I recently wrote a review for Monster Hunter Freedom Unite for the PSP, (it's not there yet I don't think, it better show up, what ever.) In the review, I pointed out that I love, respect, and honor what Monster Hunter has done, and that in a blog id actually explain that in detail, so here I am.

First let me say that I am not blinded by my own guilty pleasure, I can tell that Monster Hunter has many issues in the sense that the combat can make you want to rip your hair out, that most games are just updates off of an older version, and so on. I give most every MH game an 8.5, for the average gamer, but for me, Monster Hunter is 9.5 and higher, why? Because I believe, fully, that well we have games like Final Fantasy, Draqon Quest and other great RPGS pushing the RPG genre, and then we have Halo, Half Life 2, and so on, pushing FPS, I feel that Monster Hunter has pushed adventure further then most games have. I know that Zelda games are awesome, but just there is something that MH gives you that no other game does in this genre, and that's the feeling of godlyness.

Monster Hunter is the type of game, that when you start it up for the first time, select new game, you are going to be worthless technically. You will have the hardest time killing things, you will have no gear, no money, no wisdom, and most of all, no understanding of the complex game that is Hunting monsters. If you are fearless enough, and have enough patience, then you can get all the way to the ending where you face off against such creatures known as Fatalis, and more. These ending monsters have god like status as well, which makes the battle, either alone or with friends, such a moment that it's hard to describe. It's like you have finally arrived, here you are, against the big cheese, no games anymore. He won't run, he wants you dead. Though this isn't the only thing I mean by god like status for you.

It also goes hand and hand that once you have become so great in the game, gone so far, that if you look back at the troubles that were, at once impossible, they are now so easy that you do them just for parts or money. The best moment ever is when you partner up with true noobs to the series. To you, they are the fragments of your past, reminding you of what you once had to go through. All their complaining, all their anger was once yours. When they meet the Rathalos for the first time, and you are standing beside them, not even flinching, it truly does make you feel like, you are some type of warrior that no one can mess with. It might sound pathetic, to be talking about a game in such a passionate way, but perhaps that is the mystery to why some people simply don't get Monster Hunter.

In the end, to best describe it, it's as if Monster Hunter is the best example of making you feel like a character, man or woman, that is unstoppable. When you pull your great sword, or gun lance, or fork and knife (ha) and take on the creatures before you, blocking their attacks and getting pushed far yet your armor makes it childs play, you recover with out a sweat, as your noob trainees are being thrown around. It makes you feel like a Solider First Class, like Sephiroth from Final Fantasy 7, it makes you feel like a Captain in Bleach. Like a high rank ninja in Naruto, like Goku in Dragon Ball Z.

This is the passion that Monster Hunter gives, and I put my sword on the line that says, a good percentage of fans, that play Monster Hunter, all feel the same way. This is why I love Monster Hunter, I love seeing the reviewers give it 7 out of 10, or sometimes as low as 5. It shows they simply don't get it, and the game is far from broken if so many fans are enjoying it, here, or mostly in Japan. It is hands down one of the best selling games for PSP, and not because it's too hard or too broken. It's just simply seperating the weak people who can't enjoy a hard game, like the games of old, and the people who truly sink their teeth into it. The game has pulled no strings, it's hard, and it knows it, every MH game that has come out, has never made the game easier, or at least too much easier. I hope it doesn't become like some of the games that had almost impossible releases in the past, and then their counter parts in the now time are easy.

An example of another game that has remained hard, is Ninja Gaiden, though I still believe the original is far more difficult, or at least it was when first playing it. Either way, honestly, if you feel like you want to try out the world of Monster Hunter, give it a buy, Freedom Unite is only 39.99 here in Canada. It's not too expensive and it's a good side buy, compared to the games that are now 60+ dollars. If you get a wifi Max (not sure what that is, ask me) and Xlink Kai, you can play the game online, it's a 60 dollar tool but, it's only for the hard core fans so don't worry about it, but if you do give me a message. Though I'm mostly only interested in noobs since I have my own hunting party of higher levels. Either way, thats the world of Monster Hunter, it isn't going anywhere, and I never want it to.