Monster Hunter Freedom 2
Capcom 2007
PSP
By Diana Poulsen
One of my friends asked me to review Monster Hunter Freedom 2 because Monster Hunter games typically receive bad reviews from critics. Of course I will still be objective, but I couldn’t help but wonder why these games get such bad reviews.
You play as a monster hunter who has woken up in a village after being attacked by giant dragon-like creature that almost devoured you like stuffin’ at a turkey dinner. The whole premise of the game is to kill monsters: this is not an RPG but a fighting game. Instead of gaining levels, you will learn how to create better weapons, armour, and items to help you fight. There’s no room for power levelling to make yourself more powerful than the monster; you actually have to learn how to play strategically to annihilate your target. Observation is key, you will need to watch the beast to figure out when it is going to attack and when it is open for attack. It can be a bit of work, but once you kill the monster you are after it feels really good. Defeating the boss monsters can feel as good as taking down one of the Colossi in Shadow of the Colossus, and that’s a gaming high that is hard to come by.
When I began to play, I didn’t understand what was so bad about the game. In fact, I was really impressed by the incredible control that MH gives the player. There is a complex character creation interface so you can really make your character to suite your taste. There are a variety of faces, hair styles, and hair colour. There are at least 30 different voice selections for both the male and female characters, but they sound very similar because they are really just grunts and groans. You can create armour, weapons, and items by mixing materials. You can use bombs and traps and all of them are created by mixing items you have gathered. All of the items created will help you become a better fighter. From the beginning you have all nine possible weapons and each has its specific uses. You will need to learn all of the weapons because some jobs require the quick, low-damage duel swords, other jobs require the slow, high-damage great sword, and another will require a bow. Each weapon has its own special attack and each will require some learning to use. I recommend the sword and shield when you start because it is the easiest and from there I suggest learning the great sword.
Of course this game takes some figuring out and a fair bit of reading to get going. Luckily there are good tutorials and the book that comes with the game describes just about everything. Yes, it can be a pain in the ass and that’s the part that reviewers don’t like; yes, it has a learning curve, and yes, it requires some effort to get into.
THe good news is that you can play with a friend. Teaming up with a friend makes questing a lot easier. There is WLAN play and there is apparently a hack for full online play. You also earn special treasures by teaming up with other people.
Despite all the reading and the sort of high learning curve, I really enjoyed MHF2. Once I learned how to fight, the game transformed from a button masher into one where I had to actually think about how I was going to hunt my monsters.
