This is…terrible, there’s just no other way to describe it. The Monster Hunter franchise is very hard to play solo (260 hours into freedom unite and still haven’t hit G-rank quests), so an MMO experience should be like a godsent to people who solo because of the lack of option. Instead, this is vastly different from the actual game, in that you have levels, skills and the enemies are unbelievably simple to read and kill.

To elaborate, on MH you have a map of around 8 areas, where you can harvest certain materials, fish, steal dragon eggs and fight bosses. The best part was the bosses. Sure, they had a LOT of health, but it was never actually displayed; if you weakened monsters enough or hit certain parts many times, those parts would break or fall off and the monster would flee to another area or start limping. While killing monsters is certainly an option, capturing them is where the real fun’s at – and it can be as difficult as it is rewarding. The difficult part is that monsters go into rage mode if hit consecutively or with certain attacks and deal more damage, move faster or use different moves altogether.

As another person said, the quality of your gear should define your true skill in this kind of game. It’s not about dealing the most damage but being experienced in a wide variety of enemy archetypes. So, when hard mode just gives monsters 10000% more HP and double damage, it’s just not compelling enough to stick with.

Wow 90% of the visuals were definitely monster hunter. It was creepy that the clone monsters had what looked like similar attacks and movement patterns. Gameplay, especially growth related mechanics, is something completely different.

It honestly looks like a good distraction for someone who is sad about frontier and needs one. However I’ve found a lot of the die hard fans are obsessive over the relentless difficulty levels in the games. If the game is as easy as you make it sound then that alone might be a deal breaker.

I actually have Phantasy Star Online episode 1 & 2 plus for GameCube. I had no idea what it was when I bought it but I think I got it used for $20. I got the game because the word online was in the title. I found it funny because I didn’t know the GameCube could be connected online.

The only monster hunter game I played was Tri on the Wii, and it was quite good. Never got far in the epic stuff, but I enjoyed myself. This game does remind me of it, but I don’t think it looks as good. Plus the outfits are just so…. wtf. I liked how the outfits and weapons were made to look like the monsters they were made from. Plus, a Loli pet… for 400/500 bucks? She better one shot every boss.

I never understood why Capcom is neglecting it’s American and European Monster hunter fans? It’s not just the MMO, but most of the recent games have not been brought over here either. Then again, Capcom… has done a lot of questionable things as of late.

ChaosD1, after watching your review, I can assure you 100% that this Monster Hunter clone is vastly inferior in literally every way. The graphics/textures are worse than the most graphically un-advanced Monster Hunter game, the UI is sloppy and uninspired (the Monster Hunter one is very minimalist), and as for the designs for the monsters, armor, and weapons, well…

In Monster Hunter, armor and weapons are made from pieces of monsters, as what makes better armor than the hide of a dragon you broke your sword on? Additionally, the armor and weapons in Monster Hunter serve as trophies for your kills. When you kill a certain monster, you can make a sword out of it, and everyone who sees you with that sword knows you have experience with that monster. The armor in Hunter Blade does not have this aspect, and severely detracts from the experience.

The monsters in Monster Hunter, all seem very realistic (or at least more so than other games). It honestly is not hard to believe that some monster designs might have been what some dinosaurs or other prehistoric animals looked like, and there is even a sense of branching evolution, where monsters share the basic shapes because they came from the same ancestor, but their abilities and specific details about them differ due to their environment. Take for example three dragons, the Tigrex, Diablos, and Rathalos. They share the same basic form, implying they have a similar ancestor but the Rathalos is the only competent flier of the bunch and the only one that breathes fire. The Tigrex and Diablos lost their fire sac for enlarged lung capacity, granting them greater stamina than the Rathalos, and while the Tigrex can still barely fly, the Diablos traded in its wings for digging claws and heavy armor scales. You still get the sense that they are all related, but that despite their similar shapes, their environments shaped their abilities and attack strategies. You do not get this from Hunter Blade. The creatures in Hunter Blade are just slapped into their environments because the developers think they look cool there.

Also, in Monster Hunter, boss fights don’t involve smaller enemies joining mid-fight unless said boss monster has the ability to summon smaller enemies (instead Monster Hunter opts for dynamic wandering boss monsters that may or may not come across your fight, assuming they are even on the map).