sucked comparatively

namaste

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much like in all things, any time monster hunter tries to capitalize on older monster hunters we are reminded that the older monster hunters actually really sucked comparatively

namaste

Agreed, oh so much.

I'll say it upfront: before Tri, the series was not good. The controls were awful, the camera was a bigger enemy than any monster, the hitboxes were horrendous, the graphics and general aesthetic was extremely dull, and most of the weapon types were virtually useless.

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Exactly - i'm actually bothered that people used TA records as absolute measure for everything since obviously there are things like Gunlance who is designed behind consistency, and Hunting Horn who is designed around teamplay that making them TA kings would have killed the balancing, something that i saw on Aerial styles

SNS placement in MHX tier list is actually exactly the same as MH4U. The only difference is that SNS, LS and Bow is now the below average weapon, while in MH4U it was SNS and Hammer

MH4u December 2015 Tier LIst:(average on seconds)

1. IG = 453.25

2. GS = 470.92

3. CB = 525.58

4. HBG = 545.7

5. DB = 548.5

6. SnS = 672.42

7. Hammer = 672.67

8. Bow = 731.73

9. LS = 732.92

10. Lance = 737.75

11. LBG = 751.4

12. SA = 768

13. GL = 769

14. HH = 906.08

SNS places 6th out of 14 weapon

The average time of every weapon is 662.79. SNS are 672.42, Hammer is 672.67

Latest MHX Tier List

S+ Tier:

Lance

S Tier:

HBG

A+ Tier:

SA

A Tier:

DB

LBG

B Tier:

GS

IG

C Tier:

Bow

LS

SNS

D Tier:

Prowler

Hammer

CB

E Tier:

GL

HH

SNS places 10/15 on MHX. On the same average power as LS, and same bracket as Bow

Kill Time is a different story, a large part of this is because of MH4U tier used Apex as a Tiering method

SNS averages - 266.0575 second on MHX Tier list

Special Permit Average of SNS is 420.446

In MH4U, the God Tier which is IG averages 453 second

Great Sword is best put your sister to the test.
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Even though I mained DBs throughout MHGen, I still haven't touched Striker or Guild since Aerial allows me to break way more parts, which I appreciate as a solo hunter and Adept makes tedious fights more enjoyable (I initially found Tigrex to be an ok fight, but with Adept DBs, it's probably one of my favorite monster to hunt). I probably give Striker and Guild a try eventually. For the maps, its funny, but I ended up liking the old maps more than the 4U ones for the most part. I do find the Volcano kind of bland and Area 9 of the Verdant Hills is probably the most horrible area to fight I've ever saw in any of the MH games I played. Still, I think the addition of Aerial styles made much of the ledge present in the 4U maps kind of redundant and they actually screwed me over more than they helped me out in Gen, so I appreciate the flatness of the returning maps. The DB only arts are also mostly quite good. Blood Wind is decent, Wolf Maw is amazing (though I hate that Deviljho/Savage Jho are the unlock requirements for rank 2/3. For some reason Jho's just seem way tougher to kill with DBs in this game) as for Aerial Slam, I can't say I have really used it all that much since it is so situational. I may give it more or a try when I use Guild and Striker.

While I overall think Gen is more enjoyable there's 2 things I've noted that kind of annoy me:

1) Palicoes seem way more useless this time around, if not outright detrimental. As a solo hunter, the 4U palicoes saved me from carting several times. In Gen however, even with 2 healing palicoes, I often have to heal myself because they're either dead(despite having rank appropriate armor and decent level) or just using Herb Horns. Also, monsters will often run at the opposite side of the maps to attack my palicoes who are gathering instead of fighting or healing. Which kind of bring me to my second point.

