gamesandtings

Who would have thought a game I just randomly picked up on the PSP has turned into one of my favourite gaming franchises.

It all started with murmurs and whispers of the latest Japanese obsession across gaming podcasts; a game where you just go around punching up dinosaurs and dragons. The title sounded too generic and too Japanese for my likings. Not that it actually stopped me buying Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, as I was hoping to understand a new gaming culture.

Did I know what I was doing? Absolutely not.

CLUELESSNESS

Like I was truly lost, pressing buttons and realising it wasn’t doing the things I wanted it to do. What do you mean I have to stand still and put away my weapon? I have to take a whetstone with me? What the fug is a whetstone bruv? What do you mean I have to eat? Meat AND fish???

I couldn’t fish, couldn’t mine and couldn’t catch the pretty butterflies flying around either.

I even tried this with an online friend too; in those days you had to connect your PSP to your PS3 to play online, a glorified local network game. We both had no fugging clue and it just sat as another Efe impulse purchase: a game to play for about an hour and then left forever.

The curiosity didn’t go away though. Shoutout to the Talkradar legends, Chris and Brett, talked about having sessions on their lunch breaks. I felt like I was outside in the rain again, looking in, seeing a happy family together, sharpening and bbqing, slaying and carving.

And guess who decided to walk into my life at precisely the right time?

Who knew that an unemployed man from Northern Ireland was the Monster Hunter savant I needed? He was the one that finally allowed me to understand, how to be ready to go on a hunt, picking up your map before you head out, even the combos for the varying weapons. I chose the great sword as my weapon of choice, because my philosophy was (and still is): me strong, me hold big knife, me swing big knife, knifey stab stab.

The games themselves are simple enough of a concept. Pick a fight, make sure you have supplies ready and then traipse around maps disconnected by loading times. Once you spotted the absolute unit, you start to chop it up. And what made it so deeply satisfying were the deliberate swings of your massive Greater London graded sword, cleaving away, seeing it sink deeply into some endangered dragon thing. What I respect about the games was the fact it resisted showing you precisely the damage you were doing, no big numbers drip feeding you dopamine. It was just you in the fight, trying to figure out how close your target was to resting its eyes forever. It perfectly balanced intensity with fun which deeply rewarded diligent hunting. The music too… incredible!

That game is still a masterpiece; I had a wonderful time with it. I’d take it to work with me to play at lunch times, getting absolutely rinsed by Gore Magala. I still think he’s my favourite monster because of the amount of spankings he’s given me over the years.

I’m sure I’ve spent more time playing the excellent Monster Hunter Worlds, but 4U will always be my favourite. It’s the one that finally let me fall in love with the series – I tried others like Tri on Wii U but it never quite gelled like it did with 4U. It helped that I had a rotation of people to play the game with regularly, something I have missed since then. Imagine fighting a crazed Khezu, whilst you’re out of stamina, BBQing some meat like a Turkish uncle over a mangal, narrowly escaping a death blow which would have ended the mission as we had carted twice before. What a game.

Awakening a new MonHun Crackhead

So it’s my 10th+ year with Monster Hunter but I’m still a wandering tourist that likes to chop off tails. Who knew the next MonHun crackhead in my life that knows the ins and outs would be my nephew? I couldn’t suffer through Arekkz videos, not that they’re not excellent, I just don’t have the brain capacity to take in new information. But here we have an encyclopaedia, knowing the ins and outs, weight and inside leg measurements. He could even smell the droppings of each monster through the screen.

A few games on from 4U and it’s still “me strong, me use big knife” type of Hunter. Maybe slightly more advanced as I now look up what the monsters are resistant/weak to.

But I have a crackhead that knows this like my own personal MonHun search engine. Which is incredible timing now as we’re about to see Monster Hunter Wilds finally release. I finally have the thing I’ve been seeking for years – a nerd that I can hunt with regularly.

It also goes without saying that the Monster Hunter community is probably the nicest community I have ever been apart of. Regularly, maxed out characters are willing to just drop in and help, some mic’ed up, sharing knowledge and tips to those that are just new to the game. It was only a few years ago I was welcomed into a Memphis Brotherhood, grinding World until I could finally hold me head up in Iceborne. This is where Stomp Out Crew was first incorporated.

So, here’s to Wilds, may it be full of grind sessions, carving tails and excess carting; with friends old and new.