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I need to start with three disclaimers:
Disclaimer 1 - I'm not here to debate what is or what is not a role-playing game. We are all aware that RPGs have very little to do with role-playing these days. Instead, I'd like to talk about a game that is role-playing in the truest, most literal sense of the word.
Disclaimer 2 - I am by no means an expert Monster Hunter yet. In fact, my Hunter Rank is 1, the lowest rank possible. I've only recently killed my first wyvern. But I have played the game for many, many hours, enough to know what it's about, and enough to know that it's an incredible experience.
Disclaimer 3 - Because Monster Hunter is not nearly as popular in North America as it should be, I've yet to find someone to hunt with via the PSP's ad hoc wireless capabilities, so my impressions of the game are based on my solo experience only. Capcom is being ridiculously stupid about implementing Wi-Fi support for the handheld versions of Monster Hunter, i.e. it just ain't happening.
End disclaimers, begin editorial.
The Monster Hunter series is hugely popular in Japan. Japanese gamers line up for new releases. Monster Hunter Portable 2, when it was released in Japan, was the top selling software title in Japan. I stumbled upon Monster Hunter by accident, buying Monster Hunter Freedom (for the PSP) on a whim, just a month or two before Monster Hunter Freedom 2 was released in North America.
The basic premise of Monster Hunter is this: you hunt monsters. The monsters range from large insects (Vespoids and Hornetaurs) to raptor-like creatures (Velociprey and Giaprey) to giant wyverns. There are (according to the back of the box) over 70 monsters.
You know how in standard RPGs, when your characters fight enemies, they somehow become innately stronger? Yeah, that doesn't happen in Monster Hunter. The logic in the traditional RPG is, your characters are becoming more accustomed to battle, more proficient with their weaponry, and are learning the tactics enemy monster use, thus your characters, when they level up, become more useful in battle. Well, in Monster Hunter, if you want to kill more powerful monsters, you really are going to have to become accustomed to battle, more proficient with your weaponry, and more knowledgeable about monsters' attack patterns.
See, you can go out and kill a hundred thousand Mosswine (small, typically docile pig-like creatures) in Monster Hunter, and your hunter will never become a single bit stronger. She (I'm using "she" because my hunter is a brown-skinned female with pink hair, but you can create your own hunter with whatever gender, face, skin tone, hair color, and voice you like when you start the game) won't suddenly swing her sword/lance/hammer any harder than before. After killing a hundred thousand Mosswine, what you'll probably have (provided you carved each of their carcasses) is about ninety thousand blue mushrooms and ten thousand scraps of raw meat.
And this is where things get complex. The best way (and nearly the only way) to go about improving your character's raw stats is to give her new weapons and better armor sets. The best way to acquire those things is through crafting. There is a crafter in your village who will upgrade your current weapon to a more powerful one, provided you have the right materials (which can be foraged in the field, harvested from monsters, or collected from your farm) and enough cash (earned from completing quests and selling things you find in the field, harvest from monsters, or collect from your farm). So each time you want to upgrade your weapon, you'll need to go find the right materials.
What this means is you'll either have to keep good records, or have a good memory. Some things are obvious. For instance, if you need Gendrome Hides to craft a powerful set of armor, you pretty much know you'll have to kill Gendromes to get them. But other things are less obvious. Small Monster Bones, Medium Monster Bones, and Giant Bones all come from different creatures. For some reason, killing a Mosswine and carving it will usually get you a Blue Mushroom (which you can combine with an Herb to create a Potion, which you can combine with Honey to create a Mega Potion, etc.), so if you need a Blue Mushroom for something, innately possessing that hunter's knowledge can be helpful.
So, how exactly does your hunter become more proficient? Well, the simple answer is, you get better at the game. I told you, this is literal role-playing; if you're rubbish at killing monsters, you won't be able to rely on level-grinding to power you through the game. The only way to take down bigger monsters is to get more powerful weapons and learn how to use them effectively.
For this simple reason, the game is punishingly hard. It's almost old school in the way it presents difficulty. The old games, like Super Mario Bros. 3, for instance, seem easy today for precisely one reason: we've mastered the controls. In truth those games are incredibly difficult, it's just we have the skill set necessary to overcome that difficulty, making it seem easy. Monster Hunter is exactly the same. Progressing through the game is not a matter of making your hunter stronger, it's a matter of making yourself better.
And that's why it's true role-playing. It's also why it's insanely addicting. See, the game literally has no ending. There's always something new to do, some challenge to overcome, some new armor set to craft. If you truly love Monster Hunter, you'll keep playing it until the next one is released, amassing hundreds of hours of playtime. I've gotten as far as I have using a combination of two weapon types: Dual Swords and the Sword and Shield. But there are 8 other weapon types: Great Swords, Long Swords, Hammers, Hunting Horns, Lances, Gunlances, Gunbows, and Bows. You could literally spend a lifetime mastering all the weapons in the game, because you, as a player, would need to learn the intricacies of each weapon type, their strengths and weaknesses.
So there you have it. A true role-playing experience, an intense, addictive challenge for gamers who may be seeking a hardcore experience in today's casual-gaming-saturated market.
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