Monster Hunter Freedom Unite (Sony PSP)

The Monster Hunter series has been widely popular in Japan for some time now. I've been interested in checking the series out for a while now and finally did with Freedom Unite.

The game's basic structure follows the structure of most MMORPGs. You start off as a Hunter in a village, and take miscellaneous quests to embark upon. The quests rang from Hunting, Slaying, Gathering, and Event Quests. Once you stop by the guild and pick up a contract of your choice, you set off on an adventure to fulfill the quests parameters.

I was amazed at just how deep a game Monster Hunter actually is. Not only do you hunt, but you can also gather, mine, cook, farm, etc. In order to become a successful Hunter, you need to become totally immersed in the world. The level of depth and time may put off some games looking for a quick thrill, but if you're patient and dedicated, the game is incredibly rewarding.

Pros:

-Depth of game play (weapons, items, quests, world, etc)

-Graphics are amazing

-Sound: Well done FX and musical score done in Dolby sound incredible through headphones.

-Ad Hock online play - you can quest with up to three of your friends.

Cons:

-Difficulty: the game is not easy and at times can be frustrating.

-Camera can be uncooperative at times, especially when fighting multiple monsters at the same time.

-The inventory system can be very cumbersome. If you're not using a sword, you actually have to sheath your weapon before you can use an item. Trying to do this in the heat of battle, is very difficult.

-Ad Hock - it's an awesome feature, but if you don't have friends willing to come over and play, you will be questing on your own.

Wrap up:

All in all, it's an amazing game that I highly recommend. Be prepared to invest some time in mastering the world and you will be greatly rewarded.

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Well first of all I want to state I' am an avid monster hunter fan, from the ps2 game to the psp ones. So my review might be a little subjective but I will try to be as objective as possible and put myself in the position of a newcomer to the franchise. And also I apologize for the length of the review. It really is a vast game there is soo much to do and so little space to explain it all in.

A few things for players from MHF2 thinking this is a brand new experience, think again. Think about it as an expansion with new missions, monsters armors, weapons, and hunter ranks. You still reside in the quaint little home up in the mountains, and all the lovable characters are still there from the cooking Felynes to the old lady who gave you the elder quests.

Now on to the review. For the newcomers this game has an amazing ray of things to do, put yourself in the position of a hunter, you are constantly hunting monsters who reside around your village. From giant dragons to giant crabs (and not the STD type) you have 5 different land types where you hunt them from the jungle, desert, snowy mountains, forest, and volcano. Also each land type has time cycles so you can hunt them at night or in the day. Now each hunt is received in the form of a quest, there are 2 places you can get these, from an elder how will give you village quest (which you may only complete by yourself) or by going to the hall.

The hall can be played offline meaning you can do the quest there by yourself (although most can be complete alone there are some that you should look for help) or online via ad hoc. Online is fun as hell, if you have 3 others friends who have the game they can join you in the hunt and you all get the benefits of the kill (as a side note if you don't have any friends to play with you can play online for more info go to www.teamxlink.co.uk/). Every time you kill a monster like a true hunter you crave their bodies. You get special items from the carve and also a prizes for completing the hunt. These items in turn can be sold for money or saved up to make special armor, items, or weapons. Aside from hunting you can, farm (meaning you can literally plant seeds and reap the rewards) you can hire Felyne to cook for you so you go nice and full into battle. And even more amazing as a new addition you can hire a Felyne to join you in battle! He will provide back such as setting traps and attacking the beast you are hunting. You will easily spend 100+ hours in this game.

Now for the veterans, a few additions have been added. As mentioned above you can hire a Felyne to help you out, there are tons of new armor and weapons to make. Your item box size has increased and items now max out at 99! Meaning no more having multiple 10 items in your box. Like 10 flash now they all combine until you get to 99 so precious space in the box has been saved. There are now G rank missions imagine hr 6 missions but 10x harder, and there are 3 new ranks to move up to.

Pros:

-New missions, new items, new Felyne battle companions.

-Also now you have the options to data install, this drastically lowers the loading time.

-Great graphics as always, each armor and weapon have a unique look. No 2 armors look like.

Cons:

-Like previously stated the learning curve sucks but there are alot of tutorials and training quests.

-Some armor attributes have really been lost, example is I had the akantor armor and lost my high grade earplugs in the transition.

-For a new comer you might tend to feel overwhelm with the amount of farming you have to do to get ONE item you need to make a weapon/armor, it's all based on luck.

-The ability to play online worldwide should be included in the game, it takes outside programs and items to make it possible.

-And also it does get a little repetitive from time to time.

Over all this is an awesome game. You either fall into the obsessions or hate it. See you in the hall.

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Some may have seen video or photos of Monster Hunter. It may look like an ok game. Well tell me this. How can someone like me logg in over 2000 hrs on a PSP system playing this game?? Monster Hunter Freedom Unite is all about skill. Pure skill and strategy. The 1st 3 levels of gameplay is just training. Get ad-hoc party for free in Playstation Store and you will know the reason its so much fun. Its #1 in japan so how can a million gamers be wrong?

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