2) Monster AI. For some reason, I found that the AI of the monsters was slightly more frustrating for the most part. They seem to change areas way more than in 4U, which in areas like the Volcanic Hollow is painful and a waste of time thanks to all the climbing. I faced a Teostra in the Volcano earlier today that flew from 6 to 4. I ran the whole winding way there, only for Teostra to run past me, do 1 attack, roar and then leave to go back to 6 without me even touching it. They also seem to love running into area exits and standing there way more than in 4U. (I don't remember this ever being a problem for me in 4U, but I have to face it nearly every hunt in Gen). They also sometimes run at the other side of the area for absolutely no reason. EDIT: Also on the subject of monster AI, the small monsters seem way more annoying. I feel like they get in the way and are more aggressive.

Also, screw Dreadqueen. I have only faced 6 deviants out of the 14, but facing Low-rank Dreadqueen with early high-rank gear was a nightmare. G-rank Gold Rathian was one of my least favorite monster to face in 4U and Low-rank Dreadqueen is pretty much a worst version of it. Apparently Dreadking is also really annoying and G rank Silver Rathalos was not far behind Gold Rathian on my dislike list, so I'm not exactly looking forward to facing one. Or the Hyper Metallic Raths for that matter.

Still for the most part it's a really enjoyable experience and I hope that a lot of the concept introduced in the game are carried over to MH5, though some will hopefully get some polish during the transition.

Edited by LuxSpes
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2) Monster AI. For some reason, I found that the AI of the monsters was slightly more frustrating for the most part. They seem to change areas way more than in 4U, which in areas like the Volcanic Hollow is painful and a waste of time thanks to all the climbing. I faced a Teostra in the Volcano earlier today that flew from 6 to 4. I ran the whole winding way there, only for Teostra to run past me, do 1 attack, roar and then leave to go back to 6 without me even touching it. They also seem to love running into area exits and standing there way more than in 4U. (I don't remember this ever being a problem for me in 4U, but I have to face it nearly every hunt in Gen). They also sometimes run at the other side of the area for absolutely no reason. EDIT: Also on the subject of monster AI, the small monsters seem way more annoying. I feel like they get in the way and are more aggressive.

I've noticed the frequent area changing with large monsters too. Small monsters, I haven't really noticed acting different. For standing near area exits, I haven't noticed that they do that more often, but I think some of the older areas have exits that are harder to distinguish (for instance, the marshlands has a lot of screens in the outdoor areas like this).

For standing near area exits, the best thing is to back away from the monster, and ping repeatedly to call your palicos away from the monster if they are with you. The monster might use some projectiles, but generally will follow you and your palicos to some extent in order to attack you.

Edited by HELP
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I've noticed the frequent area changing with large monsters too. Small monsters, I haven't really noticed acting different. For standing near area exits, I haven't noticed that they do that more often, but I think some of the older areas have exits that are harder to distinguish (for instance, the marshlands has a lot of screens in the outdoor areas like this).

For standing near area exits, the best thing is to back away from the monster, and ping repeatedly to call your palicos away from the monster if they are with you. The monster might use some projectiles, but generally will follow you and your palicos to some extent in order to attack you.

I think the small monsters part is maybe more related to the ones reintroduced in this game. Small Ceanataur seems to home for me and poison me. The Blango are also more annoying than the Congalas. And the Bullfango are faster, homing Rhenoplos.

I thought it was maybe related to the older maps, but I had a Kecha Wacha stay in the exit of area 4 of the Ancestral Steppes for half a minute before deciding to come out for a 10 seconds before returning stand near the exit for 20 seconds. Both time, I stood back and called back the cats, but the Kecha just spammed its ranges attack. Same thing happened with a Plesioth hunt later. (said Plesioth nearly made jump out of my chair when it came out flopping through the Waterfall of the Misty Peaks moments after I had left the cavern area to heal. Didn't help that it was a Hyper Plesioth and that his flopping knocked me back to my pre-healing health, which was nearly none. I went back to the cave and thankfully it let me heal)

Maybe I just got unlucky with the monster AI those times though.

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